As a new generation of fans await the debut of the 11th incarnation of the Doctor, long-time fan Jon Culshaw travels back in time to look at the man who changed Doctor Who forever: Douglas Adams.

After years toiling for success as a writer, in 1978 Douglas' world turned upside down. Just weeks after the radio series The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy was commissioned, so was his first script for Doctor Who. The following year - just as Hitchhikers was taking off - he was offered the job as script editor, one of the most demanding jobs in television.

The scripts he wrote for Doctor Who - The Pirate Planet, City of Death and Shada - still stand as a benchmark for the series today. But his time on the series was beset by problems. Technician strikes would seriously affect production, inflation was squeezing the series budget, and Douglas was exhausted by the simultaneous demands of Hitchhikers and Doctor Who.

Nevertheless, Douglas left an indelible mark on Doctor Who, bringing in a sharp wit that hadn't been seen before in what was ostensibly a children's TV series. Today's crop of writers and producers strive to emulate the intelligence, humour and ideas in Adams' scripts from 1979.

Jon Culshaw looks at Douglas' work on a television institution, talking to the writers, directors and actors who worked with him, and looks at the legacy of his work on Doctor Who with new executive producer Steven Moffat.

Produced by Simon Barnard and Kieron Moyles. This is a Wise Buddah production for BBC Radio 4.

It really was an exciting find! We were trawling through the masses of documents, cuttings and photos in the Watling family archive when we chanced upon a huge box of holiday slides. One of the cases was labelled very faintly as Dr.Who (Wales).

There are a selection of photos featuring the cast – including Debbie’s father Jack Watling, and co-stars Patrick Troughton and Frazer Hines – and crew filming with the dreaded Yeti up Snowdonia.

The Doctor has been summoned by an old friend, but in the Cabinet War Rooms far below the streets of blitz-torn London, it's his oldest enemy he finds waiting for him, as the time-travelling adventures continue. The Daleks are back – but can Winston Churchill be in league with them?

This has made my list of Top Five Shooting Days! Pushing Top Three! There were no aliens, no Daleks, nothing. We were just playing football. Then again, I suppose there was a big time loop...

Amy should never take anything for granted – she doesn’t know she’s the companion and she’s not familiar with the set-up that the Doctor has a female companion. So this is all brand-new to her and I have to keep reminding myself of that. As far as she knows, she’s the first companion… ever!

I was thinking, ‘Who in the world has a brain and a silliness which is close to the Doctor?’ and then I saw that photograph of Albert Einstein poking his tongue out and it just clicked. I found this book of quotes by Einstein – which I recommend as a life choice, he was such an insightful man – and I started writing short stories about Einstein and the Doctor, where the Doctor was getting irritated with the great man’s buffoonery. He’d be saying, ‘Come on, Albert, keep up!’ and I think that, more than anything, was my way in to the part.

I was never really into science fiction when I was growing up, though my mum was a big Doctor Who fan. Now I’ve turned into a real sci-fi geek. Once you get sucked into that world, it has its own logic and laws, which is why I think people are so passionate about it.