On This Day... 24th May

 

The only episode to have made its debut on this date was the sixth instalment of The War Games in 1969.

In 2012, however, a schools competition winning short was broadcast on the CBBC channel. The rules were that the piece had to be set within the TARDIS, feature only the Doctor and Amy, plus one monster. Good As Gold tied in with the forthcoming London Olympics and saw the torch bearer end up inside the TARDIS, and a Weeping Angel also made an appearance.

Today we remember the man who is widely regarded as the best writer of the classic era - Robert Holmes. He passed away on this date in 1986, aged 60 - an event which led to a controversial period for the series.

Holmes first submitted a story idea when Donald Tosh was story editor. This had previously been submitted to the Out of the Unknown sci-fi anthology series. It was resubmitted in 1968 when it drew the attention of Terrance Dicks. He was allowed to develop it as a spare for Season 6, but after a number of scripts had fallen through it was produced as The Krotons. He quickly followed this up with The Space Pirates. Holmes was selected to write the debut story for Jon Pertwee - the first of the Earth exile stories (Spearhead From Space). The following year he introduced the Master in Terror of the Autons, and three years after that he introduced Sarah Jane Smith and the Sontarans in The Time Warrior. When Dicks announced that he was standing down as script editor at the end of Season 11, Holmes was lined up to replace him. 

There then followed his hugely successful collaboration with producer Philip Hinchcliffe - the gothic horror years. Holmes was called upon to write many of these stories himself, including classics such as The Ark in Space, Pyramids of Mars, The Deadly Assassin, and The Talons of Weng-Chiang.

He stayed on to work with Graham Williams (whose birthday it would have been today) for six months or so, and thereafter contributed the occasional story.

When JNT took over he instituted a policy of not using people who had written for the series before. When it came to the 20th Anniversary story, however, then script editor Eric Saward insisted that it should be written by someone who knew the series inside out. Holmes was first choice. His unused story did see light of day some time later as elements of The Two Doctors.

Holmes wrote Peter Davison's final story - The Caves of Androzani - which is often regarded as best story ever.

After writing the opening section of Trial of a Time Lord, Holmes fell ill. He had been due to round the story off. After he died, Saward insisted on honouring his final scripts, but JNT did not want to end the season on a cliff-hanger. The subsequent fall-out led to Saward quitting, attacking JNT in an interview he gave a short time later.