What
inspired you to become a writer? What did you like to watch/read as you were
growing up?
All the usual suspects really. I read through my school and
college days: books and plays, but not a great fan of poetry. Austen, Orton,
James Bond novels and lots of strange speculative stuff like Robert Anton
Wilson - eclectic is probably the best description! As for sci-fi-fantasy
stuff, apart from The Hobbit, I didn't get on with Tolkien, but took in Susan
Cooper, Mervyn Peake, Ursula le Guin, Frank Herbert & Anne McCaffrey. The
Ship Who Sang remains one of my favourite reads. Later on I picked up Asimov,
PK Dick, & devoured everything with Douglas Adams' name on it: books,
radio, albums and TV.
As for telly, growing up in the 70s and 80s, sitcom was
king. Fawlty Towers, Porridge, Open All Hours. Perfectly drawn characters in perfectly
constructed situations. Then there were dramas which stood out such as Edge of
Darkness, Brond, Hammer House of Horror & Armchair Thrillers. I love all
telly really, from serious drama to soaps and am not ashamed to admit to
following EastEnders from day 1. I had many late nights as a student glued to
Prisoner Cell Block H (& have Wentworth backing up on my PVR as we speak -
hope it doesn't disappoint!)
How
did you first come to work for Big Finish?
It was entirely through the open submission opportunity that came up for the Demons of Red Lodge anthology. Though my story wasn't chosen for that release, Alan Barnes invited me and a few others to redevelop our 5th Doctor pitches for the 6th, and the Recorded Time anthology was born of that.
It was entirely through the open submission opportunity that came up for the Demons of Red Lodge anthology. Though my story wasn't chosen for that release, Alan Barnes invited me and a few others to redevelop our 5th Doctor pitches for the 6th, and the Recorded Time anthology was born of that.
Does telling a story in half an hour bring its own
challenges? As this was your pitch to Big Finish, what made you chose A Most
Excellent Match. Did you realise quickly that this would lead to other things?
Oh yes. To create a world and characters in such a short time is a challenge. So it was a deliberate ploy to use an Austen setting. You know where you are from the very first line. And I wanted to open with a shock: the Doctor proposing to his companion was that. (This was way before The Wedding of River Song, remember.)
Oh yes. To create a world and characters in such a short time is a challenge. So it was a deliberate ploy to use an Austen setting. You know where you are from the very first line. And I wanted to open with a shock: the Doctor proposing to his companion was that. (This was way before The Wedding of River Song, remember.)
I'd no idea that I was being considered for other things
until I turned up for the Most Excellent Match recording & David Richardson
told me all about his 'Jensen Project' idea. Since then, I haven't stopped! I
try to make a point of hitting deadlines, to make the script editor's job run
as smoothly as possible, and ensuring what I write flows when spoken aloud -
going in to studio to see the process really helps with that.
Countermeasures
is an exciting new series from Big Finish. Can you sum up the range for those
readers who might not have given it a try yet? We're you pleased with how
Artificial Intelligence turned out?
We're on our second series now, with plans now in motion for the third - I think I can say that (So it's time you jumped on board Joe!)
The
series follows characters we met in the Seventh Doctor TV story, Remembrance of
the Daleks. In the first series Group Captain Ian Gilmore, Rachel Jensen and
Allison Williams establish the Counter-Measures taskforce: a scientific group
set up by the British government to investigate strange phenomema and repel
threats at the edge of human understanding. Joining the characters we met on
TV, Hugh Ross plays Sir Toby Kinsella, Counter-Measures' Whitehall chief. A
slippery civil servant, he's a brilliant character to write. Think Quatermass
crossed with X Files crossed with Doomwatch - set in Britain in the 1960s, with
period music and atmosphere. It's audio adventure in monochrome! As well as
Remembrance, The Assassination Games by John Dorney (the monthly range November
release) will serve as a great re-introduction.
Black
and White was a huge task with a shopping list of elements to include. Was that
a intimidating brief? How did you find it juggling so many companions? What is
your preference, telling a standalone adventure or working with other writers
on an arc storyline?
It's
dense. But everything is completely explained and makes perfect sense within
the construct - honestly! I like to reward repeated listens. If you've bought
the thing, I'd hope you listen to it more than once. Some find it harder to
follow than others. It helps if you've a working knowledge of the Beowulf
story. If you haven't, I'd hope it would encourage you to go and read more. But
yes, the main requirements were to have a TARDIS-set first episode to explain
where we were and how all these companions came to be here. I'd pitched a
Beowulf story set across the two periods in the hero's life described in the
original poem: the fight with Grendel, and the battle with the dragon, and used
this pretty much as it was for the other 3 parts. So the companions split up nicely
into those time zones. Funnily enough I'd initially wondered how I was going to
fill a whole episode in the TARDIS, but the thing is, once you put those
characters in a room together, they start talking to each other and don't stop.
Ace and Lysandra are a great pairing with a certain amount of rivalry to play
with, and I found a spark in the Hex and Sally partnership which was worth
exploring.
It's
great to make a plan with other writers - and always nice to have an excuse to
meet up. Stand-alone vs arc? - it's a cop-out answer, but I like to do
both. And I think there's room for both across the ranges. Single stories
and those that reward long-term listeners. I always liken the ongoing Hex
story to the Buffyverse. There's a whole wealth of emotional back-story to pick
up if you want to buy into it. But each trilogy can be followed on its own
terms. Equally, sometimes you want an adventure you can just pick up and listen
to on its own - and there are plenty you can do that with. That's the beauty of
Big Finish - you can do both.
Return
of the Rocket Men was met with critical acclaim. How did you approach writing
for Steven Taylor? Do you find first person narration offers more insight into
the characters?
I
watched Steven and listened to him. Mother Russia is a great reintroduction of
a character for whom relatively little is left on video, and Peter Purves just
slips seamlessly back into the role. It was a pleasure to re-listen to all of
Steven's appearances. Simon Guerrier's Oliver stories are a pinnacle of what
the Companion Chronicles can achieve. It was daunting to be following those, as
well as Return being a sequel to an incredibly well-received John Dorney story.
No pressure there! I just embraced the sequel status in the end.
In
particular I think we found what a Rocket Man story does. It should give an
insight to character. A revelation to themselves, and the Companion Chronicle
format lets you explore that. For Ian it was about his feelings for Barbara.
For Steven it's about knowing when it's time to move on. As for the future, the
Rocket Men template is a nice conceit that I - and Dorney - would love to be
able to use again.
Tell
us something about the conception of The Wrong Doctors? You have a marvellous
handle on the sixth Doctor and Mel, did you find their voices quite easy to
capture? We're you delighted with the finished result? Can you explain the
basic plot (just kidding!)?
Absolutely
delighted with the result. Bonnie was just fantastic. I knew it was a big thing
to have her back and Alan wanted to do an introduction story. But once you look
at her arrival, this lovely spaghetti of timelines is there for the untangling.
Or a bit more tangling, if you fancy it.
It
gave me the chance to pay tribute to Colin too, all the work he's done with Big
Finish and to kick off the anniversary year with a multi-Doctor story. He is
just such a brilliant audio actor, I wanted to give him something to get his
teeth into. Equally, for Bonnie, having heard how great she is in Fires of
Vulcan, Juggernauts and the rest - I want to give actors interesting things to
do.
As
for the Sixth Doctor-Mel dynamic. It's a little bit like the Tenth Doctor and
Donna - they're the best of mates, they trust one another completely, and are
not above a bit of gentle ribbing. Mel is in a way the perfect companion for
old Sixie, and that's something I wanted to explore in The Wrong Doctors. I've
said elsewhere, she has this moral steel at her core, which the Doctor admires.
And she sees the same in him.
I
was also very pleased because I suggested Tony Gardner to Nick as the villain,
and we got him. The plot... it's really very simple. the baddie wants to wipe
the Big Finish Sixth Doctor from history!
How
did you find working from somebody else's brief in The Seeds of War? It's lovely
that Big Finish is seeking to create their own original nasties - what can you
tell us about the first appearance of this Eminence?
It gave me the chance to write a type of story I wouldn't
have otherwise attempted. It's good to try things outside your comfort zone,
and I'll always try and push mysellf to say yes to something new. Anyway, all
the plot points and beats were already in place in this Nick Briggs space epic,
I just had to flesh it out. In anything I write, I try and make the
recognisably human people as real as possible, and I found this hook with the
Teveler family at the centre of the story. We were also fortunate that Barnaby
Edwards cast such charismatic actors in those roles. You really root for Ray
Fearon as Barlow as soon as he appears.
Yes, this is the Eminence's first appearance, although the
Doctor has encountered it before. And that's all you need to know, really, its
modus operandi. An evil sentient gaseous being which flits about in teleport
caskets and can transform human beings into terrifying zombie-like slaves. You
don't need to have seen the Ice Warriors to enjoy Seeds of Death or Curse of
Peladon. And when we run into the Eminence again - which I'm sure we will...
we'll see yet another angle to its story.
What
was it about Garundel that excited you to bring him back? Both The Wrong
Doctors and Starlight Robbery share a lifter tone than some of your other
stories. Do you think Doctor Who lends itself naturally to comedy? Klein and
Will - an enjoyable combination to write for?
I
love Garundel. He's based on my childhood memories of Templeton the rat in the
Charlotte's Web animation - taking an amoral, self-serving character to the
absolute extreme. Paul Lynde played Templeton, and having also been the voice
behind the Hooded Claw, a lot of that crept in too - and Stuart Milligan has
absolutely run with it brilliantly. Garundel can be snarky and say all the
things no-one else dares. His character is so much larger than life, that it
distracts you from how utterly nasty and self-serving he is. You'll see a
pay-off in Starlight part four where thing get a lot darker.
Doctor
Who lends itself to everything! But comedy should be wit rather than slapstick.
Never poke fun at the monsters. Or if you do, have them come back at you with
lots of death to serve you right.
Klein
is an absolute dream to write - although we have to remember this is our
universe's Klein. It's like, if the Doctor told Liz Shaw about the evil version
of her on an alternate Earth, she wouldn't suddenly switch character. The thing
that's constant is her pragmatism, believing she has to do what's necessary to
get the job done. There's no good Klein and bad Klein as such - she is the
result of her environment and upbringing. Giving her an assistant was great -
especially one who's a bit of a 'male Jo Grant'. Will is an eager puppy,
desperate to please, quite brilliant scientifically, but lacking the practical
skills. They're a fun double act and Tracy and Christian really enjoyed playing
it.
Can
you tell us something enticing about the recently released Dark Planet? Do you
have to fundamentally change your style to tell a Lost Story?
It has Maureen O'Brien and William Russell - together at
last! Two of the very finest Big Finish actors, so I was keen to give them
strong stuff to play with. The Lost Story is a different style again, different
from full cast and different from Companion Chronicle. A certain amount of
narration is necessary, and the great thing is you know you have these
fantastic storytellers to help you. I started with lots of narration, and cut
it back on each draft. It was an interesting exercise in preparation for the
Early Adventures, as in those we are aiming to minimise narration and have the
scenes work as full cast wherever possible.
What is your personal favourite Doctor Who story?
I'm going to be very boring and say City of Death. It just
works on every level - a very clever conceit with the multiple Mona Lisas, Tom
and Lalla at the top of their game, some superlative guest villains, and then
John Cleese turns up. The only thing that could improve it is more K9!
What can you tell us about future projects?
November will see the end of AudioGo's Destiny of the Doctor series with The
Time Machine. I had huge fun with that. Tying together all the threads from the
other ten stories. Most of which were still being written! And then to go into
studio to see Jenna channelling Matt's Doctor - that was a real treat.
Having started the anniversary year with two Sixth Doctors
meeting, I end with quite a significant story for the Seventh Doctor too.
Afterlife comes out in December as a coda to the Hex story: I'm very proud of
it, I hope it's emotional, but shall say no more...
Then into next year, Luna Romana is the finale to the
Companion Chronicle anniversary trilogy with a quite different type of villain
- Terry Molloy's Stoyn. And two (or is that three!) Romanas. It was so sad to
lose Mary Tamm last year, and this story was written and rewritten very much
with her in mind.
What else...? Dark Eyes 2 has now been recorded and there will be very exciting news on that imminently - including who exactly will be returning...
The Early Adventures I mentioned above. I have the final
story in the first series, called An Ordinary Life with Steven annd Sara stranded
in 1950s London, and again, I hope we're trying to do something a little bit
different with the era and companions.
Away from Doctor Who, in June comes our version of the Terry Nation series Survivors. The hugely influential 1970s drama terrified a generation as it showed a global pandemic wiping out most of the world's population. We take the opportunity to tell the story again from the beginning, with our own characters, running in parallel to the original TV series, but with some of those familiar faces dropping in along the way. David Richardson is a creative powerhouse, and it's been fantastic to develop the series with him and director Ken Bentley. I wrote the first one and am script editing the series: I'm very lucky to be working with writers of the calibre of Jonny Morris, Andrew Smith and John Dorney. Some of these have been recorded already and it's sounding very good.
Of course there are yet more projects which I can't talk about just yet. But
keep an eye on the Big Finish site for announcements.
Answering questions is fun - thank you for listening!
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