Doctor Who was first broadcast on this day 61 years ago!
Recently, I have been playing with the Gallifreyan translator on the official Doctor Who website. Below are the names of three of my Doctor Who books - two gamebooks and one novel - in the language of the Time Lords.
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I couldn't let the landmark 60th anniversary of the world's longest running science ficiton TV show go without a mention.
Ten years ago I was watching The Day of the Doctor at the cinema with my kids. Today, I've watched a couple of old episodes from the Third Doctor's era*. And at the weekend I will sit down to watch the first of the 60th anniversary specials.
Tom Baker was my first Doctor, although I later saw quite a few of John Pertwee's adventures when they were repeated on BBC2. I have been a fan ever since. I found things to enjoy about every era, and while I didn't appreciate Chris Chibnall's stint as showrunner, I still watched every episode. But I am optimistic for David Tennant's return and whatever comes after.
When Doctor Who wasn't on TV, I read Virgin Books New Adventures. I even pitched one, although it was politely rejected.
My involvement with Doctor Who as an author didn't begin until 2007, when I contacted Puffin Books about writing a Decide Your Destiny Doctor Who gamebook. This lead to me being commissioned to write The Horror of Howling Hill. Over the next decade I wrote for the Tenth, Eleventh and Twelfth Doctors, and contributed to Doctor Who: 100 Illustrated Adventures and wrote the lion's share of the Doctor Who Annual 2010.
Doctor Who: Decide Your Destiny: The Horror of Howling Hill (2008)
The Official Doctor Who Annual 2010 (2010)
Time Lord Quiz Quest (2015)
Terrible Lizards (2016)**
Doctor Who: Choose the Future: Night of the Kraken (2016)
Doctor Who: 100 Illustrated Adventures (2017)
My involvement with Doctor Who also lead to me meeting numerous Daleks and one Steven Moffat.
Who knows if I'll ever write anything for Doctor Who again, but if the chance does arise, I would love to. After all, it's Doctor Who, isn't it?
* It's interesting how many episodes' cliffhanger endings involve someone pointing a gun at the Doctor.
** First published as part of Monstrous Missions (2012).
I know I'm a little late to the party, sharing what 100 years of the BBC means to me, but it took Sunday night's episode of Doctor Who - Jodie Whittaker's last as the Thirteenth Doctor - to prompt me into action.
I have not been a fan of Thirteen's run for one major reason, the poor quality of the writing. There have been some great scenarios, but Chris Chibnall never seemed to make the pay off worthy of the set up. And don't get me started on how he messed with the lore*.
Every series has had its dud episodes and, in my opinion, your typical season is roughly 50% good and 50% bad, apart from a few standout series, notably Season 3. (But more on that later.) However, in the case of Thirteen there were barely any episodes that could be considered good across all three series.
Warning! Some of what comes next could be considered spoilers, so if you've not watched The Power of the Doctor yet and you intend to, best stop reading now...
Still here? Okay, but don't say I didn't warn you.
My favourite bits included:
Season 3 is special to me for another reason - it's when I started writing tie-in fiction for Doctor Who. First was The Horror of Howling Hill, a Decide Your Destiny gamebook featuring the Tenth Doctor and Martha Jones, published in 2008.
I wrote the lion's share of The Official Doctor Who Annual 2010, and in 2012 my Eleventh Doctor novel, Terrible Lizards, was published***.
Who knows whether I will return to Doctor Who in the future, but I would never turn down an opportunity to write for TV's favourite Time Lord.
But the BBC means more to me than just Doctor Who. Its programmes have inspired me over the years and will have inevitably influenced the content of the stories I have told. And to top it all, once I was interviewed about Fighting Fantasy gamebooks for Radio 4.
So thank you, BBC, and here's to the next 100 years!
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* I hope not irrevocably.
** Just up the coast from Broadchurch. May Jodie or Chibs have a house down there in Dorest.
*** Originally as part of the Monstrous Missions compendium.
Several years after the events of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, Alice finds herself back in Wonderland and called upon to save the world of playing cards and talking animals from the increasingly deranged Queen of Hearts. But all is not as it first appears in the fluctuating dream world and soon Alice is battling to save herself from the nightmare that is rapidly overtaking the realm. 
In other gamebook-related news, I am very pleased to announce that next Spring will see the release of my latest Doctor Who book, Night of the Kraken.
1. (2) Monstrous Missions (Feb 12)
1. Stormslayer (Sep 09)
1. Human Nature (Dec 08)
It is a hugely inspirational place, and I'm clearly not the only one to think so. Take the makers of the '70s TV show Children of the Stones. I only caught five minutes of Children of the Stones when it was originally broadcast in 1976 but that brief exposure haunted me and I've watched the whole series on DVD only recently to exorcise those particular demons.
Avebury - or at least the ancient Wiltshire countryside - has cropped up again and again in my own books over the years. It's most obviously apparent in my Doctor Who Decide Your Destiny gamebook The Horror of Howling Hill but it's also appeared in everything from my first ever published book Spellbreaker through to my short story Fear to Tread that was first published in 2011.
... and making the most of them.
