Robert Holmes is a writer who looms large in Doctor Who history. He's the writer who created the Autons and the Sontarans, named Gallifrey, created Time Lord culture as we know it and legislated the 12 regenerations rule. He wrote the first stories to feature Sarah Jane Smith, The Master and Jo Grant. He's the writer the likes of Russell T. Davies, Steven Moffat and Gareth Roberts aspire to be. He was script editor for series 12 to 15, agreeably the shows Golden Era. In terms of stories written for the series he's the one with the biggest hit parade: Spearhead from Space, Terror of the Autons, The Time Warrior, The Ark in Space, Pyramids of Mars, The Deadly Assassin, The Talons of Weng-Chiang, The Sunmakers and The Caves of Androzani. He was the writer who was good enough for highbrow drama like The Wednesday Play, but instead chose to writer for genre TV like Doctor Who, a fact fan should, and are, thankful for.
If you're hoping that this is going to be another JN-T style biography,you're in for a disappointment. It mainly focus' on Holmes' TV career with very little information about his personal life (but for a guy who was an ex-policeman, he didn't write a lot of police shows). It also contains some of Holmes' original story lines for Spearhead from Space and The Time Warrior amongst other projects. It's also clear that a lot of his colleagues held him in high esteem.
I didn't come away from this thinking I knew Robert Holmes better as a person. But I came away with an even greater respect for him as a writer.
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