History Creator / RobertHolmes

Yep, this is the guy who gave us the Autons and the Sontarans... and, as if that weren't enough, wrote the first appearances of the Master, and some of the best companions.

Series/DoctorWho wasn't the only British science fiction institution Holmes wrote for. He was offered the script editor's position on Series/BlakesSeven, which he declined, recommending Creator/ChrisBoucher for the job. He eventually wrote four episodes for that series, including "Orbit," where Avon stalks Vila through a shuttle in order to [[ShootTheDog throw him overboard to save weight]].

DoctorWho wasn't the only British science fiction institution Holmes wrote for. He was offered the script editor's position on Series/BlakesSeven, which he declined, recommending Creator/ChrisBoucher for the job. He eventually wrote four episodes for that series, including "Orbit," where Avon stalks Vila through a shuttle in order to [[ShootTheDog throw him overboard to save weight]].

DoctorWho wasn't the only British science fiction institution Holmes wrote for. He was offered the script editor's position on Series/BlakesSeven, which he declined, recommending ChrisBoucher for the job. He eventually wrote four episodes for that series, including "Orbit," where Avon stalks Vila through a shuttle in order to [[ShootTheDog throw him overboard to save weight]].

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Many of his plots have a formula - crippled super-villain tries to regain power - but they vary widely from that initial idea. Holmes was very fond of ThoseTwoGuys: many of his stories are advanced by a double act of supporting characters. His Holmsian Double Act in "The Talons of Weng-Chiang", showman Jago and police pathologist Litefoot, were so popular that a spinoff was briefly considered, and eventually realised in 2010 by Creator/BigFinish. He died before he could finish "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS23E4TheUltimateFoe The Ultimate Foe]]"; it would require others to finish that one off. It's also a shame that we never got to see "Yellow Fever and How to Cure It", a story planned for the original Season 23, which would have featured the Master teaming up with the Nestene Consciousness in Singapore.

* ThoseTwoGuys: And frequently so well-written they became [[EnsembleDarkhorses pretty popular]]. Some of the more popular examples include showman Jago and police pathologist Litefoot (TheyFightCrime!), con artists Garron and Unstoffe, and mercenary Sabalom Glitz and his incompetent assistant Dibber.

DoctorWho wasn't the only British science fiction institution Holmes wrote for. He was offered the script editor's position on Series/BlakesSeven, which he declined, recommending ChrisBoucher for the job. He eventually wrote four episodes for that series.

Many of his plots have a formula - crippled super-villain tries to regain power - but they vary widely from that initial idea. Holmes was very fond of ThoseTwoGuys: many of his stories are advanced by a double act of supporting characters. His Holmsian Double Act in "The Talons of Weng-Chiang", showman Jago and police pathologist Litefoot, were so popular that a spinoff was briefly considered, and eventually realised in 2010 by Creator/BigFinish.

DoctorWho wasn't the only British science fiction institution Holmes wrote for. He was offered the script editor's position on Series/BlakesSeven, which he declined, recommending ChrisBoucher for the job. He eventually wrote four episodes for that series. He died before he could finish "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS23E4TheUltimateFoe The Ultimate Foe]]"; it would require others to finish that one off. It's also a shame that we never got to see "Yellow Fever and How to Cure It", a story planned for the original Season 23, which would have featured the Master teaming up with the Nestene Consciousness in Singapore.

* ThoseTwoGuys: And frequently so well-written they became EnsembleDarkhorses.
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* ThoseTwoGuys

DoctorWho wasn't the only British science fiction institution Holmes wrote for. He was offered the script editor's position on [[Series/BlakesSeven Blake's7]], which he declined, recommending ChrisBoucher for the job. He eventually wrote four episodes for that series. He died before he could finish "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS23E4TheUltimateFoe The Ultimate Foe]]"; it would require others to finish that one off. It's also a shame that we never got to see "Yellow Fever and How to Cure It", a story planned for the original Season 23, which would have featured the Master teaming up with the Nestene Consciousness in Singapore.

Holmes joined the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders in 1944, and was actually the youngest commissioned officer of the ''entire British Army'' in the Second World War, having lied about his age to join. After the war, he became a [[UsefulNotes/BritishCoppers London policeman]]. His contact with court reporters led him to leave the Met and become a reporter himself, and eventually a television writer. A spec script sent to the BBC led to his first scripting job for DoctorWho, Season 6's [[Recap/DoctorWhoS6E4TheKrotons The Krotons.]]

Robert Holmes (1926–1986) was a British screenwriter best known for his stint on ''Series/DoctorWho'': he wrote 18[[note]]A couple of these were effective page-one rewrites for other writers and went out under pseudonyms[[/note]] stories between 1968 and 1986, and served as script editor from 1975-1977.

Many of his plots have a formula--crippled super-villain tries to regain power--but they vary widely from that initial idea. Holmes was very fond of ThoseTwoGuys: many of his stories are advanced by a double act of supporting characters. His Holmsian Double Act in "The Talons of Weng-Chiang", showman Jago and police pathologist Litefoot, were so popular that a spinoff was briefly considered, and eventually realised in 2010 by Creator/BigFinish.

He died before he could finish "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS23E4TheUltimateFoe The Ultimate Foe]]"; it would require others to finish that one off. It's also a shame that we never got to see "Yellow Fever and How to Cure It", a story planned for the original Season 23, which would have featured the Master teaming up with the Nestene Consciousness in Singapore.

* EverybodysDeadDave: In at least three of his stories, he butchered nearly all his guest cast. In one, he even kills the Fifth Doctor!

These aren't just ''any'' stories though. Included in his work are some of the all-time classics of the show, including:

Yep, this is the guy who gave us the Autons and the Sontarans... and, as if that weren't enough, wrote some of the first appearances of some of the best companions.

He died before he could finish "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS23E4TheUltimateFoe The Ultimate Foe]]"; it would require others to finish that one off. It's also a shame that we never got to see "Yellow Fever and How to Cure It", a story planned for the original Season 23.

* CreatorThumbprint: ThoseTwoGuys, massive body counts, boundary-pushing horror, general cynicism sometimes to localised CrapsackWorld levels, aliens referring to Earth humans as "Tellurians", GettingCrapPastTheRadar fart gags.

* DarkerAndEdgier: Along with producer Philip Hinchcliffe, he was responsible for Doctor Who's "gothic horror" period in the mid-Seventies, and really tested the limits of what they could get away with.
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Tropes in his work include:

Many of his plots have a formula--crippled super-villain tries to regain power--but they vary widely from that initial idea. Holmes was very fond of ThoseTwoGuys: many of his stories are advanced by a double act of supporting characters. His Holmsian Double Act in "The Talons of Weng-Chiang", showman Jago and police pathologist Litefoot, were so popular that a spinoff was briefly considered, and eventually realised in 2010 by BigFinish.

Robert Holmes (1926–1986) was a British screenwriter best known for his stint on ''Series/DoctorWho'': he wrote 18[[hottip:*:A couple of these were effective page-one rewrites for other writers and went out under pseudonyms]] stories between 1968 and 1986, and served as script editor from 1975-1977.

Robert Holmes (1926–1986) was a British screenwriter best known for his 18[[hottip:*:A couple of these were effective page-one rewrites for other writers and went out under pseudonyms]] for ''Series/DoctorWho'' between 1968 and 1986 and script editing a good number of others, spending 3 1/2 seasons on the show..

Robert Holmes (1926–1986) was a British screenwriter best known for his 18[hottip:*:A couple of these were effective page-one rewrites for other writers and went out under pseudonyms] for ''Series/DoctorWho'' between 1968 and 1986 and script editing a good number of others, spending 3 1/2 seasons on the show..

Robert Holmes (1926–1986) was a British screenwriter best known for his 18[[note:*:A couple of these were effective page-one rewrites for other writers and went out under pseudonyms]] for ''Series/DoctorWho'' between 1968 and 1986 and script editing a good number of others, spending 3 1/2 seasons on the show..

Robert Holmes (1926–1986) was a British screenwriter best known for his 18 stories for ''Series/DoctorWho'' between 1968 and 1986 and script editing a good number of others, spending 3 1/2 seasons on the show..