Derrick George Sherwin was an English television producer, writer, story editor and actor.
14 Facts About Derrick Sherwin
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Derrick Sherwin became the story editor on Doctor Who and, as the producer of the series in 1969, he oversaw the transition from black-and-white to colour by producing Patrick Troughton's final story and Jon Pertwee's first.
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Derrick Sherwin began his career in the theatre and worked as a junior set designer, scenic artist, scene shifter, stage manager and lighting designer.
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Derrick Sherwin spent two years of national service in the Royal Air Force.
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In 1967, during the tenure of Patrick Troughton as the Second Doctor, Derrick Sherwin was offered a story-editing role on Doctor Who by BBC Head of Serials Shaun Sutton.
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Derrick Sherwin wrote the script for The Invasion, which introduced the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce, having adapted the original storyline supplied by Kit Pedler.
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Derrick Sherwin was involved in the casting of Jon Pertwee in the lead role on the programme, and succeeded Peter Bryant as producer in 1969 for The War Games and Pertwee's debut, Spearhead from Space, making a small on-screen appearance as a car park attendant in the latter serial as he was still a member of the British Actors' Equity Association at the time.
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Derrick Sherwin had dismissed the actor originally cast in the part for not being able to perform the role adequately.
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Derrick Sherwin was responsible for the idea of exiling the Doctor to Earth the end of The War Games, a decision he took in an attempt to improve falling viewing figures, reinvent the programme and bring more reality to Doctor Who by basing it more on Nigel Kneale's Quatermass serials from the 1950s.
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When Michael Grade attempted to cancel it in 1985, Derrick Sherwin offered to "take it off [his] hands" and "produce it independently", and said he had repeated the offer with Peter Cregeen, the man responsible for Doctor Whos actual cancellation in 1989.
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Derrick Sherwin later contributed to several documentaries for the Doctor Who DVD range, as well as providing commentaries for the two stories he produced and surviving episodes of The Web of Fear and The Wheel in Space for the Lost in Time collection.
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Derrick Sherwin left Doctor Who to work alongside Peter Bryant, who persuaded him to join the production of Paul Temple.
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Derrick Sherwin later produced the television series The Man Outside, Skiboy, and The Perils of Pendragon.
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Derrick Sherwin died on 17 October 2018 following a long illness.