A SCREENWRITER who produced the script for last night's episode of the smash-hit series of Doctor Who has described the experience as a 'dream come true'.

Joy Wilkinson, from Burnley, is one of a team of authors writing scripts for the latest sci-fi series, which features the first female Time Lord Jodie Whittaker.

The former Burnley Youth Theatre member wrote yesterday's episode 'The Witchfinders' which saw the Doctor and her companions visit Pendle Hill in 1612 during the time of the Pendle Witch trials.

It was the first episode to air which has been produced by Ms Wilkinson and has been has been dubbed by some reviewers as the 'scariest outing yet' for the new showrunner, the thirteenth Doctor.

Lancashire Telegraph:

Hours before the episode aired on Sunday Ms Wilkinson, the former Burnley's Habergham High School student, tweeted a picture of a book she read as a child named The Fate of the Lancashire Witches, which served as an inspiration for the plot.

The former student at Accrington and Rossendale, where she studied Film, Media and English, said on Twitter: "I got this book when I was 10, with its audio cassette that I listened to over and over at bedtime.

"The darkness leaking into my dreams and now into my Doctor Who. Hope you enjoy tonight. For me it's a dream come true."

READ MORE: Burnley writer pens Doctor Who episode

The episode, which was directed by Sallie Aprahamian, contained elements of historical realism all was not as it seems as the trial victims were possessed by an alien entity.

Lancashire Telegraph:

It was the eighth episode of the new series, which includes regular appearances from The Chase's Bradley Walsh, Eastenders Tosin Cole and Hollyoaks' Mandip Gill.

Scottish-American actor Alan Cumming, who is best known for X2 and GoldenEye, starred in the episode where he portrayed King James I for the one-off appearance.

Ms Wilkinson's contribution to the BBC sci fi classic maintains the local link established by Blackburn Rovers fan Matt Smith, who played the eleventh Doctor from 2010 to 2013 and whose father, David, and family hailed from Darwen.

Now currently directing her own show ‘The Sweet Science of Bruising’ about Victorian lady boxers at the Southwark Playhouse, she graduated through the BBC Writers’ Academy to pen scripts shows including Casualty, Doctors, and Land Girls, and The Adventures of Nick Nickleby.

People can watch the episode, which aired at 6.30pm yesterday, on BBC iPlayer.