RTD: Doctor Who- The Writer's Tale

[Rob McCow]

That's hardly fair! There are a billion and one Doctor Who products out there, keeping up with all of them is way beyond the capabilities of most people.

People have paid for the book - taxes pay for libraries and libraries pay for books.

Besides, although it is a fascinating book it's still a collection of emails and script drafts. It's not as though an enormous effort went into writing it, by your normal factbook standards.

[WhiteCrow]

What's all this about borrowing from libraries?

You ungrateful skin-flints!

Yes libraries are wonderful institutions and should be preserved but this book is from the man who, more than anyone HAS GIVEN US OUR DOCTOR BACK!

Surely that's worth parting with a few bob to say thanks!

I want to find out if it's any good before I actually buy it. Is it indespensable or disposable?

One of my favourite authors is Terry Pratchett, but I tend to get his books from the library, because I love them to death. But I tend to read them only once.

I rate JK Rowlings books much less than Pratchetts, but tend to reread them, so I've got all her books at home.

Likewise I took my favourite book of all time, The Autobiography of Martin Luthor King from the library. When I read it, I found I just couldn't stand to not have a copy, so bought my own.

Libraries lend books - it's what they do (and legally), and it keeps people like Si Hart off the street!

As I've said I've a copy of "The Making of Star Trek" at home which is a really insightful look into how Television gets made. Will this rate alongside it? Dunno. I'm not paying £30 up front outside of a signing queue to find out.

[Si Hunt]

Yes I agree, I'm sure Russell has been more than compensated financially by the BBC for bringing Doctor Who back, and no fan should be obliged to buy his £18 book as a "thank you". Especially when he hasn't even bothered to write a book, just slung a load of e-mails together.

Si.

[WhiteCrow]

no fan should be obliged to buy his £18 book as a "thank you". Especially when he hasn't even bothered to write a book, just slung a load of e-mails together.

Marvellous!!!

Buy my book or you don't get season 5!

[SiHart]

Despite it being a "load of emails all slung together" this is, without doubt, one of the finest Doctor Who reference books ever written. And I can safely say that having read hundreds of the buggers down the years!

What makes it so brilliant for me is the insight into the mind of a writer. While it's not an instruction book per se, the process RTD follows is well captured and the snapshots of scripts in progress and the rewrites he performs are all really fascinating. I love the way ideas are bounced around, followed up, how some just can't be made to work, some end up in places they initially didn't belong and some just flow beautifully. As something of a writer myself (though not on the same scale, of course) I found the moments where he prevaricates reassuring, as that's somethign I definitely do.

If nothing else, this will prove just how much RTD has given to Doctor Who. One of the things he's accused of is being a lazy writer. He definitely isn't that. The sheer effort it takes him to get a script in motion shows that and the time he spends working on Doctor Who is immense- it's his whole life, and I for one am grateful for that.

Si xx

[Si Hunt]

I do of course speak as someone who hasn't even opened his book yet! But I'm delighted (if surprised) to hear you heap such a lofty accolade onto it Si. I know how many Who books you've read, so this has made me slightly happier about preparing to part with my money for it at the signing next month!

Si.

[Jon Masters]

I look forward to buying it, but not for £18 (that's 3 DVD thou knows !!)

[Matthew T]

It's definitely worth it. I don't read many books, but I devoured this over 2-3 nights. Really engrossing.

[WhiteCrow]

Hmm - since someone mentioned it, I'm also thinking of getting the "Get The Hell Out My Galaxy Guide to Real Good Scriptwriting" by J.Michael Straczynski, it now seems on offer on Amazon!

[Dirk Gently]

...but I devoured this over 2-3 nights...

You devoured Rusty over 2-3 days! Lucky you.

[Pip Madeley]

Has anyone got a question they want me to ask at Monday's Q&A with RTD in Manchester?

[Rob McCow]

What are 'soap opera elements' and where did you put them in Doctor Who?

[WhiteCrow]

"Did you really have an agenda on Doctor Who?"

[Rob McCow]

Which character from the new series deserves their own spin off series most who hasn't got one yet?

[Andrew Curnow]

Are you worried that, like David Tennant, 'Doctor Who' is now inevitably the first line of the obituary - or do you reckon you've got a bit of "you ain't seen nothin' yet" in the career?

[Dave Tudor]

My brother, Will, was lucky enough to meet RTD in Birmingham during his signing tour the other week. Sadly, I couldn't go, as I wouldn't have been able to get the time off work (and as I've only recently started, I didn't want to pull a sickie!), so I'm naturally very jealous! However, Will did get a book signed for me.

Will said he was exactly like he is on screen: big, loud, enthusiastic and says "brilliant" a lot. Apparently he was an absolute pleasure to meet, and when Will told him that I could not make it, and that he was returning the favour for me after I 'did' Billie a few years ago, Rusty jumped on that straight away, joking about me 'doing Billie Piper'.

Unfortunately, 'for health and safety reasons' no photos were allowed by Waterstones but here's a piccie of my signed tome:



Brilliant.

[Paul Monk]

My reservation is at the library! I will pick it up on saturday. I'll spend the money I saved on some food for My family or towards paying some bills or something trivial like that.
And The Making of Star Trek is great book as Mike says.

[WhiteCrow]

Hope you enjoy it Paul.

I think half the reason I've not rushed out to buy this is the price is anything from £15-30, which is quite a lot for a book.

And to be honest, we're used to seeing in Doctor Who Confidential a kind of "anatomy of a Doctor Who episode". It used to be the whole "making of" of such programs was kind of mystical, which is why the Making of Star Trek was so unusual at the time, showing the whole process of the show, the acting, the makeup, the writing, the production.

What I'm interested in finding out is if the book contains enough new material to really be worth buying. If the book is really a "one read deal", then it's not worth buying to keep around. I've seen the inside of the homes of Simons Hart and Hunt - I'm not quite ready to mass order bookcases on that scale yet!

[SiHart]

I think you'd be justified buying this Mike. It goes way beyond the stuff you see on Confidential and is far more open and honest about the trials of writing and making the show, as well as the publicity drives and all that too. I think this is a book I'll be dipping in and out for years to come.

Si xx

[Paul Monk]

I agree with Si. At the risk of sounding like I'm over hyping as well, I've only read the first chapter so far and already I've learnt several interesting things, way beyond the scope of confidential and the like. Also dear old Rusty has also given me at least one idea for a story/script.

[Pip Madeley]

Just realised I didn't mention I met RTD in Manchester last month at a Writers Q&A - he was lovely, and he remembered meeting Kaybee & I in Leeds four years ago, bless him!

He signed the tome:



I look forward for our third and final encounter - I'm going to ask him if he can tell me a secret

[Captain Tancredi]

Apparently I have a copy waiting for me, courtesy of my mum's boss Keith who went to the same do.

[WhiteCrow]

Well our library got this in. I trotted out to pick it up today - it's a lot bigger than I expected. I got served again by the flirty ginger MILF! I'm going to miss Farnborough Library.

Now on to the book. I feel a bit like the boy in the Emperor's Clothes.

I don't really like it, and find it a bit hard going. I think in part what annoys me is the style, which consists mainly of a series of emails. I dunno - to me it seems kind of ironic that a book about writing consists of collecting a large series of emails and slapping on a glossy cover - it seems kind of lazy.

I know the intent was to kind of capture thoughts as things evolve, but I find it sometimes just seem to meander all over the place. It feels like it's missing structure and direction.

I know this is just initial thoughts, and maybe the more I try to get into it the better it'll get. But at the moment I'm a bit disappointed to be honest, when I really wanted to not just like but love this. I'm not going to rush out to buy at this rate.

[Rob McCow]

but I find it sometimes just seem to meander all over the place. It feels like it's missing structure and direction.

Yay! Sock it to 'em, Mike

[WhiteCrow]

Yay! Sock it to 'em, Mike

Oh yes just typecast me as Nasty Mike!

I've been dipping into bits a bit randomly. There are good bits.

I know half the point was it for not to be a over polished account after the fact. But instead to capture some of the manic-decisions as they happened. All the same it does feel a little messy.

My issue isn't so much with Russell T Davies, but with Benjamin Cook. He's got access to all this resources, but seemed to have done very little with it. So it just seems to become a recorded series of correspondence.

I know everyone else has really raved about this, but I feel almost like I must be the only one to "not get" this.