David Ellis

David Ellis (22 June 1918 – 30 June 1978) was the co-writer with Malcolm Hulke of the Doctor Who serial The Faceless Ones, recorded with Patrick Troughton in 1967. The story was penned by the duo following the rejection of previous scripts by the two men. Indeed, Ellis himself had seen his script ideas for “The Clock”, “The People Who Couldn't Remember” and “The Ocean Liner” all rejected. Their script “The Big Store” was also finally not commissioned despite extensive work, though some of the ideas about the substitution of people by replicas was taken further in The Faceless Ones, with the scenario changed from a department store to an airport. David Ellis's other writing credits include Dixon of Dock Green and Z-Cars and several plays of which "Make Me A Widow" was the most successful, opening in London in the summer of 1966 and played in repertory around the country for many years afterwards. He was married twice and his second wife, Dorothy, lived into her nineties.