History Creator / EricSaward

* PinballProtagonist: Saward had a habit of shoving the Doctor off to the sidelines to focus more on the supporting characters, often resulting in stories where the most the Doctor can do is avoid getting himself or his companions killed (and not always succeeding). This was especially the case with the Sixth Doctor, thanks to Saward personally disliking the casting of Creator/ColinBaker in the role; [[Recap/DoctorWhoS22E6RevelationOfTheDaleks "Revelation of the Daleks"]] in particular takes until the ''middle of the second fifty
-minute episode'', over an hour into a 90-minute story, for the Doctor and Peri to even meet anyone directly involved with the plot.

* PinballProtagonist: Saward had a habit of shoving the Doctor off to the sidelines to focus more on the supporting characters, often resulting in stories where the most the Doctor can do is avoid getting himself or his companions killed (and not always succeeding). This was especially the case with the Sixth Doctor, thanks to Saward personally disliking the casting of Creator/ColinBaker in the role; [[Recap/DoctorWhoS22E6RevelationOfTheDaleks "Revelation of the Daleks"]] in particular has Six take half the serial to run into anyone directly involved with the plot.

* ''Slipback'' (a radio play broadcast during the 18-month hiatus.)

* BloodierAndGorier: Saward's tenure as ''Series/DoctorWho'' script editor saw the highest levels of violence in the show's history. "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS21E4ResurrectionOfTheDaleks Resurrection of the Daleks]]", which Saward wrote himself, featured no fewer than '''75''' onscreen deaths, while the heavy violence of another Saward-penned story, "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS22E6RevelationOfTheDaleks Revelation of the Daleks]]", was directly cited by BBC controller Michael Grade as what made him implement an 18-month hiatus between Seasons 22 and 23.

* KillEmAll: Stories written by Saward invariably featured a high body count.

Tensions especially grew after the casting of Creator/ColinBaker as the Doctor. Saward felt that Baker was a poor fit for the role, and deliberately sidelined him in the show's scripts in favour of other supporting characters. The final straw, however, came when Holmes died before finishing the script for Season 23's finale, [[Recap/DoctorWhoS23E4TheUltimateFoe "The Ultimate Foe"]]. Saward completed part two based on Holmes' outline, but clashed with Nathan-Turner over the choice to preserve Holmes' BolivianArmyEnding; at the time, the show was on the verge of cancellation, and Nathan-Turner feared that the ending would be a perfect opportunity for BBC executives to take the show down for good. Thus, Saward quit the show and took the script for PartT two with him, requiring Nathan-Turner to commission a new one from Creator/PipAndJaneBaker while being legally barred from disclosing any of what Holmes and Saward wrote; ironically, the episode bore a close resemblance to the original outline anyway, apart from ending on a more optimistic note. Saward would never work in television again.

Shortly thereafter he was appointed as script editor. During his tenure, ''Doctor Who'' saw a big increase in the levels of violence and ContinuityPorn. However, his relationship with producer Creator/JohnNathanTurner was an acrimonious one, with the latter's insistence on hiring new writers instead of commissioning scripts from veteran ones repeatedly getting on Saward's nerves. Eventually, Saward managed to successfully convince longtime writer and personal idol Creator/RobertHolmes to pen the show's 20th anniversary special. When Holmes proved unable to meet all of Nathan-Turner's requests, the duty was handed to Holmes' co-worker Creator/TerranceDicks in his final script for the show, with Holmes instead writing the Fifth Doctor's final story, "The Caves of Androzani".

Tensions especially grew after the casting of Creator/ColinBaker as the Doctor. Saward felt that Baker was a poor fit for the role, and deliberately sidelined him in the show's scripts in favor of other supporting characters. The final straw, however, came when Holmes died before finishing the script for Season 23's finale, [[Recap/DoctorWhoS23E4TheUltimateFoe "The Ultimate Foe"]]. Saward completed part two based on Holmes' outline, but clashed with Nathan-Turner over the choice to preserve Holmes' BolivianArmyEnding; at the time, the show was on the verge of cancellation, and Nathan-Turner feared that the ending would be a perfect opportunity for BBC executives to take the show down for good. Thus, Saward quit the show and took the script for part two with him, requiring Nathan-Turner to commission a new one from Creator/PipAndJaneBaker while being legally barred from disclosing any of what Holmes and Saward wrote; ironically, the episode bore a close resemblance to the original outline anyway, apart from ending on a more optimistic note. Saward would never work in television again.

Tensions especially grew after the casting of Creator/ColinBaker as the Doctor. Saward felt that Baker was a poor fit for the role, and deliberately sidelined him in the show's scripts in favor of other supporting characters. The final straw, however, came when Holmes died before finishing the script for Season 23's finale, "The Ultimate Foe". Saward completed part two based on Holmes' outline, but clashed with Nathan-Turner over the choice to preserve Holmes' BolivianArmyEnding; at the time, the show was on the verge of cancellation, and Nathan-Turner feared that the ending would be a perfect opportunity for BBC executives to take the show down for good. Thus, Saward quit the show and took the script for part two with him, requiring Nathan-Turner to commission a new one from Creator/PipAndJaneBaker while being legally barred from disclosing any of what Holmes and Saward wrote; ironically, the episode bore a close resemblance to the original outline anyway, apart from ending on a more optimistic note. Saward would never work in television again.

Shortly thereafter he was appointed as script editor. During his tenure, ''Doctor Who'' saw a big increase in the levels of violence and ContinuityPorn. An acrimonious relationship with producer Creator/JohnNathanTurner eventually led him to RageQuit the show.

** His relationship with ''Series/DoctorWho'' producer Creator/JohnNathanTurner became increasingly strained over the course of their five years working together, as a result of numerous creative disagreements. This culminated in Saward {{Rage Quit}}ting his post as script editor during the production of the Season 23 ("Trial Of a Time Lord") finale "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS23E4TheUltimateFoe The Ultimate Foe]]", and withdrawing permission to use his script for the final episode (resulting in Nathan-Turner having to hastily commission a last-minute replacement script from Pip and Jane Baker).

* BloodierAndGorier: Saward's tenure as ''Series/DoctorWho'' script editor saw the highest levels of violence in the show's history. "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS21E4ResurrectionOfTheDaleks Resurrection of the Daleks]]", which Saward wrote himself, featured no fewer than '''75''' onscreen deaths.
* ContinuityPorn: His tenure as ''Series/DoctorWho'' script editor saw a huge increase in the amount of continuity references. In some stories, this reached ContinuityLockout[[invoked]] levels, requiring detailed knowledge of stories broadcast 10-20 years earlier to be comprehensible.
* CrapsackWorld: Many ''Series/DoctorWho'' stories writted and/or script edited by Saward featured settings like this, moreso than any other era of the show. Examples inclulde "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS21E3Frontios Frontios]]", "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS21E6TheCavesOfAndrozani The Caves of Androzani]]", "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS22E2VengeanceOnVaros Vengeance on Varos]]", [[Recap/DoctorWhoS22E5Timelash Timelash]]" and "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS22E6RevelationOfTheDaleks Revelation of the Daleks]]".

* DarkerAndEdgier: His time as ''Series/DoctorWho'' script editor was this in comparison to most of the show's previous history. Notable, "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS19E6Earthshock Earthshock]]", written by Saward himself, featured the first death of an established companion in the show's history.

** His relationship with ''Series/DoctorWho'' producer Creator/JohnNathanTurner became increasingly strained over the course of their five years working together, as a result of numerous creative disagreements. This culminated in Saward {{Rage Quit}}ting his post as script editor during the production of the Season 23 ("Trial Of a Time Lord") finale "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS23E4TheUltimateFoe The Ultimate Foe]]", and withdrawing permission to use his script for the final episode.

* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: Saward's stories generally featured unusually large guest casts, "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS21E4ResurrectionOfTheDaleks Resurrection of the Daleks]]" and "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS22E6RevelationOfTheDaleks Revelation of the Daleks]]" being prime examples.