This is possibly the most controversial of the list (and also I'm being a bit cheeky by cramming two writers in under one heading....)
NUMBER 8
Kit Pedler & Gerry Davis
Kit Pedlar (Dr Christopher Magnus Howard Pedler) (born 11 June 1927 died 27 May 1981) was a medical scientist, science writer and science fiction writer. He was brought into Doctor Who in the mid 1960s by Innes Lloyd to bring some 'hard science' into the show. He teamed up with writer and soon to be Script Editor
Gerry Davis (born 23 Feb 1930, died 31 August 1991) and between them they created the iconic Cybermen based around Pedlars prediction of bio-engineering and environmental concerns (concerns that would later lead them to create Doomwatch).
Between them they wrote..
The Tenth Planet
The Tomb of the Cybermen
Kit PedlarThe War Machines
The Moonbase
The Wheel in Space
The Invasion
Gerry DavisThe Highlanders
Revenge of the Cybermen
They're in the list because..Ok, I admit a little bit of Classic Who snobbery sneaking in here. But without these two, the entire direction of the show might have been completely different. They invented the Cybermen and in doing so, tried to posit a warning about the future extrapolated from (then) current science fact. It is a theme that was returned to on numerous occasions (most notably when Christopher H. Bidmead tried to restore a science-centric approach to the show, citing Pedlar and Davis as a key influence on the early focus of the show. Even just for inventing Cybermen, their place amongst the Grandees of the Show is assured. But just look at the stories that they wrote (or in Pedlar's case suggested). They were way ahead of their time and without them, Doctor Who might not have been so popular - nor even so long-lived. This is my humble tribute to the forgotten heroes of the show!