Rob Shearman

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Robert Shearman appearing on Doctor Who Confidential

Robert Shearman (also credited as Rob Shearman; born February 10, 1970 near London, England) is currently best-known as a writer for Doctor Who and for his ongoing association with Jarvis & Ayres Productions (Martin Jarvis and Rosalind Ayres) which has resulted in six plays for BBC Radio 4: About Colin (2000), Inappropriate Behaviour (2002), Afternoons with Roger (2003), Forever Mine (2004), Teacher's Pet (2005) and Odd (2006). These have all been broadcast in the station's regular weekday Afternoon Play slot.

Shearman was educated at Reigate Grammar School (where he was a contemporary of David Walliams) and University of Exeter.

An established theatrical playwright, Shearman has worked with Alan Ayckbourn, had a play produced by Francis Ford Coppola, and has received several international awards for his work in theatre. His plays include Fool to Yourself, which premiered at the Stephen Joseph Theatre in 1997.

His association with Doctor Who began with a play written for BBV Audios, Punchline, in which Sylvester McCoy played the Dominie, a disguised version of the Seventh Doctor. This was penned under the pseudonym "Jeremy Leadbetter" (the name of a character from the popular BBC sitcom The Good Life). Several audio plays for Big Finish followed. He has also had Doctor Who short stories published.

Shearman wrote the television episode Dalek for the 2005 series of Doctor Who produced by Russell T. Davies for the BBC. This was, at Davies' request, a re-working of the themes introduced by Shearman's earlier Big Finish audio play Jubilee. However, he did not return to write a script for the second series due to other work commitments. Dalek was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form in 2006, and came in second in terms of votes for its category.

Other television work has included episodes of the 1950s-set rural drama Born and Bred, broadcast on BBC One. He also provided an audio commentary on the Doctor Who Complete First Series Boxset on the episode Dalek.

[edit] Doctor Who plays for Big Finish Productions

The Holy Terror (Sixth Doctor, Frobisher; November 2000)
The Maltese Penguin (Sixth Doctor, Frobisher; November 2001)
The Chimes of Midnight (Eighth Doctor, Charley; February 2002)
Jubilee (Sixth Doctor, Evelyn Smythe; January 2003)
Deadline (Doctor Who Unbound, featuring Sir Derek Jacobi; September 2003)
Scherzo (Eighth Doctor, Charley; December 2003) He also provided an audio commentary for Doctor Who Complete First Series Boxset, on the episode Dalek.