Pirate Who?

Duh-duh-duh-der! Duh-duh-duh-der! Duh-duh-duh-der! Dih-dih-dih-dee!
Duh-duh-duh-der! Duh-duh-duh-der! Duh-duh-duh-der! Woo-ee-oooo!

Yes, that's right, it's Talk Like a Pirate Day. I mean, it's Doctor Who Day. (I've even got my Gallifrey t-shirt on to mark the occasion.)

Did I ever tell you about the time I didn't write a Doctor Who story featuring pirates? It was when I was invited to pitch an Eleventh Doctor story to the tie-in fiction editorial team at Puffin. I was told that the content had to appeal to boys in particular and the first two things I came up with were dinosaurs and pirates.

Then I thought, "What won't they do on TV because of budget limitations? I know a pirate ship and loads of dinosaurs!"

And so I submitted my proposal in which Blackbeard searches for the Fountain of Youth in the Florida Everglades* but ends up finding Jurassic Park instead**. Feedback came through from Cardiff - they loved the story but could I change the pirates please. The reason? Because Lord Grantham was bound for Treasure Island***. And so the pirates became Victorian explorers, travelling aboard The Venture****.

But an idea, as they say, is never wasted. Even now a different take on the whole Blackbeard vs Dinosaurs thing is forming within the primordial creative soup that is my mind. And guess what - it's another gamebook! ;-)

Next time: How I would have done Missy differently.



* By the way, have your read Tim Powers' On Stranger Tides?

** In a nutshell.

*** Sort of.

*** Do you see what I did there?