Donald Cotton

Donald Henry Cotton (26 April 1928 -28 December 1999 ) wrote the Doctor Who television stories The Myth Makers and The Gunfighters. He later novelised these two stories for Target Books, as well as Dennis Spooner's The Romans.

He worked on a third Doctor Who storyline in 1966, titled The Herdsmen of Venus. This was rejected by producer Innes Lloyd and script editor Gerry Davis as it did not fit with their vision for the show.

He has been noted for the comedic bent of his work and the near-unique first person and epistolary styles he adopted for his Target efforts.

Much of Cotton's work outside of Doctor Who was for BBC radio, and by several accounts it was his prestige that attracted big-name Shakespearean actors such as Max Adrian and Barrie Ingham to The Myth Makers. Many of his radio plays concerned Greek mythology.