Donald Wilson

Who was Donald Wilson?

Donald Boyd Wilson was a British television writer and producer, best known for his work on the BBC's adaptation of The Forsyte Saga in 1967 and co-creating the series Doctor Who.

He attended the Glasgow School of Art, following which his first jobs were as a newspaper cartoonist and sketch writer.

His initial career was in the film industry, working for MGM at Elstree Studios, where he was Assistant Director of such films as Jericho and Goodbye, Mr. Chips. During the war he worked on documentary films, and then in 1955 was recruited to BBC Television by the then Head of Drama, Michael Barry. As the Head of the Script Department, Wilson was ultimately responsible for overseeing the commissioning and development of all the original scripts and adaptations transmitted by BBC Television.

When the Script Department was rendered redundant by Sydney Newman’s radical shake-up of the BBC Drama Department after his arrival as its head in 1962, the highly respected Wilson was given one of the most senior positions under Newman as Head of Serials.