Barbara Clegg dead at 98: Soap actress and scriptwriter became the first woman to write for Doctor Who

Barbara Clegg played the role of Nurse Jo Buckley on Emergency Ward 10, which was a 1950s soap opera. She was born on March 1 1926 and her mother, Ethel née Moores, was the sister of Sir John Moores, founder of the Littlewoods empire. Her father was Herbert Clegg and both Herbert and Ethel ran a factory making artificial flowers.

When it came to Barbara Clegg’s education, she attended Culcheth Hall school in Altrincham, followed by Cheltenham Ladies’ College and went on to read English at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, where she also acted. At the start of her career, Barbara Clegg was lucky enough to go on tour in Australia with the legendary actress Katherine Hepburn back in 1955. The pair performed Shakespeare plays such as The Taming of the Shrew and The Merchant of Venice.

When she returned to the UK, Barbara Clegg secured the regular part of Nurse Jo Buckley on soap opera Emergency Ward 10. Barbara also appeared alongside Tommy Steele in the musician film comedy It’s All Happening.

It was in the early 1960s that Barbara started writing for the radio and not only appeared in the 1962 ATV drama series Strange Concealments, but wrote for it as well.

The Telegraph reported that “When she was commissioned by the script editor Eric Saward, Barbara Clegg became the first woman to write for Doctor Who. Her storyline, originally entitled “The Enlighteners”, involved the Doctor and his companions, Tegan Jovanka (Janet Fielding) and Vislor Turlough (Mark Strickson), materialising the Tardis in the heaving hold of what appears to be an Edwardian yacht, crewed by human beings who have no idea how or why they got there – or where they are – but know they are taking part in a race.”

Barbara Clegg married Paul Johnstone, a writer and producer in 1962 but he passed away in 1976, she is survived by their two sons and a daughter. Barbara Clegg also wrote a biography of her uncle, Sir John Moores, which was published five weeks before he passed away, he died in 1993 and the biography was called ‘The Man Who Made Littlewoods.’