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Monday, 1 December 2003 - Reported by Shaun Lyon
Author Bill Strutton, the author of the much-discussed Doctor Who serial "The Web Planet," died on November 23 at age 80. Says an article printed today in the Telegraph, "[W]hen Bill Strutton wrote the script of The Web Planet in 1965, he had a hard act to follow. At first the Zarbi, inhabitants of the bleak and desolate planet Vortis, seemed formidable enough; it transpired, however, that for all their malevolent chirping, they had originally been harmless scavengers. Only under the auspices of the Animus, a dark power who addressed Dr Who in sinisterly smooth and mellifluous feminine tones, had they been transformed into militant aggressors. Once the Doctor had outwitted the Animus, the Zarbi resumed their original unthreatening character. Strutton, for his part, extended his profits with a covering novel Doctor Who and the Zarbi (1965)." Strutton was born in 1923 in Australia and spent time as a prisoner of war during World War II; he was a novelist, journalist and television writer whose work includes "The Saint," "Ivanhoe" and, of course, "Doctor Who". He is survived by a son and two daughters. (Thanks to Jim Sangster, Steve Stratford)




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