Ian Briggs
Episodes Broadcast: 1987, 1989
Ian Briggs studied drama at Manchester University, and then spent time
working in stage lighting and design. Eager to become a scriptwriter, he
unsuccessfully pitched ideas for Doctor Who in the early
Eighties. Briggs worked as a reader for the Royal Court Theatre, Warner
Brothers and London Films, and joined the BBC Script Unit in 1986, where
he met Andrew Cartmel. When Cartmel became Doctor Who's script
editor the following year, he invited Briggs to contribute ideas for the
show. Although Briggs' first attempt, the hackneyed “Clone The Drone” (or
“Drone The Clone”)
was quickly rejected, he soon developed Dragonfire. It saw Sophie Aldred's
Ace replace Melanie Bush -- the short-lived companion played by Bonnie
Langford -- alongside Sylvester McCoy as the Seventh Doctor. Briggs'
follow-up was the classic thriller The
Curse Of Fenric in 1989. He novelised both serials for Target
Books.
Briggs went on to write episodes of Casualty and The Bill,
while providing storylines for All Change and Streetwise.
He also developed comedy sketches. Briggs subsequently worked in
theatrical management and marketing. He returned to Doctor Who
with the Seventh Doctor short story The Celetial Harmony Engine
for the 2008 anthology Short Trips: Defining Patterns, published
by Big Finish Productions.
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