Interview: Trevor Baxendale

Author of Fear of the Dark.

Fear of the Dark is your first Past Doctor novel. Were you a fan of the era, and how faithful are you to it?

Fear of the Dark is your first official Past Doctor novel. Were you a fan of the era, and how faithful are you to it?

I'm a fan of every era of Doctor Who. Including the Peter Cushing films. I'm terribly fickle - I tend to enjoy most whichever Doctor I'm watching (or reading or listening to) at the time!

Fear of the Dark is very faithful to the TARDIS crew of it's time. The adventure takes place immediately after Arc of Infinity (for those who like to know this sort of thing) and the Doctor, Tegan and Nyssa are deliciously strong and recognisable characters for a writer to use.

There are familiar touchstones of the era present in the book, of course, but I like to think that Fear of the Dark is a bit more gutsy than most of Season 20... It certainly piles on the pressure for the Fifth Doctor, something I was very keen to do: how would this most vulnerable incarnation of the Doctor cope with being pushed to breaking point?

Why have you written mainly Eighth Doctor books so far?

I instinctively wanted to write 'new' Who, to write for the present Doctor, to go forward... For all its faults, the TV Movie was a terrifically exciting event and genuinely kick-started the whole post-Virgin era of Doctor Who.

I was tremendously enthused (and still am) by Paul McGann's Doctor. But, and this is where the fickle bit comes in again, I dearly wanted to write for past Doctors as well. So, when I pitched the idea for Fear of the Dark to Justin Richards, and he suggested making it a Fifth Doctor adventure, it was easy to say yes.

Do you ever try to shape Justin Richards' overall plans for the Eighth Doctor story arcs?

Certainly not! I just do my best to fit in with whatever's planned, which is my job as a writer.

Having written Eater of Wasps, do you have a particular dislike of insects, or are there other things that disturb you more?

Most people are naturally wary of stinging insects - so wasps were an obvious choice of menace for a Doctor Who story set in an English country village. There are, of course, things that disturb me far more but insects always provoke a strong, immediate reaction.

Actually I did a lot of research into wasps, very little of which made it into the book because the story didn't really warrant it, but it did make me much more knowledgeable, appreciative and tolerant of the things than I had been.

What do you think you might bring to the Doctor Who range that other authors haven't?

Doctor Who in all its various forms provides something for everyone. That is one of its key strengths.

Different authors bring different perspectives to the books - I hope that mine provide solid, traditional adventures for people who want that kind of vibe, but they also carry an unexpected kick - something with a bit more punch than the TV series could provide.

My books are not designed to change or reset the established Who mythology, nor do they provide gimmicky subversions or political ideology. You can't please everyone, no matter what you do, but a good story well told will always entertain. And that's what I set out to do in my books.

Who are your literary influences?

In a rough list, I would include the following: Edgar Rice Burroughs, Ian Fleming, Agatha Christie, Len Deighton, Jack Higgins, Terrance Dicks.

Intriguingly, now I think about it, not many obvious SF or even horror writers - not in terms of literary influences, anyway. I read far more Doctor Who than is probably healthy - I'm trying to cut down, so one Who novel a month is quite a relief this year!

What's your view on Fitz and Anji - and is it time for a new TARDIS crew?

Fitz and Anji are excellent companions for the Doctor. They are both funny, sympathetic, helpful, courageous and likeable - everything a companion should be. And yet they're so different from each other that they make a wonderfully enjoyable team. And they are very real - it's easy to care for them because you do feel as if you know them so well.

They're both good, well-defined characters but their continued success is down to the skill of the various writers involved. I wouldn't like to see either of them go just yet, but nothing stays the same. Let's face it, it's dangerous being the Doctor's companion...

What other Doctors and famous aliens would you like to write for, and why?

I'd like to write for them all: I will admit to a particular urge to write for the First Doctor, though... I'd love to get my teeth into those fantastic first few seasons.

And I'd write it in black and white of course - a Hartnell SF story using only the idioms and concepts of its period, almost as if it had been written in the early or mid-sixties. That would be fun. Or a historical - that would be marvellous.

As for monsters - well, the initial proposal for my first novel, The Janus Conjunction, featured the Sontarans very prominently. They were written out at an early stage of the negotiations but I'd still love to do a Sontaran story.

They've got the numbers and the clout and are blisteringly aggressive - but they can also be written as individuals (despite being cloned!) unlike the Daleks or the Cybermen. Maybe one day...

What's the one pitch that you've had rejected that you'd most like to see commissioned in the future?

Ah, that would be telling! Proposals are rejected for various reasons, and all of them are good reasons. For a flatly rejected pitch to be commissioned later would only happen after substantial alteration.

It can happen - Coldheart was a sort of amalgam of the better parts of two separate ideas. Pitches can be rejected but the ideas, or characters or places, can sometimes resurface in other, more suitable proposals.

Are there any styles of Doctor Who fiction you'd like to explore that haven't yet appeared in the Virgin or BBC novels?

That's a tough one - but I refer here to my previous reply concerning the First Doctor. A story written as if commissioned and published in 1966 would be interesting. When Doctor Who (the programme) was young and no-one had any idea of Time Lords, regeneration, Star Wars, hyperspace, post-modernism, etc.

Something that captures the eager spirit and naive charm of Doctor Who's earliest years. I'd like to see that. I wouldn't mind seeing more of Peter Cushing's Dr Who either, for that matter.

What advice would you give first-time authors pitching ideas to BBC books?

Aim high but be realistic. Consider carefully the ability of those authors who do get commissioned and ask yourself, 'Can I match that?' And be honest.

Above all, be professional in your approach. Follow the writer's guidelines implicitly. And remember that writing a novel is actually very hard work - and that's after you've got the proposal accepted.

What can we expect from your upcoming Seventh Doctor audio adventure, Dark Flame?

The Doctor, Ace and Bernice - live! But also mad scientists. A secret cult. A megalomaniac leader. A robot. Murder and cruelty. Mind control. Oh, and a threat to the entire universe, of course. And maybe even a bit of fun along the way, if we can squeeze it in.

• Trevor Baxendale
  

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.