Doctor Who: The Writers Tale (Davies, Cook)

Doctor Who: The Writers Tale , Russell T Davies and Benjamin Cook (2008)

First book of the new year, and I'll count it as two because it was originally published as two books, even if the ebook collects them together. Plus, I'll only have time to read the first before the library loan expires.

I only recently became aware that this book exists, and it was available at the New York Public Library website. It contains correspondence between Russel T. Davies, the Doctor Who showrunner (writer, producer, multi-hat person), and Benjamin Cook, a writer for Doctor Who Magazine, which took place from the time that Series Four was being conceived (and Series Three was to begin airing) through production of the Series Four finale, not counting the specials which came afterward.

If nothing else, this book was fun for the trivia -- Note: SPOILER ALERTS for Series Four, both here and in the book. For one thing, Donna Noble was not supposed to be the Companion for the entire series, but was supposed to return in the finale along with many of the others. In fact, the character, Penny Carter, who appears as a reporter in the season opener gets her name from the would-be Companion. (Not that this character, or the actress, were ever set to be the Companion. Likewise, the return of Wilf (Bernard Cribbins) was brought on by tragedy. He was made Donna's grandfather after the fact (along with an excuse at why he wasn't at the wedding).

But the big draw here is seeing what went into creating Series Four, the writing process, the rewriting process, editing, FX days, meetings, and oh so many struggles. The veil gets lifted from some of those pieces that looked like they were so carefully planned and laid out, and yet there is so much that happened by circumstance, or just worked out that way. Granted, it takes a master to leave dangling threads that can be grasped later, or work together similar plot points into an intended pattern.

Also there's a lot of talk about other shows that Davies was involved in, most of which I've never seen, and aren't likely to.

Fascinating, interesting book. I'm likely to read Book Two (The Final Chapter) which runs from The Next Doctor to the end of his (and David Tennant's) time with the program.

Note: not a book to read if you are offended by a gay man constantly thinking about sex, particularly with certain actors on his sets, or by the overuse of the word "Arse".