Tie-in Tuesday: 100 Years of the BBC

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.

Having slept on it, I think that The Power of the Doctor was the best Jodie Whittaker episode of them all, with some lovely nods to Classic Who and past companions, as well as past Doctors.

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:

• The return of Ashad.
• The return of Graham.
• "And if that's not enough, I was an air hostess in the early Eighties."
• "Nitro 999."
• "Tag, you're it!"
• "I know these teeth."
• Durdle Door**

I feel that the most consistently strong series was David Tennant's second as the Tenth Doctor, i.e. Season 3. Which is why I'm excited to see what Russell T Davies comes up with for the 60th anniversary next year.

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***.

I was back in 2015 with the Doctor Who: Time Lord Quiz Quest, and 2016 saw publication of my Twelfth Doctor Choose the Future gamebook, Night of the Kraken.

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!

* 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.

D is for Doctor

Or, in my case, The Doctor.

My association with the Doctor began during Tom Baker's tenure. I can recall the first episode of various classic stories - The Seeds of Doom, The Talons of Weng Chiang, Planet of Evil, Meglos - but nothing more, because before the end of the episode I'd be quite literally hiding behind the sofa, the TV would be turned off and I wouldn't be allowed to watch it again for a while.*

I can remember the end of Tom Baker's reign much more clearly and from the Keeper of Traken onwards was a fully paid up member of the Doctor Who fan club. I watched practically every episode from that point on (although I missed a few of the Peter Davison ones due to choir practice, or something equally annoying) and never fell out of love with the programme, even when it was quite clearly rubbish.**

And when Doctor Who was off the telly, I would pick up the occasional New Adventure (from Virgin Publishing) and even went so far as to pitch for the series myself.***

So it was great excitement***** that I greeted the news that Doctor Who would be coming back to our TV screens. On the evening of 26 March 2005, having made sure my seven month-old son was in bed early that night, I sat down to watch 'Rose'.

The Ninth Doctor isn't my favourite****** but Russel T built on what he had established that paved the way for David Tennant and, now, Matt Smith. I have to say I love what Steven Moffat's done with the show and I think Series 6 is the best of the New Who so far, so I can't wait to see what he does with it now, when the new series begins on 23 April!

It was during the Tenth Doctor's tenure that I started writing for the Doctor Who Children's Books range, thanks in part to good timing******* and thanks in a very large part to range editor Leanne Gill. Leanne is something of a superstar amongst commissioning editors - she's one of those people who actively seeks to find new writers and give them a chance. She has her stable of established, reliable writers, but isn't afraid to give others a break to see what they make of the opportunity. Thanks to that first commission from Leanne - which ended up as the Tenth Doctor Decide Your Destiny adventure The Horror of Howling Hill******** - I've since written for the Official Doctor Who Annual 2010, a new chapter book (out early next year) Terrible Lizards (featuring the Eleventh Doctor and friends) and two Star Wars The Clone Wars books. I've met a Dalek********* and visited various schools to talk about my work.

So here's to commissioning editors everywhere.**********

* My kids don't have that liberty. Their dad wants to watch it, so it stays on!

** The character Ace so wasn't. But I liked Sylvester McCoy.

*** As you can tell from a quick read of my CV I wasn't successful, but thereby hangs another interesting tale.****

**** Which will have to wait for another time!

***** Although to begin with I also met the news with no small amount of scepticism.

****** For various reasons, including Christopher Eccleston, the Slitheen and Rose's initial 'gor-blimey!' Laarndaarn accent.

******* Which I how I got my first writing gig in the first place, back in 1992!

******** Strangely I now live in just the sort of place where The Horror of Howling Hill was set (the fictional Wiltshire village of Caernbury).

********* Two, actually.

********** But especially ones who like to dress as Asajj Ventress in their spare time.

Black Library Live and Official Doctor Who book signing at the Doctor Who Experience

Two events to check out tomorrow (although probably not both because they're a couple of hundred miles apart).

The first in Black Library Live! which is taking place at Games Workshop's Nottingham HQ. It's an event that celebrates and showcases Black Library's books, audio productions and authors. Available to buy pre-release on the day will be Fall of Damnos, Victories of the Space Marines, Knights of Bretonnia, Age of Darkness, Caledor, Blood Reaver and Garro: Legion of One.

Attendees will also be able to pick up a copy of the limited Black Library Live! 2011 chapbook at the sales stand (as long as stocks last). The event runs from 10.00am until 7.00pm(!), with seminars, signings, and probably some gaming somewhere along the line too. You can find out more about it here.

Secondly is the Official Doctor Who book signing taking place at the Doctor Who Experience at Olympia Two in London tomorrow, between 11.00am and 1.00pm. Justin Richards, Oli Smith and other Doctor Who experts will be there, ready to be grilled on all things intergalactic. My Doctor Who book Terrible Lizards won't be out for a while (more on that later) but I may drop by just the same, so don't forget to bring along your copies of The Horror of Howling Hill and The Official Doctor Who Annual 2010 just in case.

The signings will be held in the café area at the Doctor Who Experience. The signing is a separate event so to enter the Doctor Who Experience you will need to buy tickets, which you can do here.

Doctor Who

To date I have contributed twice to the Doctor Who universe. I wrote the Decide Your Destiny gamebook The Horror of Howling Hill (published in 2008) and I also wrote about a third of The Official Doctor Who Annual 2010 (published in 2009).

The Official Doctor Who Annual 2010 - out now!

When I was a child, annuals were the sort of present that the big man in the red suit snuck into your stocking (or in my case, a plastic carrier bag next to the stocking) at Christmas time. But no more. The Official Doctor Who Annual 2010 is out now and, in case you haven't been paying attention, I've written a fair bit of it.

It's great to see the pages finally laid up properly. What was a rather ordinary-looking Word document when I emailed it to my editor is now there in print, with the official Doctor Who font and David Tennant's face all over it. And you know it's the real deal when you see genuine photos from the shows supporting the text you've written too.

Below you can see some of the pages I've contributed. It's not the biggest thing I've ever done, but it's definitely the most colourful and the annual is my first hardback too. And you can get your copy here.













If you haven't seen the new trailer for the next Doctor Who special The Waters of Mars, click here.