Thanks for persevering! Writing it was an act of masochism, but a very gleeful one! I hope you found a bit of glee too reading the whole thing.

Happy birthday! You have excellent taste! :)

I suspect there was a bit of mutual suspicion for a while - there were lots of self-conscious references to ‘trad’ and ‘rad’ writing which now seem a bit limiting! But I don’t recall any real hostility. I remember some very amiable chats with Lawrence, and everyone knew Alien Bodies was beautiful.

As one of the Big Finishers, I remember a sense of playful rivalry between books and audios - but mostly just how exhilarating it all became, as we all began inspiring and entertaining each other across the opposing media. With no hope ever of the TV show being revived. So much more fun than 1998!

Big Finish will go through their own experimental phases, but understandably they kick off as exercises in reassuring nostalgia for fans long denied it. And that means the books are set freed. They can do Scarlet Empress and Interference and Infinity Doctors and there’s a palpable joy to that.

Yes, it’s a weird transition phase, isn’t it? By the end of 1999 the advent of Big Finish doing new DW stories gives the books a greater sense of identity - they’re not doing *that*. Doctor Who has always survived by finding new waves of writers every few years - it’s about to get a new generation.

And thank you - no, I had no idea! I’m so happy that the very little I did had a positive impact for you. I know I would have been very proud after all those years you were wanting to write about Chimes - I’m always hugely touched that it gets remembered. It would have meant a lot to me.

So I think it’s inevitably a downbeat year. How weird it seems to have a brand new range of novels that only demonstrates by its existence that the new spark hasn’t managed to catch fire! I can imagine as you go through them you’re sensitive to just how dispiriting and unstable it all felt!

1998 was such an odd year, I remember. We were all coping with the shift from Virgin to BBC Books and trying to work out whether that changed the style or not - whilst riding the disappointment that the movie had failed to become the new beginning the books were now left to symbolise.

Anyway, thanks for what you do - it’s clearly a real labour of love on your part, and I’m looking forward to following your journey!

Whereas I fell into the trap of responding to the books on purely emotional terms, you approach them with great care and thought, and there’s a real passion to that. It’s also lovely to see old forgotten Who discussed with hindsight in a way only usually accorded the TV series.

It’s really thoughtful work. I recently rediscovered an old file where I reviewed all the books as they came out, Virgin and BBC, and it got me wanting to find other reviews to relate to. I think you are brilliant - even when you dislike a book, you respect it by giving it context and weight.

I know exactly what you mean - I’m horribly aware that I have more books to read than days yet to live! (And every time I write, I have to stop!) If you ever run out of any of mine and want more, do drop me a line and I’ll send you something - I know how hard my stuff can be to track down in Spain!

They are gorgeous! Mine is a very grouchy black cat, but he has his charms. I’m sorry there isn’t more of my work in Spanish I can share with you - though the brilliant Marcheto is doing her best to catch up with me!

Hello! I remember you from Celsius, I’m pretty sure - I felt so proud that in Spain you even knew who this British writer was! Thank you for being so kind about my strange writing. (And I absolutely adore cats - even the very grumpy one beside me on the sofa at the moment!) Forgive the English!

So glad I stumbled across your blog - I’ve been looking for something which really engages with all the wilderness years books for ages! What I’ve read so far is absolutely fascinating, and I’m going to have a great time slowly working my way through your reviews in chronological order!

The best contract in the world! Enjoy all that new love!

Ah. I do remember thinking that one was a pointless tease - but I should watch it again some day!

That sounds a bit grumpy of me. I am sure I’d be a lot more generous now! Which episode was it?

I’m sorry. For what it’s worth, there is nothing to say we can’t start the new year on February 3rd. Except calendars, I suppose. Hope tomorrow is better, Gina!

This year has been so frustrating I have gone to full Perrin mode seventeen times already.

It’s a Sunday.

Oh, thank you! I remember writing that one and being really worried that it was far too minimalist for anyone to find interesting. It did feel like I was jumping off a cliff into the dark coming up with such a strange script. The scares in it are nothing to how I felt about it at the time!

Only if I can later novelise it, and then do an audio adaptation of the novel.

Wow. That’s really brilliant.

Oh, that’s so kind! I did have a bash at it as a TV ep some years ago, but it was very resistant to my effort - I think it’s just too brooding and claustrophobic. Or maybe just a bit too silly! Either way, I wasn’t really up to the task. I think it’s forever destined to be audio and prose only!

I always like to imagine them sighing heavily and giving a very hefty shrug of the shoulders!

I really hope you enjoy it, Andrew! And thank you - I’m working on my new collection at the moment (number five!) - and your enthusiasm has put new spring to my step!

Sue Wallace, Paul McGann, India Fisher and Lennox Greaves.

Cover artwork for the Doctor Who audio drama "The Chimes of Midnight", featuring actor Paul McGann and actress India Fisher.

Simon Pegg, Jessica Hynes, Mark Gatiss, India Fisher.

Cover artwork for the Doctor Who audio drama, "Invaders from Mars" featuring actor Paul McGann, a city skyline, and a large radio tower transmitting green energy beams.

#OTD in 2001, Paul McGann and India Fisher recorded two Big Finish Doctor Who plays, Invaders from Mars and The Chimes of Midnight. #McGannuary

Not at all - I’m always flattered when someone thinks my work sounds interesting! Drop me an email address over message and I’ll pop something off to you.