Derrick George Sherwin (16 April 1936 – 17 October 2018) was an English television producer, writer, story editor and actor. After beginning his career in the theatre, Sherwin became an actor in television before moving into writing. He became the story editor on ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

'' and, as the producer of the series in 1969, he oversaw the transition from black-and-white to colour by producing

Patrick Troughton Patrick George Troughton (; 25 March 1920 – 28 March 1987) was an English actor. He became best known for his roles in television, most notably starring as the Second Doctor, second incarnation of The Doctor (Doctor Who), the Doctor in the lo ...

's final story and

Jon Pertwee John Devon Roland Pertwee (; 7 July 1919 – 20 May 1996), known professionally as Jon Pertwee, was an English actor. Born into a theatrical family, he became known as a comedy actor, playing Chief Petty Officer Pertwee (and three other roles) in ...

's first. He also co-produced '' Paul Temple'' for the BBC.

Early life

Sherwin began his career in the theatre and worked as a junior set designer, scenic artist, scene shifter, stage manager and lighting designer. He also spent two years of

national service National service is a system of compulsory or voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act ...

in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

. Following this, he established himself as an actor in theatre, films and television. While still working as an actor, he also began work as a freelance writer, contributing scripts to series such as '' Crossroads'' and ''

Z-Cars ''Z-Cars'' or ''Z Cars'' (pronounced "zed cars") is a British television police procedural series centred on the work of mobile uniformed police and CID detectives in the fictional town of Newtown, based on Kirkby, near Liverpool. Produced by ...

''.

''Doctor Who''

In 1967, during the tenure of

as the

Second Doctor The Second Doctor is an incarnation of The Doctor (Doctor Who), the Doctor, the protagonist of the British Science fiction on television, science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. He was portrayed by actor Patrick Troughton. Out of his 1 ...

, Sherwin was offered a story-editing role on ''

'' by BBC Head of Serials Shaun Sutton. He was

story editor Story editor is a job title in motion picture and television production, also sometimes called supervising producer. The responsibilities of the story editor vary depending on the production; this article describes the duties the role most commo ...

script editor A script editor is a member of the production team of scripted television and radio programs, usually dramas and comedies. The script editor has many responsibilities including finding new script writers, developing storyline and series ideas wit ...

on the stories from '' The Web of Fear'' to '' The Mind Robber'', on the latter tale writing the first episode. He also wrote the script for '' The Invasion'', which introduced the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce (UNIT), having adapted the original storyline supplied by Kit Pedler. In 1968–1969, Sherwin began to take a greater role in the producing side of ''Doctor Who'', and after the serial ''The Mind Robber'', he became the unofficial assistant producer for the next three serials, with Terrance Dicks succeeding him as script editor. On '' The Space Pirates'', Sherwin briefly resumed his old role as script editor, while Dicks was busy writing Troughton's last story, the epic 10-part season finale ''

The War Games ''The War Games'' is the seventh and final serial of the sixth season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which originally aired in ten weekly parts from 19 April to 21 June 1969. In the serial, an unnamed alien r ...

'' with

Malcolm Hulke Malcolm Ainsworth Hulke (21 November 1924 – 6 July 1979) was a British television writer and author of the industry "bible" ''Writing for Television in the 70s''. He is remembered chiefly for his work on the science fiction series ''Doctor Wh ...

. Dicks credited Sherwin with the creation of the

Time Lord The Time Lords are a fictional ancient race of extraterrestrial life, extraterrestrial people in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. Time Lords are so named for their command of time travel technology and their Nonli ...

s, who were introduced in ''The War Games''. Sherwin was involved in the casting of

in the lead role on the programme, and succeeded

Peter Bryant Peter Bryant (27 October 1923 – 19 May 2006) was an English television producer, script editor and former actor. He acted in '' The Grove Family'' as a regular cast member and later became the producer of '' Doctor Who'' from 1967 to 19 ...

as producer in 1969 for ''The War Games'' and Pertwee's debut, '' Spearhead from Space'', making a small on-screen appearance as a car park attendant in the latter serial as he was still a member of the British Actors' Equity Association at the time. He had dismissed the actor originally cast in the part for not being able to perform the role adequately. Sherwin was responsible for the idea of exiling the Doctor to Earth the end of ''The War Games'', a decision he took in an attempt to improve falling viewing figures, reinvent the programme and bring more reality to ''Doctor Who'' by basing it more on Nigel Kneale's '' Quatermass'' serials from the 1950s. For this purpose, Sherwin created the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce (UNIT) in '' The Invasion'' as an organisation that the Doctor could become allied to on Earth during his exile. UNIT became a prominent feature of ''Doctor Who'' throughout the

Third Doctor The Third Doctor is an incarnation of The Doctor (Doctor Who), the Doctor, the protagonist of the British Science fiction on television, science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. He was portrayed by actor Jon Pertwee. Within the series' ...

's era, when the series was produced by Sherwin's successor,

Barry Letts Barry Leopold Letts (26 March 1925 – 9 October 2009) was an English actor, television director, writer and producer, best known for being the producer of ''Doctor Who'' from 1969 to 1974. Born in Leicester, he worked as an actor in theatre, ...

. Sherwin left the series after ''Spearhead from Space''. After leaving ''Doctor Who'', Sherwin maintained connections with the series. When

Michael Grade Michael Ian Grade, Baron Grade of Yarmouth (born 8 March 1943) is an English Media proprietor, television executive and businessman. He has held a number of senior roles in television, including controller of BBC1 (1984–1986), chief executive ...

attempted to cancel it in 1985, Sherwin offered to "take it off ishands" and "produce it independently", and also said he had repeated the offer with Peter Cregeen, the man responsible for ''Doctor Who''s actual cancellation in 1989. He later contributed to several documentaries for the ''Doctor Who'' DVD range, as well as providing commentaries for the two stories he produced and surviving episodes of ''The Web of Fear'' and '' The Wheel in Space'' for the '' Lost in Time'' collection.

Later work

Sherwin left ''Doctor Who'' to once again work alongside

, who persuaded him to join the production of '' Paul Temple'' (1969-1971). Sherwin later produced the television series ''The Man Outside'' (1972), '' Skiboy'' (1973), and ''The Perils of Pendragon'' (1974).

Death

Sherwin died on 17 October 2018 following a long illness.

Selected filmography

* '' Clue of the Silver Key'' (1961) * ''Number Six'' (1962) * '' The Vengeance of She'' (1968)

Publications

*''Who's Next?'' (2014) (autobiography). Fantom Films Ltd. *''The Perfect Assassin or Wroten's Law'' (2014). (novel). United p.c.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sherwin, Derrick 1936 births 2018 deaths 20th-century Royal Air Force personnel BBC television producers English male film actors English male stage actors English male television actors English male television writers English science fiction writers English television producers Male actors from High Wycombe Writers from Buckinghamshire