Rex Tucker
Born: 20th February 1913 (as Ernest Rex Tucker)
Died: 10th August 1996 (aged 83 years)
Episodes Broadcast: 1966
Rex Tucker was born in the town of March in Cambridgeshire, and was
educated at Cambridge University. He was a businessman and a
schoolteacher before joining BBC Radio in 1937, where he wrote and
produced Children's Hour. In 1950, he made the move to
television, but continued to specialise in juvenile programming. He
worked variously as a writer, producer and director -- often performing
all three functions on a single programme, as with Triton and the
1955 version of St Ives. In the early Sixties, Tucker began to
diversify beyond children's television. He produced installments of the
BBC Sunday-Night Play, directed classics serials like Jane
Eyre, and wrote for shows such as Dr Finlay's Casebook and
Maigret.
In the spring of 1963, Tucker was asked to serve as an interim producer
during the development of the programme which would become Doctor
Who; indeed, it may have been Tucker who suggested the name. Tucker
stepped away from the show in June, in advance of permanent producer
Verity Lambert coming aboard. Although he had left behind a number of
suggestions about casting and other matters, in many cases Lambert opted
to take Doctor Who in new directions. Nonetheless, it was still
expected that Tucker would direct several Doctor Who stories;
however, his availability became an issue. Instead, Tucker returned to
classics serials like For Whom The Bell Tolls, while also writing
an adaptation of The Massingham Affair.
A disagreement led Tucker to remove his name from the
final episode of The Gunfighters
It was not until 1966 that Tucker finally directed for Doctor
Who, taking the helm of the Wild West adventure The Gunfighters. His daughter, Jane,
appeared as an extra in the production and had been a candidate to sing
the serial's signature tune, The Ballad Of The Last Chance
Saloon. Unfortunately, working on The
Gunfighters was not an entirely happy experience, and a
disagreement with producer Innes Lloyd led Tucker to remove his name
from the final episode.
Over the next several years, Tucker's directorial credits included
episodes of The Paradise Makers, Sinister Street and Z
Cars, while he continued to write adaptations such as Vanity
Fair and original fare like Pegasus. Tucker's final
contribution to television was the script for a 1979 episode of
Jackanory Playhouse. He died on August 10th, 1996. In the 2013
telefilm An Adventure In Space
And Time, which dramatised the early days of Doctor Who,
Tucker was portrayed by Andrew Woodall.
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