Gareth Roberts (writer)

Gareth John Pritchard Roberts (born 1968) is a British television screenwriter and novelist, best known for his work related to the science-fiction television series "Doctor Who". He has also worked on various comedy series and soap operas.

Roberts studied drama at college and has also worked as a clerk at the Court of Appeal.

"Doctor Who"

During the 1990s, Roberts was associated with the popular range of "Doctor Who" spin-off novels published by Virgin Books. He contributed several novels to both their New Adventures and Missing Adventures ranges of "Doctor Who" fiction. He also wrote some "Cracker" novelisations for Virgin.

He continued to be associated with "Doctor Who" in the 2000s, penning several feature articles and comic strips for "Doctor Who Magazine", co-writing audio plays and short stories based on the series with Clayton Hickman for Big Finish Productions, and in 2005 writing another "Doctor Who" novel, "Only Human", based on the characters from the new series launched that year, for BBC Books' New Series Adventures range. A further novel, "I am a Dalek", was released in 2006 and featured the Tenth Doctor. "I am a Dalek" is part of a Government "Quick Reads initiative". He also co-wrote "The New Gods" with Rebecca Levene, the first "Tomorrow People" audio drama for Big Finish.

On December 25 2005 a special 'interactive' mini-episode of "Doctor Who" written by Roberts, "Attack of the Graske", was broadcast, and can now be accessed on the [http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/games/graske/geoip/host.shtml BBC website] (only available to UK Broadband Users). Roberts also wrote a series of "TARDISODEs", short videos available online and via mobile phones promoting the 2006 series of "Doctor Who".

He has thus far written two full episodes of "Doctor Who", "The Shakespeare Code" for the 2007 series and "The Unicorn and the Wasp" for the 2008 series.

Roberts also co-wrote, with Russell T Davies, "Invasion of the Bane", the pilot episode of the "Doctor Who" spin-off series "The Sarah Jane Adventures". He wrote two two-part stories for the full series of "The Sarah Jane Adventures", which began broadcasting in the autumn of 2007.

Roberts will co write with Davies again for one of the 2009 specials of "Doctor Who".

oap operas

Roberts has worked on some of the most popular British soap operas, including Channel 4's now-defunct "Brookside" as a scriptwriter (1999-2003), and as a story associate on ITV's "Coronation Street" in 1997. In 1998 he worked as a script editor on ITV's other long-running soap, "Emmerdale", moving across to write several episodes himself the following year.

Comedy

In comedy, Roberts has worked in collaboration with "The Fast Show" writer and performer Charlie Higson on the sitcom "Swiss Toni", a spin-off from "The Fast Show". He also collaborated with Higson on scripts for the second series of "Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased)" for BBC One in 2001.

Roberts has also contributed sketches to the Five sketch show "Swinging".

Bibliography

* "The Highest Science" ("Doctor Who" New Adventure, 1993)
* "Tragedy Day" ("Doctor Who" New Adventure, 1994)
* "Zamper" ("Doctor Who" New Adventure, 1995)
* "The Romance of Crime" ("Doctor Who" Missing Adventure, 1995)
* "To be a Somebody" ("Cracker" novelisation, 1996)
* "Best Boys" ("Cracker" novelisation, 1996)
* "The English Way of Death" ("Doctor Who" Missing Adventure, 1996)
* "The Plotters" ("Doctor Who" Missing Adventure, 1996)
* "The Well-Mannered War" ("Doctor Who" Missing Adventure, 1997)
* "Only Human" ("Doctor Who" New Series Adventure, 2005)
* "I am a Dalek" ("Doctor Who" New Series Adventure, 2006)

Short stories in:
* "" (1995)
* "" (1996)
* "More Short Trips" (1999)
* "Short Trips and Sidesteps" (2000)
* "" (2003)
* "Doctor Who Annual 2006" (2005)
* "The Doctor Who Storybook 2007" (2006)

Television scripts:
* "Emmerdale" (several episodes, 1999)
* "Springhill" (storyline writer)
* "Brookside" (contributing writer, 1999–2003)
* "Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased)"
**"Whatever Possessed You?" (co-written with Charlie Higson, 2001)
**"Painkillers" (additional material by Mark Gatiss and Jeremy Dyson, 2001)
* "Swiss Toni" (staff writer, 2003)
* "Swinging" (staff writer, 2005)
* "Doctor Who"
**"Attack of the Graske" (interactive episode, 2005)
**"The Shakespeare Code" (2007)
**"The Unicorn and the Wasp" (2008)
**"Unnamed Special" (co-written with Russell T Davies, 2009)
* "The Sarah Jane Adventures"
**"Invasion of the Bane" (co-written with Russell T Davies, 2007)
**"Revenge of the Slitheen" (2 parts, 2007)
**"Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane?" (2 parts, 2007)
**"Secrets of the Stars" (2 parts, 2008)Sarah Jane Episode Guide (2008-9-17 (cover date)). Doctor Who Magazine (399).]
**"The Temptation of Sarah Jane Smith" (2 parts, 2008)

References

External links

*imdb name|id=0731111|name=Gareth Roberts
* [http://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/9.html Disposable Media Issue 9 Interview]