Deleted
Deus est regit qui omnia.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 2, 2019 14:55:21 GMT
A legend of Classic DW has sadly passed away aged 84.
Wrote loads of great scripts, was script editor and scribed a lot of the Target Books novelizations of the show.
Letts was script editor on the Golden Age of 1969-74.
RIP
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Post by fordcapri on Sept 2, 2019 15:07:16 GMT
I am genuinely very, very, very upset to hear this.
Terrance Dicks was an absolute hero of mine. Two people taught me to read... my dad and Terrance Dicks. I cannot even begin to say how much his books meant to me.
I had the great pleasure of meeting Terrance three times; first of all in Hull in 1983 and then in Derby - the last time being in 2015 when I interviewed him at a Doctor Who event. He took great pleasure in signing all the books that I handed him (for free!) and even offered to sign the poster in the Doctor Who Monster Book! A true hero and one of the people who steered Doctor Who down the right path all those years ago. To this day, I truly believe that the Jon Pertwee era (in truth the Barry Letts and Terrance Dicks era!) was the best - certainly my favourite. Without him as a guiding light and script editor, I'd be willing to bet that those glory days wouldn't have been quite so glorious. And stories such as 'Horror of Fang Rock', 'Brain of Morbius', 'Robot' and 'State of Decay' are among my favourites. He also wrote one of the few decent episodes of Space: 1999 Year Two.
R.I.P. Terrance. Thanks for everything.
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Post by flyingsquad on Sept 2, 2019 15:11:54 GMT
A TV legend.
RIP Terrance
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Deleted
Deus est regit qui omnia.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 2, 2019 15:17:52 GMT
Dicks was really interesting to listen on all the DVD extras that he contributed to.
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Post by fordcapri on Sept 2, 2019 15:32:30 GMT
Yes. I also enjoyed the series Moonbase 3, which he devised with Barry Letts. It was very much the non-sensationalist relative of Space: 1999. I've also got a letter from him here, from 1983, from when he was still working at the BBC as script editor on the Sunday Classic Serial. I doubt that one single person contributed more to Doctor Who, on the writing side, than Terrance Dicks. His influence can never be forgotten. I've just had an incredible shock. I went to the BBC website to read their news story about Terrance's death and the photo they have used was actually taken when I interviewed him in 2015. He is holding MY copy of the Doctor Who Monster Book in his hand in this photo! I can't believe it. This is too surreal for words. www.BBC.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-49555763 |
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Post by felixdeburgh on Sept 2, 2019 15:55:34 GMT
Always a sign of quality when you saw his name in the credits.
RIP.
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Deleted
Deus est regit qui omnia.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 2, 2019 16:00:10 GMT
Terrance and Barry Letts were such a double act and became lifelong friends. I imagine Terrance was devastated when Barry died.
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Post by Arch Stanton on Sept 2, 2019 16:55:38 GMT
Extremely rubbish news. Ford Capri and I were just discussing the Target novelisations in the Dr Who thread yesterday. A very good and prolific writer.
RIP TD
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Post by mybodyguard on Sept 2, 2019 16:59:43 GMT
Can't help but think how much fun everyone had working with Dicks on Doctor Who. His touch for providing quality entertainment is certainly felt, and lives on in his productions and all his books. RIP.
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Post by fordcapri on Sept 2, 2019 17:08:00 GMT
Extremely rubbish news. Ford Capri and I were just discussing the Target novelisations in the Dr Who thread yesterday. A very good and prolific writer. RIP TD Yeah. I wonder if people realise just how many kids developed an interest in/love of reading by reading the Doctor Who books - most of which were written by Terrance. His importance shouldn't be underestimated. I read those books prolifically between about 1974 and about 1984. Every summer holiday (and all points in between!) I would be scouring the book shelves in every newsagent or WH Smiths to see if there were any new ones. At one point I definitely had them all, but now I've just got the ones from between '74 and about '79. They sold MILLIONS in their time and I reckon every other house in the UK must have had at least one or two in there somewhere! Even now when I write something, which is very rare, I always think 'how would Terrance Dicks write this?'. I'm going to re-read his 'Day of the Daleks' novelisaton now, as it was the first one I ever got - exactly 45 years ago! Feels like a HUGE part of my childhood has just died. And I'll certainly be watching Moonbase 3 and, in all probability, Horror of Fang Rock (on VHS video!) very, very soon. I shall attach the photo from the BBC website, taken in 2015 in Derby. Really freaks me out to think that he is holding my copy of the Doctor Who Monster Book. I'm freaked out but proud and honoured at the same time. Thank You Terrance. You will never be forgotten.  |
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Post by Arch Stanton on Sept 2, 2019 17:25:05 GMT
Extremely rubbish news. Ford Capri and I were just discussing the Target novelisations in the Dr Who thread yesterday. A very good and prolific writer. RIP TD Yeah. I wonder if people realise just how many kids developed an interest in/love of reading by reading the Doctor Who books - most of which were written by Terrance. His importance shouldn't be underestimated. I read those books prolifically between about 1974 and about 1984. Every summer holiday (and all points in between!) I would be scouring the book shelves in every newsagent or WH Smiths to see if there were any new ones. At one point I definitely had them all, but now I've just got the ones from between '74 and about '79. They sold MILLIONS in their time and I reckon every other house in the UK must have had at least one or two in there somewhere! Even now when I write something, which is very rare, I always think 'how would Terrance Dicks write this?'. I'm going to re-read his 'Day of the Daleks' novelisaton now, as it was the first one I ever got - exactly 45 years ago! Feels like a HUGE part of my childhood has just died. And I'll certainly be watching Moonbase 3 and, in all probability, Horror of Fang Rock (on VHS video!) very, very soon. I shall attach the photo from the BBC website, taken in 2015 in Derby. Really freaks me out to think that he is holding my copy of the Doctor Who Monster Book. I'm freaked out but proud and honoured at the same time. Thank You Terrance. You will never be forgotten. Loads of kids mate. Like I said in my posts yesterday (one of) my sister(s) born in 1973 had a handful and I had a handful, we didn't fight over em just read em and passed em on between one another. I used to get em out the library too, as did she, as you say they were everywhere. Boys and girls read em. I got a few for my Birthday one year because it was what I wanted. Probably around 1984-ish when you quit reading, so unknowingly you may have passed the baton on to me  In the latter part of the 80s my sister started reading Jilly Cooper and shortly after I started reading Guy N Smith. Rarely did we trade books at that point  There were many other literary influences for me but Terrence was certainly in the mix. |
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Post by Wynn Chester on Sept 2, 2019 17:52:55 GMT
I’m not the biggest DW fan oi the world, but his name is synonymous for a time when I’d occasionally catch an episode or two after doing my homework so RIP Terrance 😞
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Post by felixdeburgh on Sept 2, 2019 18:58:04 GMT
Yes, I read quite a few of the Target books in the 70’s too, as did most of my mates. You only have to mention his name and I’m transported back to the mid 70’s and scouring the shelf of the local newsagents to see if a new one had come out. I’m not the biggest Who fan but I always enjoyed hearing him speak as he had such a handle on the show and had a lot of detailed knowledge which came into its own in the era of conventions and DVD commentaries. Outside of the Doctors themselves and possibly Terry Nation, he probably had the greatest influence on the show.
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Post by chrisclark1977 on Sept 2, 2019 19:57:14 GMT
RIP Terrance. A real legend.
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Post by pr1 on Sept 2, 2019 20:54:31 GMT
Very sad news. His contribution to Doctor Who is substantial. Like many, I greatly enjoyed his novelizations for Target Books were always entertaing reads. Didn't he receive an award for helping to promote child literacy?
Rest In Peace.
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Post by Portland Road on Sept 3, 2019 5:58:33 GMT
Yes, I read quite a few of the Target books, in the early 80s.
R.I.P. Terrence Dicks.
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Deleted
Deus est regit qui omnia.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 3, 2019 8:02:47 GMT
Yes, I read quite a few of the Target books, in the early 80s.
Same time as I did.
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Post by ltd on Sept 3, 2019 17:29:12 GMT
Like a lot of you I read a lot of the Target novelisations when I was younger. In many ways enjoyed them more than the TV show. Him and Malcolm Hulke were always quality. RIP Terrance and thank you for all the good reads in my formative years.
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Post by fordcapri on Sept 17, 2019 18:28:38 GMT
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Post by yoyopickles on Sept 17, 2019 20:39:08 GMT
I used to be a big Doctor who fan, as many of you known. I have Terrence Dicks to thank for this, as in the 1980s, I would watch Peter Davidson and colin Baker as the doctor on telly, and read the novels of the 2nd,3rd and 4th Doctors in the library written by Terrence Dicks, all featuring a "wheezing, groaning blue box that was bigger on the inside "
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casey
Winchester Regular
Posts: 43
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Post by casey on Sept 23, 2019 19:26:38 GMT
Just seen this sad news. I still have all my old Target books from the 70's
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Deleted
Deus est regit qui omnia.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 23, 2019 20:04:45 GMT
Terrance a was real hero to us DW fans. His contribution to the series is immeasurable.
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Post by thewoodster on Oct 9, 2019 22:42:31 GMT
RIP.
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