Just before Hitchhiker's was commissioned for radio, Douglas was also commissioned to write scripts for Doctor Who. His first script was The Pirate Planet, a story involving a hollowed out planet, telepaths and a cyborg captain.

Douglas gave up a job as a fledgling radio comedy producer to be script editor on Doctor Who for season seventeen. His time on the show brought the humourous aspects of Tom Baker's Doctor to the fore.

City of Death was set in Paris. It featured John Cleese as an art dealer, six copies of the Mona Lisa (all original), and a private detective who bears a passing resemblance to Douglas' later creation, Dirk Gently.

Douglas also wrote Shada, a story that wasn't finished at the time due to industral disputes. The Doctor encounters Professor Chronotis, a retired Timelord whose TARDIS is his study in a Cambridge college. Anyone saying this also sounds a bit Dirk Gently wouldn't be accused of crazy talk. The script was finally made as an animated webcast for the Cult website, starring Paul McGann.