Letts, Barry
Entry updated 8 June 2026. Tagged: Author.
(1925-2009) UK Television producer, actor, scriptwriter and author, primarily associated with Doctor Who, though he was active in the theatre from before World War Two, in a career lasting nearly seventy years. His work as producer for the 1969-1974 seasons of Doctor Who featuring Jon Pertwee (1919-1996) arguably saved the series: partly because of his savvy decision to keep the Doctor earthbound, where a non-sf audience might become used to him; and partly because his articulate liberal stance on many issues generated many episodes relevant to the contemporary world. During his term as producer Letts also directed several Doctor Who storylines and co-wrote four with Robert Sloman; the first of these, Doctor Who: The Dæmons (5 episodes 22 May-19 June 1971), appeared with a script credit to "Guy Leopold". Letts wrote several Ties to the series, beginning with Doctor Who and the Daemons (1974).
Later producer credits include a television mini-series of The Invisible Man (1984) and a new presentation of the 1972 Doctor Who storyline The Sea Devils edited into the single 90-minute version The Sea Devils (2025). [JC]
Barry Leopold Letts
born Leicester, Leicestershire: 26 March 1925
died London: 9 October 2009
works
series
Doctor Who
- Doctor Who and the Daemons (London: Target, 1974) [tie to Doctor Who: Doctor Who: pb/Chris Achilleos]
- Doctor Who: The Scripts: The Daemons (London: Virgin Books, 1992) with Robert Sloman [script form of the above: tie to Doctor Who: Doctor Who: pb/Alistair Pearson]
- Doctor Who: The Paradise of Death (London: Virgin Books, 1994) [tie to Doctor Who: novelization of a 1993 radio serial: Doctor Who: pb/Alistair Pearson]
- Doctor Who: The Ghosts of N-Space (London: Virgin Books, 1995) [tie to Doctor Who: Doctor Who: Missing Adventures: pb/Alistair Pearson]
- Doctor Who: Deadly Reunion (London: BBC Books, 2003) with Terrance Dicks [tie to Doctor Who: Doctor Who: pb/]
- Doctor Who: Island of Death (London: BBC Books, 2005) [tie to Doctor Who: Doctor Who: pb/]
nonfiction
- Who & Me (London: Fantom Films, 2009) [tie to Doctor Who: biography: Doctor Who: hb/]
- Who & Me: New and Expanded (London: Fantom Films, 2021) with Michael Seeley [biography: exp vt of the above: tie to Doctor Who: Doctor Who: hb/]
links
previous versions of this entry