Born: 20th September 1925 (as Edward John Wiles)
Died: 5th April 1999 (aged 73 years)
Episodes Broadcast: 1965-1966

John Wiles was born in Kimberley, South Africa and began working in Cape Town's theatre industry as a teenager. Wiles had already been a stage manager and a playwright before he moved to England in 1949, seeking better opportunities. Taking odd jobs to make ends meet, Wiles developed his craft as both a writer and an artist. His first novel, The Moon To Play With, was published in 1954 and paved his way to a position with the BBC Script Department. Early television credits included episodes of The Dancing Bear, Court Of Mystery, Your World and Walter And Connie. At the same time, Wiles continued to write plays and novels.

In the mid-Sixties, Wiles became a story editor on programmes such as Compact, The Midnight Men and The Massingham Affair. Although he harboured ambitions to direct, the BBC instead promoted him to producer, succeeding Verity Lambert on Doctor Who. Wiles began taking over from Lambert in mid-1965, and earned his first credit on The Myth Makers. He and story editor Donald Tosh shared similar views on Doctor Who, and were eager to push it towards a more ambitious vein of science-fiction. However, Wiles soon butted heads with star William Hartnell, and the pair were unable to mend fences. Matters culminated in an attempt to replace Hartnell with another actor at the climax of The Celestial Toymaker. When the BBC ordered Wiles to abandon this plan, he decided to quit. His final Doctor Who credit came on The Ark.

Wiles returned to scriptwriting, spending much of 1966 on The Newcomers. He rounded out the Sixties as a script consultant on Dixon Of Dock Green. The theatre was a significant part of Wiles' working life during the Seventies, but he still wrote for shows like Ballet Shoes, Warship and Poldark. His last credits on the small screen came in 1978, for Tycoon and A Horseman Riding By. Wiles' career as a novelist was also winding down; his last book, Homelands, was released in 1980, although he published several plays for children during the subsequent decade. Wiles had been ill for some time when he died of cancer on April 5th, 1999.