History Creator / AndrewCartmel

Andrew Cartmel (born 6 April 1958) is a British writer of television, novels and comics. He was final script editor on classic era ''Series/DoctorWho'', serving for the final three seasons of its run, which coincided with the entirety of Creator/SylvesterMcCoy's tenure as [[Characters/DoctorWhoSeventhDoctor Seventh Doctor]] the from 1987 to 1989.

Cartmel sought to reinvigorate the series and take it in a new creative direction. He discarded the graphic violence and toned down the ContinuityPorn that had characterised the previous era, and return to Nathan-Turner's approach of recruiting new, young writers to the show rather than re-using those who had previously written for it.

He took up his post as script editor at a time the show was facing unprecedented crisis, following the firing of previous Doctor Creator/ColinBaker and the acrimonious mid-story departure of his predecessor Creator/EricSaward, who had fallen out with producer Creator/JohnNathanTurner. Cartmel therefore started his first script-editing job with [[Recap/DoctorWhoS24E1TimeAndTheRani a script he didn't commission]], by writers he didn't get on with, for [[Creator/SylvesterMcCoy a Doctor they hadn't cast yet]]. Given the circumstances, getting the show up at all was a major achievement.

Cartmel sought to reinvigorate the series and take it in a new creative direction. He discarded the graphic violence and toned down the ContinuityPorn that had characterised the previous era, and sought to recruit new, young writers to the show rather than re-using those who had previously written for it.

He also sought to restore the element of mystery to the character of the Doctor from the show's early years, which Cartmel felt had been lost over the course of the show's run. To this end, he and some of his writers (mainly Creator/BenAaronovitch and Creator/MarcPlatt) threw around ideas for the Doctor's backstory which would have revealed that much of what had previously been established about the Doctor was wrong, and he was in fact a much more powerful and mysterious figure than had hitherto been revealed. While hints of this were dropped throughout Cartmel's final two seasons on the show, its cancellation in 1989 came before the revelations could be fully played out onscreen. This went down in fan legend as the "Cartmel Masterplan", though Cartmel and friends insist it was never really a "master plan", simply some cool ideas they threw around between each other.

Today, Cartmel is held in high regard by ''Doctor Who'' fandom, and is widely seen as having set the show on an upward trajectory after years of decline, producing some of the highest quality storytelling in its history by the end of his tenure and giving the series the creative momentum it needed to make the jump to prose and survive through the 1990s. Unfortunately, the ratings decline that it had suffered under his predecessors could not be reversed, leading to the show's cancellation.

He has continued to contribute to the Seventh Doctor's career in various parts of the Franchise/DoctorWhoExpandedUniverse, in particular having an influence on the Literature/DoctorWhoNewAdventures, which continued and intensified the morally-ambiguous characterisation of the Doctor that he had introduced. (Though notably, "his" Masterplan doesn't feature at all in his novels, with Creator/MarcPlatt actually taking that plot to a conclusion in ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoNewAdventuresLungbarrow Lungbarrow]]'').

After ''Series/DoctorWho'', Cartmel was headhunted for the position of Script Editor on ''Series/{{Casualty}}'' for a year, where he continued his efforts to make more relevant, socially-aware television. [[ProductionPosse He also brought a number of Doctor Who writers with him]], including both tv veterans and New Adventures writers doing their first television work. Since 2010 he has also been writing a series of prose detective novels, ''The Vinyl Detective'', about a record collector who is regularly forced to become an amateur sleuth.

He also sought to restore the element of mystery to the character of the Doctor from the show's early years, which Cartmel felt had been lost over the course of the show's run. To this end, he and some of his writers (mainly [[Literature/RiversOfLondon Ben Aaronovitch]] and Creator/MarcPlatt) threw around ideas for the Doctor's backstory which would have revealed that much of what had previously been established about the Doctor was wrong, and he was in fact a much more powerful and mysterious figure than had hitherto been revealed. While hints of this were dropped throughout Cartmel's final two seasons on the show, its cancellation in 1989 came before the revelations could be fully played out onscreen. This went down in fan legend as the "Cartmel Masterplan", though Cartmel and friends insist it was never really a "master plan", simply some cool ideas they threw around between each other.

He also sought to restore the element of mystery to the character of the Doctor from the show's early years, which Cartmel felt had been lost the course of the show's run. To this end, he and some of his writers (mainly [[Literature/RiversOfLondon Ben Aaronovitch]] and Creator/MarcPlatt) threw around ideas for the Doctor's backstory which would have revealed that much of what had previously been established about the Doctor was wrong, and he was in fact a much more powerful and mysterious figure than had hitherto been revealed. While hints of this were dropped throughout Cartmel's final two seasons on the show, its cancellation in 1989 came before the revelations could be fully played out onscreen. This went down in fan legend as the "Cartmel Masterplan", though Cartmel and friends insist it was never really a "master plan", simply some cool ideas they threw around between each other.

Today, Cartmel is held in high regard by ''Doctor Who'' fandom, and is widely seen as having set the show on an upward trajectory after years of decline, producing some of the highest quality storytelling in its history by the end of his tenure and giving the series the creative momentum it needed to make the jump to prose and survive through the 1990s. Unfortunately, the ratings decline that it had suffered under his predecessors could not be reversed, leading to the show's cancellation. He has continued to contribute to the Seventh Doctor's career in various parts of the Franchise/DoctorWhoExpandedUniverse, in particular having an influence on the Literature/DoctorWhoNewAdventures, which continued and intensified the morally-ambiguous characterisation of the Doctor that he had introduced. (Though notably, "his" Masterplan doesn't feature at all in his novels, with Creator/MarcPlatt actually taking that plot to a conclusion in ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoNewAdventuresLungbarrow Lungbarrow]]'').

After ''Series/DoctorWho'', he was headhunted for the position of Script Editor on ''Series/{{Casualty}}'' for a year, where he continued his efforts to make more relevant, socially-aware television. [[ProductionPosse He also brought a number of Doctor Who writers with him]], including both tv veterans and New Adventures writers doing their first television work. Since 2010 he has also been writing a series of prose detective novels, ''The Vinyl Detective'', about a record collector who is regularly forced to become an amateur sleuth.

He took up his post as script editor at a time was facing unprecedented crisis, following the firing of previous Doctor Creator/ColinBaker and the acrimonious mid-story departure of his predecessor Creator/EricSaward, who had fallen out with producer Creator/JohnNathanTurner. Cartmel therefore started his first script-editing job with [[Recap/DoctorWhoS24E1TimeAndTheRani a script he didn't commission]], by writers he didn't get on with, for [[Creator/SylvesterMcCoy a Doctor they hadn't cast yet]]. Given the circumstances, getting the show up at all was a major achievement.

After ''Series/DoctorWho'', he was headhunted for the position of Script Editor on ''Series/{{Casualty}}'' for a year, where he continued his efforts to make more relevant, socially-aware television. [[ProductionPosse He also brought a number of Doctor Who writers with him]], including both tv veterans and New Adventures writers doing their first television work. Since 2010 he has also been writing a series of prose detective novels, ''The Vinyl Detective, about a record collector who is regularly forced to become an amateur sleuth.

Today, Cartmel is held in high regard by ''Doctor Who'' fandom, and is widely seen as having set the show on an upward trajectory after years of decline, producing some of the highest quality storytelling in its history by the end of his tenure and giving the series the creative momentum it needed to make the jump to prose and survive through the 1990s. Unfortunately, the ratings decline that it had suffered under his predecessors could not be reversed, leading to the show's cancellation. He has continued to contribute to the Seventh Doctor's career in various parts of the Franchise/DoctorWhoExpandedUniverse, in particular having an influence on the Literature/DoctorWhoNewAdventures, which continued and intensified the morally-ambiguous characterisation of the Doctor that he had introduced. (Though notably, "his" Masterplan barely featured in his novels, with Creator/MarcPlatt actually taking up the plot).

After ''Series/DoctorWho'', he was headhunted for the position of Script Editor on ''Series/{{Casualty}}'' for a year, where he continued his efforts to make more relevant, socially-aware television. [[ProductionPosse He also brought a number of Doctor Who writers with him]], including both tv veterans and New Adventures writers doing their first television work. Since 2010 he has also been writing a series of prose detective novels, ''Literature/TheVinylDetective'', about a record collector who is regularly forced to become an amateur sleuth.

He took up his post as script editor at a time was facing unprecendented crisis, following the firing of previous Doctor Creator/ColinBaker and the acrimonious departure of his predecessor Creator/EricSaward, who had fallen out with producer Creator/JohnNathanTurner.

Cartmel sought to reinvigorate the series and take it in a new creative direction. He discarded the graphic violence and toned down the ContinuityPorn that had characterised the previous era, and sought to recruit new, young writers to the show rather than re-using those who had previously written for it. He sought to restore the element of mystery to the character of the Doctor from the show's early years, which Cartmel felt had been lost by revelations about his backstory over the course of the show's run.

To this end, he devised a planned backstory, now refered to by fans as the "Cartmel Masterplan", which would have revealed that much of what had previously been established about the Doctor was wrong, and he was in fact a much more powerful and mysterious figure than had hitherto been revealed.

While hints of this were dropped throughout Cartmel's final two seasons on the show, its cancellation in 1989 came before the revelations could be fully played out onscreen.

Today, Cartmel is held in high regard by ''Doctor Who'' fandom, and is widely seen as having set the show on an upward trajectory after years of decline, producing some of the highest quality storytelling in its history by the end of his tenure. Unfortunately, the ratings decline that it had suffered under his predecessors was not reversed, leading to the show's cancellation.

He has continued to contribute to the Seventh Doctor's career in various parts of the Franchise/DoctorWhoExpandedUniverse, in particular having an influence on the Literature/DoctorWhoNewAdventures, which continued and intensified the morally-ambiguous characterisation of the Doctor that he had introduced. Since 2010 he has also been writing a series of prose detective novels, ''Literature/TheVinylDetective'', about a record collector who is regularly forced to become an amateur sleuth.

Today, Cartmel is held in high regard by ''Doctor Who'' fandom, and is widely seen as having set the show on an upward trajectory after years of decline, producing some of the highest quality storytelling in its history by the end of his tenure. Unfortunately, the ratings decline that had happened under his predecessors was not reversed, leading to the show's cancellation.

While hints of this were dropped throughout Cartmel's final two seasons on the show, its cancellation in 1989 came before the revelations could be fulled played out onscreen.

Today, Cartmel is held in high regard by ''Doctor Who'' fandom, and is widely seen as having set the show on an upward trajectory after years of decline, producing some of the highest quality storytelling in its history by the end of tenure. Unfortunately, the ratings decline that had happened under his predecessors was not reversed, leading to the show's cancellation.

Today, Cartmel is held in high regard by ''Doctor Who'' fandom, and is widely seen as having set the show on an upward trajectory after years of decline, producing some of the highest quality storytelling in its history by the end of tenure. Unfortunately, the ratings decline that had happened under his predecessors was not reversed, leading to the show's cancellation.

While hints of this were dropped throughout Cartmel's final two seasons on the show, its cancellation in 1989 came before the revelations could be fulled played out onscreen.

To this end, he devised a planned backstory, now refered to by fans as the "Cartmel Masterplan", which would have revealed that much of what had previously been established about the Doctor was wrong, and he was in fact a much more powerful and mysterious figure than had hitherto been revealed.

Cartmel sought to reinvigorate the series and take it in a new creative direction. He discarded the graphic violence and toned down the ContinuityPorn that had characterised the previous era, and sought to recruit new, young writers to the show rather than re-using those who had previously written for it. He sought to restore the element of mystery to the character of the Doctor from the show's early years, which he felt had been lost by revelations about his backstory over the course of the show's run.

Cartmel sought to reinvigorate the series and take it in a new creative direction. He discarded the graphic violence and toned down the ContinuityPorn that had characterised the previous era, and sought to recruit new, young writers to the show rather than re-using those who had previously written for it. He sought to restore the element of mystery to the character of the Doctor frmo the show's early years, which he felt had been lost by revelations about his backstory over the course of the show's run.

Cartmel sought to reinvigorate the series and take it in a new creative direction. He discarded the graphic violence and toned down the ContinuityPorn that had characterised the previous era, and sought to recruit new, young writers to the show rather than re-using those who had previously written for it. He sought to restore the element of mystery to the character of the Doctor that had been present in the show's early years, which he felt had been lost by revelations about his backstory over the course of the show's run.

Cartmel sought to reinvigorate the series and take it in a new creative direction. He discarded the graphic violence and toned down the ContinuityPorn that had characterised the previous era, instead seeking to restore the element of mystery to the character of the Doctor.

Andrew Cartmel (born 6 April 1958) is a British writer. He was final script editor on classic era ''Series/DoctorWho'', serving for the final three seasons of its run, which coincided with the entirety of Creator/SylvesterMcCoy's tenure as [[Characters/DoctorWhoSeventhDoctor Seventh Doctor]] the from 1987 to 1989.

Andrew Cartmel (born 6 April 1958) is a British writer. He was final script editor on classic era ''Series/DoctorWho'', serving for the entirety of Creator/SylvesterMcCoy's tenure as [[Characters/DoctorWhoSeventhDoctor Seventh Doctor]] the from 1987 to 1989.