Gareth Roberts (writer)
Encyclopedia
Gareth John Pritchard Roberts (born 1968) is a British television
screenwriter
and novelist, best known for his work related to the science-fiction television series Doctor Who
. He has also worked on various comedy series and soap opera
s.
Roberts studied drama at college and has also worked as a clerk at the Court of Appeal.
. He contributed several novels to both their New Adventures
and Missing Adventures
ranges of Doctor Who fiction. He also wrote some Cracker
novelisations for Virgin.
He continued to be associated with Doctor Who in the 2000s, penning several feature articles and comic strips for Doctor Who Magazine
, co-writing audio plays
and short stories based on the series with Clayton Hickman
for Big Finish Productions
, and in 2005 writing another Doctor Who novel, Only Human, based on the characters from the new series launched that year, for BBC Books
' New Series Adventures
range. A further novel, I am a Dalek
, was released in 2006 and featured the Tenth Doctor
. I am a Dalek is part of a Government "Quick Reads initiative". He also co-wrote The New Gods with Rebecca Levene
, the first Tomorrow People
audio drama for Big Finish.
Roberts appeared as a contributor to the documentary Serial Thrillers, exploring the popular Philip Hinchcliffe
era of Doctor Who between 1975 and 1977, which featured as an extra on the 2004 DVD release of the serial Pyramids of Mars
.
On 25 December 2005 a special 'interactive' mini-episode of Doctor Who written by Roberts, Attack of the Graske
, was broadcast, and can now be accessed on the BBC website (only available to UK Broadband Users). Roberts also wrote a series of "TARDISODE
s", short videos available online and via mobile phone
s promoting the 2006 series of Doctor Who.
He has written four full episodes of Doctor Who, "The Shakespeare Code
" in 2007, "The Unicorn and the Wasp
" in 2008, "The Lodger
" in 2010 and "Closing Time
" in 2011.
Roberts also co-wrote, with Russell T Davies, "Invasion of the Bane
", the pilot episode of the Doctor Who spin-off series The Sarah Jane Adventures
. He wrote two two-part stories for the full series of The Sarah Jane Adventures, which began broadcasting in the autumn of 2007, and another two two-part stories for the 2008 series.
Roberts co-wrote with Davies again for the second of the 2009 specials of Doctor Who, "Planet of the Dead
".
BBC Books have announced that Gareth Roberts is writing a novelisation of Shada
, the uncompleted Tom Baker story written by Douglas Adams
, that was due to be the finale of season seventeen of Doctor Who in 1979 before it was abandoned due to industrial action. The book is due for publication in March 2012.
's now-defunct Brookside
as a scriptwriter (1999–2003), and as a story associate on ITV
's Coronation Street
in 1997. In 1998 he worked as a script editor
on ITV's other long-running soap, Emmerdale
, moving across to write several episodes himself the following year.
writer and performer Charlie Higson
on the sitcom Swiss Toni
, a spin-off
from The Fast Show. He also collaborated with Higson on scripts for the second series of Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased)
for BBC One
in 2001.
Roberts has also contributed sketches to the Five sketch show Swinging.
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
and novelist, best known for his work related to the science-fiction television series Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
. He has also worked on various comedy series and soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
s.
Roberts studied drama at college and has also worked as a clerk at the Court of Appeal.
Doctor Who
During the 1990s, Roberts was associated with the popular range of Doctor Who spin-off novels published by Virgin BooksVirgin Books
Virgin Books is a United Kingdom book publisher 90% owned by the publishing group Random House, and 10% owned by Virgin Enterprises, the company originally set up by Richard Branson as a record company.-History:...
. He contributed several novels to both their New Adventures
Virgin New Adventures
The Virgin New Adventures were a series of novels from Virgin Publishing based on the British science-fiction television series Doctor Who...
and Missing Adventures
Virgin Missing Adventures
The Virgin Missing Adventures were a series of novels from Virgin Publishing based on the British science-fiction television series Doctor Who, which had been cancelled in 1989, featuring stories set between televised episodes of the programme. The novels were published from 1994 to 1997, and...
ranges of Doctor Who fiction. He also wrote some Cracker
Cracker (UK TV series)
Cracker is a British crime drama series produced by Granada Television for ITV and created and principally written by Jimmy McGovern. The series is centered on a criminal psychologist , Eddie "Fitz" Fitzgerald, played by Robbie Coltrane. Set in Manchester, it consists of three series which were...
novelisations for Virgin.
He continued to be associated with Doctor Who in the 2000s, penning several feature articles and comic strips for Doctor Who Magazine
Doctor Who Magazine
Doctor Who Magazine is a magazine devoted to the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who...
, co-writing audio plays
Radio drama
Radio drama is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance, broadcast on radio or published on audio media, such as tape or CD. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine the characters and story...
and short stories based on the series with Clayton Hickman
Clayton Hickman
Clayton Hickman is a British writer, magazine editor and designer. Born in Bristol in 1977, he first worked in publishing as Editorial Assistant on Film Review magazine from 1999-2000, and went on to become the longest-serving editor of Panini Comics' Doctor Who Magazine, overseeing the...
for Big Finish Productions
Big Finish Productions
Big Finish Productions is a British company that produces books and audio plays based, primarily, on cult British science fiction properties...
, and in 2005 writing another Doctor Who novel, Only Human, based on the characters from the new series launched that year, for BBC Books
BBC Books
BBC Books is an imprint majority owned and managed by Random House. The minority shareholder is BBC Worldwide, the commercial subsidiary of the British Broadcasting Corporation...
' New Series Adventures
New Series Adventures (Doctor Who)
The New Series Adventures are a series of novels relating to the long-running BBC science fiction television series, Doctor Who. The 'NSAs', as they are often referred to, are published by BBC Books, and are regularly published in the spring and autumn of each year. Beginning and concluding with...
range. A further novel, I am a Dalek
I am a Dalek
I am a Dalek is a BBC Books original novella written by Gareth Roberts and based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It features the Tenth Doctor and Rose. This paperback is part of the Quick Reads Initiative sponsored by the UK government, to encourage literacy...
, was released in 2006 and featured the Tenth Doctor
Tenth Doctor
The Tenth Doctor is the tenth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He is played by David Tennant, who appears in three series, as well as eight specials...
. I am a Dalek is part of a Government "Quick Reads initiative". He also co-wrote The New Gods with Rebecca Levene
Rebecca Levene
Rebecca Levene is a British author and editor, best known for editing Virgin's New Adventures series of original fiction Doctor Who novels.-Biography:...
, the first Tomorrow People
The Tomorrow People
The Tomorrow People is a British children's science fiction television series, devised by Roger Price. Produced by Thames Television for the ITV Network, the series first ran between 1973 and 1979. The series was re-imagined in 1992, Roger Price acting as executive producer...
audio drama for Big Finish.
Roberts appeared as a contributor to the documentary Serial Thrillers, exploring the popular Philip Hinchcliffe
Philip Hinchcliffe
Philip Hinchcliffe is a British television producer, who brought shows including Private Schulz and The Charmer to the screen, probably best known for the overseeing of British television series Doctor Who from 1974-1977...
era of Doctor Who between 1975 and 1977, which featured as an extra on the 2004 DVD release of the serial Pyramids of Mars
Pyramids of Mars
Pyramids of Mars is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 25 October to 15 November 1975.-Synopsis:...
.
On 25 December 2005 a special 'interactive' mini-episode of Doctor Who written by Roberts, Attack of the Graske
Attack of the Graske
"Attack of the Graske" is an interactive mini-episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who that was first broadcast on the BBC Red Button service on 25 December 2005. It is now available as an online game on the official Doctor Who website.-Synopsis:The human race is in...
, was broadcast, and can now be accessed on the BBC website (only available to UK Broadband Users). Roberts also wrote a series of "TARDISODE
TARDISODE
Tardisodes are mini-episodes of the television programme Doctor Who created to accompany the 2006 series of the programme. Made by Doctor Who producers BBC Wales, each Tardisode is approximately 60 seconds long and serves as an introduction to one of the actual 45-minute episodes...
s", short videos available online and via mobile phone
Mobile phone
A mobile phone is a device which can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link whilst moving around a wide geographic area. It does so by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile network operator...
s promoting the 2006 series of Doctor Who.
He has written four full episodes of Doctor Who, "The Shakespeare Code
The Shakespeare Code
"The Shakespeare Code" is an episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 7 April 2007, and is the second episode of Series 3 of the revived Doctor Who series. According to the BARB figures this episode was seen by 7.23 million viewers and was...
" in 2007, "The Unicorn and the Wasp
The Unicorn and the Wasp
"The Unicorn and the Wasp" is the 7th episode in the revised fourth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was aired by BBC One on 17 May 2008 at 19:00. Perhaps due to its later broadcast, it received an overnight audience rating of 7.7 million, making it the...
" in 2008, "The Lodger
The Lodger (Doctor Who)
"The Lodger" is the eleventh episode of the fifth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, first broadcast on BBC One on 12 June 2010...
" in 2010 and "Closing Time
Closing Time (Doctor Who)
"Closing Time" is the twelfth episode of the sixth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, and was first broadcast on BBC One, BBC America and Space on 24 September 2011.-Plot summary:...
" in 2011.
Roberts also co-wrote, with Russell T Davies, "Invasion of the Bane
Invasion of the Bane
-Sladen and Doctor Who:Elisabeth Sladen, who previously played Sarah Jane between 1973 and 1976. In 1981, she was offered the role again to ease the transition between the Fourth and Fifth Doctors, which she declined, but agreed to star in the pilot for the spin-off series K-9 and Company, which...
", the pilot episode of the Doctor Who spin-off series The Sarah Jane Adventures
The Sarah Jane Adventures
The Sarah Jane Adventures is a British science fiction television series, produced by BBC Cymru Wales for CBBC, created by Russell T Davies and starring Elisabeth Sladen...
. He wrote two two-part stories for the full series of The Sarah Jane Adventures, which began broadcasting in the autumn of 2007, and another two two-part stories for the 2008 series.
Roberts co-wrote with Davies again for the second of the 2009 specials of Doctor Who, "Planet of the Dead
Planet of the Dead
"Planet of the Dead" is the first 2009 special of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who that was simultaneously broadcast on BBC One and BBC HD on 11 April 2009. It was the second of five special episodes broadcast throughout 2009 and early 2010, which served as lead actor...
".
BBC Books have announced that Gareth Roberts is writing a novelisation of Shada
Shada
Shada is an unaired serial of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was intended to be the final serial of the 1979-80 season , but was never completed due to a strike at the BBC during filming...
, the uncompleted Tom Baker story written by Douglas Adams
Douglas Adams
Douglas Noel Adams was an English writer and dramatist. He is best known as the author of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, which started life in 1978 as a BBC radio comedy before developing into a "trilogy" of five books that sold over 15 million copies in his lifetime, a television...
, that was due to be the finale of season seventeen of Doctor Who in 1979 before it was abandoned due to industrial action. The book is due for publication in March 2012.
Soap operas
Roberts has worked on some of the most popular British soap operas, including Channel 4Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
's now-defunct Brookside
Brookside
Brookside is a defunct British soap opera set in Liverpool, England. The series began on the launch night of Channel 4 on 2 November 1982, and ran for 21 years until 4 November 2003...
as a scriptwriter (1999–2003), and as a story associate on ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
's Coronation Street
Coronation Street
Coronation Street is a British soap opera set in Weatherfield, a fictional town in Greater Manchester based on Salford. Created by Tony Warren, Coronation Street was first broadcast on 9 December 1960...
in 1997. In 1998 he worked as a script editor
Script editor
A script editor is a member of the production team of scripted television programmes, usually dramas and comedies. The script editor has many responsibilities including finding new script writers, developing storyline and series ideas with writers, ensuring that scripts are suitable for production...
on ITV's other long-running soap, Emmerdale
Emmerdale
Emmerdale, is a long-running British soap opera set in Emmerdale , a fictional village in the Yorkshire Dales. Created by Kevin Laffan, Emmerdale was first broadcast on 16 October 1972...
, moving across to write several episodes himself the following year.
Comedy
In comedy, Roberts has worked in collaboration with The Fast ShowThe Fast Show
The Fast Show, known as Brilliant in the US, was a BBC comedy sketch show programme that ran for three series from 1994 to 1997 with a special Last Fast Show Ever in 2000. The show's central performers were Paul Whitehouse, Charlie Higson, Simon Day, Mark Williams, John Thomson, Arabella Weir and...
writer and performer Charlie Higson
Charlie Higson
Charles Murray Higson , more commonly known as Charlie Higson - also Switch - is an English actor, comedian, author and former singer...
on the sitcom Swiss Toni
Swiss Toni
Swiss Toni is a fictional used-car dealer played by Charlie Higson, and also the title of a sitcom in which he is the main character. Swiss Toni is a 50-something car dealer going through a midlife crisis. To Toni almost any situation in life is best understood as being "like making love to a...
, a spin-off
Spin-off (media)
In media, a spin-off is a radio program, television program, video game, or any narrative work, derived from one or more already existing works, that focuses, in particular, in more detail on one aspect of that original work...
from The Fast Show. He also collaborated with Higson on scripts for the second series of Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased)
Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased)
Randall & Hopkirk is a British television series, produced by Working Title Films for BBC One. It is a remake of the 1960s television series Randall and Hopkirk and stars Vic Reeves as Hopkirk and Bob Mortimer as Randall, Emilia Fox as Jeannie, and Tom Baker as Wyvern.- Background :Two series...
for BBC One
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
in 2001.
Roberts has also contributed sketches to the Five sketch show Swinging.