News - 2024
5 September
I haven't posted much news recently (because, reasons), but
I'm pleased to say I will be lecturing for a fourth year at
the University of Winchester. This semester I'll be taking
two classes of first-years through an introduction to
scriptwriting. I start in less than three weeks, so I'd
better get cracking.
22 April
At the end of the week (sorry, it's crept up on me very
fast!), Peter Anghelides and I will be talking about writing and
Doctor Who at Winchester Uni. Click below for more
information!
News - 2023
20 December
Crumbs. I've been so busy I realise I haven't updated
this webpage (checks notes) in a year. My bad, as they say.
My friend and mentor Fay Weldon died in January and I wrote the obituary for the Writers' Guild of Great Britain and reflected on her wonderful life in a blog. Though illness prevented me from attending the unveiling of a memorial plaque at Bath Spa University in March, I was delighted to hear Kate Mosse delivering the inaugural Fay Weldon Lecture in November.
I had four short talks - on being genre fluid, killing your darlings, rejection, and the work/life balance - uploaded to the RLF website. (Text versions of all exist and, indeed, may even be preferable.)
I was on a couple of judging panels and consequently attended the Writers' Guild of Great Britain awards in January and the Royal Television Society West awards at the Bristol Old Vic in April (picture of me and the good lady doctor below). I was also a guest at a Doctor Who convention in Derby. I'm now partway through my fourth and final year as a Royal Literary Fund Fellow at Bristol University and in January will be returning to lecturing in scriptwriting at Winchester.
This is all very well, but (I hear you ask, because there are always voices in my head) what about your novels and scripts? Well, watch this space... (Not literally, of course. That would be silly.)
News - 2022
9 December
My final RLF mini-podcast of the year! More writing advice,
including an encouragement to not get too obsessed with writing
advice... (Click the picture below to listen.)
31 July
Another RLF
recording has been released. This time I talk about how childhood
environments underpin our mental landscapes and the writing
process (click the picture below).
1 July
Courtesy of the wonderful RLF, the first of my bitesize ponderings has
just been released into the wild! It contains my top three tips
for actually writing, plus there's a story from the first
soap I worked on. (If you find this helpful, tell your friends.
If you don't, just keep schtum. And fair enough, really,
because I hate listening to my voice as well...)
21 March
Well, that's a mighty fine cover...! (Nothing to do with my
contribution, other than Jamie of course, but that's OK. Come
for the Daleks, stay for the phantom piper!) The Companion
Chronicles: The Second Doctor Volume 3 is available by clicking
the picture below.
News - 2021
16 September
From... (checks notes) ...next Monday, I will be lecturing in the
Department of English, Creative Writing and
American Studies at the University of
Winchester. I'll be concentrating on scriptwriting, and I
am looking forward to learning a thing or two along the way as
well.
17 July
I've written two blogs in two days! One contains links to three recent
interviews/podcasts (I variously talk about scriptwriting,
Doctor Who and what I've been doing at the University
of Bristol recently), plus a bit of blah-blah about my stammer.
The second is a quick update on my musical
adventures back in May.
News - 2020
1 July
I am now a Fellow of the Royal Literary Fund (I would have been
inducted in London a fortnight ago if Covid had not intervened).
From the autumn term onwards, I will be based at the University
of Bristol and, despite these challenging times, I am very much
looking forward to working with the students there. (For more
details of the Fellowship scheme, click here.)
News - 2019
17 October
There's a new DWM out, and I have a little piece in
it, talking about the late Terrance Dicks.
6 February
I graduated! MA with Distinction in Creative Writing. And Jeremy
Irons complemented me on my waistcoat.
News - 2018
7 November
I went into the studio a few weeks back, to observe my new
Doctor Who thing being recorded for Big Finish. I
can't say much about it yet, other than that (as you can tell
from the photograph below) it stars Frazer Hines and Simone
Lahbib (Wire in the Blood, Bad Girls). More details soon. Ish.
(Above is a little picture of me talking to Fay Weldon last month. I've just noticed I'm wearing the same shirt in both pictures. Oh dear...)
12 October
It's my great honour to be interviewing Fay Weldon at the
Yeovil Literary Festival on Sunday 28 October. You can get
tickets from here.
(By the way, I've not been able to update this website for quite some time - but that doesn't mean I've been resting on my laurels. The last year or two have been ridiculously busy, and I hope to be able to announce some new and exciting things soon.)
News - 2017
11 May
I've just been interviewed on the latest of Danny Stack and
Tim Clague's UK Scriptwriters podcasts. I talk about my
time on Doctors and Family Affairs, my work on the
Guinness Book of Records, and my various Doctor Who
novels. We also try to tackle one key issue: does the 'career
ladder' for TV writers still exist? Click here if you're interested, and do check
out their other podcasts.
News - 2016
30 September
I'm equally delighted to announce that, as of next week, I
will be an Associate Lecturer in Creative Writing at Bath Spa
University, teaching on the undergraduate Genre Fiction
module.
31 August
I'm delighted to say I'm the new Wessex regional rep for
the Writers' Guild of Great Britain. I'm still
finding my feet, and I hope to get in touch with all the Guild
members in the region soon, but if you need to get in touch with
me for any reason, you can do via the link here.
News - 2015
25 October
My second ep of Fair City was on RTÉ One on 14 October;
it's still available on RTÉ
Player for a few more days.
7 July
My first episode of Fair City is on RTÉ One in Ireland
this Thursday (9 July) at 8pm. After that it will be available
worldwide on RTÉ Player.
4 June
The First Doctor Companion Chronicles box set was released
yesterday. It features The Unwinding World by Ian Potter, The
Founding Fathers and The Locked Room by Simon Guerrier, and my
Susan story The Sleeping Blood. It can be bought direct from Big
Finish here.
13 May
In February I was asked to write for RTÉ's soap Fair
City (series 26, episode 111, to be precise). Work was
(largely) completed by the end of April, and yesterday I was
asked to write another, so I think it's time to share the
news! I'm off to Dublin again next week, and I will post a
link to RTÉ Player here in due course. My first TV commission(s)
of 2015. Hurrah!
17 April
I'm pleased to announce that my first commission of 2015 is
an audiobook for Big Finish's forthcoming First Doctor
Companion Chronicles box set. In actual fact, my work was
completed back in February, and I had the very great pleasure on
Monday of hearing the wonderful Carole Ann Ford bring my story to
life, under the expert eye of director Lisa Bowerman. A magical
experience, and I'm sure the end result will be just as
amazing. More details direct from Big Finish here. It's scheduled for release in
June.
News - 2014
15 January
My copy of the Bernice Summerfield Missing Persons box set
arrived yesterday. It's been a bit delayed, but it's now
available to buy from Big Finish. I haven't yet been able to listen to
it all, but what I've heard is excellent, and it was lovely
writing for Benny again.
News - 2013
31 October
Quick update to say I have another episode of Doctors (my
thirteenth!) on next week. 'The Way of the Warrior' stars
Kirk Barker and Cameron Jack, and is directed by Rob Rohrer. In
due course it will appear on iPlayer via this
link.
17 October
I'm chuffed to be able to announce - albeit belatedly! - that
various TV guides I worked on with Paul Cornell and Keith Topping
are being republished by Gollancz as eBooks. I've even, for some
unaccountable reason, started a blog, and written about the news there.
Published on 31 October, the eBooks - including The Doctor Who
Discontinuity Guide - should be available from the usual
suspects.
27 September
'Embarrassing Bodies', my latest episode of
Doctors, is on today. It stars Ritu Arya, James Baxter and
Jason Broderick, and is directed by Simon Gibney. Oh, and
there's some fabulous Billy Bragg music right at the start! I
think it's all come out rather well, and if you'd like to
have a look, it's available on iPlayer here for about a week.
16 August
The Thirteen anthology, which contains my story 'The
Hairstyle of the Devil', read by Arthur Darvill, is released
on 24 August by Spokenworld Audio. You can buy it here!
15 July
'The Way of the Warrior' is now locked! And it should be
on your screens in early November.
7 June
...And I've gone straight into writing another
Doctors! This one is called 'The Way of the
Warrior'. Probably.
4 June
I've finished working on my next episode of Doctors,
which is now called 'Embarrassing Bodies'. Filming starts
in a week or two.
31 May
I'm equally pleased to say that my short story 'The
Hairstyle of the Devil', released as part of the forthcoming
Thirteen anthology on CD and download by Spokenworld
Audio, is read by none other than Arthur Darvill! Stephen
Gallagher, Kim Newman, Simon Clark and Mark Morris are among the
other authors. Readers include Lalla Ward, Francis Barber, Gemma
Arterton and Samuel West. More details here.
14 May
I'm pleased to announce that my play 'The Revenant's
Carnival' will be issued on CD and download by Big Finish as
part of the Bernice Summerfield: Missing Persons boxset in
September. Written and recorded last year, it stars Lisa
Bowerman, Thomas Grant, David Warwick and Susan Vidler. More
details here.
17 April
I've just been commissioned to write another episode of
Doctors, provisionally entitled 'What She Said'.
Hurrah!
News - 2012
4 December
A week until my next Doctors episode airs! Directed by the
brilliant Baff Akoto, 'Stockholm Syndrome' guest stars
Justin Avoth, Keeley Forsyth and Paul Loughran, and as ever is on
BBC1/BBC1 HD at 1.45pm on 11 December (repeated on BBC HD later
that afternoon, and then on iPlayer for 7 days). This one's like a little
episode of Spooks...
10 August
My Doctors script has been locked off, and my work is
done! I believe a director has been assigned - I'll post
casting details or anything else I'm allowed to as and when.
I hope you like the end result if you see it in December!
25 June
I'm chuffed to say I've been commissioned to write
another episode of Doctors. 'Stockholm Syndrome'
will be on your screens in December - now I just need to go and
write it.
17 February
If you were able to watch 'Naqam' yesterday, I hope you
enjoyed it. Various people - OK, two of you - have asked about
the episode title. I had quite a lot of story to get through, so
various scenes were either deleted or edited before transmission,
which means a few explanations and bits of background were lost.
If you're interested, I've created a little PDF of some
of these scenes (click here to read it). It proves the old adage that less
is more as I think I prefer the transmitted version.
Oh, please make sure you watch the episode first!
13 February
'Naqam', my tenth episode of Doctors, is on
BBC1/BBC1 HD at 1.45pm this Thursday (repeated on BBC HD later
that afternoon, and then on iPlayer for a month).
As with most episodes of Doctors, there's a bit of ongoing serial, but it's largely a self-contained drama. I wanted this one to be like Waking the Dead, only in miniature and on a daytime budget! It stars Owen Brenman, Diane Keen, Jan Pearson, Tom Roberts, Philip Bird, Sally Watts, and the legend that is Edward de Souza.
News - 2011
21 November
My Sarah Jane Adventures audiobook, Children of Steel, which is now in shops
and available from all online retailers, and Scott Gray's
Judgement Day, are "among the best of the
range". So says the review in the latest Doctor Who
Magazine, which is out now.
In other news, my latest Doctors has now been filmed - I can't wait to tell you who's in it!
22 September
It's been mentioned in Doctor Who Magazine, so I guess
it's safe to announce... I've written a Sarah Jane
Adventures audiobook, Children of Steel. The reader is
Daniel Anthony, who it was my pleasure to meet after the recent
screening of 'Sky' at the BFI, and it's out in
November.
21 September
I've finished my latest episode of Doctors
(provisionally entitled 'Naqam'). Now it's over to
the producer and director...!
16 August
I've started work on my tenth episode of Doctors!
It's quite an unusual story, I think, but if all goes
according to plan it will be on BBC1 in February.
11 March
Less than a week until my next episode of Doctors!
'Pretending to See the Future' is on BBC1 and BBC1 HD at
1.45pm on Thursday 17 March and again on BBC HD at 4pm (and then
available on iPlayer for a week). It stars the wonderful Luisa
Bradshaw-White (who I still remember as Kira in the seminal
This Life) as a woman who believes she has travelled
forward in time. It also features Janet Dibley, Joe Sargent,
David Partridge, Adrian Lewis Morgan, Lorna Laidlaw, Richard
Corgan and Sophie Abelson.
If you're able to watch, please do!
10 February
I've just read the first print reviews of The Jade
Pyramid. Doctor Who Magazine called it "delicate
and mature" with writing that was "rich in detail and
atmosphere", and SFX concluded it was "an
enjoyable romp that features yet another characterful and lively
reading from Matt Smith". There are more online reviews
here, here and here.
8 January
The Jade Pyramid, my Doctor Who audiobook read by
Matt Smith, was released on Thursday, and is available from
bricks-and-mortar bookshops and online retailers. The first
reviews seem positive (click here and here)...
News - 2010
15 November
The cover of my Doctor Who audiobook The Jade
Pyramid has been spotted in the wild. Click here to have a little look.
25 October
My latest Doctors script has been locked off.
'Pretending to See the Future' will be on BBC1 and BBC1
HD in March, 2011.
29 September
I've just noticed that my Doctor Who audiobook
The Jade Pyramid gets its first
mention in Doctor Who Magazine. It's set in feudal
Japan, and the story was recorded by new Doctor Matt Smith back
in June. It will be released in January 2011. Also, my Merlin novelisation is published
tomorrow! It's available from all good book shops and, most
probably, one or two average ones as well.
2 September
I've just been commissioned to write a new episode of
Doctors. More details to follow.
8 July
A new look for the website - and some 'new news' about my
most recent work for Doctor Who... (Click here or here for more details!)
3 March
Less than a week until my next episode of Doctors!
'Bleeding' is on BBC1 on Tuesday 9th March at 1.45pm, and
on BBC HD at 6pm the same day. (It will also be on iPlayer all
week.) I've watched it already, and I'm delighted with
the end results. Please tune in if you can.
7 January
I'm pleased to announce that I'm adapting Howard
Overman's Merlin TV episode 'Lancelot and
Guinevere' into a novel for teenagers to be published by
Random House Children's Books later in the year. Click
here to pre-order from Amazon!
4 January
I've just been told that my next episode of Doctors
got a mention on Digital Spy back in November...! There's an
interview with ex-Hollyoaks actor Barry Sloane here.
News - 2009
12 November
Last week I had the very great pleasure of watching my latest
episode of Doctors being filmed. Massive thanks to
director Rob Rohrer, actors Chris Walker, Tom Roberts, Barry
Sloane and Marcquelle Ward, and the entire team, for putting so
much work and energy into this. Thanks also to Neil Irvine, my
script editor, for driving me to the location. I can't wait
to see the end results.
16 October
'Bleeding', my eighth episode of Doctors, has been
locked off.
7 September
I've started work on 'Bleeding', a new episode of
Doctors. If all goes to plan it'll be on BBC1 in March
2010 - but first things first, let's get the script
done...
18 August
At the end of the month I'll be at the Greenbelt arts
festival, talking about Doctor Who and/or comics. More
details here.
24 July
In October I hope to be attending a 'pubcon' in
Manchester celebrating the world of Doctor Who novels. You
can get tickets from here.
24 April
We're off to the TV BAFTAs again on Sunday!
News - 2008
10 December
I've just been told that Crisis Control begins its run
on CBBC on Friday 2nd January at 4.30pm. If you (or your
children!) are fans of things like Scorpion Island and
Raven, do tune in!
29 November
BBC1 are showing my next episode of Doctors on Monday 8th
December. 'Pink Ribbon' stars Paul Moriarty and Hazel
Ellerby (best known for roles in EastEnders and Peak
Practice respectively).
25 September
My little self-contained comic strip 'The Alice in Wonderland
Circuit' appears in Doctor Who Adventures issue 83,
out today.
2 September
Just a reminder that my Doctors episode 'The
Horrors', starring Ashley George and Emily Aston, is on BBC1
on Monday 8th September at 1.45pm.
21 August
Part one of my new comic strip, 'Attack of the Mange
Mites!', appears in the current issue of Doctor Who
Adventures. It will be followed by my first three-part story,
'By Order of the Bone Menders'.
15 August
My latest episode of Doctors has been signed off. All
things being equal, 'Pink Ribbon' will be transmitted in
early December.
2 August
I have just finished work on all thirteen episodes of series one
of Red Alert (now likely to be called Crisis
Control).
8 July
Doctors have commissioned me to write another episode,
provisionally entitled 'Pink Ribbon'.
23 June
I'm delighted to say I've been asked to open the new
library at the Park School in Yeovil on Thursday.
21 May
I'm about to start working on Red Alert (provisional
title), a new series for CBBC.
30 April
'The Horrors' has been signed off, and will be on BBC1 in
early September.
1 April
I'm writing 'The Horrors', another episode of
Doctors.
7 February
Part one of 'The Halls of Sacrifice' appears in Doctor
Who Adventures issue 50, out today. The comic strip concludes
next week, and is followed by another two-part story, 'The
Old Kings of Skarab'.
2 January
I will be speaking at the Yeovil Community Arts Association event at
the Johnson Studio on 10th January. If you happen to be in the
area, do come along!
News - 2007
30 October
My Doctors episode 'Angels and Shadows' is on BBC1
on Friday 9th November at 2.05pm. It stars Martyn Read, Simon
Scott and George Pensotti.
19 July
My comic strip 'The Last Soldier' starts in the latest
issue of Doctor Who Adventures, published today. The story
concludes in two weeks.
2 July
My next Doctors story has been signed off. It will be
transmitted in November. The audiobook version of Wooden
Heart is released today; there is a little review of it on
the BBC Doctor Who website here.
24 May
Part one of my first ever comic strip, 'The Green, the Bad
and the Ugly', appears in Doctor Who Adventures today.
Part two will be along in a couple of weeks.
17 May
I've been commissioned to write another episode of
Doctors - and I'm going to the BAFTA TV awards on
Sunday!
19 April
Doctor Who: Wooden Heart, my novel featuring the tenth
Doctor and Martha Jones, is officially published today. (If you
would like to order it online, it's available here and here, and doubtless elsewhere.) It will be
released as an (abridged) audiobook in July, read by Adjoa
Andoh.
News - 2006
7 December
Just a reminder: my Doctors story 'All You Need
is...' will be transmitted on BBC1 on 18th December. It stars
Gareth Hunt, Tim Briggs and Heather Bleasdale. As reported in
Doctor Who Magazine and elsewhere, I'm working on a
novel for the BBC featuring the tenth Doctor and new companion
Martha.
17 November
No Man's Land is now in the shops. (Incidentally,
here is my (unused)
version of the back cover blurb.)
4 August
The Doctor Who audio adventure No Man's Land
(formerly We are the Dead) has now been recorded. It stars
Sylvester McCoy, Sophie Aldred, Philip Olivier, Michael Cochrane,
Rob Dixon, Rupert Wickham, Oliver Mellor, Ian Hayles, and Michael
Adams. More details here.
10 July
'All You Need is...' has been signed off. (I'll just
note here, in passing, that Doctor Who: The Sleep of
Reason was voted third best Eighth Doctor novel (out of 73)
in the final online Doctor Who Novel Rankings. Thanks to all who
voted for it.)
23 May
My next episode of Doctors - 'All You Need is...'
- has been commissioned.
14 March
'ASBO' stars Josef Altin, Julia Worsley, and Jeanne
Mockford (who you might remember as Senna the Soothsayer from
Up Pompeii!). We are the Dead has been pencilled in
for a November release.
News - 2005
26 September
I have been commissioned to write We are the Dead for Big
Finish's Doctor Who range.
16 September
My third episode of Doctors has been signed off. It will
be transmitted on 21st March 2006. My last Doctor Who
novel was voted second best of 2004 by readers of Doctor Who
Magazine.
15 July
I've been commissioned to write 'ASBO', another
episode of Doctors.
27 January
My latest story for Doctors has been signed off, and it
will be transmitted on Tuesday 24th May (BBC1).
News - 2004
8 December
I have been commissioned to write a second script for
Doctors called 'The Girl Who Came Back'. Doctor
Who - A Christmas Treasury, featuring a short story of mine,
is published this month (and can be ordered here).
25 October
Magazine reviews of The Sleep of Reason have been broadly
positive. SFX called it "one of the most elegant
Doctor Who novels ever written" (and awarded it five stars);
Doctor Who Magazine concluded: "Filled with
disturbing scenes and horrific images, The Sleep of Reason is one
of the grimmer Eighth Doctor books - and also one of the best
recently." There is an interview with me on the BBC's
Doctor Who site here. The Discontinuity Guide, a
Doctor Who reference guide written with Paul Cornell and
Keith Topping, is about to be reprinted by MonkeyBrain Books in the US. I will be
attending the Gallifrey convention in LA in 2005 (more details
here).
22 July
The new issue of Doctor Who Magazine carries a
mini-interview with me as part of a 'Coming Soon' piece
on The Sleep of Reason, which is officially due out on 2nd
August. The novel can be pre-ordered here. I will also be doing a book signing at
the Tenth
Planet shop in Barking on 31st July.
16 June
My first story for Doctors has been signed off the
producer. It will be transmitted on BBC1 on Friday 7th January
2005 at 2.05pm.
3 June
I've just received the draft cover of my Doctor Who
novel, The Sleep of Reason. Click here to see it.
11 May
I have been commissioned to write a script for Doctors
entitled 'True Romance'.
Please note - some older links may have expired.
