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Barbara Clegg (1926-2025), the First Female Doctor Who Writer

Barbara Clegg, the first woman to write a Doctor Who serial, has passed away at the age of 98.

Clegg gave us the wonderful Fifth Doctor story, Enlightenment, in which new companion, Vislor Turlough, breaks free from the influence of the Black Guardian. The cliffhanger of Part One is one of Doctor Who‘s most memorable and unusual: it doesn’t feature any great threat or foe, but is nonetheless a game-changer and is stunningly realised by director, Fiona Cumming, and the model team.

Enlightenment is also the first story both written and directed by women. It’s pretty astonishing to consider this, considering the show had been on our screens for almost 20 years at that point.

Barbara, however, started her career as an actress, notably appearing as Nurse Jo Buckley in Emergency Ward 10, in 1958-59, following a career on stage. She’d joined a Dundee repertory company as an assistant stage manager in 1948 then replaced a cast member in a production of Mary Rose, while further rep stints took her to Liverpool, Sheffield, and the Old Vic. Her theatrical credits included Twelfth Night, Hamlet, and, opposite Katharine Hepburn and Robert Helpmann, The Merchant of Venice and Measure for Measure in the mid-1950s.

In 1962, she married Paul Johnstone, who went on to produce shows like The Sky at Night and, as head of the BBC’s Archaeological and Historical Unit, Chronicle.

Clegg gave up acting to raise their children, Adam, Rufus, and Jemima, but began writing instead: she wrote seven episodes of Coronation Street in its first year and continued to work on The Dales (formerly Mrs Dale’s Diary), a BBC Radio 4 adaptation of The Chrysalids, and Crossroads. In later years, she focused on charity work.

Our thoughts and prayers go to Barbara Clegg’s family and friends.

Philip Bates

Editor and co-founder of the Doctor Who Companion. When he’s not watching television, reading books ‘n’ Marvel comics, listening to The Killers, and obsessing over script ideas, Philip Bates pretends to be a freelance writer. He enjoys collecting everything. Writer of The Black Archive: The Pandorica Opens/ The Big Bang, 100 Objects of Doctor Who, and Companions: More Than Sixty Years of Doctor Who Assistants.

Barbara Clegg (1926-2025), the First Female Doctor Who Writer

by Philip Bates time to read: 1 min
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