Product Description

Writing isn't just a job that stops at six-thirty... It's a mad, sexy, sad, scary, obsessive, ruthless, joyful, and utterly, utterly personal thing. There s not the writer and then me; there's just me. All of my life connects to the writing. All of it.'

A unique look into the BBC's most popular family drama, Doctor Who: The Writer's Tale is a year in the life of the hit television series, as told by the show's Head Writer and Executive Producer. A candid and in-depth correspondence between Russell T Davies and journalist Benjamin Cook, the book explores in detail Russell's work on Series Four, revealing how he plans the series and works with the show s writers; where he gets his ideas for plot, character and scenes; how actors are cast and other creative decisions are made; and how he juggles the demands of Doctor Who with the increasingly successful Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures spin-offs.

Russell's scripts are discussed as they develop, and Russell and Benjamin's wide-ranging discussions bring in experiences from previous series of Doctor Who as well as other shows Russell has written and created, including Queer as Folk, Bob & Rose, and The Second Coming. The reader is given total access to the show as it s created, and the writing is everything you would expect from Russell T Davies: warm, witty, insightful, and honest.

Fully illustrated with never-before-seen photos and artwork including original drawings by Russell himself The Writer's Tale is a not only the ultimate Doctor Who book, but a celebration of great writing and great television

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #12747 in Books
• Published on: 2008-09-25
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 512 pages

About the Author
Russell T Davies is one of the UK's foremost writers of television drama, creating groundbreaking shows such as Queer as Folk, Bob & Rose and The Second Coming. He has been the Head Writer and Executive Producer of Doctor Who since it returned to the BBC in 2005 and has written many of the new series' most memorable episodes. He was awarded an OBE in 2008 for services to drama. He divides his time between Cardiff and Manchester.

Benjamin Cook is a journalist and regular contributor to Radio Times and Doctor Who Magazine. He has also been published in TV Zone, Cult Times, TV Times and The Stage, and is the author of Doctor Who: The New Audio Adventures The Inside Story. He lives in London.

Customer Reviews

A review of the second edition paperback
I loved the original Writer's Tale - lovingly presented and fantastic content - and it became one of my very favourite non-fiction books, so I was eagerly looking forward to this extension of the correspondence. When flicking through, my first feeling was slight disappointment - but I'll come back to that.

Firstly, to put that bit about "300 new pages" in context. In its new paperback form, the original book runs to 340 pages, and there's 340 of new stuff in addition - so you've got a new book's worth on top!

But, I do feel that it loses something in a black and white paperback edition. The original was vibrant, with illustrations by RTD dotted throughout plus lots of little photos - so when you read a piece of correspondence or a script extract you could instantly relate it to what you saw on screen. This reprint of book one loses a lot of that.

More than that though, most of the actual scripts that were dotted through the correspondence in book one have been removed in the reprint 'to make space'. (These were the RTD first drafts - you can now get the final versions for some free online.) I felt they added a lot in explaining the development of episode ideas and scripts.

For these reasons, if you're new to this (and can afford the considerable extra expense) I'd recommend buying the beautifully presented original and then this in addition for the new stuff.

As to the new stuff - well the correspondence is as revealing, intimate, witty and fascinating as before. There's no sign that the comments are more self-conscious given the knowledge this time around of their ultimate publication.

So, overall, a slight sense of initial disappointment in the cheaper paperback - I'd have happily paid for a shiny hardback volume two - but the brilliance of the correspondence has to win out overall, so it stays five stars for me.

Probably the ultimate window into the frantic world of Doctor Who
There's no shortage of glossy "Doctor Who" books on the shelves but this is by far the most revealing. It digs deep and gives the reader a fascinating insight into the exhaustion, exhileration and relentless hard slog that goes into the flagship show. Read it, even if you don't care for DW, if you want to know the truth about a writer's life. It's very warts-and-all, at times very funny, and always comes over as being honest. You won't get closer than this to finding out why things turned out the way they did. In particular, RTD's thoughts on "Journey's End", the S4 finale, are intriguing and reveal how he copes with the inevitable gulf between his first concept of how a story should end and the version that reaches the screen, subject to the limitations of budget, time, actor availability and overall tone.

Like the Doctor himself, RTD clearly feels under pressure as the man everyone looks to for answers, he finds it almost impossible to relinquish control of his beloved show, yet a part of him longs for a break from the constant creative demands on his energies, preferably before the stress kills him.

There are certainly a few dark nights of the soul here, but also complete versions of the scripts of "Voyage of the Damned", "Partners in Crime" and the explosive two-parter finale, including the early drafts and absorbing explanations for the way things changed later. An extra bonus is a plethora of photographs, some from deleted scenes, and RTD's unexpectedly witty and professional cartoons of cast and characters.

Fantastic!
An astonishingly enjoyable read. If you've ever even toyed with the idea of writing, this gives you huge insights into the sheer grind and self doubt that goes into trying to get a script out, and it's a fascinating read. The email exchange structure gives a frankness that any other style would probably skirt around and you get a feeling of a genuine professional friendship between the authors. Some of the content might be a little too frank if you were thinking of buying a "Doctor Who" book for the kiddies, because it's not really a "Doctor Who" book - it's a book about writing, and the writing happens to be "Doctor Who". You do end up worrying if Russell EVER sleeps and whether this writing lark is good for his health, you do wonder how anyone finds the time to do that job, and you do get to see another side to the cheery upbeat soul who appears on TV, but that just makes it all the more intriguing. And on top of all his other work, Russell's found time to provide a large number of very inventive cartoons to illustrate the text - you'd have to hate the guy if he wasn't so good at it. The book looks fantastic, too, beautifully laid out. All in all, a big fat Hooray!!

The paperback edition THE WRITERS TALE: THE FINAL CHAPTER followed in January 2010, and all that I said in my review of the original remains pretty true, although the format has been changed radically for that edition. It is a smaller book format and whilst there are full colour photo inserts, the bulk of the reprinted text pages are now black and white, so maybe whilst it's not quite so beautiful to look at as the original, the written content is still as great as it ever was. The biggest surprise with the paperback edition is the addition of 300+ pages of brand spanking new content - making it a stonking doorstop of a book - which covers the period from the end of the last book to the end of Russell's time working on the show - the production of the 5 specials and all the surrounding Who-hah! - which actually quite probably makes it very worth buying all over again.