Born: 4th June 1926 (as Peter Richard Newman)
Died: 22nd February 1975 (aged 49 years)
Episodes Broadcast: 1964

Peter R Newman was born in Ilford, Essex. He was a pilot and a parachutist for the Royal Air Force during the Second World War, and also worked for British Intelligence. After his service, Newman began writing radio plays for markets such as Australia, at the same time working as a deckhand and a tour guide. Eventually returning to England, he enrolled at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts. Aspiring to write for the stage, Newman made ends meet with jobs as a waiter and a cinema usher. He also acted and directed in repertory theatre.

Newman finally found success in 1958 with Act Of War, inspired by his experiences with the RAF in Burma. He adapted it for BBC Television later the same year, and then for Hammer Films in 1959; on both occasions, it was retitled Yesterday's Enemy. This led to Newman writing several additional screenplays for Hammer, but none ever made it to the big screen. Newman managed only a story credit for 1962's Savage Guns (also known as Tierra brutal, often cited as the first Spaghetti Western), which was heavily rewritten from a script of his called The San Siado Killings. It appears that Newman's financial demands eventually spelled the end of his relationship with Hammer.

Newman then turned to television, and was commissioned to write The Sensorites for the first season of Doctor Who. Sadly, he then experienced a prolonged period of severe writer's block and never again earned a screen credit. Newman took a job as a porter at the Tate Gallery in London, where he suffered a bad fall. On February 22nd, 1975, he died of the resulting cerebral hemorrhage. Newman then faded into obscurity, becoming one of the most enigmatic figures in Doctor Who history. This changed with the release of The Sensorites on DVD. One of the accompanying special features was a documentary which shed considerable light on Newman's life; called Looking For Peter, it was produced and directed by Chris Chapman, and narrated by Toby Hadoke.