History Creator / BarryLetts

Letts first work on ''Doctor Who'' was as director of the Creator/PatrickTroughton serial "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS5E4TheEnemyOfTheWorld The Enemy of the World]]", and he would direct four serials during his tenure as producer: "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS7E4Inferno Inferno]]"[[note]]The studio scenes for Episodes 3-7 only, after original director Douglas Camfield was taken ill[[/note]], "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS8E1TerrorOfTheAutons Terror Of The Autons]]", "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS10E2CarnivalOfMonsters Carnival Of Monsters]]" and "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS11E5PlanetOfTheSpiders Planet Of The Spiders]]". After leaving as producer, Letts returned to direct the Fourth Doctor Serial "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS13E4TheAndroidInvasion The Android Invasion]]".

* ContinuityNod: While ''Doctor Who'' never ignored its continuity, under Letts' tenure, the focus grew noticeably stronger, owed in part to the more centralized nature of the UNIT era and the Second Doctor era laying much of the groundwork for story elements that would dominate the Third Doctor's run. The show would dial things back again during most of the Fourth Doctor's run before Creator/JohnNathanTurner turned it up again during his tenure as producer.

Letts was noted as an early pioneer of "Colour Separation Overlay", the forerunner of modern ChromaKey (Green Screen) technology. Its copious use in many stories of the Letts era is very obvious to modern viewers watching the remastered DVD and Blu-ray editions, and can come across as SpecialEffectFailure to them. However, it should be remembered that it would have been far less obvious and distracting to viewers watching on blurry television sets in the early 1970s.

Letts would maintain a close relationship with ''Doctor Who'' even after its cancellation and 2005 revival, writing radio plays and novelizations during the '90s and 2000s. He would also be a regular face at conventions and other public events and frequently gave interviews related to the show before passing away at the age of 84 in 2009, having had to cancel a planned con appearance due to health issues related to a lengthy battle with cancer. Said con would add a posthumous dedication to him in their screening of the newly-recolorized third episode of [[Recap/DoctorWhoS10E4PlanetOfTheDaleks "Planet of the Daleks"]].

Letts departed as producer, along with Dicks and Pertwee after five seasons in the post, to be succeeded by Creator/PhilipHinchcliffe. One of Letts' final acts as producer was to cast a little-known, out of work actor called Creator/TomBaker in the role of the [[Characters/DoctorWhoFourthDoctor Fourth Doctor]]. It would prove an inspired choice, and it would be seven years (and three producers) later before another new Doctor needed to be cast.

Letts was noted as an early pioneer of "Colour Separation Overlay", the forerunner of modern ChromaKey (Green Screen) technology. Its copious use in many stories of the Letts' era is very obvious to modern viewers watching the remastered DVD and Blu-ray editions, and can come across as SpecialEffectFailure to them. However, it should be remembered that it would have been far less obvious and distracting to viewers watching on blurry television sets in the early 1970s.

Letts was noted as an early pioneer of "Colour Separation Overlay", the forerunner of modern ChromaKey (Green Screen) technology. Its copious use in many stories of the Letts' era is very obvious to modern viewers watching the remastered DVD editions, and can come across as SpecialEffectFailure to modern eyes. However, it should be remembered that it would have been far less obvious and distracting to viewers watching on blurry television sets in the early 1970s.

Barry Leopold Letts (26 March 1925 – 9 October 2009) was a British television director and producer, best known for producing Series/DoctorWho for five seasons from 1970 to 1974. His tenure coincided almost perfectly with that of Creator/JonPertwee as the [[Characters/DoctorWhoThirdDoctor Third Doctor]][[note]]Letts produced all Pertwee's stories except [[Recap/DoctorWhoS7E1SpearheadFromSpace his first]], and stayed as producer for [[Recap/DoctorWhoS12E1Robot one more story]] after Pertwee's departure[[/note]] and the script editor for his entire tenure was Creator/TerranceDicks, with whom Letts formed a lifelong friendship. Letts and Dicks also created the sci-fi drama Series/MoonbaseThree after leaving Doctor Who.

Letts first work on Doctor Who was as director of the Creator/PatrickTroughton serial "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS5E4TheEnemyOfTheWorld The Enemy of the World]]", and he would direct four serials during his tenure as producer: "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS7E4Inferno Inferno]]"[[note]]The studio scenes for Episodes 3-7 only, after original director Douglas Camfield was taken ill[[/note]], "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS8E1TerrorOfTheAutons Terror Of The Autons]]", "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS10E2CarnivalOfMonsters Carnival Of Monsters]]" and "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS11E5PlanetOfTheSpiders Planet Of The Spiders]]". After leaving as producer, Letts returned to direct the Fourth Doctor Serial "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS13E4TheAndroidInvasion The Android Invasion]]".

Taking over as producer from "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS7E2DoctorWhoAndTheSilurians Doctor Who and the Silurians]]", Pertwee's second story as the Doctor, Letts inherited from his predecessor Derrick Sherwin a major change to show's format in which the Doctor was stranded on Earth, exiled by the Time Lords. Although neither Letts nor Dicks was a major fan of this limitation to the show's storytelling possibilities, they largely stuck to it for their first two seasons, before beginning to experiment with returning to space with their third, and completely lifting the exile with their fourth.

Barry Leopold Letts (26 March 1925 – 9 October 2009) was a British television director and producer, best known for producing Series/DoctorWho for five seasons from 1970 to 1974. His tenure coincided almost perfectly with that of Creator/JonPertwee as the [[Characters/DoctorWhoThirdDoctor Third Doctor]][[note]]Letts produced all Pertwee's stories except [[Recap/DoctorWhoS7E1SpearheadFromSpace his first]], and stayed as producer for [[Recap/DoctorWhoS12E1Robot one more story]] after Pertwee's departure[[/note]] and the script editor for his entire tenure was Creator/TerranceDicks, with whom Letts formed a lifelong friendship. Letts and Dicks also created the sci-fi drame Series/MoonbaseThree after leaving Doctor Who.

Barry Leopold Letts (26 March 1925 – 9 October 2009) was a British television director and producer, best known for producing Series/DoctorWho for five seasons from 1970 to 1974. His tenure coincided almost perfectly with that of Creator/JonPertwee as the [[Characters/DoctorWhoThirdDoctor Third Doctor]][[note]]Letts produced all Pertwee's stories except [[Recap/DoctorWhoS7E1SpearheadFromSpace his first]], and stayed as producer for [[Recap/DoctorWhoS12E1Robot one more story]] after Pertwee's departure[[/note]] and the script editor for his entire tenure was Creator/TerranceDicks, with whom Letts formed a lifelong friendship.

Letts departed as producer, along with Dicks and Pertwee after five seasons in the post, to be succeeded by Creator/PhilipHinchcliffe. One of Letts' final acts as producer was to cast Creator/TomBaker in the role of the [[Characters/DoctorWhoFourthDoctor Fourth Doctor]]. It would prove an inspired choice, and it would be seven years (and three producers) later before another new Doctor needed to be cast.

Taking over as producer from [[Recap/DoctorWhoS7E2DoctorWhoAndTheSilurians Doctor Who And The Silurians]], Pertwee's second story as the Doctor, Letts inherited from his predecessor Derrick Sherwin a major change to show's format in which the Doctor was stranded on Earth, exiled by the Time Lords. Although neither Letts nor Dicks was a major fan of this limitation to the show's storytelling possibilities, they largely stuck to it for their first two seasons, before beginning to experiment with returning to space with their third, and completely lifting the exile with their fourth.

Letts departed as producer, along with Dicks and Pertwee after five seasons in the post, to be succeeded by Creator/PhilipHinchcliffe. One of Letts' final acts as producer was to cast Creator/TomBaker in the role of the [[Characters/DoctorWhoFourthDoctor Fourth Doctor]]. It would prove an inspired choice, and it would be seven years (and three producers) later before another new Doctor needed to be cast.

Letts was noted as an early pioneer of "Colour Separation Overlay", the forerunner of modern ChromaKey (Green Screen) technology. Its copious use in many stories of the Letts' era is very obvious to modern viewers watching the remastered DVD editions, and can come across as SpecialEffectFailure to modern eyes. However, it should be remembered that it would have been far less obvious and distracting to viewers watching on blurry television sets in the early 1970s.

Letts departed as producer, along with Dicks and Pertwee after five seasons in the post, but one of his final acts as producer was to cast Creator/TomBaker in the role of the [[Characters/DoctorWhoFourthDoctor Fourth Doctor]]. It would prove an inspired choice, and it would be seven years (and three producers) later before another new Doctor needed to be cast.

Letts also co-wrote four serials during his tenure as producer with his friend Robert Sloman: [[Recap/DoctorWhoS8E5TheDaemons The Dæmons]]", "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS9E5TheTimeMonster The Time Monster]]", "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS10E5TheGreenDeath The Green Death]]" and "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS11E5PlanetOfTheSpiders Planet Of The Spiders]]". BBC regulations precluded Letts from being credited as writer, since he was already credited as producer, so "The Dæmons" was credited to the pseudonym "Guy Leopold" and the remaining three gave sole credit to Sloman.

Letts first work on Doctor Who was as director of the Creator/PatrickTroughton serial "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS5E4TheEnemyOfTheWorld The Enemy of the World]]", and he would direct four serials during his tenure as producer: "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS7E4Inferno Inferno]]"[[note]]The studio scenes for Episodes 3-7 only, after original director Douglas Camfield was taken ill[[/note]], "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS8E1TerrorOfTheAutons Terror Of The Autons]]", "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS10E2CarnivalOfMonsters Carnival Of Monsters]]" and "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS11E5PlanetOfTheSpiders Planet Of The Spiders]]".

Letts first work on Doctor Who was as director of the Creator/PatrickTroughton serial "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS5E4TheEnemyOfTheWorld The Enemy of the World]]", and he would direct four serials during his tenure as producer: "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS7E4Inferno Inferno]]"[[note]]The studio scenes for Episodes 3-7 only, after original director Douglas Camfield was taken ill[[/note]] "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS8E1TerrorOfTheAutons Terror Of The Autons]]", "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS10E2CarnivalOfMonsters Carnival Of Monsters]]" and "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS11E5PlanetOfTheSpiders Planet Of The Spiders]]".

Letts departed as producer, along with Dicks and Pertwee after five seasons in the role, but one of his final acts as producer was to cast Creator/TomBaker in the role of the [[Characters/DoctorWhoFourthDoctor Fourth Doctor]]. It would prove an inspired choice, and it would be seven years (and three producers) later before another new Doctor needed to be cast.

Barry Leopold Letts (26 March 1925 – 9 October 2009) was a British television director and producer, best known for producing Series/DoctorWho for five seasons from 1970 to 1974. His tenure coincided almost perfectly with that of Creator/JonPertwee as the [[Characters/DoctorWhoThirdDoctor Third Doctor]][[note]]Letts produced all Pertwee's stories except [[Recap/DoctorWhoS7E1SpearheadFromSpace his first]], and stayed as producer for [[Recap/DoctorWhoS12E1Robot one more story]] after Pertwee's departure[[/note]] and the script editor for his entire tenure was Creator/TerranceDicks.

Taking over as producer from [[Recap/DoctorWhoS7E2DoctorWhoAndTheSilurians Doctor Who And The Silurians]], Pertwee's second story as the Doctor, Letts inherited from his predecessor Derrick Sherwin a major change to show's format in which the Doctor was stranded on Earth, exiled by the Time Lords. Although neither Letts nor Dicks was a major fan of this limitation to the show's storytelling possibilities, they largely stuck to it for their first two seasons, before beginning to experiment with returning to space with their third, and completely lifting the exile with their fourth.

Taking over as producer from Recap/DoctorWhoS7E2DoctorWhoAndTheSilurians, Pertwee's second story as the Doctor, Letts inherited from his predecessor Derrick Sherwin a major change to show's format in which the Doctor was stranded on Earth, exiled by the Time Lords. Although neither Letts nor Dicks was a major fan of this limitation to the show's storytelling possibilities, they largely stuck to it for their first two seasons, before beginning to experiment with returning to space with their third, and completely lifting the exile with their fourth.

Taking over as producer from [[Recap/DoctorWhoS7E2DoctorWhoAndTheSilurians]], Pertwee's second story as the Doctor, Letts inherited from his predecessor Derrick Sherwin a major change to show's format in which the Doctor was stranded on Earth, exiled by the Time Lords. Although neither Letts nor Dicks was a major fan of this limitation to the show's storytelling possibilities, they largely stuck to it for their first two seasons, before beginning to experiment with returning to space with their third, and completely lifting the exile with their fourth.

Barry Leopold Letts (26 March 1925 – 9 October 2009) was a British television director and producer, best known for producing Series/DoctorWho for five seasons from 1970 to 1974. His tenure coincided almost perfectly with that of Creator/JonPertwee as the [[Characters/DoctorWhoThirdDoctor Third Doctor]][[note]]Letts produced all Pertwee's stories except [[Recap/DoctorWhoS7E1SpearheadFromSpace his first]], and stayed as producer for [[Recap/DoctorWhoS12E1Robot one more story]] after Pertwee's departure[[/note]] and the script editor for his entire tenure was Creator/TerranceDicks.

Barry Leopold Letts (26 March 1925 – 9 October 2009) was a British television director and producer, best known for producing Series/DoctorWho for five seasons from 1970 to 1974. His tenure coincided with that of Creator/JonPertwee as the [[Characters/DoctorWhoThirdDoctor Third Doctor]], and the script editor for his entire tenure was Creator/TerranceDicks.