1. We have been asked to survey the field of published science fiction, in its relevance to BBC Television Drama.

2. In the time allotted, we have not been able to make more than a sample dip, but we have been greatly helped by studies of the field made by Brian Aldiss, Kingsley Amis, and Edmund Crispin, which give a very good idea of the range, quality and preoccupations of current SF writing. We have read some useful anthologies, representative of the best SF practitioners and these, with some extensive previous reading, have sufficed to give us a fair view of the subject. Alice Frick has met and spoken with Brian Aldiss, who promises to make some suggestions for further reading. It remains to be seen whether this further research will qualify our present tentative conclusions.

3. Several facts stand out a mile. The first is that SF is overwhelmingly American in bulk. This presumably means that, if we are looking for writers only, our field is exceptionally narrow, boiling down to a handful of British writers.

4. SF is largely a short story medium. Inherently, SF ideas are short-winded. The interest invariably lies in the activating idea and not in character drama. Amis has coined the phrase "idea as hero" which sums it up. The ideas are often fascinating, but so bizarre as to sustain conviction only with difficulty over any extended treatment.

5. These remarks apply largely to the novels too. Characterisation is equally spare. People are representative, not individual. The ideas are usually nearer to Earth - in every sense - and nearer to the contemporary human situation. They are thus capable of fuller treatment in depth. By and large the differences between the short stories and the novels are also the differences between the American and British schools of SF. This again helps to limit our field of useful study.

6. SF writing falls into fairly well-defined genres. At one end is the simple adventure/thriller, with all the terms appropriately translated. Any adult interest here lies in the originality of invention and vitality of writing. On a more adult level this merges into a genre that takes delight in imaginative invention, in pursuing notions to the farthest reaches of speculation. The subtlest exponents here are a group of American writers headed by Ray Bradbury, Kathleen Maclean, Isaac Asimov. In a perhaps crude but often exciting way the apparatus is used to comment on the Big Things - the relation of consciousness to cosmos, the nature of religious belief, and like matters. The American writer Edward Blish, in "A Case of Conscience", is surpassing here. More pretentiously, far less ably, the novels of C.S. Lewis likewise use the apparatus of SF in the service of metaphysical ideas. Then comes the large field of what might be called the Threat to Mankind, and Cosmic Disaster.

Most of the novels, and most of the British work find their themes here. This is the broad mid-section of SF writing, that best known to the public and more or lees identified with SF as such. The best practitioner is John Wyndham. Exploiting instinctive psychic fears, the literature of Threat and Disaster has the most compulsive pull and probably indicates the most likely vein for TV exploitation. All "Quatermass" and "Andromeda" fall squarely into this genre. Finally, there is a small lively genre of satire, comic or horrific, extrapolating current social trends and techniques. Again, the practitioners are largely American.

7. We thought it valuable to try and discover wherein might lie the essential appeal of SF to TV audiences. So far we have little to go on except "Quatermass", "Andromeda" and a couple of shows Giles Cooper did for commercial TV. These all belong to the Threat and Disaster school, the type of plot in which the whole of mankind is threatened, usually from an "alien" source. There the threat originates on earth (mad scientists and all that jazz) it is still cosmic in its reach. This cosmic quality seems inherent in SF; without it, it would be trivial. Apart from the instinctive pull of such themes, the obvious appeal of these TV SF essays lies in the ironmongery - the apparatus, the magic - and in the excitement of the unexpected. "Andromeda", which otherwise seemed to set itself out to repel, drew its total appeal from exploiting this facet, we consider. It is interesting to note that with "Andromeda", and even with "Quatermass" more people watched it than liked it. People aren't all that mad about SF, but it is compulsive, when properly presented. Audiences - we think - are as yet not interested in the mere exploitation of ideas - the "idea as hero" aspect of SF. They must have something to latch on to. The apparatus must be attached to the current human situation, and identification must be offered with recognisable human beings.

8. As a rider to the above, it is significant that SF is not itself a wildly popular branch of fiction - nothing like, for example, detective and thriller fiction. It doesn't appeal much to women and largely finds its public in the technically minded younger groups. SF is a most fruitful and exciting area of exploration - but so far has not shown itself capable of supporting a large population.

9. This points to the need to use great care and judgement in shaping SF for a mass audience. It isn't an automatic winner.

No doubt future audiences will get the taste and hang of SF as exciting in itself, and an entertaining way of probing speculative ideas, and the brilliant imaginings of a writer like Isaac Asimov will find a receptive place. But for the present we conclude that SF TV must be rooted in the contemporary scene, and like any other kind of drama deal with human beings in a situation that evokes identification end sympathy. Once again, our field is therefore sharply narrowed.

Conclusions

10. We must admit to having started this study with a profound prejudice - that television science fiction drama must be written not by SF writers, but by TV dramatists. We think it is not necessary to elaborate our reasons for this - it's a different job and calls for different skills. Further, the public/ audience is different, so it wants a different kind of story (until perhaps it can be trained to accept something quite new). There is a wide gulf between SF as it exists, and the present tastes and needs of the TV audience, and this can only be bridged by writers deeply immersed in the TV discipline.

11. Only a very cursory examination has sufficed to show that the vast bulk of SF writing is by nature unsuitable for translation to TV. In its major manifestation, the imaginative short story with philosophic overtones, it is too remote, projected too far away from common humanity in the here-and-now, to evoke interest in the common audience. Satiric fantasies are presumably out. As far as the writers themselves are concerned, nearly all of them are American, and so not available to us even if we wanted them.

We are left with a small group of works, and writers, mainly novels written by British novelists. With the exception of Arthur Clarke and C.S. Lewis, they represent the Threat and Disaster school, which as we have said, is the genre of SF most acceptable to a broad audience. John Wyndham is the chief exponent. Wyndham's books were studied in the Department on an earlier occasion, and we decided that with one exception they offered us nothing directly usable on TV. The exception was "The Midwich Cuckoos", which of course was snapped up for a film. This is indeed the likely fate of any SF novel that could also serve us for TV.

12. Two exceptions to "Threat and Disaster" are Arthur Clarke and C.S. Lewis. The latter we think is clumsy and old-fashioned in his use of the SF apparatus, there is a sense of condescension in his tone, and his special religious preoccupations are boring and platitudinous. Clarke is a modest writer, with a decent feeling for his characters, able to concoct a good story, and a master of the ironmongery department. Charles Eric Maine, who again can tell an interesting story without having to wipe out the human race in the process, is too much a fantasist: he is obsessed with the Time theme, time-travel, fourth dimensions and so on - and we consider this indigestible stuff for the audience. There is scarcely need to mention Fred Hoyle; we consider his ideas exciting, well related to the present day, and only need proper adaptation to TV to achieve great success. We consider "Andromeda" both a warning and an example.

13. It is of course not possible to say what sort of hand Clarke, say, or Wyndham, or any other practitioner would make of writing directly for TV. Perhaps their best role at present would be as collaborators, in the way we are using Hoyle. They are obviously full of specialised know-how, but only a trained TV writer could make proper use of it.

14. Our conclusion therefore is that we cannot recommend any existing SF stories for TV adaptation, and that Arthur Clarke and John Wyndham might be valuable as collaborators. As a rider, we are morally certain that TV writers themselves will answer the challenge and fill the need.

Addenda to Joint Report

I met Brian Aldiss, editor of Penguin Science Fiction (editing another volume now) in Oxford. He is very knowledgeable and has a large reference library of SF. I believe he is the Honorary Secretary of the British Science Fiction Association, and he told me of the conference mentioned by Duncan Ross. He has been engaged by Monica Sims for the "Let's Imagine Worlds in Space" programme. He will call me sometime soon and come to London, at which time he could meet someone regarding SF for television. He would be a valuable consultant - not a crank - with definite ideas about what could be achieved visually.

There are several sources of short stories which might be considered for a series of single-shot adaptations of the kind mentioned in Eric Maschwitz's memo, Perhaps the best would be the Faber (several volumes of which we have read only one) and Penguin Anthologies of Science Fiction. These seem to be the best quality short stories available.

Death To The Daleks
Release date: 18th June 2012 (Available for pre-order)


Special Features

• Commentary - With actors Julian Fox (Peter Hamilton), Dalek operator Cy Town, director Michael E Briant, assistant floor manager Richard Leyland, costume designer L Rowland Warne and special sounds maestro Dick Mills. Moderated by Toby Hadoke.
• Beneath the City of the Exxilons - Cast and crew look back on the making of this story. With actor Arnold Yarrow (Bellal), Julian Fox, Michael E Briant, Richard Leyland, L Rowland Warne and fan and Dalek voice artist Nick Briggs.
• Studio Recording - A rare glimpse into the production of a Third Doctor story.
• On the Set of Dr Who and the Daleks - Behind the scenes on the first Dalek film in 1965.
• Doctor Who Stories – Dalek Men
• Radio Times listings
• Programme subtitles
• Production information subtitles
• Photo gallery
• Coming Soon trailer
• Digitally remastered picture and sound quality

26:44:24  BENEATH THE CITY OF THE EXXILONS - MAKING DEATH TO THE DALEKS
23:33:11  STUDIO RECORDING - 4 DECEMBER 1973
05:49:04  PHOTO GALLERY
01:26:05  (EASTER EGG) (TEXTLESS TITLE SEQUENCE)
07:47:22  ON THE SET OF DR WHO AND THE DALEKS

The TARDIS materialises on board a dark and silent spaceship. As the Doctor, Susan, Ian, and Barbara penetrate the craft's eerie gloom they come across what appear to be the bodies of two dead astronauts.

But the astronauts are far from dead - they are living in mortal fear of the Sensorites, a race of telepathic creatures from the Sense-Sphere.

When the lock of the TARDIS is stolen, the Doctor is forced into an uneasy alliance with the aliens. And when he arrives on the Sensorites' planet he discovers that it is not only the humans who have cause to be afraid ...

The TARDIS materialises in a pitch-dark tunnel, where the Doctor, Amy, and Rory discover the corpse of a soldier.

When they are questioned by his superior officer, Colonel Bowe, they learn that they are inside a British nuclear bunker in the middle of an atomic war – in 1982.

Amy and Rory weren't even born then but they know the bomb didn't drop that year, and so does the Doctor. The friends also know they had nothing to do with the soldier's death – so who, or what, was the killer? And why does the Doctor's psychic paper not work on the colonel?

The Doctor, Amy, and Rory soon learn that something else is lurking in the shadows. Something deadly ...

Doctor Who Sound Effects, first released in 1978, features the ambience of seven alien worlds as well as some extraordinary and extra-dimensional occurrences encountered on Earth. Add to these an audiogram of the Doctor's own mind processes, TARDIS operations, plus some weapons for self-defence and your galactic safety is ensured.

Out of This World, first released in 1976, includes tracks of memorable sound effects created for a wide range of BBC radio and TV programmes in three categories: Outer Space, which includes elements from Doctor Who; Magic and Fantasy, and Suspense and the Supernatural. Many of them are designed to evoke supernatural soundscapes rather than specific activities or locations, with titles such as Galactic Travel, Magic Carpet Flight, and Phantoms of Darkness.

Record Store Day is an event where participating indie stores have access to a number of exclusive releases, mainly on vinyl.

The exclusivity lasts for about six weeks and they are only allowed to start selling on Record Store Day itself. Customers have to queue up on the day - they cannot reserve items in advance.

People will only be able to get these records from participating stores on 21st April and thereafter - if any are left. If the titles sell through the limited-edition coloured-vinyl quantity of 1,000 copies we may consider pressing them on black vinyl - it depends on interest.

Celebrated speed ace Sir Malcolm Campbell (Alex Lowe) is carrying out speed trials on Loch Ness when a bank of fog suddenly descends. When it lifts, Sir Malcolm and his boat have mysteriously vanished . . .

MI:13's Harry Crow (Warner) and Professor Dunning (Molloy) are soon shaking up the sleepy loch-side village of Inverfarigaig. Aided by kindly local GP Dr Pippin (Madoc), they discover a connection to the erstwhile Laird of Boleskine and Abertarff - occultist, bon vivant, and occasional nudist Aleister Crowley (David Benson).

Crow and Dunning swiftly realise that there's more to Inverfarigaig than meets the eye: fraudulent Nessie-hunters, demonic bed sheets, Caledonian witches, and things that go bump in the night. Joined by Crowley, their investigations into Sir Malcolm's disappearance will lead them into terrible danger, as an old foe threatens to unleash ... The Horror of Loch Ness.

This is the seventh adventure of The Scarifyers and The Horror of Loch Ness is a sequel of sorts to The Devil of Denge Marsh. Recorded in late 2011, it was, sadly, the last acting role of esteemed Welsh actor Philip Madoc, who died last month. It will be broadcast as part of a special Philip Madoc tribute season by BBC Radio 4 Extra later this year.

The Clear Waters Appreciation Society is on the hunt for its nemesis: he who caused the society's show to be cancelled! The society has acquired a time machine and vowed to track him down but there's just one problem - the Doctor is nowhere in time and space! Has someone else beaten the society to the destruction of its oldest enemy?

It's been a long journey, from Massanicassa and Ice Warriors to Tor Garane and Father Christmas! Friends have been lost and enemies made but now, at last, the story is at an end. Featuring many returning characters, running right through all of the previous 22 Planet Skaro audio productions, this is a watershed moment for the series, but for the Doctor the end is only the beginning!

Following on from the climactic events of The Next Universe, the fifth season of Planet Skaro audios is due to begin next month. For the latest updates and to find out more about all the earlier releases visit the Planet Skaro discussion forum.

I was part of the audition process where we met a number of wonderful actresses, but I think that Jenna responded to Steven's writing in the most interesting way. We're very excited to welcome her to the Doctor Who family - the Doctor needs a companion, he can't travel alone!

She'll have a brilliant time, I'm very jealous of her starting out on that extraordinary journey but, you know, keep your nose clean and watch your back. You're suddenly rocketed into a world of attention - certainly unlike anything I'd known before - you just need to watch your back a little bit, but it's wonderful, it's such an exciting thing to be starting out on.

I'm so excited that the news is out. I think I've known about six weeks, two months, something like that. I saw Perdita (Weeks, co-star in the ITV drama Titanic) the night before and I said that I'm going to have to go home early because I have a meeting, and she said like what for, and I said "television"! I'm a really bad liar!

I wasn't allowed to say that it was Doctor Who at any point - not talking to my agent, not when I arrived at the audition, and I certainly couldn't tell anyone at all what I was up to next. When you keep a secret this big, the temptation to tell is all the more irresistible, especially as I live with three schoolfriends. With girl politics the way they are, I couldn't tell just one friend. I had to phone one of them on the way to the press conference to tell her that I'd borrowed her shoes, in case she saw them in photos!

Post Production Coordinator

BBC Wales Production Unit aims to be the best value and most creative producer of programmes in the UK, fostering a dynamic, flexible culture which supports high quality and innovative production. There are currently over 400 staff in the Unit. The main focus of your role will be in post production and graphic design.

The Post Production and graphic design department is the largest of its type outside of London and is responsible for the post production of a wide range of the BBC programmes including; Doctor Who, Human Planet, Egypt, Crimewatch, Upstairs Downstairs and The Sarah Jane Adventures.

Requirements: BBC Wales post production and graphic design is looking for an enthusiastic and well organised person to help get the best from our talented craft staff and facilities. You will work closely with production teams and be responsible for organising and supervising the post production of a wide range of projects within BBC Wales.