History Creator / TerranceDicks

* MisBlamed: After his novelisation of ''The Sun Makers'' had Gatherer Hade's murderers regret their actions (which they most certainly did not on TV), some fans [[BeamMeUpScotty assumed]] that a similar scene in the non-Dicks novelisation of ''Castrovalva'' where evil Time Lord the Master only stuns -- rather than kills -- some innocent humans was also written by Dicks as it ''seemed'' like something he would do.

The equally legendary Creator/RobertHolmes (a very different kind of writer though just as notable in ''Who'' terms) took over from him as script editor, though Dicks immediately wrote the Fourth Doctor's debut ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoS12E1Robot Robot]]'' and, later, further adventures in ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoS15E1HorrorOfFangRock Horror of Fang Rock]]'' and ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoS18E4StateOfDecay State of Decay]]'' -- plus an early version of ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoS13E5TheBrainOfMorbius The Brain of Morbius]]'', but [[AlanSmithee asked for his name to be removed]] from the story because of the extent to which the scripts were rewritten for budgetary reasons by his friend Holmes. Come the Fifth Doctor's era, he was the obvious go-to man to pen the 20th anniversary multi-Doctor special ''[[Recap/DoctorWho20thASTheFiveDoctors The Five Doctors]]'', which would end up becoming his final script for the TV series.

Terrance Dicks' most visible and perhaps most valuable contribution to the franchise however was his involvement, from 1973 to the end of the original TV run, with the licenced Literature/DoctorWhoNovelisations. He personally wrote ''sixty-seven'' of these (many of them adapting stories from the era in which he did his main work on the show, but dozens for other Doctors too), which practically became synonymous with his name as a result, and acted as an unofficial head writer and administrator for the series. The largely strict page-count, Dicks' straightforward yet vivid prose, the books' ability to [[AdaptationExpansion/DoctorWhoNovelisations transcend the televised adventures' budgetary limitations]], and the fact that for much of this period there was no way of actually ''watching'' the stories again after their initial transmissions, meant that legions of youngsters -- plenty of whom may have had little interest in reading otherwise -- absolutely devoured them for years on end. Dicks' volumes are reckoned to have sold some three and a half million copies in the '70s alone, in ten languages. And some of those young readers became writers in turn, with Creator/NeilGaiman, Creator/MarkGatiss and Creator/PaulCornell among those to have acknowledged his influence on them.

Dicks was first hired as assistant script editor on ''Doctor Who'' in early 1968 through the recommendation of his friend and fellow writer Creator/MalcolmHulke. He became full script editor later that year, starting with "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS6E3TheInvasion The Invasion]]", and the following year he co-wrote the Second Doctor's concluding story ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoS6E7TheWarGames The War Games]]'' with Creator/MalcolmHulke. He and Creator/BarryLetts, the producer, had creative control of the show for all five seasons in which Creator/JonPertwee played the Third [[Characters/DoctorWhoDoctors Doctor]]. Although he was not credited as a writer on any of those stories, Dicks made heavy contributions to the scripts during his era and presided over (or at the very least allowed to happen) the creation of the core mythology of the Franchise/{{Whoniverse}}. He co-created the [[Characters/DoctorWhoTimeLords Time Lords]] and their [[AlienNonInterferenceClause non-intervention policy]], and the Doctor's archnemesis [[Characters/DoctorWhoMasters the Master]]. Even though [[Characters/DoctorWhoUNITStaff UNIT]] did not originate with him (but did first appear in a story he script-edited), he nurtured the concept along and oversaw the promotion of the Brigadier from guest star to series regular.

Terrance Dicks' most visible contribution to the franchise however was his involvement, from 1973 to the end of the original TV run, with the licenced Literature/DoctorWhoNovelisations for Target Books. He personally wrote ''sixty-seven'' of the novelisations (many of them adapting stories from the era in which he did his main work on the show, but dozens for other Doctors too), which practically became synonymous with his name as a result, and acted as an unofficial head writer and administrator for the series. The largely strict page-count, Dicks' straightforward yet vivid prose, the books' ability to [[AdaptationExpansion/DoctorWhoNovelisations transcend the televised adventures' budgetary limitations]], and the fact that for much of this period there was no way of actually ''watching'' the stories again after their initial transmissions, meant that legions of youngsters -- plenty of whom may have had little interest in reading otherwise -- absolutely devoured them for years on end. Dicks' volumes are reckoned to have sold some three and a half million copies in the '70s alone, in ten languages. And some of those young readers became writers in turn, with Creator/NeilGaiman, Creator/MarkGatiss and Creator/PaulCornell among those to have acknowledged his influence on them.

Dicks was first hired as assistant script editor on ''Doctor Who'' in early 1968 through the recommendation of his friend and fellow writer Creator/MalcolmHulke. He became full script editor later that year, starting with "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS6E3TheInvasion The Invasion]]". He and Creator/BarryLetts, the producer, had creative control of the show for all five seasons in which Creator/JonPertwee played the Third [[Characters/DoctorWhoDoctors Doctor]]. Although he was not credited as a writer on any of those stories, Dicks made heavy contributions to the scripts during his era and presided over (or at the very least allowed to happen) the creation of the core mythology of the Franchise/{{Whoniverse}}. He co-created the [[Characters/DoctorWhoTimeLords Time Lords]] and their [[AlienNonInterferenceClause non-intervention policy]], and the Doctor's archnemesis [[Characters/DoctorWhoMasters the Master]]. Even though [[Characters/DoctorWhoUNITStaff UNIT]] did not originate with him (but did first appear in a story he script-edited), he nurtured the concept along and oversaw the promotion of the Brigadier from guest star to series regular. The equally legendary Creator/RobertHolmes (a very different kind of writer though just as notable in ''Who'' terms) took over from him.

Outside his period as script editor, he co-wrote the Second Doctor's concluding story ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoS6E7TheWarGames The War Games]]'' with Creator/MalcolmHulke. By himself, he wrote the Fourth Doctor's debut ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoS12E1Robot Robot]]'' and further adventures ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoS15E1HorrorOfFangRock Horror of Fang Rock]]'' and ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoS18E4StateOfDecay State of Decay]]'' -- plus an early version of ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoS13E5TheBrainOfMorbius The Brain of Morbius]]'', but [[AlanSmithee asked for his name to be removed]] from the story because of the extent to which the scripts were rewritten for budgetary reasons by his friend (and then-current script editor) Bob Holmes. Come the Fifth Doctor's era, Dicks was the obvious go-to man to pen the 20th anniversary multi-Doctor special ''[[Recap/DoctorWho20thASTheFiveDoctors The Five Doctors]]'', which would end up becoming his final script for the TV series.

Terrance Dicks' most visible contribution to the franchise however was his involvement, from 1973 to the end of the original TV series, with the licenced Literature/DoctorWhoNovelisations for Target Books. He personally wrote ''sixty-seven'' of the novelisations (many of them adapting stories from the era in which he did his main work on the show, but dozens for other Doctors too), which practically became synonymous with his name as a result, and acted as an unofficial head writer and administrator for the series. The largely strict page-count, Dicks' straightforward yet vivid prose, the books' ability to [[AdaptationExpansion/DoctorWhoNovelisations transcend the televised adventures' budgetary limitations]], and the fact that for much of this period there was no way of actually ''watching'' the stories again after their initial transmissions meant that legions of youngsters -- plenty of whom may have had little interest in reading otherwise -- absolutely devoured them for years on end. Dicks' volumes are reckoned to have sold some three and a half million copies in the '70s alone, in ten languages. And some of those young readers became writers in turn, with Creator/NeilGaiman, Creator/MarkGatiss and Creator/PaulCornell among those to have acknowledged his influence on them.

* LighterAndSofter: His ''Series/DoctorWho'' novelizations (arguably intended for a younger audience than the show) tended to downplay the darker and more adult moments. He also wrote a few "junior" novelisations which took this further.

He was a hugely prolific writer. Startlingly, the vast number of popular and accessible [[Literature/DoctorWhoNovelisations novelisations]] that he produced of the TV adventures, especially during an era when these were often the ''only'' way to revisit past stories, mean he can be plausibly claimed to have introduced more British children -- especially boys -- to a love of reading than just about any other author to have ever lived. He became beloved of generations of Whovians to the extent he acquired the FanNickname 'Uncle Terry'.

Dicks was first hired as assistant script editor on ''Doctor Who'' in early 1968 through the recommendation of his friend and fellow writer Creator/MalcolmHulke. He became full script editor later that year, starting with "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS6E3TheInvasion The Invasion]]". He and Creator/BarryLetts, the producer, had creative control of the show for all five seasons in which Creator/JonPertwee played the Third [[Characters/DoctorWhoDoctors Doctor]]. The equally legendary Creator/RobertHolmes (a very different kind of writer though just as notable in ''Who'' terms) took over from him.

Although he was not credited as a writer on any of those stories, Dicks made heavy contributions to the scripts during his era and presided over (or at the very least allowed to happen) the creation of the core mythology of the Franchise/{{Whoniverse}}. He co-created the [[Characters/DoctorWhoTimeLords Time Lords]] and their [[AlienNonInterferenceClause non-intervention policy]], and the Doctor's archnemesis [[Characters/DoctorWhoMasters the Master]]. Even though [[Characters/DoctorWhoUNITStaff UNIT]] did not originate with him (but did first appear in a story he script-edited), he nurtured the concept along and oversaw the promotion of the Brigadier from guest star to series regular.

Outside his period as script editor, he co-wrote the Second Doctor's concluding story ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoS6E7TheWarGames The War Games]]'' with Creator/MalcolmHulke. By himself, he wrote the Fourth Doctor's debut ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoS12E1Robot Robot]]'' and further adventures ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoS15E1HorrorOfFangRock Horror of Fang Rock]]'' and ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoS18E4StateOfDecay State of Decay]]'' -- plus an early version of ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoS13E5TheBrainOfMorbius The Brain of Morbius]]'', but [[AlanSmithee asked for his name to be removed]] from the story because of the extent to which the scripts were rewritten for budgetary reasons by his friend (and then-current script editor) Robert Holmes. Come the Fifth Doctor's era, Dicks was the obvious go-to man to pen the 20th anniversary multi-Doctor special ''[[Recap/DoctorWho20thASTheFiveDoctors The Five Doctors]]'', which would end up becoming his final script for the TV series.

Terrance Dicks' most visible contribution to the franchise however was his involvement, from 1973 to the end of the original TV series, with the licenced Literature/DoctorWhoNovelisations for Target Books. He personally wrote ''sixty-seven'' of the novelisations (many of them for stories from the era in which he did his main work on the show, but dozens for other Doctors too), which practically became synonymous with his name as a result, and acted as an unofficial head writer and administrator for the series. The largely strict page-count, Dicks' straightforward yet vivid prose, the books' ability to [[AdaptationExpansion/DoctorWhoNovelisations transcend the televised adventures' budgetary limitations]], and the fact that for much of this period there was no way of actually ''watching'' the stories again after their initial transmissions meant that legions of youngsters -- plenty of whom may have had little interest in reading otherwise -- absolutely devoured them. Dicks' volumes are reckoned to have sold some three and a half million copies in the '70s alone, in ten languages. And some of those young readers became writers in turn, with Creator/NeilGaiman, Creator/MarkGatiss and Creator/PaulCornell among those to have acknowledged his influence on them.

Outside his work for ''Doctor Who'', he wrote well over a hundred original books for children, mainly in the crime, adventure, and FunnyAnimal genres. Perhaps the most notable were the 10-volume series ''The Baker Street Irregulars'', inspired by the ''Franchise/SherlockHolmes'' characters of the same name.

* AlanSmithee: He took his name off "The Brain of Morbius" because the final script bore very little comparison to his original version. When Bob Holmes asked him what pen name he wanted, Dicks dismissively suggested the story go out under "some bland pseudonym". It was duly [[ExactWords credited to 'Robin Bland]]', which [[ActuallyPrettyFunny Terry found hilarious]].[[note]](In later life, he even included 'blandrobin' in his email address.)[[/note]]

* KidDetective: ''The Baker Street Irregulars'' series, about a teenage ''Literature/SherlockHolmes'' fan who [[YouMeddlingKids with the aid of his friends]] solve crimes.
* LighterAndSofter: His ''Series/DoctorWho'' novelizations (arguably intended for a younger audience than the show) tended to downplay the darker and more adult moments. He also made a few "junior" novelisations which took this further.
* MisBlamed: After his novelisation of ''The Sun Makers'' had Gatherer Hade's murderers regret their actions (which they most certainly did not on TV), some fans [[BeamMeUpScotty assumed]] that a similar scene in the non-Dicks novelisation of ''Castrovalva'' where the evil Time Lord the Master only stuns -- rather than kills -- some innocent humans was also written by Dicks as it ''seemed'' like something he would do.