 After starting as an actor in live television, Barry Letts became one of the medium's most respected and prolific writers, producers and directors. He is best remembered for helming Doctor Who (BBC, 1963-89) during the Jon Pertwee years, and later produced some of the BBC's most popular early evening classic serials. Letts had already embarked on a repertory career when he was called up to the Royal Navy in WWII, serving as a sub-lieutenant in the Coastal Forces. After demob he took the lead in public information film To the Public Danger (d. Terence Fisher, 1948), and following supporting roles in Scott of the Antarctic (d. Charles Frend, 1948) and The Cruel Sea (d. Frend, 1953) began working regularly in live television. A growing family, combined with a self-confessed inability to regulate his finances, later led him to supplement his acting income with writing work, penning several episodes of soap The Newcomers (BBC, 1965). Upon passing the BBC's director's course, one of his first assignments was Doctor Who serial 'The Enemy of the World' (BBC, tx. 1967-68), and in 1969 he was offered the producer's post. Letts successfully managed the transition into colour production and a new, largely-earth-bound setting, and in tandem with script editor Terrance Dicks created a hugely popular character in the form of the Doctor's arch-rival the Master. Letts' ecological concerns and Buddhist beliefs lent depth to stories such as 'The Green Death' (1973) and 'Planet of the Spiders' (1974), and one of his final acts as producer was to hire the then unknown Tom Baker as Pertwee's successor, setting the scene for the show's continued popularity. Throughout the 70s and 80s Letts maintained his successful partnership with Dicks, earning a BAFTA nomination for Jane Eyre (BBC, 1983) and a Daytime Emmy on A Tale of Two Cities (BBC, 1980). Following The Pickwick Papers (BBC, 1985), he taught on the BBC's directing course. Although battling cancer in his final years, he remained a thoughtful and courteous presence at Doctor Who conventions, continuing his contributions to DVD commentaries until the month before his death. Richard Hewett
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FILM & TV CREDITS
