Robert Banks Stewart
Encyclopedia
Robert Banks Stewart is a former writer
for television, now retired.
He began as a story editor at Pinewood Studios
and for Thames Television
where he contributed scripts to the programmes Callan
, Special Branch
, The Sweeney
and Owner Occupied.
He also wrote The Avengers
scripts The Master Minds and Quick-Quick Slow Death.
For HTV
, he wrote 5 episodes of Arthur of the Britons
.
In casting about for new writers for Doctor Who
script editor
Robert Holmes
invited Stewart to discuss ideas for the programme. After their meeting in early 1974, Stewart devised a storyline for a six-part adventure called The Secret Of Loch Ness. Stewart felt that the Scotland's legendary Loch Ness Monster
would make an ideal basis for a story because there were so few details about the mythical creature. Stewart's Although at first focusing on the Loch Ness Monster itself, Holmes encouraged Stewart to concentrate more on the Zygon
s, the shape-shifting aliens of the story. As the story evolved, it was known variously as The Loch, The Secret Of The Lock, The Loch Ness Monster, The Zygons and finally Terror of the Zygons
. The following year he wrote The Seeds of Doom
for Doctor Who, which drew from such sources as the horror serial The Quatermass Experiment
and the John Wyndham novel The Day of the Triffids
. The Seeds Of Doom was Robert Banks Stewart's last credited Doctor Who serial, although a story outline written for the subsequent season and entitled The Foe from the Future would inspire elements of Holmes' The Talons Of Weng-Chiang
. The Foe from the Future is due to be adapted by Big Finish Productions as an audio play in 2012.
Robert Banks Stewart continued working in television as a writer, script editor and producer, creating Shoestring for the BBC in 1978 and following this up with the hit detective drama series Bergerac
. He later produced The Darling Buds Of May
, which gave Catherine Zeta Jones one of her early TV opportunities. His final credit for television was for the adaptation of My Uncle Silas
, starring Albert Finney
, broadcast between 2001 and 2003.
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
for television, now retired.
He began as a story editor at Pinewood Studios
Pinewood Studios
Pinewood Studios is a major British film studio situated in Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, approximately west of central London. The studios have played host to many productions over the years from huge blockbuster films to television shows to commercials to pop promos.The purchase of Shepperton...
and for Thames Television
Thames Television
Thames Television was a licensee of the British ITV television network, covering London and parts of the surrounding counties on weekdays from 30 July 1968 until 31 December 1992....
where he contributed scripts to the programmes Callan
Callan (TV series)
Callan is the title of a British television series set in the murky world of espionage. Originally produced by ABC Weekend Television and later Thames Television, it was aired on the ITV network over four seasons spread out between 1967 and 1972...
, Special Branch
Special Branch (TV series)
Special Branch is a British television series made by Thames Television for ITV and shown between 1969 and 1974. A police drama series, the action was centred on members of the Special Branch anti-espionage and anti-terrorist department of the London Metropolitan Police.The first two series were...
, The Sweeney
The Sweeney
The Sweeney is a 1970s British television police drama focusing on two members of the Flying Squad, a branch of the Metropolitan Police specialising in tackling armed robbery and violent crime in London...
and Owner Occupied.
He also wrote The Avengers
The Avengers (TV series)
The Avengers is a spy-fi British television series set in the 1960s Britain. The Avengers initially focused on Dr. David Keel and his assistant John Steed . Hendry left after the first series and Steed became the main character, partnered with a succession of assistants...
scripts The Master Minds and Quick-Quick Slow Death.
For HTV
HTV
HTV, now legally known as ITV Wales & West, is the ITV contractor for Wales and the West of England, which operated from studios in Cardiff and Bristol. The company provided commercial television for the dual-region 'Wales and West' franchise, which it won from TWW in 1968...
, he wrote 5 episodes of Arthur of the Britons
Arthur of the Britons
Arthur of the Britons is a British television show about the historical King Arthur. Produced by the HTV regional franchise, it consisted of two series, released between 1972 and 1973...
.
In casting about for new writers for Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
script editor
Script editor
A script editor is a member of the production team of scripted television programmes, usually dramas and comedies. The script editor has many responsibilities including finding new script writers, developing storyline and series ideas with writers, ensuring that scripts are suitable for production...
Robert Holmes
Robert Holmes (scriptwriter)
This entry is about the television scriptwriter. For other people with the same name, see Robert Holmes .Robert Colin Holmes was an English television scriptwriter, who for over twenty-five years contributed to some of the most popular programmes screened in the UK...
invited Stewart to discuss ideas for the programme. After their meeting in early 1974, Stewart devised a storyline for a six-part adventure called The Secret Of Loch Ness. Stewart felt that the Scotland's legendary Loch Ness Monster
Loch Ness Monster
The Loch Ness Monster is a cryptid that is reputed to inhabit Loch Ness in the Scottish Highlands. It is similar to other supposed lake monsters in Scotland and elsewhere, though its description varies from one account to the next....
would make an ideal basis for a story because there were so few details about the mythical creature. Stewart's Although at first focusing on the Loch Ness Monster itself, Holmes encouraged Stewart to concentrate more on the Zygon
Zygon
The Zygons are a fictional extraterrestrial race in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. They first appeared in the Fourth Doctor serial Terror of the Zygons, where it was revealed that centuries ago, the Zygon homeworld was destroyed in a stellar explosion. A...
s, the shape-shifting aliens of the story. As the story evolved, it was known variously as The Loch, The Secret Of The Lock, The Loch Ness Monster, The Zygons and finally Terror of the Zygons
Terror of the Zygons
Terror of the Zygons is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 30 August to 20 September 1975...
. The following year he wrote The Seeds of Doom
The Seeds of Doom
The Seeds of Doom is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in six weekly parts from 31 January to 6 March 1976...
for Doctor Who, which drew from such sources as the horror serial The Quatermass Experiment
The Quatermass Experiment
The Quatermass Experiment is a British science-fiction serial broadcast by BBC Television in the summer of 1953 and re-staged by BBC Four in 2005. Set in the near future against the background of a British space programme, it tells the story of the first manned flight into space, overseen by...
and the John Wyndham novel The Day of the Triffids
The Day of the Triffids
The Day of the Triffids is a post-apocalyptic novel published in 1951 by the English science fiction author John Wyndham Parkes Lucas Beynon Harris, under the pen-name John Wyndham. Although Wyndham had already published other novels using other pen-name combinations drawn from his lengthy real...
. The Seeds Of Doom was Robert Banks Stewart's last credited Doctor Who serial, although a story outline written for the subsequent season and entitled The Foe from the Future would inspire elements of Holmes' The Talons Of Weng-Chiang
The Talons of Weng-Chiang
The Talons of Weng-Chiang is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in six weekly parts from 26 February to 2 April 1977.-Synopsis:...
. The Foe from the Future is due to be adapted by Big Finish Productions as an audio play in 2012.
Robert Banks Stewart continued working in television as a writer, script editor and producer, creating Shoestring for the BBC in 1978 and following this up with the hit detective drama series Bergerac
Bergerac (TV series)
Bergerac was a British television show set on Jersey. Produced by the BBC in association with the Seven Network, and screened on BBC1, it starred John Nettles as the title character Detective Sergeant Jim Bergerac, a detective in "Le Bureau des Étrangers" Bergerac was a British television show...
. He later produced The Darling Buds Of May
The Darling Buds of May
The Darling Buds of May is a British comedy drama which was first broadcast between 1991 and 1993 produced by Yorkshire Television for the ITV Network. It is set in an idyllic rural 1950s Kent, among a large, boisterous family. The three series were based on the novels by H. E. Bates. Originally...
, which gave Catherine Zeta Jones one of her early TV opportunities. His final credit for television was for the adaptation of My Uncle Silas
My Uncle Silas
My Uncle Silas is a book of short stories about a bucolic elderly Bedfordshire man, written by H.E. Bates and illustrated by Edward Ardizzone.-Inspiration:...
, starring Albert Finney
Albert Finney
Albert Finney is an English actor. He achieved prominence in films in the early 1960s, and has maintained a successful career in theatre, film and television....
, broadcast between 2001 and 2003.