John Dorney is a British writer and actor best known for stage roles at theatres including the National Theatre,[1] the BBC Radio 4 sitcom My First Planet; and his scripts for the Big Finish Doctor Who range.[2] His script Solitaire was rated the most popular Doctor Who Companion Chronicle of 2010 on the Timescales website and was the runner up in Unreality Sci-fi net's poll for Story of the Year 2010–11. His script Iterations of I won the Scribe Award for best spin-off audio drama of 2014 and his script “The Red Lady” won the same award in 2015. His script “Absent Friends” won a BBC Audio Drama award, and the co-authored script for ‘Stranded 1’ won an Audie.
As well as Doctor Who, he has written for Big Finish's Sapphire and Steel series and on radio co-wrote three series of BBC Radio 4's Recorded for Training Purposes. He won the BBC Show Me the Funny 'Sketch Factor' competition, was a finalist in the BBC 'Laughing Stock' competition, and has performed in Mark Watson's Edinburgh Comedy Award-winning long shows as 'The Balladeer'. On stage, he has written plays for the Royal Court Theatre, Hampstead and Soho Theatres.[3]
He trained at LAMDA.
| Production | Company/Broadcaster | Notes/Dates | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Doctor Who: Monsters in Metropolis | Big Finish Productions | Writer, November 2021 | |
| Doctor Who: Dalek Universe | Big Finish Productions | Writer (Three Episodes) Script Editor, 2021 | |
| Donna Noble Kidnapped: Spinvasion | Big Finish Productions | Writer, March 2020 | |
| Recorded for Training Purposes | BBC Radio 4 | Co-writer, three series | |
| Missy: Divorced, Beheaded, Regenerated | Big Finish Productions | Writer, February, 2019 | |
| Torchwood: See No Evil | Big Finish Productions | Writer, October 2018 | |
| Doctor Who: Ravenous | Big Finish Productions | Writer (Eight Episodes) 2018 - 2019 | |
| The Diary of River Song Five Twenty Nine | Big Finish Productions | Writer, Jan 2017 | |
| Doctor Who: Infamy of the Zaross | Big Finish Productions | Writer 2017 | |
| Doctor Who: Original Sin | Big Finish Productions | Writer (based on the novel by Andy Lane), December 2016 | |
| The New Counter-Measures: Who Killed Toby Kinsella? | Big Finish Productions | Writer, July 2016 | |
| Doctor Who: The Trouble with Drax | Big Finish Productions | Writer, June 2016 | |
| Doctor Who: The Two Masters | Big Finish Productions | Writer, June 2016 | |
| Doctor Who: Doom Coalition 2: Scenes from Her Life | Big Finish Productions | Writer, March 2016 | |
| Doctor Who: Infernal Devices: Legion of the Lost | Big Finish Productions | Writer, February 2016 | |
| Doctor Who: You Are the Doctor and Other Stories | Big Finish Productions | Co-Writer, December 2015 | |
| Doctor Who: Doom Coalition: The Red Lady | Big Finish Productions | Writer, October 2015 | |
| Doctor Who: Waiting for Gadot | Big Finish Productions | Writer, September 2015 | |
| Doctor Who: Terror of the Sontarans | Big Finish Productions | Writer (with Dan Starkey), September 2015 | |
| Counter-Measures: Rise and Shine | Big Finish Productions | Writer, July 2015 | |
| Doctor Who: The Well-Mannered War | Big Finish Productions | Writer (based on the novel by Gareth Roberts), April 2015 | |
| Doctor Who: Requiem for the Rocket Men | Big Finish Productions | Writer, March 2015 | |
| Doctor Who: Dark Eyes 4 | Big Finish Productions | Writer (with Matt Fitton), March 2015 | |
| Doctor Who: The English Way of Death | Big Finish Productions | Writer (based on the novel by Gareth Roberts), Jan 2015 | |
| Doctor Who: Iterations of I | Big Finish Productions | Writer, August 2014 | |
| Counter-Measures: Unto the Breach | Big Finish Productions | Writer, July 2014 | |
| Doctor Who: Second Chances | Big Finish Productions | Writer, June 2014 | |
| Doctor Who: The Crooked Man | Big Finish Productions | Writer, March 2014 | |
| Doctor Who: The King of Sontar | Big Finish Productions | Writer, Jan 2014 | |
| Doctor Who: 1963: The Assassination Games | Big Finish Productions | Writer, November 2013 | |
| Doctor Who: The Lost Stories – Lords of the Red Planet | Big Finish Productions | Writer (based on the outline by Brian Hayles), November 2013 | |
| Counter-Measures Sins of the Fathers | Big Finish Productions | Writer, July 2013 | |
| Doctor Who: The Justice of Jalxar | Big Finish Productions | Writer, March 2013 | |
| Doctor Who: The Burning Prince | Big Finish Productions | Writer, September 2012 | |
| Jago and Litefoot Beautiful Things | Big Finish Productions | Writer, March 2012 | |
| Doctor Who: The Wrath of the Iceni | Big Finish Productions | Writer, March 2012 | |
| Doctor Who: The Fourth Wall | Big Finish Productions | Writer, February 2012 | |
| Doctor Who: The Lost Stories – The Foe from the Future | Big Finish Productions | Writer (based on the outline by Robert Banks Stewart), January 2012 | |
| Doctor Who: The Lost Stories – The Elite | Big Finish Productions | Writer (based on the outline by Barbara Clegg), October 2011 | |
| Doctor Who: The Rocket Men | Big Finish Productions | Writer, August 2011 | |
| Jago and Litefoot Swan Song | Big Finish Productions | Writer, June 2011 | |
| – The Destroyers | Big Finish Productions | Based on a script for an unproduced pilot by Terry Nation, co-adapted with Nicholas Briggs, December 2010 | |
| Bernice Summerfield Present Tense – The Propaganda War | Big Finish Productions | Writer 2010 | |
| Bernice Summerfield Dead Man's Switch | Big Finish Productions | Writer with Richard Dinnick, December 2010 | |
| Doctor Who: The Demons of Red Lodge and Other Stories | Big Finish Productions | Co-writer, December 2010 | |
| Doctor Who: Echoes of Grey | Big Finish Productions | Writer, August 2010 | |
| Doctor Who: Solitaire | Big Finish Productions | Writer, June 2010 | |
| Sapphire and Steel: Remember Me | Big Finish Productions | Writer, 2008 | |
| Doctor Who: Lepidoptery for Beginners | Big Finish Productions | Writer, 2008 | |
| Cowboys | Royal Court Theatre | Writer, October 2000 |
| Production | Company/Broadcaster | Role | Notes/Dates |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Omega Factor | Big Finish Productions | Adam Dean | 2015 |
| Doctor Who: The Light at the End | Big Finish Productions | Bob Dovie | 2013 |
| My First Planet | BBC Radio 4 | Richard | 2012 |
| Doctor Who: The Demons of Red Lodge and Other Stories | Big Finish Productions | Janson Hart | 2010 |
| Doctor Who: Farewell, Great Macedon | Big Finish Productions | Alexander the Great | 2010 |
| Doctor Who: The Fragile Yellow Arc of Fragrance | Big Finish Productions | Rhythm | 2010 |
| Doctor Who: A Death in the Family | Big Finish Productions | Henry Noone | 2010 |
| The Caretaker | London Classic Theatre | Mick | Touring 2010 |
| Humble Boy | London Classic Theatre | Felix Humble | Touring 2008-2009 |
| Peter Pan | National Theatre | Nibs | 1998–1999 |
| Flight | National Theatre | Cossack | 1998 |
| Something Beginning With... | Orange Tree | Harry | 2000 |
| Volpone | Wilton's Music Hall | Corvino | 2005 |
| Beauty and the Beast | Creation Theatre Company | The Beast | 2009 |
| Honolulu | Pleasance Courtyard | Milo | 2004 |
| Better Watch Out | Hampstead Theatre | Matt Cooper | 2003 |