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So, Paul, Tom Baker, eh? How does it feel to be the first man to write for Tom in anger since Chris Bidmead? (of course, we don't count Dimensions In Time... em, do we?)
No, I don’t really count DiT. This is the first adventure with the Tom Baker Doctor since Logopolis. And it feels fantastic to write for him. He’s quite unlike any other Doctor. He’s the wittiest and most dangerous; the most courageous and erudite. He’s the most facetious but also the most deadly serious when his dander’s up.
Did you get to meet him/talk to him about it?
Yes, indeed - at the first three days of recording. I went down to be there at what felt like an historic occasion. He was on top form. Unbelievable. Full of charisma, bursting into the studios. Then he was at the mike with other cast members, and suddenlyI can picture the very moment he turned back into the Doctor. One minute it was introductions and actorly chat and then all of a sudden he was rehearsing lines his first being, ‘Hullo, I’m the Doctor’
It was a very shivery moment.
Did you have any caveats with regards to writing for him? I know during his tenure he was very pro-active with scripts.
He is very passionate about his Doctor and rightfully protective. I was honoured he wanted to do these scripts and this series of stories. He is very engaged in the scripts * making suggestions for additions and small changes here and there. He’s very keen to make it all as brilliant as possible.
Which "era" of Tom's tenure are these stories set?
The Hornets' Nest series is set soon after the Doctor has left Leela and K9 mark 1 on Gallifrey. He’s on his own for a little while. He comes to Earth, to Sussex in 2009, to spend a little time quietly in a rented cottage. There’s something going on that he needs to look into *a curious buzzing noise is following him around*
And the Brigadier too! You're blessed. Which "era" is the Brig in? Is he the "companion" for the stories?
As things have worked out, the Doctor’s trusty side-kick in Hornets’ Nest is actually retired army Captain, Mike Yates, the Brig’s right hand man. As Who fans know, Mike’s story was a complicated one* a tale of misplaced loyalties, brain-washing and betrayal. Old wounds he thinks of as healed could well be opened once more.
Also, there’s another new companion. Mrs Wibbsey is the Doctor’s bad-tempered housekeeper, beautifully played by Susan Jameson.
So what can you tell us about the stories... the series blanket title is Hornet's Nest, and the first is called The Stuff of Nightmares, is that right? Are any other titles released?
The macabre first tale is followed by the rather surreal, ‘The Dead Shoes’and then it’s back to the 19th century for ‘The Circus of Doom’* and into a long-ago bleak midwinter for ‘A Sting in the Tale.’And then we finish in spectacular and thrilling style with the climactic ‘Hive of Horror’,in which the Doctor and his companions face the long-hidden enemy in its own lair.
Some people have expressed a concern that the BBC might be muscling in on Big Finish territory, I know you work for both, what's your views?
There’s no muscling in. BBC Audio are doing their own thing, just as BF do theirs. There’s room for all of these different ranges and incarnations.
Are there any plans for another fourth Doctor series?
We'll have to see!
What about any of the other Doctors?
I don’t know anyone’s future plans. I hardly even know mine. I’m just the writer for hire* sometimes I approach with an idea, other times I get asked to come up with one or two. One of the delights of working on Who stuff is that one day you might get BF asking out of the blue for a new Turlough story, or the BBC requesting a new set of Fourth Doctor tales* and you have to leap into action and come up with something great!
If you could write for one Doctor/companion partnership, who would it be?
The world needs to hear more from the Sixth Doctor and Frobisher.
Do you think the BBC could produce any other Doctors in this range - what about Chris or David?
I really don’t know anything!
So any plans for the fourth Doctor to meet Iris?
He already has! See 'Old Flames' and 'Suitors Inc' in two of the Short Trips anthologies. But not as audio drama * not yet, anyway.
How did you get this gig in the first place?
I was asked to pitch a story idea for one of five, and so I did - amazed and delighted that the project was going ahead. I ended up doing the whole series.
What do you have planned for the future, or is this taking up most of your time?
I’ve got my fourth ‘Brenda and Effie’ mystery novel coming out in November: ‘Hell’s Belles.’ This is a Gothic series of comic
adventures about the Bride of Frankenstein and her friends solving supernatural mysteries in Whitby.
Also in November I’m publishing a new collection of short fiction, ‘Twelve Stories’, with Salt Publishing.
And, by then, there should be the second anthology of Iris Wildthyme stories out from Obverse Books. We’re calling it ‘The Panda Book of Horror.’
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