Barry Letts

Barry Leopold Letts (26 March 1925 – 9 October 2009) was an English actor, television director, writer and Emmy Award winining producer. Born in Leicester, he worked as an actor in theatre, films and television before retiring in his early forties and becoming a television director. He then became producer of the BBC science fiction series Doctor Who for five years. He later produced the BBC's Sunday Classic drama serials in the late 1970s and early 1980s. He was associated with Doctor Who for many years, with active involvement in the television programme from 1967 to 1981 (as a director, producer and writer) and with later contributions to its spin-offs in other media. His younger son Crispin Letts is an actor, as was his older son Dominic before his death in 2017. The Guardian described Letts on his death as "a pioneer of British television" who "served the medium for more than half a century" and "secured his place in TV history" with Doctor Who.