Brian Finch

Brian Finch was a prolific television and occasional film writer whose career spanned from 1966 to 2006. He wrote the original television version of Leviathan, but after the original plans for Season 23 were dropped in favour of The Trial of a Time Lord, his script was adapted for audio release by his son Paul Finch.

Outside Doctor Who, he wrote one hundred and fifty episodes of Coronation Street, and received a BAFTA for writing the ITV drama Goodnight, Mister Tom. He was also a freelancer on Robert Banks Stewart's Bergerac and wrote several episodes of All Creatures Great and Small, most of them in series 1. He therefore played a part in making Peter Davison a household name. His All Creatures work also included the memorable 1983 Christmas special, which returned the main characters to their veterinary practice after having fought in World War II.

He died in June 2007, after a very short retirement from being one of the main writers of Heartbeat. At the time of his death, his failed contribution to Doctor Who was largely unknown by the fan community and The Lost Stories range hadn't even been proposed by Big Finish. He is thus the rare example of a writer who only made a posthumous contribution to the body of published Doctor Who fiction.