Interview: Andrew Cartmel

Author of Foreign Devils and former script editor.

Tell us about Carnacki, the psychic investigator who features in the new novella.

I first stumbled across Carnacki in an Alfred Hitchcock anthology of spooky stories, and my mind was duly blown.

I tracked down a volume of Carnacki stories (Carnacki the Ghost Finder) and discovered that his creator William Hope Hodgson had written several other classics of dark fantasy, including the House on the Borderland.

If my novella attracts new readers to Hodgson, then it was well worth writing.

Question from Daniel Pierce

Considering you are more closely associated with the Seventh Doctor and Ace, what made you decide to write for the very much different team of the Second Doctor, Jamie and Zoe?

It was the editor's suggestion and I've always had a lot of fondness for the Troughton Doctor, so I was happy to go along with it.

Question from Jamie Campbell

What was your favourite script to work on?

As a script editor on Who, I have a high regard for Ben's Dalek story [Remembrance of the Daleks]. As a writer, my favourite script of my own is Shameer, for the Channel Five sword and sorcery show Dark Knight. Question from Sam Loveless

What do you think is the future for Doctor Who?

A new TV series made in a post-Buffy the Vampire Slayer manner.

Question from Matt Quarterstein

Do you have any more plans to write for either the Doctor Who Novellas, the BBC Doctor Who books, or for The Big Finish Doctor Who audio adventure dramas?

I pitched a fantastic idea to BBC Doctor Who books but they didn't get it, so Ben Aaronovitch and I are now developing it into a feature film called the Ministry of Sleep. No Doctor in it now, though.

Question from Baysan Tulu

When you took on the role of script editor with Sylvester McCoy as the new Doctor, how did you then see the character developing - was the "Darker Doctor" something that happened then or further down the line?

The Darker Doctor concept really arose in the second Sylvester McCoy season, when we began finding our feet with the Sylvester Doctor. Question from Matthew Russell

What did you feel you brought to the Doctor Who genre during your time as script editor?

An appreciation of good science fiction and a regard for the show and its potential without being completely blinkered and hidebound by being a total True Believer.

I also had a model of fast moving, funny, intelligent TV thrillers in mind, working to the example of writers like Simon Moore (Traffik, Gulliver's Travels) and Troy Kennedy Martin (The Italian Job, Edge of Darkness).

Question from Chris Pettett

Was it professionally disappointing for you to have Season 27 cancelled, or were you ready to move on to pastures new?

I was already on Casualty as a script editor, but even so I felt it was a shame and the wrong decision. Question from Mark Jobson:

Do you have any plans to return to the near-future setting of your War trilogy (and, presumably, The Wise - which was fantastic)?

I feel the Cyberpunk landscape of the War trilogy has been overdone so I'd be inclined to try something new. If I'm writing any sci-fi these days it tends to be in the Philip K Dick rather than William Gibson mould. As for The Wise, at one time I wanted to bring back Tregemmon, the reluctant palladin with his gun, and see him in some other adventures. I actually completed a new novel last year, about a movie star who is supplanted by her digital double.

None of the agents or editors who looked at it could understand what the hell I was talking about. Now of course, the masterly film Simone has left that concept particular standing in the dust. The next novel I'd really like to write is a crime story about a diabolical villain, set in Canada.

Question from Mick Gair

How did you get your foot in the door to bascially re-write the Doctor's history?

John Nathan Turner was a dream to work with and gave me an extremely free hand so long as what I came up with was recognisably Doctor Who, and effective television drama. Question from Bart Lammey

What is your biggest Doctor Who regret?

Not writing a slew of the episodes myself. But a script editor is supposed to discover and foster new talent, and I did that with a vengeance.

Question from Guy Lambert

So was the Seventh Doctor God?

I've just seen an episode of The Simpsons where Ned Flanders turned out to be God. That worked rather well. As for the Doctor, I certainly thought it was an interesting notion if he turned out to be the Prime Mover. The butterfly wing that causes the hurricane. After all, that's virtually what his power amounts to. Doctor Who as God was considered a somewhat controversial notion, though.

But then I came up with a concept that I like even better. That the Doctor and the Master are a single entity, one being, all powerful and both good and evil in balance. Light and darkness, yin and yang. That's probably also too controversial. Perhaps the Doctor should turn out to be Ned Flanders.

Question from Tim Neal

• Andrew Cartmel
  

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