The editors, as usual, give a brief outline of what is in the issue. They also plead for letters and artwork plus thank a lot of people. Australian authors: Sarah Groenewegen; Robert Mammone; George Ivanoff and Adrian Sherlock talk about writing for Candy Jar Books and in the particular writing about the Brigadier. This bumper Astral Map has a series of reviews of something from each of the fourteen Doctors that has been recently released.
A detailed look at the show's most famous duo – the Brigadier and the Doctor. This issue's Doctor Who cryptic crossword has clues from four Doctors; the 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th.
.
Contributors to this issue
Bob Brinkman, Michael Gibbins, Michael Goleniewski, Bruce Greenwood, Sarah Groenewegen, Gavin Hayne, George Ivanoff, Darran Jordan, Paul Gerard Kennedy, Craig Land, Rob Lloyd, Robert Mammone, Adam Richard, David Ross, Louis Scholten, Adrian Sherlock, Robert Smith?, Gemma Styles and Craig Wellington.
CONFESSIONAL DIAL Yes, it’s us again, a cheery “What ho!” from Roger and a quizzical “Who’s on base?” from Dallas. Well – we’re more or less on schedule with this e-zine – Trap Street Number Four and as you will notice it has a particular emphasis / theme "The Life and Times of the Brig". We hope you enjoy our front cover of Nicholas Courtney as the Brigadier. It's rather regal don’cha’think? In this issue, we have our own intrepid coeditor, Dallas Jones, conducting interviews with four Australian authors who have written official Lethbridge-Stewart stories for ‘Candy Jar’ books. To continue the Brigadier theme, we have an in-depth examination of the LethbridgeStewart legend, as he has been portrayed over many years within Doctor Who itself, given by Darran Jordan, one of our indefatigable contributors. The other major part of this issue is a special 'Astral Map’; our reviews section. We have compiled a review of an item of merchandise for each of the Fourteen Doctors. The reviews are of items that have been recently released, from late last year to – well – almost up to right now. (There is one exception in that no recent material has been released about the War Doctor so we went back and covered the first item that was released back in 2014). And, of course, we have the usual fare: Web Planet; our page of quirky and unusual links to the world wide web; and Winword, our regular crossword puzzle (for the grey matter). We welcome on board, in response to the ad from the previos issue, Gemma Styles, who has agreed to help with proof reading. We were hoping to get a vast influx of let-
ters, but alas, this has not materialised – and we await, with bated breath, for an assault of letters from you, gentle readers. So fingers to keyboards people and send us in a letter of comment. We plan to have our next audio production, Rainbow Serpent Part 1, out in the next few weeks. This should be followed by The Nexus part 2, and the concluding parts (2 and 3) of Rainbow Serpent. Please keep an eye out on our website, or our Facebook page and group, where an announcement will be made when this audio is released. Thanks to everyone who participated in our survey about series 11; a full analysis, and a large selection of people’s comments, were published in April as a Trap Street ‘Special’ . If you have not got a copy of this and wish to obtain one, then please go to our website to find out all the details. The next regular edition of Trap Street will be in out in October. As always, thanks massively to all contributors and, of course, we’re always on the lookout for more new and interesting articles and reviews. Finally, as well as receiving letters from our readership, we would also like to publish artwork in this magazine. So if you have a skill at drawing, then please contact us about contributing your artwork to our magazine. To contact Trap Street, our email address is: editors@drproductionsaus.org
☼
Dallas Jones & Roger Reynolds
Doctor Who is copyright to the BBC. Copyright of all other material contained within returns to the
contributor on publication. No attempt is made to supercede any copyright. Views expressed within are those of the writer and not necessarily held by the editors.
dipping into
Four Australian authors t
Interviews con
Sarah Groenewegen “I grew up with the Brig. I am of that Aussie generation who enjoyed multiple repeats of Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker stories, many of which included UNIT. Writing for Candy Jar has been fabulous, letting me dive into the character and bring to light some different facets of who he is. I loved exploring the relationship between him and Pearl, a slightly older woman who has a lasting effect on him and his life.”
Official Lethbridge-Stewart News Site
What is your first memory of Doctor Who? When was this?
Not my memory, but my parents had a story of me as a toddler watching a story with the Daleks and me being distraught when one of the Daleks was destroyed. From the timing and general gist of the story, I think it might have been 'Evil of the Daleks'. My own memories are disrupted by what seemed to have been endless repeats on the ABC in the 70s. When you first saw the show were you hooked or did your love of Doctor Who de-
velop?
Doctor Who was the show I didn’t want to miss, and that came in very early. When I was a small child a cousin who was about ten years older than me and obsessed with SF – Star Trek , Lost in Space , My Favourite Martian , and Doctor Who. Doctor Who stuck with me in a way that those others didn’t. My love of Doctor Who has changed over time as I’ve grown up. Nostalgia plays hard for the ‘old’ series, and as for the new – I have watched and re-watched each with, in general, a great sense of enjoyment. Knowing many of the people involved in both making the show and generating the ephemera around it since its 21st century return means that I no longer watch it in a fannish way. Your favourite Doctor Who story and why? I don’t actually have a favourite Doctor Who story. No, really. I don’t. I used to joke that it was Transit, the New Adventure by Ben Aaronovitch. That’s a story I still really like, by the way, because it pushed out some boundaries that others were starting to erect that yet more fans were beginning to believe in. What I love about Doctor Who, and its successful spin-offs, is that it can be and is so many things to so many people at various times in their lives. It’s why, as a concept, it has been so phenomenally successful and endured. As I wrote in my Black Archive monograph on 'Face the Raven', regeneration is what resulted in the concept’s longevity and the concept of regeneration occurs in nearly every facet of the ongoing story, from the story-tellers (and I mean the entire production team in that), and story-telling.
o the candy jar
talk about bringing the Brig to life
nducted by Dallas Jones How and when did you become involved in fandom?
My Dad was a university professor and that was where fandom in Australia mostly came about. In the late 1970s I attended one of the very first fan events. I was a child and have dim memories of it, and collecting the Target novelisations. I went to the event in 1980 that Jon Pertwee was at, and then got more and more involved during the 1980s. I got involved with a fan club in Penrith, and later with the main Sydney-based club.
What did you do in fandom? Clubs, zines, events and other activities?
In 1982 I started my first fanzine – the Union of Traken – along with a fan club. I later got involved in various fan events and started contributing to various other fanzines. I didn’t only do Doctor Who ones – V (based on the original 1980s miniseries), cyberpunk (later 1980s), and then back to what was probably the last paper-based fanzine scene for Doctor Who. That was with both Bog Off! (a self-deprecating venture I did with Kate Orman) and The Happiness Patrol (for and by LGBT+ fans of the series).
What lead to an interest in writing? Did you write whilst a fan, any publications, stories, articles come to mind?
I loved writing at school, and my family – book-lovers all – encouraged my little forays. Fandom became an outlet and I wrote loads of articles, stories, and little humorous pieces, all reaching an audience. That feedback loop enabled me to improve my writing, and the act of writing itself is something that makes me feel good.
What were your favourite and or most interesting pieces you wrote as a fan?
Ones that spring to mind are: a short piece in which I described the TARDIS materialising as seen and written by Gertrude Stein (I caught her style well, according to others who read it); my essay about Adric in Companion Piece convinced one of the editors that Adric was actually a really good companion and a short extract of a script in which the TARDIS materialises in the house where Edina and Saffy from Absolutely Fabulous live.
What books / authors stand out that you have read?
Ursula LeGuin, Tade Thompson, N.K. Jemisin, Emma Newman, Vonda McIntyre, George Orwell, Gareth Powell, Adrian Tchaikovsky, Ann Leckie, Una McCormack, Kameron Hurley. There are others, but those spring to mind immediately as writers of consistently great stuff, mostly in Science Fiction and Fantasy.
What was your first professional sale?
It was a reprint of a piece I wrote for a fanzine, Bog Off! , that I did with Kate Orman. Paul Cornell had sold the idea to Virgin publishing of a collection of fan creativity, which became Licence Denied: Rumblings from the Doctor Who Underground.
What was it called and what was it about?
Clothes Maketh the Fan , which was about cross-dressing, what we now call cosplay, and how during the 1990s (when I wrote it) and before the media tended to trot out the trope of SF fans being not really worthy of anything but denigration.
Do you now write for a living or do you have another job to pay the bills? I have a ‘day job’, a profession, in law enforcement.
What sorts of genre do you like writing in the most?
SF and crime / detective / military fiction. Usually with a political edge to it.
Do you have a writing strategy / plan?
I am planning a change of career to concentrate more on writing. If plans go well, then this will be in play in 2020.
Do you write at specific times? Do you outline your stories before writing, if not what is your process?
At the moment, I squeeze in the time to write for when I can. When writing to a deadline, you make the time. For Candy Jar, I did outline the stories before writing. This is part of the process of working with the editor. This was similar to what I did with Big Finish, but the level of detail in the plans depended on the editors to a large extent, and the nature of the writing project. For other projects that I have simmering – all original SF novels – I have outlined some, for others I wrote what came and later checked it against a time-line to make sure it made sense. Then it’s edit, edit, edit, edit. How did you come to write for Candy Jar? Did you contact them and if so how? Or
did they contact you?
They contacted me to write a short story for them based on my Big Finish stories. The first Candy Jar story became the Lock-In , which was part of the second Havoc Files. It was fun to write. They then asked me to write a novel and gave me the title and basic outline, but I came up with the supporting characters and more detailed story. Can you tell us a bit about Lock In . Was the use of letters
your idea? I gather the story is mentioned in the novel Showstoppers.
The idea for the collection, which came from the editor, was to showcase how the Brigadier is a bit of a ‘lady’s man’. Not often seen in Doctor Who itself, but mentioned often enough. I wanted to write something from very early on in Lethbridge-Stewart’s military career, even his first command on leaving Sandhurst. Researching the period in which it’s set (1950s), I saw that I could do it as a training exercise on the Kent Coast that goes wrong and therefore testing Lethbridge-Stewart’s mettle early on. There’s a pub on the beach run by Pearl, who LethbridgeStewart falls for in part because of her level-headedness but also she has an air of mystery about her. Not sure that he ever quite twigs it, but she’s gay. They do explore her secret WW2 service. I wrote it originally as a straightforward narrative and the editor, Andy Frankham-Allen, suggested that it would work well as a series of letters. In The Daughters of Earth was it your decision to make Sally Wright, the Bri-
gadiers’ fiancée, the central character? Is the surname Wright a nod to both Barbara and Polly? How did you go about writing a book set in the 60s?
Actually, no. Not my decision. [Spoiler alert!] The editor, Andy Frankham-Allen, wanted it to end Alastair and Sally’s relationship by the end of the book, and bring Anne and Bill together so they go out on their first date by the end. It was also his idea to have Sally come to some realisations via the Daughters of Earth – the what and how of those realisations were up to me, but within the overall theme of peace / war, feminism and societal changes. I must confess to having no idea about her surname being a nod to Barbara / Polly or not. It’s actually set in early 1970. I researched the British Army for the time – uniforms, kit, attitudes. Because it’s set on the Scottish north-west coast I checked out the weather and there was a terrible storm that hit the area (a fictional village) at the time. I needed to check out land ownership and farming practices in the Highlands at the time. I also researched feminist
groups and discovered that the first Women’s Lib conference occurred in Manchester at around that time. The one that features at the start of the novel is based very loosely on that, but isn’t pretending to be that one. I also researched the politics of the time in relation to subversive groups, the likely police (Special Branch) attention, and also racism from the time. I also re-watched the Doctor Who stories from the time. As the Lethbridge–Stewart series now has a largish backstory does the series have a
bible? Have you had to re-write / delete something because it clashes with this backstory?
The stories are involved and detailed, and there is a guide that evolves constantly. While writing my novel, I knew there would be sections where there would need to be emotional resonances from preceding novels and a bit of foreshadowing for future books. The editor, Andy Frankham-Allen, either shared with me those key elements or sketched out what was needed for me to write properly around it.
About how many drafts would a story go through with them?
For me, about two complete drafts, but with tinkering as I mentioned with the above question.
Had you met Nicholas Courtney or Mervyn Haisman or Henry Lincoln? Met Nick many, many years ago at a convention. Not met the others.
Did Nick come across to you as being the Brigadier?
He knew the part well that was so loved by fans that he played up to that at conventions and other events. In general, though, he was an actor playing a role, not a career army man.
How would you describe the character of the Brigadier? What are his strengths, weaknesses and foibles?
He is quite different throughout his long history in Doctor Who itself – from the imaginative military man dealing with the unimaginable Yetis in the underground, to the old man full of reminiscences and nostalgia in the Sarah Jane Adventures. He’s not the military buffoon that some people think. He has to make some difficult decisions, and puts national (global?) security ahead of pretty much everything. For all his stiff upper lip and being proper, he is a lady’s man. A charming flirt. Are you continuing to be involved with Candy Jar? Yes.
Anything in the near future with them? Yes. Watch the website for details.
Where do you see your writing career going?
As I said earlier, I am moving to make a career change in the next year or so that will – all going well – see writing being my full-time work, although I may need to have a part time second job to pay bills and the like. Not only have I had a novel published now, I have had some serious interest in a few of my original SF novels from publishers. It takes time to secure an agent and I need to be able to devote that time to that, plus writing and editing.
Sarah Groenewegen's published professional works
“Frocks, Coats and Dress (Non)Sense” in Licence Denied: Rumblings from the Doctor Who Underground. 1997. Virgin. “Virgin Lands” in Doctor Who: Short Trips: Zodiac. 2002. Big Finish. “Hymn of the City” in Doctor Who: Short Trips: The Muses. 2003. Big Finish. “The Bushranger’s Story” in Doctor Who: Short Trips: Repercussions. 2004. Big Finish. “The Incredibly True Adventures of an Intellectual Fan Dyke” in Queers Dig Time Lords. 2013. Mad Norwegian Press. “The Silence of the Games” in Chicks Dig Gaming. 2014. Mad Norwegian Press. “The Damned Don’t Cry” in Companion Piece. 2015. Mad Norwegian Press. 21 entries in 1001 TV Shows You Must Watch Before You Die. 2015. Quintessence. “The Lock-In” in Lethbridge Stewart: The HAVOC Files 2. 2016. Candy Jar Books. Lethbridge Stewart: The Daughters of Earth. 2017. Candy Jar Books. The Black Archive 20: Face the Raven. 2018. Obverse Books .
Robert Mammone Originally released in 201 7, the backdoor pilot to this series has been retitled Other Wars, Other Worlds. Talking about the reception of his book, author Robert Mammone said: "I am gobsmacked by the overwhelmingly positive reception. You hope that when the results of all that hard work venture into the world, readers are at least kind to it, but the lovely reviews on the internet, and the personal comments I've received left me feeling giddy. When I heard the hardback had sold out so quickly I looked forward to the day when more people could pick up the paperback, and that day is almost here! Here's to more readers enjoying the adventures of Travers and Wells! " Candy Jar Press release What is your first memory of Doctor Who? When was this?
My first memory, and indeed, it’s a very strong memory, is of Linx taking off his helmet in 'The Time Warrior'. That zoom into his face sent me running from the living room! I definitely remember it being in colour, so it had to be post 1975 – whether it was on first broadcast or a later repeat, I’m unsure. I do know we had a colour television sometime in the 70s, as I remember Graham Gooch being dismissed on 99 and seeing that in colour! I’m likely conflating two separate memories, but the rest of the memory has me running out of the living room into an overcast day, and into my father’s arms. He was sitting outside, likely with his father and brother, no doubt having a few drinks and some food. It’s one of my fondest memories of my Dad. When you first saw the show, were you hooked or did your love of Doctor Who de-
velop?
It’s possible, indeed likely that I watched Doctor Who before that striking image from 'The Time Warrior', but I have absolutely no memory of it. I have a jumble of memories of Doctor Who from the 70s – missing episode 2 of the 'The Masque of Mandragora' because I was at piano lessons, convincing myself the last episode of 'Death to the Daleks' was only fifteen minutes long, eating spaghetti with a mouthful of loose teeth on my birthday while an episode of 'The Androids of Tara' played out on the screen and being aghast that a friend of mine was banned from watching Doctor Who because of the 'Planet of the Spiders'. As for if I was hooked from day one?; it’s impossible to say, but I would say it was pretty quick given I was watching episodes day after day thanks to the ABCs incessant repeats! Your favourite Doctor Who story and why? When I co-hosted the 42 to Doomsday podcast, my constant go-to story was 'Horror of Fang Rock'. Over time it became a bit of a standing joke, but you know what, it is a damn entertaining story. Sure, it’s not the best story out there (hello 'Caves of Androzani') but I find its setting, the claustrophobic tone, the remorselessly rising death toll, and the performance of Baker and Jamieson utterly compelling. Because it is set in one place, none of the tension is dissipated with characters moving about. It’s all focussed on one location, with the tension ramping up as the story unfolds. Terrance Dicks doesn’t get the credit he deserves – he’s more than reliable – with a story like this, he’s outstanding.
How and when did you become involved in fandom?
I lived in a town called Mildura in country Victoria. A friend (soon turned enemy – hey, it was high school) named Chris Milton started up his own fanzine and club there (he scored a rather diffident looking photo in the local newspaper, surrounded by some of his books). Through that association I became aware there were other clubs in Australia, but it was only when I moved to Melbourne for university in 1990 that I became aware of two – Gallifrey, run by Sean Paul Smith (who I briefly worked with at Minotaur in the mid-90s) and of course the Doctor Who Club of Victoria . For the latter, I would attend their Saturday afternoon meetings, which latterly occurred at a room at Melbourne University. For me it was mainly the social side – catching up with friends to talk about Doctor Who, though over time, it became less about the show and more about everything else!
What did you do in fandom? Clubs, zines, events and other activities?
As mentioned above, it was mainly social activity, which spun off to evenings in the pub! I did write consistently for Sonic Screwdriver, the DWCV fanzine, for several years, winning a Double Gamma [Ed: Australian Doctor Who fan awards, no longer conducted] for best writer in the mid-90s, and then branched out writing fiction / non-fiction for zines in New Zealand, Britain and Canada. A heady time!
What lead to an interest in writing? Did you write whilst a fan, any publications, stories, articles come to mind?
I’ve always loved reading, right from when I began school. I suppose because of my love for
Doctor Who , I’ve always read genre stuff – sci-fi, horror and fantasy. This blossomed when I
started high school and had access to a larger library, and when I started earning money, began buying books in a frenzy – that has so far lasted four decades and doesn’t look like stopping soon. I don’t know how you can be a writer if you’re not an avid reader. I suppose I wanted to become a writer because I wanted to create my own stuff – characters, settings, adventures. That urge to create spurred me on. And because of my interest in Doctor Who, I wanted to write fiction for that setting. As mentioned before, I wrote for a lot of Doctor Who fanzines during the 1990s and early 2000s – I have a story in DWM #214 which was a huge thrill, and lots of credits for zines like TSV, Sonic Screwdriver, Dark Circus, Black Light and a few more.
What books / authors stand out that you have read?
I’m firmly in the genre ghetto, so no one should expect me to quote Shakespeare etc, etc. Stephen King was formative – I wouldn’t enjoy writing horror without being exposed to him in the early 80s. The two writers though that have always stood out for me have been David Gemmell and Guy Gavriel Kay – both write (or wrote – Gemmell is dead) in the fantasy genre, but at different ends. Gemmell’s muscular and readable prose, with books peopled with characters who could almost step whole from the page, really excited me when I was younger. Guy Kay’s writing is much more lyrical and evokes a great deal of emotion from me. He’s left high fantasy behind and moved into a strange niche of almost historical fiction with glancing looks at magic, raiding Byzantine or Chinese or Viking or Anglo-Saxon history for plots and characters. Gemmell’s writing is more hopeful, while Kay will hit you with hope and sadness, often in the same paragraph. I keep coming back to both year after year.
What was your first professional sale?
From memory, my first professional sale was the short story, Roses, for DWM #214, as part of their Brief Encounter series. It took 6 years to get paid, but that’s down to my own laziness, and not anything untoward by DWM!
Do you now write for a living or do you have another job to pay the bills?
There are a handful of Australian fiction writers actually making enough to support themselves, their families, their pets and their mortgages from their craft. I’m not in that category, will never be in that category, and am perfectly happy to work full time. Sitting at home all day pretending to be a full time writer will only see me scrolling through Netflix while the sheriff bangs on the door with a foreclosure letter from the bank!
What sorts of genre do you like writing in the most?
It’s a constant war between horror and fantasy. Horror I find a bit easier to write, especially short horror fiction which I’ve produced a large amount, because the they’re usually an exercise in building atmosphere and slightly less on characterisation. That said, my heart really sits with fantasy – I self-published a fantasy novella, Only the Guilty Live , last year to no acclaim, but really enjoyed writing it. I’ve got two heavily prepared ideas on my hard drive – one horror, one fantasy, and it’s a bit of a toss-up which I’ll do first. Probably the horror, but it is reluctantly!
Do you have a writing strategy / plan?
In terms of the writing itself, it’s finding the time to sit down and just write. For a long while I was writing late at night, after the family had gone to bed. But that’s untenable long term as the lack of sleep catches up with you. So I find the time, mainly at work, during lunch and after work before heading home, or in the car while waiting for the kids to finish their out of school activities. I definitely need to outline my stories, otherwise they become a morass of disconnected events that swiftly runs off course. I don’t plan down to the nth degree, but do cover the major plot points in an effort to guide me from start to finish. These outlines are usually a few pages in length. How did you come to write for Candy Jar? Did you contact them and if so how? Or
did they contact you?
Andy Frankham-Allan is the Lethbridge-Stewart range editor. I’d come across him in the early 2000s thanks to a site he ran with stories he’d written about his own version of Doctor Who after the 7th Doctor (or perhaps his version of the 7th Doctor, I can’t recall which.) Like everyone else, my ears pricked up when I heard about the Lethbridge-Stewart range coming from Candy Jar and kept an eye on their output. From memory, I contacted Andy directly to ask if there were any writing opportunities in the range and he asked for a sample of some writing, which I duly supplied (note to everyone – this isn’t usually the done thing and the best way is to check out the publisher’s site for any information on submissions, or a polite email of enquiry – don’t inundate Andy just because I did!) I assume he liked what I sent as he asked me to come up with a couple of ideas for a short story – as we were coming towards Halloween, he liked the horror tinged idea I came up with and voila, it was published. Was the first published story you did for Candy Jar
the first thing you wrote for them? Or have you written stuff that has not been used? If so can you tell us something about these non-published stories? Eve of the Fomorians was the first piece I’d written for Candy Jar. Other than a couple of pitches for rejected
stories, I’ve not had anything rejected.
Do Candy Jar want completed stories, detailed outlines, brief outlines or just an idea? Has this changed?
From my experience, and I can’t see why I’d be different to anyone else, Candy Jar require a story outline before agreeing to you writing for them. Of course, they have had a couple of short story competitions, so full stories are acceptable for that, but for their range, you have to be able to come up with something they will accept before you can launch into the actual work. I would say for Rise of the Dominator my outline was 2-3 pages, laying out the characters and the plot in reasonable detail. For me, that’s great, as I need an outline to stop me wandering all over the shop.
Do you pitch stories or do they ask you to write something specifically, or both?
For Eve of the Fomorians and the Travers & Wells novella, I had to pitch the story itself. For Travers & Wells, there is a larger idea behind the series, which will come to fruition as it unfolds, but the actual story resulted from a pitch I made. Rise of the Dominator had a number of required characters and a pre-determined setting, but the story itself was settled in my submitted outline. Personally, if an editor / publisher has a pre-set setting, that has instant appeal for me as all the background work has already been done and I can just concentrate and getting the story down on the page. It helps a great deal! What have you written for Candy Jar that has / or is about to be published? Can you
give a brief outline for each story and describe something about its writing?
So, as mentioned before, my first published work with Candy Jar was Eve of the Fomorians, a short horror tinged story set in the late 1960s and features Anne Travers (from 'Web of Fear') and two characters created especially for the Lethbridge-Stewart range, Bill Bishop and Samson Ware. Returning to HQ after a weekend away, the three firm friends find themselves in a seemingly abandoned remote Scottish town on the spookiest night of the year – Halloween! Hijinks ensue as the trio attempt to fathom where everyone has gone, and what links the disappearances have with the recent opening of an ancient barrow and the unearthing of its not-quite-dead inhabitant… I wrote this while being laid up for two weeks after an operation. I’ve written short horror fiction for the last decade and this felt like a really good chance to come up with a spooky tale featuring three of the key Lethbridge-Stewart characters. The late 60s setting perfectly suits the English Sunday tabloids obsession with the occult, and my own interest in H.P. Lovecraft’s cosmic horror. The second short story was Time and Again [Ed: this was published as a bonus short story in John Peel's The Life of Evans.] which sees a return to Karfel twenty years after the events of 'Timelash'. This story leads in to the Travers & Wells series, as Vena’s efforts to draw the Doctor back to Karfel go awry and two very different characters from the Doctor Who universe find themselves pitched together in a series of adventures… Attempting to harness a story to 'Timelash' felt daunting going in, but taking the main elements of Karfel and one of the characters from that story, helped craft, what I think, is a fine little piece. It mainly serves as a set up for the Travers & Wells novella, but it also comes across as a decent follow-up of what happens on Karfel next. Which leads to my novella Travers & Wells. Imagine a story where Edward Travers and H.G. Wells (the one from 'Timelash') are unwillingly thrust together in an alternate reality where the Martians from the War of the Worlds didn’t succumb to bacteria and instead conquered the Earth. A desperate race to escape this hellish version of reality sees the men cross-country first to London, then by ship to Dartmoor, where a mysterious factory promises the final extinction of mankind. Now
this was daunting. War of the Worlds is one of the foundational texts of science fiction writing so I was on a hiding to nothing, really. The What If? Idea has been around for a long time – what if the Nazi’s win World War 2 has long been a staple, so, what if the Martians’ invasion succeeds seemed like the next logical step. Being of a certain age, the imagery of the London Blitz informs the central section of the novella. I read WOTW to remind myself of characters and events, and basically slogged through the writing. I like to think when I’m writing to a deadline I’m pretty dedicated – 1000 words per day is the target, but getting off the couch, as it were, and doing the actual writing can be hard sometimes. I did need an extra couple of weeks to finish it, but thankfully got there in the end and I’m exceptionally proud of it. Look for a paperback version soon… On a completely different tangent, Rise of the Dominator [Ed: Original title The Day of the Matador] is set in the early 70s and forms part of a range of novels celebrating the Brigadier, though not necessarily in the form you’d expect. Thrust back in time and into the body of a Spanish safe-cracker, the Brigadier finds himself face to face with an old foe – Dominic Vaar, Dominator! Throw in a Nazi escapee, ancient magics and an even older sword, and we have a fast-paced action thriller set in the gangland world of London. Now this was a beast of a book. Not actually my first written novel (that one safely resides on my hard drive) but certainly the first to be published. As I mentioned before, I was working to a set list of requirements, which was great. The central story idea – that of occult doings in London in the early 70s – I cannibalised from a novel idea that hadn’t progressed much at all. It fit very well into the overall story I’d been asked to write. Thankfully, the deadline shifted markedly, so I was able to finish it roughly on time without losing my sanity. It was a lot of fun to write, with a few of my interests – Nazis, the occult – thrown in to spice things up. As the Lethbridge–Stewart series now has a
largish backstory does the series have a bible? Have you had to re-write / delete something because it clashes with this backstory?
Certainly, on the Lethbridge-Stewart site, there is information about the broad range of characters that Andy has shepherded into existence over the last few years. The Lethbridge-Stewart site holds all the information on character bios and history’s that anyone would need. Andy will certainly set you straight if you make a mistake or stray too far off what is known/intended for a character, and that’s how it should be. The only thing I can recall having to change was, I invented a name for the Dominator’s home planet in Time and Again – Dominius. I like it (of course) but I believe another name was already in existence. I can’t recall if major plot lines had to be cut for any of my work with Candy Jar, but if they were, I would definitely accede immediately – I’m working in their playpen, not my own.
Who are the people you deal with at Candy Jar? Who is the editor? Do they have a style guide?
I deal mostly with range editor Andy Frankham-Allan – he’s got a heap of writing experience and is a great sounding board, as well as a talented writer in his own right. Other than sticking to naming conventions and not burning down the backstory or changing the characters radically (unless asked to do so!) I’m not aware of a style guide. Write good, basically!
About how many drafts would a story go through with them?
I would do two drafts of the short stories, before submitting them for Andy’s notes, then another draft to incorporate and generally tidy up, before sending back to Andy for his final say so. I tend to enjoy the editing more than the writing – the end is in sight! For the novella and the novel, again, I’d do a couple of initial drafts, to tidy up the writing, make sure the punctuation and grammar adhere to accepted norms, and then send it to Andy for his input. At this stage, most of the draft is locked in, but there is always an opportunity to incorporate his ideas/thoughts / suggested changes, which always improve the story. A word to the wise – get the first draft down before doing any editing. It slows you down, otherwise! Had you met Nicholas Courtney or Mervyn Haisman or Henry Lincoln? I’m not one for conventions, and being in Australia, I don’t believe any of these gentlemen came out here. I would’ve loved speaking with Henry Lincoln about his non-fiction book Holy Blood and the Holy Grail , which always drew my eye whenever I was in my local bookshop during my teenage years!
How would you describe the character of the Brigadier? What are his strengths, weaknesses and foibles?
Stern, but with a twinkle in his eye. A man who leads, who inspires, and who gets the job done. An excellent pragmatic foil to the Doctor’s general nonsense and a touchstone for a generation of fans. Are you continuing to be involved with Candy Jar? As long as Candy Jar is happy for me to contribute, I’m happy to write for them. Right now, there’s nothing on the horizon, [Ed: Candy Jar announced on 1 8 June of a new novel by Robert] but if there were, I’d gladly accept it. I’m very happy with how things have gone with them over the last couple of years and extremely grateful they saw enough in my work to allow me to have my first novel published.
Where do you see your writing career going?
Realistically – probably not much higher than where it currently sits. Without the guarantee of an income from writing that matches that which I currently earn from my job, quitting and working from home is an utter non-starter. And even if I did, there’s absolutely no guarantee of any greater success. The market is drowning in product and writers and unless you catch a break and have a novel that takes flight, you’re down in the dirt wrestling with everyone else for recognition. In terms of recognition, hopefully there will be a bit more as time goes on, but I’m not writing just to feed my ego – there are better ways to achieve that dubious goal! No, I’m happy pottering along as I am.
Robert Mammone's published professional works
Doctor Who work: Roses – Doctor Who Magazine #214 , Travers and Wells: Other Wars, Other Worlds; Eve of the Fomorians – Havoc Files 3; Time and Again – The Life Of Evans; Rise of the Dominator and co-editor of Doctor Who: The Temporal Logbook Non Doctor Who works: Only the Guilty Live , Masks Along Came a Spider – Encounters Magazine #1, Home Sweet Home – Wordland #2, Refugees – Darkest Minds anthology – Dark Minds Press Shivers – The Big Book of New Short Horror, The Devil at Your Heels – Filthy Creations #6 and Mycelium – Filthy Creations #7 For a full list of all his fiction go here.
George Ivanoff "George Ivanoff is a Melbourne author who’s written over 1 00 books for kids and teens, including the Gamers trilogy, the interactive You Choose series, the RFDS Adventures, and his latest series, OTHER WORLDS; as well as a ton of school readers and educational books. He’s been working on a new book, The Australia Survival Guide , which will be published in October by Puffin. He has a tendency to drink too much coffee and eat too much chocolate." Check out his website: http://georgeivanoff.com.au What is your first memory of Doctor Who? When was this?
1977. Grade 4. I noticed that other kids were running around the playground shouting “EXTERMINATE” at each other. I discovered that this was because of some TV show. Of course, I just had to see what all the fuss was about. When you first saw the show were you hooked or did your love of Doctor Who de-
velop?
I wasn’t hooked straight away. My memories are a little vague. I think it was a Tom Baker episode. I certainly enjoyed it enough to keep watching, but it was not until I saw some Jon Pertwee repeats that I really became hooked. My obsession grew from there. Pertwee remains my favourite Doctor; his era, with UNIT and the Brig, my favourite era; and his first season, my favourite season. Your favourite Doctor Who story and why? 'Spearhead from Space'. So many reasons to love this story. It introduces the Autons. It’s so well-written and acted. It’s a great introduction to the third Doctor. The scene where the mannequins break out of the windows and start killing people is so chilling. It scared the crap out of me as a kid; and as an adult I still find it unsettling. Even though it is lower budget, it is so much more effective than the similar scene in 'Rose'. This story also has such a wonderful look and feel because of being shot entirely on film.
How and when did you become involved in fandom?
Whenever my parents took me into the city, I would insist on a visit to Space Age Books. And in 1980 I found a flyer for the Doctor Who Club of Victoria . I joined straight away. From there I went on to join the Australasian Doctor Who Fan Club , as well as other science fiction groups, including the Melbourne Science Fiction Club and AUSTREK.
What did you do in fandom? Clubs, zines, events and other activities?
In the beginning, I just contributed to the newsletters and fanzines. I sent in LOTS of terrible fanfic and fan art. I was painfully shy so didn’t really go to meetings until much later on. My first convention was Aussiecon 2 in 1985, where I remember meeting a fan named Gary Armstrong who had a full-sized remote control K9. My biggest involvement in fandom was in my university years. I had come out of my shell a little, so was now going to lots of events. I gave up on fan art but continued with fanfic. I made it onto a few committees and got involved with convention organising. During this time I was also pretty heavily involved with fan filmmaking.
What lead to an interest in writing? Did you write whilst a fan, any publications, stories, articles come to mind? Doctor Who fanfic is what got me interested in writing. As I’ve already mentioned, my early stuff was excruciatingly BAD! But, it taught me that writing could be fun. And my writing did eventually get better. The majority of my published fan writing was actually in the Star Trek universe. I was quite heavily involved in Star Trek fandom as this was where most of my friends were. It was a good training ground, and a great way to get feedback on my writing.
Some of George Ivanoff's fan fiction ©George Ivanoff
What were your favourite and or most interesting pieces you wrote as a fan?
The ones I remember liking the most were those where I tried to do something a little different. I wrote one called Death of a Time Lord which won a convention short story comp (can’t remember which con). In it, the Doctor dies of old age after his last regeneration, completely alone, hallucinating about his old companions. The conclusion to Destiny’s Champion , which was published in a fanzine called Nekros in 1993 (which, in a lovely bit of synchronicity, also happened to have stories by Sarah Groenewegen and Robert Mammone), introduces a female Doctor.
What books / authors stand out that you have read?
Oh, there are so many authors and books. In terms of Doctor Who, I think my favourite will always be Doctor Who and the Dalek Invasion of Earth by Terrance Dicks. “Through the ruin of a city, stalked the ruin of a man.” It’s one of my all-time favourite opening lines, and I often use it as an example when conducting writing workshops with kids. I love Dicks’s writing and he is a bit of a writing hero for me. More recently, I was really impressed with Twelve Angels Weeping by Dave Rudden. It’s a great example of how a tie-in writer can do something new and different within an established universe. Each of these 12 short stories plays with the concept of villains in Doctor Who and looks at things from a different perspective. Loved it!
What was your first professional sale?
My first professional sale was an article about Melbourne’s Regent Theatre for a newspaper called Melbourne Agenda in 1994. I remember being so excited when my $30 cheque arrived.
What was your first piece of fiction you sold? What was it called and what was it about?
It was a short story called Life, Death and Detention , about a bullied teenager who steals his dad’s gun and brings it to detention with him. It was accepted for an anthology of hard-hitting, no-holds-barred YA fiction about school life. After a long wait, that anthology ended up falling through. But in the meantime, I had sent the publisher some of my other stories, and they ended up asking me to write a few more so they could publish them as a collection – Life, Death and Detention , Margaret Hamilton Books, 1999.
Do you now write for a living or do you have another job to pay the bills?
I am now in the lucky position of being able to write for a living. It is the dream job!
Do you have a writing strategy / plan?
To begin with, my plan was simply to get published as much as I could and that if my writing ever got to the stage where I was making enough money, I’d give up my day job. I was working in web development on a freelance basis, so was able to slowly tip the balance in favour of writing. Then, when my wife and I had kids, I gave up web development, became the stayat-home parent and concentrated on building up my writing career. When both my kids were in school, I went full-time.
Do you write at specific times? Do you outline your stories before writing, if not what is your process?
I always write an outline. Generally, they tend to be pretty sketchy, leaving lots of room to explore along the way. But I need to have that foundation there to build onto. My writing schedule varies greatly depending on what I’ve got on. Assuming I don’t have any speaking gigs or pressing deadlines, I’ll make myself a coffee and sit down at the computer at about 9am. I’ll take a half-hour lunch break at noon, and another break when the kids get home from school. And I finish up at about 5pm. If I’ve got speaking gigs, then this schedule gets chucked out. If I’ve got a pressing deadline, I’ll often go back to the computer after dinner and work into the night. I’m not a morning person – I’d rather stay up late than get up early.
What sorts of genre do you like writing in the most?
I write across of range of genres, but always find myself returning to science fiction. It is my first love. It is the genre of possibilities. Have you written any Doctor Who fiction professionally? But back in 2008 I had a story, Machine Time , in the Big Finish anthology, Short Trips: Defining Patterns. It was a fourth Doctor story. In order to get that gig, I sent them an unsolicited story that was never published. It was called Sheep – a fifth Doctor story set on an outback sheep station in the 1960s. It involved aliens, robot probes and disembowelled sheep. It didn’t fit the theme of the upcoming anthology, but was good enough to convince the editor to commission Machine Time . In order to assuage my Doctor Who obsessiveness, I also put Doctor Who references into kids’ books. Have you written any Doctor Who non-fiction
articles professionally?
I’ve had articles in a few pop culture books such as the two Outside In essay collections (ed. Robert Smith?, ATB Publishing), as well as in an academic book, Doctor Who and Race (ed. Lindy Orthea, Intellect Books, 2013). How did you come to write for Candy Jar? Did
you contact them and if so how? Or did they contact you?
I had been posting about how much I was enjoying the Lethbridge-Stewart books on social media, mostly Twitter, and several of my posts had been liked by the official Candy Jar and Lethbridge-Stewart accounts. After they started following my account, I contacted them through Twitter and expressed an interest in writing for them. And this eventually led to them asking me to pitch. Do Candy Jar want completed stories, detailed outlines, brief outlines or just an
idea? Has this changed?
I think this might depend on the individual project.
Do you pitch stories or do they ask you to write something specifically, or both? I’ve written a short story for the Laughing Gnome anthology. It all started with an
email that explained the concept of the anthology, the sort of stories they wanted and where in time they needed it to be set. This anthology fits into the current series of books dealing with an older Sir Alistair being thrown back in time via astral projection to relive moments of his life. His two friends, Brigadier William Bishop and Dame Anne (Anne Travers from 'The Web of Fear'), have been caught up in the temporal wake and have also been thrown back in time. So there was a very specific timeline to fit into. To begin with, I needed to pitch ideas and send in some samples of my writing. I sent them three story ideas and my two most recent pieces of tie-in fiction – an X-Files story and a Deadworld story. The editor chose one of the ideas and then I had to write a detailed outline. Once that was approved, I went off to write the story. The story has been submitted and I’m currently waiting on feedback, so I can’t tell you anything more about the process just yet.
Can you give a brief outline of it and describe something about its writing?
My story is called Pure History and is about Dame Anne finding herself at the University of Melbourne in 1986. The anthology needed a story set in the 1980s so I pitched for that. I was a first year student at Melb Uni in 1986, so setting a story there was rather appealing. The story is about a group of students who are using future technology and a meteorite made of temporally sensitive material to lure time travels to the university in order to… hang on… Spoilers!
When is it due out?
Not sure. I don’t think a publication date has been released yet. As the Lethbridge –Stewart series now has a largish backstory does the series have
a bible? Have you had to re-write / delete something because it clashes with this backstory?
It is a large backstory and I’m not up to date with the series. (I’m a slow reader and there is so much out there that I want to read.) But I’ve read enough of the books to have a good handle on Dame Anne’s character and the editor let me know which novel to read to get a grip on this story arc. I wasn’t given a bible, but the invitation to pitch had specific information about the arc. I did have to make a few small modifications to the outline to fit in with things. And as I was writing the story, I sent a list of questions to the editor, to make sure key story elements didn’t contradict anything. Having said that, I’m assuming that when I get feedback, I’ll need to make amendments to the story to make sure it falls in line. Who are the people you deal with at Candy Jar? Who is the editor? Do they have a
style guide?
I’m dealing with Andy Frankham-Allen, who is the Lethbridge-Stewart range editor. He’s also editing this anthology. I didn’t get given a style guide as such, but after my outline was approved, I received an email with style notes.
About how many drafts would a story go through with them?
Based on my experience with other publishers and editors, the number of drafts very much depends on the individual piece of writing. I’ve had some books move to publication with just two rounds of editing, while others (with the same publisher and editor) required way more than that. My story went through five drafts before I was happy enough with it to submit.
Had you met Nicholas Courtney or Mervyn Haisman or Henry Lincoln? Sadly not.
How would you describe the character of the Brigadier? What are his strengths, weaknesses and foibles?
Like any good character, Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart has developed and grown over time. But I think his defining characteristics are loyalty and duty. Loyalty is definitely his greatest strength. Duty is both a strength and a weakness George Ivanoff as The Brig ©George Ivanoff depending on the circumstance. Are you continuing to be involved with Candy Jar? I’ve just had this one opportunity so far. But who knows what the future holds. I guess it all depends on what they think of my final story. I have certainly enjoyed writing this story and, if asked, I would jump at the chance of writing more for them. Other than the Candy Jar story, what is your latest, and also your next, pieces of
published fiction that people can look out for?
My latest series of children’s books is OTHER WORLDS – Perfect World, Beast World, Game World and Dark World. It’s a four-book series
about kids who find mysterious hidden keys that open doorways into other worlds. Although a series, the books can be read individually, as each book has a new set of characters and a different doorway into a new world. My next book, which will be released on 1 October this year, is non-fiction. The Australia Survival Guide is a kids’ book about how Australia is trying to kill you and what you might do to actually survive. It’s creative non-fiction, with a fictional character guiding readers through all the factual stuff.
Where do you see your writing career going?
Oh goodness… who knows? I certainly intend to keep writing for kids and teens. I hope that I’ll be able to get some more tie-in writing opportunities. It would be nice to have an international best seller, but I’m not holding my breath. Really… as long as I can keep writing for a living, I’ll be very happy.
George Ivanoff's published professional works
George's Doctor Who fiction: Machine Time, in the Big Finish anthology Short Trips: Defining Patterns and Pure History in The HAVOC Files: The Laughing Gnome . George's non Doctor Wh o published works are too numerous to list here. He has 119 books alone! Please go to his website to see a full list of all his works: novels, short stories, articles, reviews and scripts.
Adrian Sherlock “It’s been a long held dream of mine to write a story about the classic era of Doctor Who and the Lethbridge-Stewart series is a hugely exciting way to do that,” said Adrian. “It was also personally very exciting to write a story which harkens back to classics like The Twilight Zone and The Last Man on Earth, but with a very Who-ish twist. I’m eternally grateful to Andy for the chance to push the brave but unsuspecting Bishop into a world of shadows and dangers.” Official Lethbridge-Stewart News Site What is your first memory of Doctor Who? When was this?
I came home one Sunday afternoon and caught the last half of episode 2 of 'The Sontaran Experiment' when it was being broadcast in the mid 1970s, so it was pretty much brand new at the time. And I was immediately hooked, if a little confused. I had been fascinated by real life space travel and the Moon landings, so I’d been excited by science fiction such as Space:1 999. When I saw men in space suits, I knew it was science fiction. The make up for the Sontaran struck me as brilliant compared to other TV aliens. I tuned in regularly after that. What is your favourite Doctor Who story
and why?
'Resurrection of the Daleks'. It used to be 'Earthshock', but I found 'Resurrection' stayed with me a lot longer. It's a divisive story, but I really love it. It's an oddity in terms of plot and I have to do some mental work to follow it and understand it, which is a challenge I enjoy. The characters are much more morally ambiguous than usual in Doctor Who and I also find that to be more thought-provoking and interesting than the usual good guys versus bad guys thing.
How and when did you become involved in fandom?
The first fan I met was a Melbourne man who had moved to my town, Geelong, with his family and their shop.
When would this have been? What type of shop? Did it sell Doctor Who stuff?
No, the shop was just a milk bar in the late 70s-mid 1980s. He was just a Doctor Who and science fiction fan who had moved into my neighbourhood. When did you find out about actual fandom. I got a Doctor Who Magazine or two a few years later. It was a while before I attended a proper fan gathering, a late 80s event at Melboutne Uni.
Was this the DWCV, if so can you tell us a bit more of your memories of this? How old were you?
The club was probably Doctor Who Club of Victoria , yeah. Not certain. I saw 'Time and the Rani' on the big screen at Melbourne University in 1987. Although the story was a bit insipid, I was impressed by Sylvester McCoy's debut as the Doctor.
What did you do in fandom? Clubs, zines, events and other activities?
I eventually met some Melbourne fans as part of my time studying in college and University. I wrote for the Sonic Screwdriver zine at one point and studied with the editor of Strange Matter fanzine, as well as a woman who was assistant to the director on 'Destiny of the Daleks'.
Do you remember her name? Is she still living in Melbourne?
The director's assistant on 'Destiny of the Daleks' was Roz Berrystone. You'll see her name on the end credits of each of the four parts. I've no idea if she's still in Victoria and she was very adamant that she did not wish to talk to Doctor Who fandom about her time on the show. She was fun because she told me about working with Douglas Adams.
Can you recount anything of what she said?
Only that Douglas Adams was very tall which was funny because she was short. He tried to give her a hug on her birthday and she slipped under his armpit because of their height difference. She did reiterate some stuff we've heard, such as the fact pages from scripts were used to make the shape of Dalek rays by the FX man and that Graham Williams was a very young and inexperienced producer.
What lead to an interest in writing? Did you write whilst a fan, any publications, stories, articles come to mind? Long story short? In 1978 I caught a screening of the UFO episode 'Timelash' and I was inspired to become a TV writer, producer, actor and make my own series. This idea was exapanded by other infuences such as Doctor Who, Blakes 7, Twilight Zone and Night Stalker. I wanted to do an SF series about a plain-clothes agents for a shady govt department, which looks into strange cases about aliens and ghosts and weird time warping stuff. I later named the main character Damon Dark. I made an indie pilot in the 90s, wrote letters to Ed Bishop, star of UFO, put a five week serial on Channel 31, embarrassed myself at a World Con, made another pilot, revived it for YouTube, wrote a novel about it and self-published it on Amazon (getting good reviews and very few sales) and finally did it as a one actor stage show in Geelong. That stage show seemed to get it out of my system and now I never even think about anymore. But I feel the professional TV version which never happened would have been a zillion times better if it had happened. No one here was interested in science fiction, in our film and TV industry.
Who was the person who did the one-actor stage show, was it yourself? Yes, it was me who did the one man show.
What books / authors stand out that you have read? Olaf Stapleton was the most outstanding.
What was your first professional sale?
I suppose it was the short story The Playing Dead for Candy Jar, it is related to the novel I later did for them called The New Unusual.
Do you now write for a living or do you have another job to pay the bills?
I’m a teacher, for my sins. But it’s teaching online from home, so I guess it’s a good lifestyle.
Do you have a writing strategy / plan?
Well, I try to put a lot of work into the plotline and the themes. I try to develop a working method that leads to good work. Sometimes, however, it doesn’t work out. I think when you write for yourself it’s easier. Writing for an existing series can be tough because you’re not always clear on what’s coming before your work or after and if you get on the wrong track, there can be issues.
What sorts of genre do you like writing in the most?
I like writing science fiction the most but it's not a genre where you can expect to be selling a lot of books or making a comfortable living. How did you come to write for Candy Jar? Did you contact them and if so how? Or
did they contact you?
It was a happy accident. I was very inspired by John Peel and his personal story of how he was given a career break by the late great Terry Nation. I happened to see that John was writing for Candy Jar in one of his Facebook posts one day and I made a casual comment that the Brigadier would be a fun character to write for. To my amazement, the editor of the book range responded and gave me the chance to pitch an idea. I was determined to make a go of it, so I wracked my brains and came up with what I hoped would be a strong idea for a story. I wanted a fad in the 1970s, something young people were into, which could have an alien element to it. It had to be topical for the era, but I wanted it to capture that sense of characters like Sarah Jane investigating a mystery in stuff like 'Planet of the Spiders', where she knows something is not right and then goes to UNIT with what she knows. I felt that type of science fiction and mystery story stuff had been absent from modern Doctor Who but was right for the Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart and Anne Travers. I liked the idea that people interacting with alien tech could reveal something about people, in this case their unfulfilled dreams and secret desires, their longing for a connection and their fascinating with the new and the unusual. I later developed the alien race behind it all. I went back to Terry Nation’s notion of getting rid of legs and having non humanoid aliens. And his comments about a hierachy. I wanted to give my aliens a multi-faceted quality, something with detail and potential. I created a race called The Galdani, who occupy cylindrical suits of bio-tronic armour and have a single massive claw on the end of a thick, snaking arm in the chest. The creature in the armour is unseen, except for an eye-slot. They are an advanced space travelling species and they farm humanoids like us and use us for a supply of psionic energy. They come from a planet like the one The Malus came from, where psychic energy is used the way we use electrical power. So, they are space travellers, military and also farmers of people like us, parasitic harvesters of other races. I wanted to create an alien race worthy of the Doctor Who Universe, not just another generic bunch of monsters. I also wanted the Brigadier to face death and Anne Travers to face the moral dilemma of having to compromise her own values in her quest to solve the mystery. These things got lost in the process, but Anne’s story did retain one thing I liked: she lies to the men who are closest to her and they get quite angry at one point. But she is doing what she must do.
Was the first published story you did for Candy Jar the first thing you wrote for them? Or have you written stuff that has not been used? If so can you tell us something about these non-published stories?
These days, I publish most stuff I write as self-published books on Amazon. I did pitch some stuff to Telos novellas a while back. One of those stories was later retooled as the basis for my self-published Damon Dark novella, Biodome , a Quatermass type of thing. I’m very into DIY with the arts. If the world wastes my time, I self-publish. However, I’m now trying to get more involved as a professional and work for others. Do Candy Jar want completed stories, detailed out-
lines, brief outlines or just an idea? Has this changed?
I really cannot speak for Candy Jar. But in my case, my pitch was an outline that grew over the course of many months and drafts.
Do you pitch stories or do they ask you to write something specifically, or both?
It’s a pitching situation, or was for me. What have you written for Candy Jar that has / or is about to be published? Can you
give a brief outline for each story and describe something about its writing?
The New Unusual and its related short story, The Playing Dead are out. There was a brief bit for the Xmas Files anthology and Playing Dead has been included in an anthology from Candy Jar. The series has undergone a change of direction recently and I’ve not been involved. Can you tell us a bit more about the Xmas Files anthology story? The Xmas Files anthology contained a bonus short story called Home for Christmas which was written by many of the Lethbridge-Stewart authors who previously wrote for the series in 2016, including myself, John Peel, Andy Frankham-Allen, Sue Hampton, Sharon Bidwell and Tom Dexter. We all contributed a short part for it. My part was between Anne Travers and her boyfriend and it featured a plastic toy frog I think.
As the Lethbridge–Stewart series now has a largish backstory does the series have a bible? Have you had to re-write / delete something because it clashes with this backstory? Not a bible as such, but there is a detailed guide, from memory. I wrote The Playing Dead in 24 hours and spent one afternoon editing it, but that was not a typical experience. The novel, The New Unusual, took about three years from pitch to publication. The Playing Dead was later revised by the range editor, Andy, to match up with the novel. Who are the people you deal with at Candy Jar? Who
is the editor? Do they have a style guide?
Andy Frankham-Allen is the range editor and he’s basically the man when it comes to the series. He really knows the series inside out and works like a tireless machine to make it all come together as a quality series. He has character outlines or backstories, stuff like that. But the success of the series is down to him and his hard work as editor.
About how many drafts would a story go through with them?
Well, it’s hard to say. I can tell you, bluntly, that mine needed to go through another draft or two at my end before it went to the editor and I feel I made an error of judgement not doing that before I sent it in. I was thinking I would get some feedback and then I’d do another draft. This was a mistake on my part. I should’ve done another draft, tried to hone it and polish it to a level I was happy with and then send it in. As it was, I think I made a rookie mistake and it probably caused the editor way more work than it should have. I suppose I’d done a couple of drafts, but it was nowhere near as polished as it needed to be, now I look back. Hindsight is all very well, but I still kick myself when I think back. I want to call myself a professional and I value professionalism very highly. So, I judge myself very harshly. The end result is good and some people have said very nice things about it, which I really appreciate, but I give most of the credit for the end result to Andy. I think he salvaged it. I am proud of the ideas and characters in it, but he helped make it shine, in the end.
Had you met Nicholas Courtney or Mervyn Haisman or Henry Lincoln?
Sadly, no, but I did meet Katy Manning who told me Nicholas was a wonderful man. But I can say it’s a thrill to have my name associated with Haisman and Lincoln, not to mention the Brig, legends all.
How would you describe the character of the Brigadier? What are his strengths, weaknesses and foibles?
He’s ever the soldier, pragmatic and down to Earth, a man who never gives up. He can seem insensitive and narrow, but he’s a bit of a dark horse, too. He knows about alien menaces, he’s met the Doctor, yet he often seems innocent and naïve. I have no insight into Andy’s true plans for the book series, but I did start to wonder if the Brigadier’s apparent naivety was a bit of an act, a cunning way to get ego-driven characters like the Doctor and volatile experts like Anne Travers and Liz Shaw, to work for him. Deep down, I suspect he is nobody’s fool, as one might expect of Earth’s defender. Are you continuing to be involved with Candy Jar? Not at this stage.
Where do you see your writing career going?
All of my stories have been as much about investigation as science fiction ideas. I think this is because British science fiction from Professor Quatermass to Doctor Who and even shows like UFO feature an investigative and detective style of plotting. And elements of Sherlock Holmes are apparent in the Doctor. So, I hope I might go mainstream by phasing out the sciencefiction elements and focusing more on the detective elements in my writing. Maybe a novel where someone like the Doctor has to track down a murderer who is not from the future or another planet. A quirky detective novel. Maybe even a series of novels.
Is there any else you'd like to say?
Well, my short story and novel are both set in Australia. I brought the Brigadier to Australia. I have always tried to write science fiction set in Australia, as was the case with my Damon Dark play, novel and community TV series. I guess I’ve always wanted Australia to be involved in world science fiction in a bigger way. Maybe this is a fact that I’m passionate about and you’d like to ask me more about it?
Adrian Sherlock's published professional works
Adrian's Doctor Who fiction: The Playing Dead in HAVOC Files 2 anthology; part of Home for Christmas in The Xmas Files anthology and The New Unusual novel. All are from Candy Jar. Adrian's non Doctor Wh o published works: He currently has 23 books on Amazon.com.au. Go here to see them all.
FOURTEEN DOCTORS
ASTRAL MAP
In the early days of Big Finish, Gary Russell pos-
Well, times have changed and Big Finish now uses ted a promise to listensound-alikes as well as ers… “I will not recast the newly re-cast 1st Docthose three Doctors under tor. While on the fence any circumstances – to do about the former, I’m so would, I believe, be the quite glad of the latter. height of bad taste. On TV Use of the new cast they got away with it in brings us two new stories 'The Five Doctors', and in the First Doctor Adventhat should remain a tures: The Phoenicians unique event. William (by Marc Platt) and TickHartnell, Patrick Trough- Tock World (by Guy ton and Jon Pertwee were Adams). The cast does a three great actors whose tremendous job with their memory is better served roles and, if one hasn’t by enjoying what we have recently been watching rather than muddying it William Hartnell’s run in with sound-alikes. And to the show, they are quite ask their sons to imperbelievable. sonate them would be in- The Phoenicians is a sulting to them and their good old-fashioned hisfathers. It's a definite no- torical adventure. The no.”
Doctor, Ian, Barbara and Susan find themselves on Earth, although it takes Barbara a little time to determine their time and place. When she unravels the mystery, she realizes that they are in ancient Tyre. While a delightful prospect at first, the TARDIS crew rapidly find themselves caught between the machinations of King Pygmalion and his sister, Princess Elissa. In saving the princess from an assassin, Ian puts himself firmly on course for conflict with the king, and the gratitude of a self-obsessed princess. This is a time when the Phoenicians rule the
waves. Their King’s newest vessel is the greatest that any have seen and its launch is to be the grandest and will be filled with the most sacrifices. Here the Doctor steps in, claiming to be the servant of one of the gods, attempting to halt the launch of the ship – which, if it goes ahead, will grind countless slaves (and Ian) beneath the hull by way of blessing. With a king who is less than devout, and a princess bent on revenge for the murder of her husband, matters rapidly escalate in a story that grabs the listener and holds their attention. Jamie Glover’s Ian Chesterson plays almost identically to William Russell in his youth, with a strength and vigor that presents Ian as a man of action. Likewise, Jemma Powell’s Barbara Wright is as quick-witted as ever while having the benefit of being written with a more modern mindset to give her role even more strength. David Bradley is the First Doctor now, and he truly owns the role, using many of Hartnell’s patterns and affectations to fully immerse the listener. The stronger of the two stories, The Phoenicians feels like a classic Doctor Who adventure, so much so that the mind’s eye will likely envision the story in black and white. The second adventure, Tick-Tock World, suffers from trying to do too much in the limited scope of audio, within a limited amount of time. The story is ambitious, overly so,
and the quality of the storytelling suffers for it. The story dovetails directly from the end of The Phoenicians; the TARDIS is struck by a shockwave in the timestream and destroyed. The TARDIS team find themselves cast away in a strange place, a planet of ruins that is inhabited by screaming ghosts. Having no memories of how they came to be there, the Doctor storms off to be on his own leaving Barbara and Ian to struggle with their new reality, forever lost in space and time. When one of the “ghosts” speaks to Susan, she warns the Doctor of a grave threat which he waves aside as the result of temporal interference When Ian’s temporal ghost materialises to warn them of their impending deaths things take a truly serious turn. Spotting other figures watching them from a distance, the team discovers that there are other survivors, eking out a subsistence level living. Like the TARDIS crew, the other survivors were marooned with no memory of crashing into the planet. Theorising that the region only affects time ships, the Doctor and the team split up to learn more. There is nothing new here. The adventure plays out like any number of old Doctor Who adventures, with not much of the material feeling fresh or clever. Barbara explaining that the other survivors are a same-sex couple and Ian’s response
might not be in keeping with how the story might have been told by the original writers of the show, but it was a shining highlight that modernises the mind-set of the characters despite their portrayal of being in the early days of Doctor Who. Despite the best efforts of the cast, this story plods along to its conclusion. Fan-service is given, with the inclusion of a ZeroCabinet, conveniently it is one of the very few places safe when a “purge” begins. A great cast can sometimes rise above the quality of the material that they are given, pushing through mediocrity by delivering powerful and nuanced performances. Unfortunately, audio format doesn’t give the cast the scope they need to do so. Where The Phoenicians delivers a starkly black and white performance, Tick-Tock World is merely a muddled grey. While the 'Behind the Scenes' segments usually don’t add a great amount of enhancement to the stories, the interviews are still a bit of appreciable fluff and they are well worth the listen.
It is 2023 and people are leaving the cinema having just enjoyed an entirely CGI recreated 'Marco Polo' directed by Peter Jackson. It runs at just under two hours with an entirely new score. The original television soundtrack of the dialogue is all that remains, edited from 7 episodes. The visuals are stunning and the characters look entirely authentic to the TV casting. It is a fully realised visual feast, far more epic than the original television series could have dreamt of using a 1963 studio. The buzz from the crowd is that it is glorious, even if it barely resembles any aspect of the original. Yes, that is all a fanciful load of rubbish… But having just watched 'The
Macra Terror' re-creation, this may be a direction in which lost episodes of Doctor Who are taking the first infant steps. Unlike most of the animated missing episodes prior to its release, 'The Macra Terror' re-creation, whilst using the original soundtrack, has abandoned a shot for shot recreation. It has created visuals to tell the story authentically but with a broader scope than the original TV series could achieve. Larger, deeper backgrounds than a 60s BBC studio allows, detailed landscapes and settings and, to me, most excitingly, a more numerous population of Macra. The 1967 production had the use of a single rather clumsy prop, and it showed. A fully realised animation will surely bring the monochrome era of Doctor Who to a much wider audience? It elevates the action with much more for the eye to feast on. 'The Macra Terror' in itself is a serviceable Troughton-era four part escapade. It was voted in at exactly 150 in the 2013 Doctor Who Magazine 50th anniversary poll. It was the first story in the program’s his-
tory to be broadcast with a still of the Doctor’s face added into the existing opening titles sequence. A respectable 8 million viewers on average watched each of the four episodes in the UK in March and April 1967. The writing is pretty good, and it should be… Ian Stuart Black was a prolific television writer and novelist who also wrote plays and screenplays. Several of his novels became films with the screenplays adapted by himself. His involvement with Doctor Who covers three stories. Black’s third outing, 'The Macra Terror', is a solid piece of work. The members of the primary cast are well written for and juggling three companions and the Doctor is not always handled well by writers but here all get their fair share to do. The guest cast all are provided with well rounded and credibly motivated characters. The story certainly has moments of atmosphere and peril on par with other stories of the time. The story has humorous and daftly quirky elements as well, masking the hideous truth of what is really in control of the colony. The plot races along pretty well but the ending is rushed. That is not unique, it is something even some of the greatest Troughton era stories suffer from; rushed resolutions.
This was the only Doctor Who story directed by
John Davies, one of three directors who hasn’t a single surviving episode in the archives. Having listened to the original soundtracks many years ago, one of the flaws of engaging the story that way is the vast tracts of visual action without explanation. Something an animation can address quite nicely, making this release more than worthwhile. The animation is painstaking. It is finely delivered by all involved and congratulations to animation director Charles Naughton and story director Adrian Salmon. As already mentioned the scale and invention of the animated images is such that could not be achieved in 1967. The addition of bigger visuals, matched seamlessly with the atmospheric surviving soundtrack, works well. A particular highlight is the darkening and shadowy textures counter-balancing the brighter colony visuals. The rendering of the characters is very detailed. I was particularly impressed at how quickly animated Troughton became actual Troughton as I watched. A shortish scene, and one or two brief moments of padding, have been deleted from the animation release, simply throwing some short pieces to the cutting room floor. There is nothing noticeably “missing” from a new
viewer’s perspective so there is merit in tightening the story this way for this audience. Purists may not agree with that last observation but, on balance, the approach to this release is a better future for missing episodes than re-creating them identically to sometimes inadequate 60s production values. The original and the animated version are very different beasts, which is all laid out plainly within the extra features. These are of the high standard of many previous releases. There are options to watch the animation in mono as well as colour; a telesnaps / surviving clips / soundtrack version; a soundtrack-only version with linking narration by Colin Baker; digitally restored censor clips and surviving footage; 1967 behind the scenes footage; 2019 animation tests and concept art… The biggest two bonuses are an animated section of another missing epis-
ode from Troughton’s era ('The Wheel in Space') and a fantastic commentary track which includes cast as well as director John Davies; a real highlight. If you too would like to see a “happy-clappy” Earth colony attacked by giant crabs – and who wouldn’t – this is a great fun way to do so without missing any of the chills and atmosphere of the original. The release on DVD and Blu-ray has a plethora of worthwhile extra features, recreates and elevates a good standard 1967 Doctor Who tale and brings it to a new generation at a very affordable price. If you are in two minds, I thoroughly recommend a visit to Youtube to seek out Josh Snares' excellent short documentary comparing the original telesnaps to the animated version. That should make your mind up if the BBC’s own excellent trailer for 'The Macra Terror' (2019) hasn’t already.
Two beautiful recreations of the Jon Pertwee / UNIT era of Doctor Who were released by Big Finish this month. Being a huge fan of this period of the show I found it extra exciting to look forward to hearing Jon Culshaw turn his considerable vocal talents to playing the coveted role of Brigadier Lethbridge Stewart in place of the late Nicholas Courtney; as well as Daisy Ashford, daughter of the late Caroline John taking on her mother’s role of Liz Shaw. These releases do not disappoint, providing us with the best so far in the Big Finish Third Doctor Adventures range. In the first story, Primord, by John Dorney, the Doctor and Jo Grant (as ever played by the irrepressible Katy Manning) travel to visit former UNIT Scientific Advisor Liz Shaw, sometime after she has returned to her Cambridge research, to find her involved in experiments to control and enhance the primordial slime which was dredged up during the events of the classic TV story 'Inferno'. Her co-researcher and fiancé Michael has already been infected and become one of the halfwolf / half-man throwbacks as seen in the earlier story, but not before a form of suppressant has been developed which enables a level of control of the more extreme side effects of the condition. The Doctor is shocked to discover Liz has appar-
ently abandoned her sense of morality and is working alongside a covert military plan to weaponise the Primords for use as super soldiers. He is even more surprised when Liz reveals she too is now one of these new Primords and has infected him with a form of the condition which removes his will to resist those running the operation, and he starts assisting in the plan. The Brigadier meanwhile, is investigating a large number of escaped criminals in the area and, with the aid of Jo, they discover a link to the Primord research whereby escaped convicts are being turned into an army of the creatures; and so the battle is on to help the Doctor free himself from the Primord mind conditioning and defeat the dastardly scheme.
Performances throughout are impressive with Jon Culshaw eerily capturing the essence and tone of Nick Courtney’s beloved Brig. Daisy Ashford also excels at bringing back to life the character of Liz Shaw, delivering the mix of cool scientific detachment and occasional haughtiness with the underlying warmth and affection of Liz towards the Doctor. Tim Treloar continues to hone his Jon Pertwee vocal delivery, whilst still making the Third Doctor very much his own, and at times it’s easy to believe you are listening to a recording of all the original actors. The soundtrack captures the era well with Nicholas Briggs providing authentic sounding incidental music completely at home in Season Nine; a Malcolm Clarke style electronic score with a
healthy dose of Dudley Simpson thrown in for good measure. Additional sound effects re-create the feel of the TV story 'Inferno' which draws the listener in convincingly. Other characters such as the main villain of the piece, General Sharpe (Michael Troughton) and his superior from within the government Lady Madeline Rose (Bethan Dixon Bate), are well played and join the ranks of such characters as General Carrington ('The Ambassadors of Death') and Hilda Winters ('Robot') as archetypal Doctor Who adversaries who are not so much one dimensional evil people, but misguided in their sense of duty to their countries, and who believe they are acting towards a greater good. This all recalls many of the stories from the 3rd Doctor era written by Malcolm Hulke which adds to the sense of a very special release. The second of the two stories in this set, The Scream of Ghosts, written by Guy Adams, plays on the theme of predicted future technology from the perspective of 1970s Doctor Who. In this instance it is the development of an early mobile phone network which the Doctor becomes suspicious of as the research seems in advance of what he knows historically to be true to the time period. The experiments by Professor Caldicott (Rosalyn Landor) have ob-
structed the activities of a certain adversary of the Doctor, who are adept at travelling as sound frequencies but have been trapped out-of-sync with the rest of the world as a result of signal disruption. John Levene makes an appearance as good old Sergeant Benton who involves the Doctor in an investigation of strange, garbled electronic signals; being picked up by Warren (Dominic Wood), a ham-radio operator friend of his, in the small English village of Bellbury. This aspect of the story serves as a nice way of developing some background to Benton as we discover a little more of his personal life and interests. As the strange signals continue to be received on phones, radio and television, people begin to vanish, including the Doctor who finds himself in a kind of phase-shifted alternate version of the village, where his old enemies the Vardans are planning to conquer the Earth and use its inhabitants as mental energy to power their technology. First seen of course in 'The Invasion of Time' in 1978 but featured in earlier periods of the show via Big Finish , the Vardans make an excellent foe for the UNIT team to be pitted against. We have some great dialogue
where the Brigadier refers to his life lately depending on "damn fool fire extinguishers", in reference to both stories in this set and harking back to 'Inferno' and the weapon of choice used against the Primords. The delivery of this line brings a tear to the eye in how much it comes across like Nick Courtney. Another nostalgic reference is made when Jo calls Sgt Osgood, UNIT’s hapless technical ‘expert’ from 'The Daemons' for assistance in thwarting the Vardans. In the end, Jo gets an opportunity to be UNIT’s acting Scientific Advisor, building a device under instruction from the trapped Doctor, which records the Vardan’s frequencies on tape and allows him to deflect them light years away and return the trapped villagers to their normal world. Overall these two stories will please anyone who loved the Third Doctor era on television and are shining examples of Big Finish at the top of their game.
For 20 years now, I've been working on completing The Cloister Library. It's an on-line guide to the original Doctor Who novels, detailing all continuity references, alien races, TARDIS materialisations and so on. This has turned into a massive project, but we're extremely close to finishing, having been working Doctor by Doctor. For various reasons, the last Doctor that needed guides completed was the fourth. I've been on sabbatical for the past year, which has given me the chance to get some reading done. As a result, I've been rereading the original 4th
Doctor novels from the 90s and early 2000s. And, for the most part, they're quite the slog to get through. By pure chance, I'd also decided to reread Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's trilogy. I'd only read the latter books once, so I thought it would be fun to revisit them as an adult: and it has been, as they're incredibly rich works, with detail I'd never noticed. With all that in mind, you'd think that Doctor Who and the Krikkit Men would be the perfect book for me right now. However, when I first saw that it was being published, I sighed. "Are they really cashing in on every last shred of unmade Douglas Adams material?" I asked myself. "How low can this go?" Fortunately, it turned out I was wrong in two ways. First was the fact that this is not just a shred of an idea. As James Goss points out in the Appendix, everyone always thought this was a halfformed synopsis, little realising that it had ad-
vanced a lot further than that and very nearly became the third Doctor Who film. Second is the fact that this is in no way a low. Instead, it's one of the best Doctor Who books I've read in years. What's amazing is just how funny this book is. The first half is packed full of non-stop continuity jokes. Unlike how these things usually go, the jokes are hilarious. The various digs at all the Gallifrey stories will have you laughing out loud, while the effect of K9 constantly correcting the Doctor should be totally dull and is instead a comedic highlight. Interestingly, based on the plot summary in the Appendix, it seems that Douglas Adams had a lot more detail planned out for the second half set on Krikkit, meaning that the first half is more James Goss. And it's the first half that really sings, with a quest taking place on one hilarious planet after another. The second half is fine, but it's where the plot kicks in and is a lot more serious. Adams' notes detail possible alternate titles, of which my favourite is "Doctor Who Saves the Universe". What an awesome film that could have been! But the book is not just a bunch of gags. What really shines here is the characterisation. My read-through of the 4th Doctor novels revealed exactly what you'd expect: almost every attempt to
write for Tom Baker's Doctor falls absolutely flat without the genius of Tom Baker. Jokes are contrived. 4th Doctor "weirdness" feels awkward. It's quite sad to watch, as though people are taking turns to desperately perform CPR on the 4th Doctor, little realising he's long gone and isn't coming back. In Doctor Who and the Krikkit Men , none of this is an issue. This really is a missing Tom Baker story, in every sense. Tom positively flies off the page, all manicness, incompetence and heroism cascading over one another. He's continually making assertions that aren't true (with hilarious contradictions from K9), tripping over his own klutziness and complaining about minor trifles. At the same time, he's astonishingly competent when he needs to be, so much so that the sequence where he holds down a day job and gets depressed is shocking in its contrast. The bit where he breezily tries to make conversation with a warlord while slowly being roasted over a fire is just sublime. Likewise, Romana is extremely well characterised. It's interesting that the book was originally started with Sarah Jane Smith as companion (complete with bonus original opening chapter at the back). But the Sarah version is dull and plodding, whereas the Ro-
mana one positively sings. She's haughty and competent, showing up the Doctor on almost every occasion, yet she's also keenly aware that what he does defies all sense and yet works anyway. It's an amazing tightrope to walk here, but Goss pulls it off magnificently. I'd read Life, the Universe and Everything only a few weeks earlier, not realising that "Krikkit Men" drew from the same source, until I got there. In some ways, the plots are very similar, about as close as Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency is to 'Shada' and 'City of Death'. It turns out that this isn't a problem in the slightest. It does, however, explain why Life, the Universe and Everything has the tightest plotting of any of the Hitchhiker's novels, since Adams had invested a great deal of time in getting the original "Krikkit Men" plot worked out. The similarities are as fascinating as the differences, with the 4th Doctor feeling much more at home than Slartibartfast in the role of quest motivator, while the sequences at Lord's Cricket Ground feel way more at home with Arthur Dent. However, this isn't really a book you read for its plot, as fun as that can be at times. It's in many ways the quintessential 4th Doctor novel, which is an amazing feat. The Margaret Thatcher cam-
eo, with her befriending Romana and having a mini outer-space adventure, is quite odd, not only for the lack of criticism of her policies (as you might expect from someone writing in 2018) but also for the fact that it throws the action very firmly into the JNT era, which makes perfect sense for when this would have been made but is quite a bizarre realisation. Doctor Who and the Krikkit Men is nothing
short of superb. Not just as a novel in its own right, or a lost Douglas Adams manuscript, or as a laugh-out-loud love letter to Doctor Who, even though it is all of those things. But, for my money, its greatest achievement is that is managed the impossible: it brought the 4th Doctor back to life. Now that's just Krikkit.
Robert Smith? is the author of Who is the Doctor, Who's 50 and The Doctors Are In, episode guides to Doctor Who (ECW Press), and is the editor of the Outside In series of books, where hundreds of people review episodes of any number of sci-fi shows, but with a twist. His recent guide to the New Adventures, Bookwyrm, is now available from ATB Publishing. You can check out The Cloister Library, his Sisyphean labour of love for the Doctor Who novels, at http://mysite.science.uottawa.ca/rsmith43/cloister/
In 1963, a British television show emerged from the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) – Doctor Who. The show was targeted at younger viewers, as an educational tool. With the use of his time machine, TARDIS, the Doctor and his companions would travel back in time, where they would encounter cave people, Marco Polo, Aztecs, Romans, Greeks and Trojans, and many more. The group also travelled into Earth’s future, as well as alien planets, where they dealt with strange new races and creatures. They nearly always found themselves in life threatening situations. The show became a great success. When the Doctor’s companions left the show, they could be replaced without disruption to the continuity of the overarching story line. But when William Hartnell, who played the Doctor, advised that he was to leave, this was a cause for concern. How was the BBC going to continue the show without the main character? An ingenious idea was formulated. As the Doctor was an alien, then something that Earth people could not do, was possible for an alien. The Doctor would regenerate into a new body. So at the end of the Season 4’s “Tenth Planet” story,
Hartnell’s Doctor regenerated into Patrick Troughton’s Doctor. This technique continued with Troughton to Jon Pertwee, then Pertwee into Tom Baker. The era of Tom Baker ran from 1974 until 1981. Baker was very popular in the role, bringing a comedic side to the character. Baker also made many public appearances in the UK and overseas. During this time, the popularity of the show was extremely high, with fan clubs popping up all round the world. When Baker decided to leave the show, bringing in a new actor would pose great problems on finding a replacement that would maintain the show’s continued success. In the end, popular actor Peter Davison accepted the role. Davison was brought to the public’s attention in his role as Tristan Farnon in All Creatures Great and Small. The transition for Davison would be difficult. There were three continuing companions and the viewing public to win over. Davison’s first season was Season 19 and it was decided that it was to be the first of his seasons to be released in the recent “Doctor Who – The Collection” Blu-ray boxed sets. The Season 19 boxed set cover art is fantastic. The
cover displays Davison in the new Doctor costume, designed to show his love of cricket; holding Adric’s star for mathematical excellence; with a montage of villains – The Master, Cyberman, Monarch and a Terileptil. Behind the Doctor is an euphony of the cosmos. The back cover shows the Tardis swirling through the same cosmos. Opening the box, you are greeted with the TARDIS and Davison, in his space helmet, from a scene from “Four To Doomsday”. When you open the doors of the TARDIS, we see on two flaps, Davison exiting the craft, surrounded by images of his companions and the Master. Open these flaps, and we enter the TARDIS control room. Within the control room is a removable booklet which includes outlines of each of the stories in Season 19, along with photographs. The booklet also contains a list of the bonus material: “Peter Davison in conversation”; “Time Crash” (Davison and Tennant mini-episode); “Season 19 Blu-ray trailer”; “The Panopticon Archive” (footage of the 1993 convention); “Take Two” (1982 episode critic review of the 19th season); “Audio Archive” (Ron Jones, director, discusses the season); “DVD box set trailers” (Mara Tales and Tegan Tales); “Studio Clock” and “PDF Written archives”.
There are 8 discs in the set, one disc for each of the 7 stories in the season, with the 8th disc holding the bonus features. Season 19 comprised the following stories: “Castrovalva” four episodes; “Four to Doomsday” four episodes; “The Visitation” four episodes; “Black Orchid” two episodes; “Earthshock” four episodes and “TimeFlight” four episodes. My favourite stories would have to be "Black Orchid", a classic tale of mystery set in England in 1923; and "Earthshock", seeing the return of the Cybermen and the end of Adric. What makes this boxed set worth seeing is the special features. “A conversation with Peter Davison” Whilst filming for the Blu-ray boxed set, Davison with Aldred, Fielding, Strickson, Sutton, and Waterhouse. Matthew Sweet was able to interview Davison at one of the locations for “Castrovalva”. Davison is very open with Sweet about his portrayal as the Doctor. He explained the difficulty in working out a back story for the Doctor. He recalled when John Nathan-Turner phoned him to offer the role of the Doctor. Davison had to think about the offer, although it was a great opotunity, the role also had great pitfalls.
“Time Crash” A wonderful mini episode where the TARDIS goes into a Wibbly wobbly timey-wimey moment; with Tennant finding Davison’s Doctor appearing in the control room. A great moment and very, very funny. “The Panopticon Archive” Janet Fielding and Matthew Waterhouse at the DWAS 1993 convention where they talk about their time in Doctor Who. They discuss the dynamics on the set, Davison as compared to Tom Baker. Waterhouse is very diplomatic in his responses. They both said that working with Davison was a lot more relaxed than with Baker. “Take Two” In this episode shown in 1982, school children give their opinions on Season 19. These opinions vary greatly from in favour, to not so happy. The children talk about the number of companions, monsters, special effects, time slot and Adric. Each of the first 7 discs has special features, with an overarching feature called “Behind the Sofa”, in which Davison,
Aldred, Fielding, Strickson, Sutton and Waterhouse, as a group, provide their views, impressions and opinions on each story (in a humorous way). The boxed set is packed with lots of other extras, including deleted scenes, behind the scenes footage, interviews and much more. I had not purchased this boxed set until I was asked to write a review. I am very glad that I did. If you do not have Season 19, this boxed set is a great way of adding to your collection. Although I have all of Season 19 as individual DVDs, I am glad that I purchased the boxed set. I thoroughly enjoy all the extras, and seeing some great actors in action. My rating
And so I dip my toe back into the world of Big Finish and their fantastic huge audio selection of original classic Doctors' tales. Big Finish for me has always walked the tightrope of creating bold new work and simply pumping out fanservicing fiction. Back in the ‘good old days’ of Big Finish there were some pretty iconic works that were created that fans now hold in the same high regard as some of the televised stories. Now sadly I see that Big Finish is producing a lot of content but not much of it is making as much of an impact emotionally with the fans. However, this is just my view from the outside, like I said I haven’t been a regular listener in years. I mean, I quite enjoyed the War Doctor series, but I still have to listen to the Time War series that’s been sitting on my shelf for well over a year or so; which brings me to The Hunting Ground, a new release featuring Colin Baker as the Sixth Doctor. Colin Baker has long been referred to as the best audio Doctor, and with good cause… his work on modern masterpieces like Jubilee, Holy Terror and other solid instalments like Blood
Tide, demonstrate an
performer well and truly in control of his voice and who knows how to exploit it within this particular medium of storytelling. Where in the television show he was clearly playing ‘to the back of the house’, on these audio-adventures, he is calculated, measured, effortlessly charming and has incredible emotional range. Look… he’s always been my favourite audio Doctor. As a result, I was quite excited to listen again to the voice of Colin Baker channelling our favourite time-travelling alien. In fact, I must admit I do get a little kick every time I put on a Colin Baker Big Finish and hear that 'Trial of a Time Lord' version of the theme… I don’t know why, but I just love it. It’s by no means my favourite version but I do enjoy hearing it herald in an all new adventure. The Hunting Ground is set in Iceland and attempts to delve (slightly) into the countries folklore and mythology as well as give Doctor Who a bit of a Scandi-Drama vibe. For the most part it works quite well, however the style and indeed the country’s mythology is ultimately used more as a springboard for the narrative. As for the story, there are certainly elements of
the latest TV season’s first episode… an alien hunter making sport of their time on Earth, finding human prey. It does sound to me a little like Tim Shaw in 'The Woman Who Fell to Earth'. I particularly appreciated the part about extracting people’s favourite memories. Other highlights for me were: – The intriguing plot twist near the end that works nicely to connect some of the lead characters story arcs. – The very 80s synth soundtrack is pretty effective. The real main character of this story is not actually the Doctor but instead Inspector Yrsa Kristjansdottir, voiced wonderfully by Amy Beth Hayes. All the major plot revelations and twists are connected to Yrsa, her backstory and emotional journey. The Doctor has no more of an emotional connection to this story than his usual curiosity. So in that respect, The Hunting Ground is a very classicstyle Doctor Who story making the broad stroke Scandi-Drama tones a little jarring. Overall unfortunately both styles don’t completely gel successfully. Sadly from the evidence presented in this particular story, it would seem
that Colin Baker has lost a little bit of the spark he had in the early days of Big Finish . In fact in some sections, I feel, you can clearly hear him reading the lines for the first time (pity he wasn’t
allowed a second take). It is, to me, more the fault of the directors and producers than Mr Baker himself. However when Colin hits his top form, he is still head and shoulders above any oth-
er actor performing as the Doctor currently for Big Finish. All in all though, The Hunting Ground is a good romp with some fascinating sci-fi concepts added in.
If recent stories like 'The Peterloo Massacre' have seen Paul Magrs do uncharacteristically serious dramatic work, 'Muse of Fire' puts him back in his comfort zone, and is just as delightful for that. This is a “Paul Magrs story” through and through, with meta-commentary, zany ideas, and a cosy sense of fun, which leaves you wanting to chill-out and party with his characters. It’s a breeze from start to finish. The starting point, I suspect, was “let’s get Paul Magrs to write a 7th Doctor story”, which is rather irresistible because it’s a less-than-obvious matchup. Paul’s always hinted that he’s not the greatest fan of the 7th Doctor –
back in his afterword to 'The Scarlet Empress', he more-or-less admitted that was why he never wrote for the New Adventures. In Magrs’ stories, the Doctor tends to be a wild, heroic adventurer, albeit one who’s sometimes a bit of a prat or a bit ineffectual. The sheer level of moral ambiguity that comes with the 7th Doctor, then, is some-thing that doesn’t fit naturally with Magrs’ style. Notably, it’s difficult to imagine Iris Wildthyme hanging out with the 7th Doctor, unless it was something set in Season 24 with Mel. So what we get here is a story which uses that clash as its starting point
– the tension between the “Magrs-verse” and the 7th Doctor is literalised in a story which reveals itself to be, effectively, “the Doctor vs Iris”. This serves as an effective critique of the 7th Doctor – he’s busy scheming and plotting, trying to save the day without confiding in anyone, only to realise that, despite looking like she’s faffing around various Parisian parties, Iris had everything sorted out long before he arrived. Critiques of the 7th Doctor are ten-a-penny – there’s heaps in the NAs – but rarely are they as much fun as this. And this is indeed thoroughly charming, with buckets of imaginative ideas everywhere. One guest character, Dora Muse, is a woman with a face like a Picasso painting: it turns out Picasso just lazily painted her as she was. Iris and Panda’s plot is to get Panda to write very mean reviews of famous artists so they give up their work and leave Paris – cut to scenes of Hex finding Salvador Dali, in a gloriously overblown cameo by Gethin Anthony, throwing his paintings into the Seine. There’s a wonderfully random sub-plot about Hex becoming a lifedrawing model, which starts off amusing, and becomes oddly sweet as Hex seems to gain confidence from it. The setting, meanwhile, is an entire character by itself – this isn’t just set in Par-
is, it’s set *in Paris*, with snobby French artists, lots of sitting in fancy cafés, and nights spent partying in salons. It’s obviously romanticised and exaggerated as a setting, but equally it’s easy to get lost in it. Honestly, the set-up of Iris running a salon for upcoming artists while the Doctor prowls around getting into trouble could support an entire box-set or mini-series. You get to the end of this story and want to spend more time in this setting with these characters. This is partially because Magrs always captures the regular characters in a way which does interesting things with them, while also feeling warm and authentic. He does especially well with Hex – the aforementioned lifedrawing sub-plot is very sweet, but even better is his subtly flirtatious relationship with Iris throughout. It never blossoms into anything romantic, but nonetheless feels lively and new for the character. Meanwhile, Ace and Panda absolutely hate each other, which is a regular source of hilarity, while the guest characters feel fleshed out and likeable. The aforementioned Dora Muse is especially fabulous – by the time she’s campily facing off with Iris in episode four, the actress has soared off to cloud 9 and is having a terrific time.
The rest of the cast are noticeably enjoying themselves too – Sylvester McCoy has fun pratting around in the story’s margins, Philip Olivier is typically great, and Sophie Aldred reminded me that she’s still very good when allowed to play a more mature Ace. Katy Manning also does well with a story that requires Iris to be a bit less outthere, finding new angles on the character that I haven’t heard before. When Iris is in disguise, Katy changes her voice so utterly that I honestly didn’t realise it was her until the penny dropped in the script! 'Muse of Fire' is unashamedly a party piece, but it’s a terrific one, and
I honestly would have listened to an entire main range trilogy with this line-up. The main range over the last couple of years has had a pleasing upswing in quality, to the point where I actually put down for a subscription in the second half of this year, and I have rarely been disappointed monthin, month-out. Between this, 'Ghost Walk', 'The Quantum Possibility Engine' and a few others, though, it’s nice to get the sense that the range actually feels like its having care and attention put into it again. In the context of this story though, it’s very much recommended, preferably with a glass of something fizzy on a night in.
that prevents it from feeling slow. The second story, Companion Piece, by John Dorney, is very clearly the selling point of the boxset. As the evil Multi Personality juggling Time Ravenous 3, the latest Lord ‘The Nine’ starts boxset in the ongoing off the Doctor's saga of the Eighth Doctor, picking companions adding them ably continues on with to his personal collection. Deeptime Frontier by It thus allows for the Matt Fitton. The Doctor wonderful team up of and his companions Liv some of the Eighth Doc(Nicola Walker) and tors companions. Liv and Helen (Hattie Morahan) Helen shine as they join wind up on a desolate past companion Charley planet being hunted by Pollard, and future comthe Ravenous. panion Bliss, in attemptThe story mostly focuses ing to find their way out on a Time Lord research of their current prison. outpost where they’re Of course you cannot go mining Dark Cronons and without mentioning the have shockingly bitten always memorable River more off more than they Song (Alex Kingston), can chew. Once the Docgets some rather tor joins them on board it who snappy dialogue with The becomes an Alien style Nine, played out over thriller with the Time Lords being picked off by various scenes. the Ravenous. While not wanting to everything, there is Paul McGann gets quite a spoil a plethora of memorable juicy role against the cameos and moments, Ravenous, showing the culminating in a particuDoctor at perhaps his larly poignant one tomost fearful. Conveying wards the end. how deep and traumatic Companion Piece is not the race memory of the to be missed. Ravenous are. However while the Ravenous all The story rolls on to have the appearance of L.E.G.E.N.D, by Matt Fitkiller clowns, unfortuton, a creative mash-up nately they don’t evoke between Grimms Fairy the same fear of, say, tales and the Holodeck Pennywise. from Star Trek: The Next Generation . The Eleven is The story, while not neto ally with the cessarily having any new forced Doctor and memorably ideas, is a compelling Hansel and start none the less. Matt re-create Gretel during their atFitton creates a tense at- tempt to find more mosphere with some won- formation on the inderfully brilliant dialogue
Ravenous, from alien Professor Marathanga and her database L.E.G.E.N.D. Meanwhile Helen gets to team up with the Brothers Grimm and is made to play a part in some fairy tales as L.E.G.E.N.D. starts to go more than a little wrong. The regulars make the audio enjoyable from start to end, creating memorable moments that help turn what could have been a lacklustre story into an amusing romp. The only disappointment is how little the Brothers Grimm actually feature in the story, but otherwise L.E.G.E.N.D. is an entertaining mash-up of a tale. The final story is The Odds Against, by John Dorney, which at its best, could be described as ‘Timey Wimey’. It weaves an interesting climax to the boxset as the Doctor, Helen and Liv, with their begrudging ally, the Eleven arrive at an Abbey where the Ravenous were once imprisoned. Featuring a few clever twists and reveals it is filled with enjoyable banter between The Eleven and his rival. In all, Ravenous 3 allows the regulars to shine. Its place in the overarching story may not be as memorable or engaging as some of the previous entries, particularly due to the focus on the lacklustre villains the Ravenous, but nevertheless Companion Piece and L.E.G.E.N.D make the boxset a must listen.
This collection is of readings of the first three new series novels released by BBC Books back in 2005. They are: The Clockwise Man by Justin Richards; The Monsters Inside by Stephen Cole; and Winner Takes All by Jacqueline Rayner. The Clockwise Man is read by Nicholas Briggs, while the other two stories are read by Camille Coduri. The Clockwise Man London, 1924 – robotic killers stalk the streets, old men sit in clubs dreaming of past glories, and rebellion against Communist Russia is plotted behind closed doors. Nobody is who they appear to be, and everyone is… ...let’s be honest, this isn’t a very interesting story. Twists and turns abound, but they’re either broadly telegraphed or slapped on for shock effect with no real effort. The characters are fairly shallow, and the villains of the piece are chopped and shuffled around, with the owner of the robotic murderers basically saying “sorry, I'm bad” and being forgiven with no real consequences for her actions. The Doctor is adequately, if somewhat blandly written, coming across as a fairly generic version, livened up greatly by Nicholas Briggs’ excellent impersonation. Rose is quite troublesome, however. She seems more than happy to leave
everyone to their fate at first. Briggs does a reasonable job voicing Rose, but does not quite nail her voice as well as he does the others. Hilariously, the cliché of having her talk to the common pleb and have them almost instantly murdered is a carryover from the series (alas poor Clive / Edith / Gwyneth / etc) and of course 'Bad Wolf' is also messily thrust into the story. The audio quality is good, and Nicholas Briggs, as you would hope, does a pretty good job with the material. If only the material were a little bit better. The Monsters Inside Justicia, 2051 – hidden killers have taken over a fairly corrupt prison system stretching over multiple planets. The Doctor and Rose find themselves split up and sent to separate prison camps, with the Doctor forced to use his brains to help churn out scientific discoveries for exploitation by the prison’s owners, while Rose is stuck in a borstal, simulating prison conditions on ancient Earth in the 21st century. That warden looks a bit fat, and he farts a lot… Could he possibly be…?! (Spoiler – he isn’t.) Camille Coduri’s Ninth Doctor is okay, but again, like Briggs, her portrayal of Rose could do
with a bit of work. She really comes into her own when the villains come out to play, chewing the scenery with relish and talent. As with the other books in this collection, the real problem is the material, which is written for a younger audience than other original works, and shows signs of padding to stretch out the word count (certainly something I can relate to while writing these reviews, which incidentally are written using the Docs app; quite useful! Alright I’ll stop.) Winner Takes All Full disclosure – I didn’t have time to listen to all of the final book and from what I can recall from reading the book when it first came out, it’s fine, but again, definitely aimed at a younger audience. Camille doesn’t do character voices, as such, for this one, which is a shame as I would have loved to have heard her version of Mickey. She absolutely nails Jackie Tyler. :-)
but also much of what we would see in following stories and media to come. Important as he is, the War Doctor and his era is sadly not something that gets a lot of attention. Most of his life in the fires of battle is kept in obscure darkness and left to the untapped potential of our imaginations to understand and uncover. In the years since his introduction however, that has thankfully begun to change. Since 2013, we have been given Big Finish ’s amazing War Doctor audio series and several books and comics; all of which have gone a long way in shedding light into this mysterious period. But before all of that, when the War Doctor was still fairly new to canon, the Whoniverse was given one of the best novels ever to be written under the Doctor Who name; which took a deep look at not only this version of the character, but the Time War itself and how it affected everyone, from the lowest man to the highest Time Lord. Released in July 2014, Engines of War is a novel The War Doctor is an in- way to fill in several con- written by George Mann carnation of the Doctor tinuity gaps and work and (in audiobook form) that often struggles to around the hole left by read by Nicholas Briggs find recognition among Christopher Eccleston’s of Dalek fame. It is a the other more wellabsence in the 50th anstory of the War Doctor in known versions of the niversary special. This the final days of the War, character. Hidden in the was the version that not serving as an official preshadows and introduced only changed much of to the events seen in as a surprise twist in the what we thought we knew quel 'The Day of the Doctor'. 2013 story 'The Name of in canon, but set the In it, we the readers, see the Doctor', John Hurt’s stage for not just the fiportrayal was created as a nale of Matt Smith’s era, what brought the no-
name renegade to abandon every side all together, pushing him to find a way to stop the conflict at any cost, even if it meant the annihilation of his very own people. In many ways, the plot is a very traditional Doctor Who narrative despite the circumstances of the War around it. Starting off from the perspective of a young freedom fighter and eventual companion named Cinder, the book follows a very standard three-act structure. The first third follows the Doctor and Cinder as they meet on a desolate world, investigate a captive situation, and discover a dire Dalek threat that puts the entire universe, and Gallifrey especially, in jeopardy. It then jumps to Gallifrey for the second third as we discover how far the Time Lords have come and the price they are willing to pay in order to save themselves in the name of what they believe in. With both parties in the war thoroughly focused, the final third explodes into intense scene after intense scene, with a climax that’s fairly predictable but still effective and powerful. What really makes this novel special however is in the details and especially in the writing. George Mann’s language feels very cinematic in tone and especially in scope, and the novel draws you into its world and drama almost immediately. It’s hard not to
imagine some of these scenes visually playing out on a gigantic screen, in which some of the new details about the War are particularly gruesome and quite horrific. It really works to shock you in just what both sides are willing to do in order to get any sort of edge, and it contains a lot of what we wanted to see in something as mysterious as a war to end all wars across time. The novel is also great in encompassing not just the era of the new show, but also much of the Classic era as well. Some of the biggest plot points, particularly in the section on Gallifrey, tie directly to the smallest of circumstances way back in the show’s history ('The Five Doctors' from the Fifth Doctor era in particular). It really rewards those who have stuck with the Doctor, and the show, for long periods of time. At the same time, it’s a novel that almost any Whovian can jump into and still find plenty of enjoyment; especially following a fantastic Doctor / Companion team. Mann’s writing is great in capturing the spirit and personality of this incarnation of the Doctor. He’s not quite the man hyped up to be the slaughterer and the predator of the Daleks as you’d want him to be, and at times you wish that Mann wasn’t afraid to make us see him in that nastier light. But he does have his darker moments,
here and there, and how he’s described in this book fits nicely with established lore. Cinder is also a great and interesting companion for the Doctor, she is portrayed as a fiery redhead with a gun who is passionate to a fault; with a tough but kind edge to her that is much needed at this moment in the Doctor’s timeline. Mann has said on Twitter that he based Cinder on Haley Williams from the American rock group Paramore, and you can totally see it by the way she looks and behaves. She’s a fantastically written character that fits well into this kind of situation, and it makes her ultimate tragic fate feel that much more heart-breaking. It’s true that there are some faults here and there. None of the other characters do much, including a forced Time Lord villain who might as well have a neon sign around him saying ‘I’m evil’. As mentioned before you will almost certainly see every major twist coming, and it’s not exactly as innovative as you’d want or expect from a novel surrounding the Time War. As for its place as a great Doctor Who story that focuses on an often forgotten incarnation of the Doctor, it’s certainly hard to go wrong with Engines of War. An absolute mustread for any major Doctor Who fan and 100% worth seeking out.
This graphic novel is a collection of issues 11-14 of the 10th Doctor Year Three comics into a third volume. I’m presuming this will be the last 10th Doctor graphic novel in the Titan Comics series, because as of this writing, it has been over a year without any new comics featuring the 10th Doctor. I should have known that picking up the third volume would dump me in a continuity black hole, but I did have some idea of what was going on, because writer Nick Abadzis has indulged in a veritable orgy of continuity from the rich history of the show. The only area of confusion came with references to the comic adventures Abadzis has been penning since 2014, although he gives enough explanation to drive the story forward, and spark an interest in reading further back. Classic Who fans will be rewarded with references
to block transfer computation and time cone inverters from 'Logopolis', 'Snakedance's Manussans, an Osiran from 'The Pyramids of Mars', and a female Ogron, a species first introduced in 'Day of the Daleks'. There is also an odd call-back to Shayde from the classic 5th Doctor comic The Tides of Time, alongside modern series continuity like Bad Wolf, The Moment and the Time War, plus appearances by the War Doctor, a new Silurian, an Ood and a Graske, of all things. The components that were new to me, such as a vortex butterfly and returning villains, which were all iterations of existing series elements, made this feel less like a Davies / Tennant era story and much more like one of the convoluted Moffatt / Smith instalments (like 'The Pandorica Opens' or 'A Good Man Goes to War'). Inclusion of all these components gives artist Giorgia Sposito little room to introduce her own designs, but her work is pleasing nonetheless, with clean lines, and a slight manga influence to her characterisations. The 10th Doctor’s long-time comic companion, Gabby, has vortex powers which
are oddly rendered by Sposito (and her colourists Adele Matera and Arianna Florean) using the diamond shape from the Pertwee-era opening credits, but I suspect that might be dictated by continuity-freak Abadzis. This isn’t a bad story, and the characters are likeable, but there are just so many of them, that the title character, the Doctor himself, becomes just another bit-player in this huge tapestry, one that has clearly been woven for months, if not years. I may think better of it after reading the volumes leading up to this one, and follow Gabby’s story from her very first issue, way back when this series started. Spoiler warning: while this volume wraps up many ongoing story threads, it does end on something of a cliffhanger, and without a resolution in sight, it may leave a bad taste in your mouth. Like when you get to the end of autoplay on a Netflix show and realise you’ve been watching something that was cancelled years ago.
tual opening sequence of the pilot episode, to the acknowledgment of The faces of the dead be- the pilot episode’s gin appearing to their liv- initial transmission, ing relatives and friends. this book is written They talk, and then with playfulness and scream as they try to sly self-reference push into our world. throughout. The Shroud have invaded The plot is a clever Earth at the time of the one too. By tapping Kennedy assassination. into the feelings of a They connect to their hu- nation and indeed man targets amplifying the world that has their feeling of grief, sad- borne witness to ness and loss. Their inisuch a devastating tial efforts centre on the act, he has cleverly city of Dallas, Texas, created a monster primarily in the Parkland which seems unMemorial Hospital; the stoppable as it feeds facility where President off an almost limitKennedy’s body was taken less supply of this after the attack. However unique food source. their rich harvest spreads All the elements of as they seek to feed on classic Doctor Who are the grief felt around the here; an excellent foe, world. new companions includAs he battles the Shroud, ing nurses, reporters and the Doctor finds that he an FBI agent; lots of runmust now reach back into ning around and a Doctor his past to dredge up his engineered gadget enigown feelings of grief and matically called “Once despair. Will his sorrow More With Feeling”. be enough? Clara Oswald makes her Originally published as a literary debut, and is tie-in to the 50th anwritten as a perfect foil niversary, Shroud of Sor- for the 11th Doctor. Their row is a marvellous dialogue is sparkling and celebration of the Doctor feels absolutely right. and his known history. This is a Clara that is reand doesn’t take The book is an easy read latable at all seriously. as Donbavand writes with herself Her introduction in the authority using an ecois highly amusing nomic style. He certainly book she is, for now, satisknows his Who lore. A lot and fyingly self-deprecating. of research has gone into The supporting characthis story. ters are richly written as Whether it is in the open- well. ing sequence in Totter's Whilst this is a Doctor Lane; which infers a con- story, Donbavand doesn’t temporaneity with the ac“So back in Britain, it’s just about teatime on Saturday 23 November 1963 – and the fun is about to start!”
just rely on a “Doctor fix” for the problem. He encourages the reader to consider not only the nature of grief, but also how we, as humans, can find our own ways to overcome it. Whilst this is never easy, there is a positive and worthy message being sent here. This is an excellent celebration of this significant milestone in the Doctor’s continuing history. **Be warned though, this book does contain references to clowns and a revealing fact about clown cars that may surprise you. Hardback Edition published April 2013 ; Paperback Edition published January 2019; ISBN: 9780385346788 ; Number of Pagers 254
Clara and the 12th Doctor find themselves solving a new mystery in the midst of political turmoil in the first of the 'Glamour' series by Una McCormack. Royal Blood reads more like a fantasy novel, than science fiction, but if that is something you enjoy, then this is the book for you. The very first page is poetic and haunting in style. I was drawn in right away and felt invested in the character speaking in first person, who was describing what seemed to me like a sentient being, lost and alone; mourning its former glory. The book then progresses to a third person account of the same beings. The writing
was pretty, but vague in its account and I was no wiser about the beings than I had been before. This, of course, creates the mystery. Turning the page, I was, at last, reading what I came for: the TARDIS lands and the Doctor steps out into a foreign place on a far-off planet with Clara close behind. While I did not find that the dialogue created a vivid expression of the 12th Doctor's personality, I will concede that the author was able to write Clara much like she is in the episodes; that is to say, utterly annoying. Perhaps even more so, given that Clara uses phrases throughout the story that she never would in the TV Show. Despite this, I had no trouble imagining Clara in this novel as I instantly disliked her. If you are a person who enjoyed Clara Oswald as portrayed by Jenna Coleman, then you will of course, have a very different reading experience. As they descended the hill they had landed on, there was some typical Clara / 12 banter, followed by the expected observation of an anomaly
in the town below. Any curiosity that is built from this mystery is quickly overshadowed by the saga of the Royal family. McCormack goes to great lengths to develop the tension between each of the characters that the Doctor and Clara discover in the crumbling city, while only briefly tackling the oddity of the technology that keeps it alight. Keep in mind, McCormack stated that the demographic for this novel is Young Adult to Teen, so maybe this is why I found the dialogue bland and annoyingly repetitive. As the story slowly progresses, the Doctor and Clara involve themselves in the political struggles of the land until a new mystery presents itself in the form of Lancelot and his knights appearing out of the blue on this unnamed planet, in search of the Holy Grail. Clara wonders if this beloved Earth legend is actually true, while the Doctor, certain that it isn't, sets off with them to uncover the truth. It is at this point we must keep up with the third person account of Clara's attempt at diplomacy to prevent a war, and the first person account of another character as he travels with the Doctor in search of the Grail. McCormack chose a challenging format for the novel, not just for her as a writer, but mostly for the reader. I have never
read a book that switches first and third person and, while I did not enjoy this style, it was done well enough that it wasn't confusing. With both the Doctor and Clara now on their travels, Clara comes into her own and I began to almost enjoy reading her interactions with the other characters and the development of their tasks. Her arc in the story was more prevelent than one for the Doctor, who plays a very minor role in the narrative from beginning to end. The sections of the book that involve the Doctor and the characters he associates with were, disappointingly, my least favourite to read for most of the novel, and it really wasn't until the very end of the story that he did anything 'Doctorish' at all. Royal Blood contains three main threads as opposed to one single story line. If you were to remove the curious nature of the city's artefacts and the appearance of Lancelot, the story could be fleshed out as a full and interesting fantasy novel. McCormck clearly had very well defined character back-stories in mind for the royal family of Varuz and their bordering enemy Conrad, as their interpersonal relationships, desires and emotional motivations filled 90% of the dialogue. These form the main thread that moved the story along. The two oth-
er mysteries simply happen concurrently and in much smaller detail. While I, personally, was not very interested in this main arc, McCormack is certainly capable of some very pretty sentences and her descriptive paragraphs provided easy imagery of the landscape surrounding their journey. If she were to write a fantasy in the future, I would certainly pick it up and settle in for a good read. As the book neared the end, I patiently waited for the answer to the question that was asked almost as soon as the Doctor and Clara exited the TARDIS at the very beginning of the book. This question had no development from the moment it was thought of, until the moment it was solved and if I were to be completely honest, if it were not for my commitment to write a review, it was not a strong enough enigma to have kept me waiting until the last five pages for an answer without any progression leading up to the conclusion. I was however satisfied with the resolution. It was both fitting to the situation and stayed true to the continuity of the world she designed.
Royal Blood is the first in a three-book series about 'the Glamour', which is unfortunately the portion of the story that interested me the least. Having said that, knowing there are two more books about it, the lack of any explanation is understandable. I briefly considered reading the following stories as I usually can't rest without a conclusion, but I am just not that invested I am afraid. As with any review, the reader must take into account personal preferences. As unbiased as one might attempt to be, there is often no suitable explanation for why we enjoy what we enjoy or dislike what we dislike. This is a well written book, with the exception of two blaring editing oversights, with a nice idea for a story. The execution of that nice idea fell flat for me, but die hard Who fans and those that love fantasy will find enough enjoyment to carry them though.
Una McCormack
With the next season of shown until 2020, fans of everyone’s favourite time traveller have a long wait until her next set of adventures with Yaz, Ryan and Graham. Fortunately, there is Titan Comic’s new ongoing Thirteenth Doctor series to tide you over until then. It starts with the Doctor and her new friends witnessing a living nebula before having to rescue a time-traveller caught in a temporal loop. They soon are pursued by the Army of the Just who accuse the Doctor and her gang of a crime they hadn’t committed. As fans well know, this is a regular occurrence for the Doctor, no matter which incarnation they’re in. Across the first four issues Team TARDIS and a couple of new friends must work together to stop a powerful new enemy who has been kidnapping races who are Doctor Who not being
just starting to experiment with time travel and then forcing them to steal valuable items from across all of time and space. Issue 5 starts off a new adventure with the Doctor and her friends landing in the Low Countries in the early 1500s at the start of Guelder Wars. Here Yaz, Ryan and Graham know more about the history of the area than the Doctor thanks to a podcast called Hidden Human Histories. The comic is written by Jody Houser ( Star Wars: Rogue One, Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows, Stranger Things) and with art and colour by Rachael Stott ( Doctor Who, Star Trek and Planet of the Apes) and Enrica Angiolini ( Warhammer 40,000) the new 13th Doctor series is fun, fast paced and makes an excellent companion to Series 11. Jody Houser’s writing captures the spirit of the four main characters down to a “T”. None of the dialogue sounds out of place; from the Doctor reassuring Yaz when she thinks she’s let the Doctor down, to Ryan’s insistence that the Doctor is pretty adamant about the “noguns” rule and Graham calling the Doctor “Doc”. There are some nice moments for everybody.
Rachael Stott’s artwork is as gorgeous as ever. It’s bright, vibrant and captures the feel of the new series perfectly. There are a few nice little touches if you notice them; the Doctor has a mug that says “Universe’s #1 Dad”, the teapot that looks like Mrs Potts from Beauty and the Beast (because, why wouldn’t the Doctor have a Beauty and the Beast teapot?) and the Doctor’s exaggerated arm extension when she’s brandishing the Sonic. The Doctor’s face in particular is as gloriously expressive as her TV counterpart. Whilst Series 11 has focused mainly on small, personal stories, it good to see that the comics version can deliver the grandiose galaxy hopping stories that would be near impossible to achieve on the small screen. While I can’t wait until the next series of Jodie Whittaker’s Doctor hits our screens, I’m equally looking forward to the next issue of Titan Comics 13th Doctor series.
The Lethbridge-Stewart Family Tree
The Edge of Time VR Teaser
Judoon Platoon Retoon
Judoon translator
Brian Cox tests the Doctor
Josh Snares Doctor Who Videos
Swedish Dalek?
The Come-uppance of Captain Katt
George Negus Tonight – 40 years of Doctor Who
Every DW book published
The Dalek Invasion of Funk
hey are the ultimate sci-fi odd couple, the human and the alien, the soldier and the scientist, the Brigadier and the Doctor. Their backgrounds, their choices and their lives are very different, yet despite, or perhaps, because of these variances the two have remained the best of friends through numerous alien invasions, radical personality changes and the inevitable passage of time. Not only that, but they have also had a profound influence on each other, as eventually the soldier chose to become a teacher and the scientist decided to go to war. To better understand the complexities of this unique friendship it is worth going back to the very beginning, or at least to one possible beginning, since time travel has meant their encounters were not always experienced in a neat, sequential order…
The First Doctor’s encounters with Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart were brief. Taken out of time somewhere towards the end of his first incarnation, he briefly glimpsed the military man in the TARDIS control room alongside two of his future selves in 'The Three Doctors'. He then encountered him briefly once again in the Tomb of Rassilon in 'The Five Doctors'. How much he remembered of these encounters afterwards is a matter for conjecture, since being taken out of time and encountering his other selves, not to mention subsequent regeneration, have all been known to impact upon the Doctor’s memory. Indeed, the capacity for a time traveller to remember events that only occurred due to changes made to the time-line after their original experience of it, is a topic of sufficient complexity to warrant a discussion all its own. Putting that to one side, it would not be inappropriate to consider that when the First Doctor encountered Lethbridge-Stewart he might have been reminded of the features of one space agent named Bret Vyon. Of course, recurring actors in Doctor Who are due to the real world needs of producers and directors casting from a finite pool of potential performers. That does not however negate conjecture and indeed narrative creation, to explain why so many people the Doctor has encountered on his travels look exactly the same. When casting Peter Capaldi in Torchwood: Children of Earth , Russell T Davies stated he was at first uncertain on whether he should, given the actor’s prominent performance in the Doctor Who story 'Fires of Pompeii'. He reasoned however that narratively it worked, in-so-far as if Torchwood’s John Frobisher was the descendant of 'Fires of Pompeii' character Lobus Caecilius, then his death in 'Children of Earth' (and indeed the death of his entire family) was an example of time and fate finally
catching up with a dynasty that had been intended for extinction when Mount Vesuvius erupted. That stay of execution was a direct result of the Doctor’s interference, but not even the Doctor could stave off the extinction of the family line forever. All a bit grim, but that’s Torchwood for you. When Capaldi was once again cast, this time as the Doctor himself, yet another explanation was warranted. The reason eventually given was that the Doctor’s subconscious mind had modelled his features on Lobus Caecilius as a reminder that he should always strive to save people whenever he could. With this in mind, one can only assume that the Doctor’s subconscious had previously wanted to remind him not to trust Time Lords when his sixth incarnation ended up modelling itself on the Gallifreyan Chancellery Guard Commander Maxil, someone who had previously shot him. Other recurring faces have been explained away through familial connection (Martha Jones referred to the death of her cousin Adeola Oshodi to explain Freema Agyeman’s repeat performance) as well as more ethereal technobabble (the Tenth Doctor having cited the similarity between Eve Myles’ characters Gwyneth from 'The Unquiet Dead' and Gwen Cooper from Torchwood being the result of spatial genetic multiplicity). It is not inconceivable that brother and sister pair Bret Vyon and Sara Kingdom from 'The Daleks’ Master Plan' could be the distant descendants of Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart. In addition to his obvious physical similarity, Bret Vyon followed a military tradition in his own time and took on the responsibility of protecting the Earth. He was brave, quick thinking and dedicated, willing to sacrifice his own life for the greater good. He also exhibited the same pragmatism often seen in Alistair himself,
clashing with the First Doctor over the dilemma of how to respond when Katarina was taken hostage and held in the ship’s airlock. While the Doctor demanded they acquiesce to her captor’s demands and return to the planet Kembel, knowing that the Daleks were waiting there and that the fate of Earth hung in the balance, Vyon insisted: “I can’t sacrifice everything for the sake of that one girl”. Although the short story The Gift by Robert Dick, published in the Big Finish anthology Short Trips: The Histoty of Christmas, had the First Doctor interact directly with Alistair, it is arguable whether this is canonical or not. If Bret Vyon was indeed a distant descendant of the Lethbridge-Stewart clan, it would have marked the first definite time the Doctor encountered the family line. It would by no matter of means prove to be the last. In addition to Alistair himself, the Doctor would later encounter his daughter Kate Stewart, for the first time as a five
year old in the Virgin Missing Adventures novel Scales of Injustice , and great-greatgreat-great-granddaughter Kadiatu Lethbridge-Stewart, who was a super soldier prototype adopted and raised by direct descendant Brigadier Yembe Lethbridge-Stewart. Both appeared in the Virgin New Adventures novel Transit. At the very end of his first incarnation in 'Twice Upon a Time', the Doctor would also encounter an earlier member of the Lethbridge-Stewart clan, listed on the family tree as Alistair’s great uncle Captain Archibald Hamish LethbridgeStewart, although due to an affair kept secret in the family, he was also biologically his grandfather. The entire premise of the story 'Twice Upon a Time' was based on the fact that Alistair’s life and family line were so closely tied to the Doctor’s that the danger of the Doctor choosing not to regenerate delivered Archibald out of the time stream, saving the Doctor and setting in motion a friendship and connection that would continue unabated throughout the renegade Time Lord’s many lives to follow. It was in his second incarnation that the Doctor really got to know the man he would come to call his best friend. Surprisingly, for what would come to be such an important moment, the first meeting of these two characters rather frustratingly happened off
screen in 'The Web of Fear', although it was later dramatized by Andy Frankham-Allen in the short story The Ambush first published in Doctor Who Magazine #483. There is no indication in 'The Web of Fear' that the Doctor remembered his brief encounters with Lethbridge-Stewart during his first incarnation, especially since the then Colonel was the subject of some suspicion as they endeavoured to discover the agent of the Great Intelligence in their midst. It is always possible though, that the Doctor was pretending in order to protect causality and the Web of Time, and various other McGuffin’s like that (for as we know: “Rule One – the Doctor lies”). Throughout 'The Web of Fear' Colonel Lethbridge-Stewart distinguishes himself as more than a common soldier. He is brave, cares about his men, and is unafraid to lead them into danger when necessary. He shows resolve and imagination in dealing with an otherworldly threat and when the Doctor describes a Police Box that could be used as a means of evacuation, he is open minded enough to treat it as a serious option while fellow soldier Captain Knight discounts the whole idea as “screwy”. “If we stay here we’re as good as dead,” Lethbridge-Stewart stated, “therefore I do not intend leaving any escape route unexplored, however screwy you may think”. It is no wonder then that the next time the Doctor encountered him in 'Invasion' he had been promoted to the rank of Brigadier and put in charge of the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce (UNIT). In his second incarnation the Doctor worked seamlessly with the Brigadier in fighting off the menace of the Cybermen, despite their obvious differences. While the Doctor exuded Chaplinesque eccentricity in stark contrast to LethbridgeStewart’s military efficiency, both quickly earned each other’s respect and showed an understanding that their different methods were complementary in reaching a shared goal. While not a man of violence himself, the Second Doctor had perhaps become more forgiving of those that did need to use it. While the First Doctor predominantly travelled with teenage girls and high school teachers, the Second Doctor’s constant companion was a
violent highlander plucked straight from the mid-18th century. So although he tried not to use violence himself, the Doctor was not judgemental towards those who did, and was certainly thankful of the Brigadier’s help when a worldwide menace presented itself. It was also in this incarnation that the Doctor travelled forward in time to Lethbridge-Stewart’s future, visiting him first during the UNIT years in 'The Three Doctors', then in a period after he had retired from soldiering and taken up teaching maths at Brendon Public School; as seen in 'The Five Doctors'. Intending merely to see him speak at a ceremony he had read about in the next day’s edition of The Times, the Second Doctor inadvertently whisked the unsuspecting Alistair off on an encounter with his past and future selves in the Death Zone on Gallifrey. The banter between the Doctor and Lethbridge-Stewart throughout the adventure demonstrated both their closeness, and their occasional frustration with each other. By this point LethbridgeStewart had been friends with the Doctor for many years, while in many ways the Second Doctor had only recently met him, however the strong bond between them was already clearly apparent. The longest period of time the pair spent together was during the Doctor’s third incarnation, when he was exiled to Earth. While their friendship grew during those years, it was also tested more than once as the stark differences between them came to the fore. This was never more so than when prehistoric subterranean intelligent reptiles indigenous to Earth were discovered in caves at Wenley Moor. The Doctor wanted to broker peace between the so-called Silurians and the human race, but the Brigadier had a more pragmatic solution, setting off explosives to collapse the caves so that the suspended animation capsules containing the reptiles were sealed up and the threat they posed to human civilisation neutralised. Appalled by this, the Doctor’s friendship with the military leader faltered, but over time they grew close again, thrown together by constant danger and forced both to depend on and rescue each other on a more or less regular basis. So common was the need for this that the Doctor commented after being rescued in 'Mind of Evil': “Thank you, Brigadier. But do you think that for once in your life you could manage to arrive before the nick of time?” To which the Brigadier
merely smiled and stated: “I’m glad to see you too, Doctor”. At times it is difficult to tell how much of the Third Doctor’s baiting of the Brigadier was genuine pain from the Silurian incident and how much was a combination of his own arrogance and overwhelming frustration at being trapped on Earth. He was determined to call out examples of so-called military efficiency for the limitations they set in dealing with complex problems. He was also determined to make sure no technological advances ended up in human hands, despite the level of intergalactic threat the human race now regularly faced. In 'Terror of the Autons', after the Doctor had disarmed a weapon that was roughly equal in power to a fifteen megaton bomb, the Brigadier delightedly exclaimed: “The research boys will be glad to get their hands on this”. Unfortunately for him he was swiftly met with the response: “Too late, Brigadier. I've boiled out the contents. The weapons that you have on Earth are quite nasty enough as it is”. Although the Doctor felt that he was entitled to challenge the Brigadier whenever he liked, he was also quick to defend him and admonish anyone else who didn’t show his friend the respect he thought he was due. When the Doctor described a plan of the Brigadier’s in 'The Daemons' as an “idiotic suggestion” that was fine, but when Jo Grant repeated the same sentiment, enthusing: “Of all the idiotic plans. As if blowing things up solves anything”, the Doctor was
very quick to give her an immediate dressing down. “The Brigadier is doing his best to cope with an almost impossible situation,” he stated. “And since he is your superior officer, you might at least show him a little respect.” While he himself felt entitled to challenge his friend he was not willing to stand by and let anyone else do it. The Doctor’s long exile deepened his friendship with Alistair and fostered numerous other human connections within the UNIT group. The sense of shared family was readily apparent in 'The Green Death', where the Doctor was shown holding court over wine in after dinner conversation with the Brigadier, Jo Grant and various members of the Nuthutch. “Never trust a Venusian shanghorn with a perigosto stick,” came the punchline to the Doctor’s tall tale, accompanied by much laughter. 'The Green Death' however also highlighted the Doctor’s sense of alienation. After Jo Grant announced she was leaving him for Professor Jones, he left the Brigadier, Captain Yates and Sergeant Benton singing “for they are jolly good fellows” as he slipped out of the party alone, driving off into the solitary night. While companions came and went however, the Brigadier’s friendship remained one constant the Doctor could always return to. It is a mark of how attached the Doctor had become that, even when his exile was rescinded and he was once more free to travel across time and space, he chose to re-
main based on Earth with the Brigadier, always returning to UNIT HQ after each new TARDIS escapade. This was all to change with his regeneration however, the fourth incarnation of the Time Lord resenting the responsibility of his ties to Earth as UNIT’s scientific adviser. “I've lived for something like seven hundred and fifty years,” he stated in 'Pyramids of Mars'. “About time I found something better to do than run around after the Brigadier.” The friendship between them remained apparent though, whether in the delighted way the Doctor called “Alistair?” in 'The Android Invasion', looking in an office for his old friend, or in his previous playful comment “was that bang big enough for you Brigadier?” delivered after the destruction of the Zygon ship in 'Terror of the Zygons'. It is perhaps a mark of how much the Doctor had influenced Lethbridge-Stewart over time that when he met him again in his fifth incarnation, he had left the military and started a career in education. “I could have retired on my army pension, grown vegetable marrows and died of boredom in twelve-months, then this job turned up,” Alistair explained. “Bit of admin, bit of rugger, CO in the school corps.” When the Doctor looked dubious at his old friend’s admission that he taught mathematics, he was firmly told: “Oh, I know how many beans make five, Doctor, and you don't have to be a Time Lord to cope with A level maths. It may come as a surprise to you, but I also happen to like teaching.” Of course, outside the narrative of Doctor Who , this sudden career change was due to a story originally written for the character of Ian Chesterton having to be rejigged after actor William Russell turned the part down. An additional narrative reason was eventually given in the Paul Cornell novel No Fu-
ture , where the Seventh Doctor hypnotised
the Brigadier, placing memory blocks on his mind and instigating his retirement from UNIT, all done to preserve his sanity and provide his friend with the time he needed to heal after that particular adventure, an admission to the mental scars a life spent protecting the Earth could cause. The story 'Mawdryn Undead' also presented problems other than character motivation, with the UNIT dating conundrum becoming a much discussed topic thereafter. Regardless of all of this, the end result was that Lethbridge-Stewart chose to emulate his long-time learned friend by leaving his life as a soldier for a stint in education. Later the Doctor would also find it necessary to change, abandoning the name of Doctor as he took up the mantle of soldier, but more on that later. 'Mawdryn Undead' was the first story to delve into an exploration of post-traumatic stress disorder, with an amnesiac Alistair having no memory of the Doctor after having suffered what his general practitioner Doctor Runciman diagnosed as a mental breakdown. Despite the extremes faced by Lethbridge-Stewart over the years, from hauntings and mental attacks, to the death of men under his command and frequent alien invasions, little time was spent on exploring the mental traumas these stresses might have induced. Following brainwashing in 'The Green Death', UNIT’s Captain Yates was led astray by the villains of 'Invasion of
the Dinosaurs'. His wavering mental health became an ongoing thread that led right up to the Third Doctor’s finale 'Planet of the Spiders'. By contrast Lethbridge-Stewart led by example and refused to show any signs of weakness, regardless of the situation. One brief exception was in his first appearance, 'Web of Fear', when he returned to the Goodge Street Laboratory as the only survivor, after having seen all of his men killed by the Yeti. When the Doctor asked him what happened, a shell-shocked Colonel Lethbridge-Stewart replied: “Gone… All of them… Hopeless. Can't fight them. It seems indestructible. Can't fight them! You were right, Doctor, when you said they were formless, shapeless. You were right!” Of course he recovered swiftly and succeeded in helping the Doctor defeat the menace of the Great Intelligence, but that scene provided a window into the very human mental state of Lethbridge-Stewart, regularly forced to confront horrors that would reduce most people to a screaming mess. The eventual explanation for his condition in 'Mawdryn Undead' was tied to a time paradox, the Blinovitch limitation effect, impacting upon Alistair when he came face to face with his younger self. Before that revelation however it was perfectly acceptable to assume that the pressure of defending the planet from multiple alien menaces over so many years had taken a terrible toll on the old soldier, even if he didn’t want to face that possibility himself. “I don't scare quickly, Doctor. Nor do I succumb easily to
brainwashing techniques,” he insisted. “Treatment? Treatment? There's nothing wrong with me, Doctor… It's no good. I'm not taking my leave at the funny farm. There's nothing wrong with me, I tell you. Fit as a fiddle, always have been… Breakdown. Don't know the meaning of the word. This one goes on till he drops.” It is a little known fact that the first three actors to play the part of the Doctor all served in the military during the Second World War. Although actor William Hartnell would become well-known for his portrayals of tough army men, he only served for 258 days before he was discharged, deemed to be permanently unfit for military service of any kind. Fiercely patriotic, he tried to enlist as soon as war broke out, but when he was called up and assigned to the Royal Armoured Corps 22nd Dragoons he quickly found his own artistic spirit did not mesh at all well with army life. At 32 years of age he was pushed to the extreme alongside much younger recruits, the tough training regime
gile ‘little ship’.” Jon Pertwee described one incident where he was removing the dead from bomb-damaged buildings and shelters after an attack, when: “One plane saw us and started to fire his twin wing-mounted machine guns – I was by this time running for my life, in an impossible endeavour to reach the safety of a ditch before he could get me… As I fell over exhausted and run out, the bullets kicked up the ground to the right and left of me like mice scuttling through dust.” The experiences of war would impact on all three of the actors who first breathed life into the character of the Doctor, making him an unabashed proponent for peace. The Doctor avoided war and conflict when he could, seeking to end them both when he came upon them. His long friendship with the Brigadier speaks of his understanding that, although war should be avoided, sometimes soldiers were needed to stand up and fight when the enemy was at the gates and there were no other alternatives. The Sixth Doctor’s encounters with Lethbridge-Stewart on television were limited to a brief encounter in the 'Dimensions in Time' thirtieth anniversary special, where alas there was little time for much character interaction. The audio plays of Big Finish amended that with their production The Spectre of Lanyon Moor, where the retired Lethbridge-Stewart teamed up with his old friend the Doctor to confront a dispossessed alien that was haunting an archaeological team working on a Neolithic site at Lanyon Moor. By this time in his life LethbridgeStewart took it in his stride that the succession of completely different people claiming to be the Doctor, were always the same man. taking a toll. He also had a fundamental dif- His friendship with each new member of the “splendid chap” brigade was unwavering. ficulty reconciling the idea of taking someone’s life, enemy or not, leading to inIn fact, when he came to meet the Seventh creased stress. His health seriously deterior- Doctor, pulled out of retirement to confront ated as he suffered severe stomach problems and dermatitis, culminating in a minor nervous breakdown, followed by scarlet fever. The impacts of his short time in service changed him for the rest of his life. Both Patrick Troughton and Jon Pertwee joined the Navy, describing their experiences as being made up of long periods of tedium interrupted by frenetic life or death struggles. Troughton described his own encounters of close range attacks with the words: “Terrifying streams of bullets and shells would buzz past you. Lines of tracer and incendiaries too, all directed at your fra-
an Arthurian themed incursion from another dimension, he immediately recognised his old friend despite the new face, stating: “I just can't let you out of my sight, can I, Doctor?” When the surprised Doctor asked how he had recognised him, Lethbridge-Stewart cheekily responded: “Who else would it be?” Some of the most poignant moments the two friends shared came to pass during this era, as the television show ended and gave way to a series of original novels from Virgin Publishing. The Seventh Doctor’s meeting with Lethbridge-Stewart just prior to his leaving UNIT in No Future demonstrated that he was a military leader who had learnt the necessity of alternative thinking. Without the Doctor to deliver it, he created the intelligence wing Special Ops Division Broadsword, to provide the kind of freethinking that balanced military action, blending into a cohesive force to protect the planet. Just as No Future saw the sad end of the Brigadier’s military career, Paul Cor-
nell’s Happy Endings saw it reinstated as the Seventh Doctor removed the mental blocks he had placed earlier, and the Brigadier had his youth restored in a complicated series of events that occured at Bernice Summerfield’s wedding at Cheldon Bonniface in 2010. In the aftermath Alistair decided to once more return to active duty. Before all of that happened however, the Doctor and Alistair walked together and discussed their lives and their enduring friendship, the differences and similarities between them clearly shown as the Doctor confided about his recent troubles. When the Doctor lamented that his companion
Bernice Summerfield had been captured and tortured by Nazis, the Brigadier simply stated: “Bastards. You killed some of them, I trust?” The truth of the matter was that he had, but still the Doctor replied: “Donʼt ask questions like that”. Perhaps his reticence to answer was due to the fact that some of his own actions were becoming frighteningly close to those of his friend. How long Alistair’s restored youth lasted has yet to be explored in any stories, with continuity becoming somewhat fluid in relation to material produced during the Wilderness Years of Doctor Who. Big Finish ensured that Alistair met the Eighth Doctor in the audio Minuet in Hell, but after this Lethbridge-Stewart was no longer an active participant in the Doctor’s adventures. There is no current story telling of him meeting the War Doctor, but that incarnation of the Time Lord was in many ways closest to that of the Brigadier, embracing the necessity of becoming a warrior in order to fight the most terrible war that had ever been imagined; the Dalek and Time Lord conflict known as The Time War. The onetime scientific advisor cast off his antipathy toward combat and embraced the mantle of a soldier, albeit one that listened to no commander other than his own directives. He trod an uneasy path, still trying to protect the people of the universe, but he didn’t shy from taking lives, or doing what needed to be done to win; a pragmatism he had previously disapproved of in the Brigadier during his days of exile on Earth. The Seventh Doctor had trod close to this territory before, having come the closest to being like his friend, but he was a manipulator, one who used others as his weapons, while the War Doctor’s approach was much more direct. While the trauma of war was touched upon in relation to Lethbridge-Stewart, through his breakdown in 'Mawdryn Undead', it was given further context through the novels No Future and Happy Endings. When it came to the Doctor, his own experiences of war defined his character from when the show returned in 2005 onwards. The Ninth Doctor was clearly damaged by the conflict he had so recently experienced, slowly healed through his growing friendship with Rose Tyler. Over time he came to terms with his part in the Time War, while still actively rejecting the incarnation who had fought it, refusing to refer to him as the Doctor just as the War Doctor himself had renounced that title when he embraced the
path of the warrior. While the Ninth, Tenth and Eleventh Doctors all worked with UNIT, which was run in the Eleventh Doctor’s era by his old friend’s daughter Kate Stewart, there remained an antipathy towards the military that spoke of his own self-denial of that part of himself. Even after the events of the story 'Day of the Doctor', when he reconciled his disparate parts and saved Gallifrey, that antipathy remained. When Lieutenant Journey Blue of the Combined Galactic Resistance asked the Twelfth Doctor to take her with him at the end of the story 'Into the Dalek', he responded: “I think you’re probably nice. Underneath it all, I think you’re kind and you’re definitely brave. I just wish you hadn’t been a soldier.” Previously when she had asked if he liked soldiers, he had stated: “You don’t need to be liked. You’ve got all the guns.” The Doctor had travelled with soldiers before and his best friend was a soldier, but he no longer trusted that part of himself and sought a companion that would balance rather than reinforce those tendencies within him. Although the death of Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart was never shown on screen, the Eleventh Doctor was seen to visibly suffer when he phoned Alistair from the TARDIS, only to be told that his old friend had passed away peacefully in his sleep, a fate the Doctor had known about since at least his seventh incarnation, when he had predicted it in 'Battlefield'. The news of his best friend’s death gave the Doctor the courage to face his own end, and was given added poignancy as it also marked the then recent death of actor Nicholas Courtney, who had brought Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart to life. Perhaps the strangest, although still unexpectedly poignant, scenes from the recent years of Doctor Who, was when a female incarnation of the Master, going by the name of Missy, resurrected Earth’s dead and transformed them into an army of Cybermen in the story 'Death in Heaven'. LethbridgeStewart was able to stave off the cyber-programming, saving first his daughter Kate, then executing Missy to protect the Doctor from having to do it (although of course it was later revealed she had found a way to survive). The Twelfth Doctor saluted his best friend, now clothed in the body of a Cyberman, then watched as the resurrected and Lethbridge-Stewart flew off into the sky – al-
though whether to new adventures or into oblivion only time will tell. The friendship of the Doctor and Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart is an unusual one. At first glance they appear to be polar opposites, but over time they have been revealed to have far more in common than opposition, united in morality and bravery and a desire to protect those who cannot protect themselves. Both have seen war and fought hard battles, they have lost followers, made difficult choices and done the best they could to watch over those under their protection. Both understood each other far better than any other could. Their friendship has stood the test of time and each has profoundly influenced the development and choices of the other. The importance of this connection was seen in 'Twice Upon a Time', where it was unquestionably shown that this odd couple, the warrior and the physician, were woven together throughout time and space, so it is undoubtable that they will continue to be connected for as long as the narratives of their ongoing fictions endure. Whether through the Brigadier’s ancestors and descendants, or the time tossed moments of the man himself, the Doctor’s life will continue to intersect with him. One can only hope that one day we might see what Lethbridge-Stewart’s reaction is to the “splendid chap” he has known for so long regenerating for the first time into a female form. “Women,” Lethbridge-Stewart once said, “not really my field”. And wouldn’t it be nice to see him reassured by the Thirteenth Doctor, the smiling face of Jodie Whittaker beaming at Nicholas Courtney as she states: “Don't worry, Brigadier, people will be shooting at you soon.” Well, we can dream can’t we?
his crossword has 37 clues, one for each story of Doctors 6, 7, 8 and 9. The answer for each question is a word that appeared in a story title. As for the previous crossword, some answers will be easier to work out than others, some stories have only one-word titles! There is a clue for each answer based on an important event in the episode, the clue is a bit cryptic but not as cryptic as clues in previous crosswords. As an example, previously I may have given you a clue of “Emblem of a confusing city” with the answer being “Logopolis”, but now with easier clues I would have given you a clue of "Universal message". I will leave it to you to work out how these two clues would give the answer. 4 6 8 9 11 14 17 19 20 21 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 33 35 36
Show me the game Carrots and other vegetables A bald lie She’s back Silly voting Climbing down Back to school Cleaning up The end maybe The loved one maybe The eyes have it Hungry Shooting for the sky Cliffhanger Behind the mask Stuck to the floor Turn off the lights Escape from the museum Satellite Having a swimming time
1 2 3 5 7 10 12 13 15 16 18 22 23 24 30 32 34
The message i Dining out Not a bloody g Number 10 Entertain us Fondant The verdict is A nice pub Experimentati On target The tube A big fan of th It begins again Honey queen Mother is reve Paradox Try the soup
is revealed
good time
given
ion
his n
ealed