Episodes Broadcast: 1987, 1989

Ian Briggs studied drama at Manchester University, and then spent time working in stage lighting and design. Eager to become a scriptwriter, he unsuccessfully pitched ideas for Doctor Who in the early Eighties. Briggs worked as a reader for the Royal Court Theatre, Warner Brothers and London Films, and joined the BBC Script Unit in 1986, where he met Andrew Cartmel. When Cartmel became Doctor Who's script editor the following year, he invited Briggs to contribute ideas for the show. Although Briggs' first attempt, the hackneyed “Clone The Drone” (or “Drone The Clone”) was quickly rejected, he soon developed Dragonfire. It saw Sophie Aldred's Ace replace Melanie Bush -- the short-lived companion played by Bonnie Langford -- alongside Sylvester McCoy as the Seventh Doctor. Briggs' follow-up was the classic thriller The Curse Of Fenric in 1989. He novelised both serials for Target Books.

Briggs went on to write episodes of Casualty and The Bill, while providing storylines for All Change and Streetwise. He also developed comedy sketches. Briggs subsequently worked in theatrical management and marketing. He returned to Doctor Who with the Seventh Doctor short story The Celetial Harmony Engine for the 2008 anthology Short Trips: Defining Patterns, published by Big Finish Productions.