Biografía

Terrance Dicks

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Resumen

Nacimiento
14 de abril de 1935 · East Ham, Londres, Inglaterra, Reino Unido
Defunción
29 de agosto de 2019 · Hampstead, Londres, Inglaterra, Reino Unido (causa no comunicada)
Nombre de nacimiento
Terrance William Dicks
Alias
- Uncle Terrance

Biografía

Familiar

Cónyuge

Trivia

In the mid 1990s, a parody Doctor Who (1963) fanzine called "Auton" printed a telephone conversation with Dicks in which they pretended to represent a group of fans presenting him with an award for being a "Criminally Underrated National Treasure". The humour, for those who fail to spot it, lies in the initials of the award's name.
He was a very good friend of writer Malcolm Hulke, who helped him start his own career as a writer. He has called Hulke his mentor in the business and later commissioned several scripts from him during his time as script editor of Doctor Who (1963).
Following his death, author Jenny Colgan expressed her surprise that he had never even received an OBE for his efforts in introducing so many children, especially boys, to reading books. In fact, he hadn't even received the lowest honour, an MBE.
Although Barry Letts and Dudley Simpson both received tributes upon their deaths from BBC Radio 4's "Last Word", Terrance Dicks' death was ignored.

Citas

I always said Bill Hartnell (William Hartnell) played him (Doctor Who (1963)) as a grumpy old man because he was a grumpy old man.
I always used to say about Mary Whitehouse, if there's one thing she hated more than sex, it was Doctor Who (1963).
I'm no great believer in rewrites anyway. During my time there was a programme called "The Ambassadors of Death", which David Whitaker - a very good writer - had done four or five rewrites and the show wasn't getting better, it was getting worse. You know the kind of Hollywood type thing where you have several writers and seventeen drafts and it's all crap. I've always felt that in an efficient operation, you do two drafts. You write your first draft and the script editor and the producer and maybe the director comment on it and you go and write your second draft and that should do as a writer.
It turned out I had a ghastly talent for doing soap operas! Soap opera is fun, it's innocuous entertainment, but it's fat really. What's astonishing and I guess a part of worldwide 'dumbing down' is the way it's taken over the television schedule in Britain. Five of the top shows are now soap operas. Crossroads (1964) was unique because it was the first soap opera. It was never very good. It was very cheap but people loved soap opera. And the company that produced it hated it and wanted to get rid of it but it kept coming to the top of the ratings every week. In those days, the BBC would never have done a soap opera, it was like pornography, and now they live on Gente de barrio (1985). I have a saying that 'all drama tends inexorably to soap opera'. There are disguised soap operas all over television.
Never let the actors get above themselves. The idea of a Pertwee (Jon Pertwee) or a Tom Baker directing a Doctor Who (1963) would strike terror in us. You must never let the inmates run the asylum.