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Robert Holmes - The Best "Who" Writer of All Time?

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Vampyros Adric
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« on: April 12, 2012, 09:23:45 pm »

Just watching the extras for The Two Doctors and no less a luminary than Terrance D1cks stated that Robert Holmes was the best writer that Doctor Who has ever seen. I am trying to argue with the premise but I am finding it hard to dispute this.

Let's look at the facts; Caves of Androzani, Terror of the Autons, Talons of Weng Chiang, Deadly Assassin, The Sunmakers, Pyramids of Mars, Brain of Morbius (co-written with Terry D1cks), Carnival of Monsters.... these are the edited highlights of his writing career.

I defy you to find someone who consistently churns out quality stories to the standard and enjoyment of Robert Holmes. Add to this that he was script editor on the show during the golden age of the first three seasons of Tom Baker's incarnation and had his fingers in most of the scripts during this time. He was Eric Saward's first choice to write the Five Doctors and was again his first choice to write the Two Doctors. He was the first choice to sort out Trial of a Timelord. Let us not forget that he wrote arguably the greatest regeneration story of all time, Caves of Androzani.

We have had some fine writers working on the show. I mean Terry Nation, Terry D1cks, Eric Saward, Rob Shearman, Neil Gaiman, Steven Moffat, RTD, Toby Whitehouse, Gareth Roberts - these are some of the best writers in the business. But a-top the tree, with his gentle social conscious style of writing, his wonderfully sharp, witty dialogue and his sheer consistency, I give you the brilliant Robert Holmes.
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« Reply #1 on: April 12, 2012, 10:27:48 pm »

Caves of Androzani, Terror of the Autons, Talons of Weng Chiang, Deadly Assassin, The Sunmakers, Pyramids of Mars, Brain of Morbius (co-written with Terry D1cks), Carnival of Monsters.... these are the edited highlights of his writing career.

When you look at a list like that it's really hard to argue it.
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« Reply #2 on: April 13, 2012, 03:01:46 pm »

I don't know if I could put my hand on heart and say he was the absolute best writer that the show ever had, mainly because I am not sure he could write for todays pacing and format as well as he did the classics, but I do think that he was the most consistently good writer. Some of his stories are amongst the best.
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« Reply #3 on: April 15, 2012, 01:34:33 am »

When it comes to classic Who I would agree and say he was probably the best writer the show had back then.
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« Reply #4 on: April 15, 2012, 01:42:51 am »

When it comes to classic Who I would agree and say he was probably the best writer the show had back then.

I'd agree.  It's very hard to compare classic and NuWho writing, but I think I'd probably rank him at #1.
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