There are a few things that have been a feature of my life since before I can remember, stretching back into those misty moments of early childhood that my brain decided not to store. Among those memories lost to time are the first time I wrote a story, and the first time I watched Doctor Who.
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| Time Scope 2020 mockup generated via Book in Motion |
My Early Days of Writing
I'm not exaggerating when I say that I've been writing all my life. Before I could sit up unaided, my parents propped me up on cushions and sat me at the ZX Spectrum, where I learned to type my own name before I could hand-write it. I also learned some simple programming in BASIC (the Spectrum's programming language) that taught me logic and an appreciation of computer code that still serves me well when writing HTML, CSS, JavaScript and even when applying SEO rules to a page.
By the time I started school (in what would now be called Reception Class or Year 0) I could write in block capitals, which outraged the school as I was supposed to learn lower-case first. I was also writing my own stories, and in Year 1 (aged 5) my teacher would have me read my own stories to the class while she got on with marking our work. That's a savvy teacher right there.
Doctor Who in the 1980s and 1990s
I don't remember Colin Baker as Doctor Who, but I don't remember much before the age of 3. I do remember Sylvester McCoy, Sophie Aldred, Bonnie Langford, The Master and the Cybermen. Doctor Who in the 1980s was a pretty wild ride, with some out-there stories, and I loved it. It felt like it would last forever.
After the show's cancellation in 1989 I always just assumed it would come back ("until then, there must be no regrets" etc...) and I still have a soft spot for Dimensions In Time, the 30th anniversary 'special' filmed for Children In Need, which can be watched in 3D just by putting a dark lens over your right eye. (They made special glasses at the time, but a single sunglasses lens works fine. I'll embed a video below if it's on YouTube.)
Moving on to 1996, Paul McGann was excellent but the TV movie suffered from that strange insistence that all time travellers need to look like they're from Victorian England, even when they're an immortal alien from the future. I am very glad that he's finally getting some canonical airtime as The Eighth Doctor though, it's well deserved.
Doctor Who in the 21st Century
That brings us to the Modern Era and on the whole, I've massively enjoyed the revival. There have been a few concepts that didn't connect with me: the Tenth Doctor thinking he was a god, the Eleventh Doctor's eyepatch phase, and the early episodes with the Twelfth Doctor. But for the most part, The Doctor has felt like the character I loved as a child, right through (and very much including) the Chibnall/Whittaker era - and no doubt beyond (those episodes just haven't happened yet).
I'm not much of a fanfic writer generally, but when I do, it tends to be Doctor Who. There's maybe a handful of story ideas I have written down that I haven't shared, 1-2 I have put online (see 'Ship in a Bottle' from 2011) and one special secret story I've been working on for a few years now. But the way I became an unofficial Doctor Who author owes everything to the pandemic.
Lockdown and Time Scope
During the first COVID-19 lockdown, in the spring of 2020, I was alone. A lot of people were (and a lot of other people had other problems to deal with) but luckily, we had the internet, Zoom quizzes with friends, Twitter with complete strangers, and a whole host of creative projects that sprang up overnight.
Time Scope was created by Matthew Rimmer, better known on Twitter as WhoHats: "Hailing all you budding and established writers and artists out there! We're putting together a #DoctorWho anthology during #lockdown in aid of charity and invite your submissions!"
Hailing all you budding and established writers and artists out there!
— WhoHats (@WhoHats) April 20, 2020
We’re putting together a #DoctorWho anthology during #lockdown in aid of charity and invite your submissions!
Check out the details here: https://t.co/0ihrcyr6bM
Please help get the word out by Retweeting! pic.twitter.com/GZlj3EvAfd
It felt like my "what did you do during lockdown?" opportunity, so I wrote a short story about the Tenth Doctor visiting the Face of Boe, and you can read it in the first Time Scope ebook. There was a second ebook, Twice Upon A Time Scope, compiled and published as the UK went back into lockdown over Christmas 2020. I contributed another story (about the Twelfth Doctor and some unexpected gifts appearing under the world's Christmas trees) and a rewrite of the Twelve Days of Christmas with some Doctory lyrics.
Both books raise funds for Scope and as far as I know, they're still available via BigCartel.
Goodreads and Dangerous Corner
So that's the story of how I became an unofficial Doctor Who author, twice. Since then I've published several of my own books of spooky stories as part of the Dangerous Corner series, which you can find on Amazon.
I also have an author page on Goodreads. So if you read anything of mine, and you'd like to leave a rating on Amazon or on Goodreads, please do (and please be kind!).
This year (2023) is my 40th birthday and Doctor Who's 60th anniversary. It's hard to believe it's been only three years since Time Scope was published - a lot has happened, including three Dangerous Corner books so far. I'll be watching the 60th anniversary special with interest - Doctor Who has been an inspiration my entire life, and it's always exciting to enter into a new era.
