My Little Corner of The Doctor Who 60th
In which I have a moment of gratitude
Doctor Who means a lot to me. I loved it as a child and it’s been a gateway into science fiction and fantasy for my own kids over the past few years. It’s 60 years old this week, a milestone that very few TV shows ever reach (well, not whilst still being on air anyway!)
I love the versatility of Doctor Who; it can do drama, comedy, science-fiction, fantasy, horror, kitchen-sink, and everything in between. The TARDIS is the ultimate “go anywhere machine” and the ever-changing but always constant Doctor is a hero who is able to be both modern and timeless in the same moment.
Beyond my love for the show, I’ve been fortunate enough to have the opportunity to be a part of the wider Doctor Who universe through my work with Candy Jar. I may never have a prouder moment than when my kids discovered me on the Tardis Wiki.
My journey through the “Whonivers” started almost by chance, an introduction from a friend to Shaun Russel and a conversation over a cup of tea and a biscuit about a new line of books that Candy Jar was planning called “The Lucy Wilson Mysteries”.
Shortly after that meeting I was back pitching two stories, one about bees and another about clowns. The story about bees never saw the light of day. The story about clowns became “Curse of the Mirror Clowns”, my first book for Candy Jar, my first book for kids, and my first step into a much bigger universe.
From there I went on to write “Past, Present, and Yet To Come”, the first of my Lucy Wilson Christmas stories that would go on to be a four-year tradition in the Lynch household. After that came “Arcade of Doom” for the Lineage anthology, a story that would later be adapted by Tim Gambrell into one half of “Attack of the Quarks”.
I graduated up the adult line as one of three writers on the Bloodlines trilogy, tapped by Candy Jar to write “The George Kostinen Mystery”. The series editor, Andy Frankham-Allen, very astutely noticed that I only paid enough attention to continuity and lore to pass the basic entrance exam of Who fandom and decided that my story should be set in an alternate dimension. I think he thought I’d do less damage that way.
I didn’t know if I would ever get another chance to write a story with the Lethbridge-Stewart name in it and so I decided to run with it as hard and as fast and as far as I could with this opportunity. I brought back the mirror clowns, but in a more terrifying form. I created the Kruge, interstellar zealots with a serious anti-human agenda, and the Volpertinger, body-horror vivisectionists who would make Frankenstein blush. I also created Pennyworth, a character who would go on to achieve a life of his own, cropping up in story after story.
More years came and went and, along with them, more shorts, novellas and more Christmas stories until there were enough to fill a whole book. And so we did. The Best Christmas Ever was released, collecting together all but one of my Lucy Wilson Christmas stories.
I’d finally achieved the dream of every artist - a Christmas product that I could market every year for the rest of my life without ever having to do another scrap of actual work.
As you might be able to tell, the impending 60th anniversary of Doctor Who has put me in a reflective mood. “Welcome to Neverbury” would probably not exist without Lucy Wilson, who wouldn’t exist with Brigadier Sir Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart, who certainly wouldn’t exist with The Doctor.
I created my own little corner of the Doctor Who universe but, in a strange way, that universe also created me. I guess you really can’t write a good Doctor Who story without a paradox.