David Whitaker (1928 - 1980) was one of the people responsible for the creation of the science fiction television series Doctor Who. He helped create the concept of the series, and served as the series' first script editor. He also wrote a number of Doctor Who serials himself, including two stories featuring the Daleks considered by many to be classics.

In 1964, Whitaker wrote the first two of what would eventually prove to be a long-running and popular series of novels adapted from the television series. The second was an adaptation of his own Doctor Who serial set during the Third Crusade; the first was, perhaps inevitably, an adaptation of the series' first Dalek story.