BBC Books The Writer's Tale

Author	Russell T Davies and Benjamin Cook
ISBN	1 846 07571 1
Publisher	BBC Books
Published	2008

Summary: "It's such a hard job. Writers never talk about how hard it is, out of the fear of being pretentious. 'Try being a nurse or a teacher,' people say. No - try being a writer! Try sitting with every doubt and fear about yourself and everyone, all on your own, with no ending or help or conclusion... At the same time, writing can be the most wonderful job in the world. When I'm happy with a script, I'm happier than you can ever imagine. Delicious! What I mean is, writing is never easy."

• The Making of an Institution by Niall Jones

The Making of an Institution by Niall Jones 27/5/22

One of the extraordinary things about Doctor Who is how much interest there is in its production. Of course, fans have always wanted to know how their favourite TV show gets made; what makes Doctor Who different is that it's not just the fans who are interested. Between 2005 and 2011, Doctor Who Confidential regularly chronicled the making of Doctor Who and was even voted BBC3's best show two years after it was cancelled.

While Doctor Who Confidential showed that an in-depth look at the making of Doctor Who had mainstream appeal, this idea reached its apotheosis in The Writer's Tale, first published in 2008 and re-released in an extended edition, subtitled The Final Chapter, in 2010. The Writer's Tale consists of a series of emails between then-Doctor Who showrunner, Russell T Davies, and then-editor of Doctor Who Magazine, Benjamin Cook, chronicling, in real-time, Davies' experiences working on the show. With the second edition clocking in at a hefty 704 pages, it is, as far as I know, the longest book ever written about Doctor Who. It was also a massive mainstream critical and commercial success, even being named Book of the Year by Richard and Judy.

The book's success partly reflects Doctor Who's own success -- by 2008, it could justifiably claim to be the biggest TV show in Britain, with Voyage of the Damned pulling in over 13 million viewers, around a fifth of the population -- but it also reflects the quality of the book itself. In it, Russell T Davies not only provides a fascinating account of how he wrote Series 4 of Doctor Who and the Specials that followed, but he also gives valuable insights into his life as a scriptwriter.

There is a fascinating document replicated in full at the beginning of the book. The Series Four Breakdown, written by Davies early in 2007 for the production team, outlines the shape of the series. It lists the stories planned for the year, along with the writers allotted to them, giving a very brief overview of their basic plot, setting and feel. While some episodes are instantly recognisable from their description here, others never even made it to the screen. Mark Gatiss's script about Nazis attacking the British Museum was replaced by James Moran's Fires of Pompeii, while Century House, a proposed companion-lite story by Tom MacRae, was ultimately abandoned in favour of what eventually became Midnight.

While the Breakdown hints at the extent to which the shape of the series changed as it developed, the biggest difference between how it was initially envisioned and how it ultimately appeared is that Donna Noble was not originally meant to return. Instead, the companion was to be Penny Carter, a Northern woman in her thirties who meets the Doctor shortly after being jilted by her boyfriend. In the end, however, Catherine Tate's keenness to return to Doctor Who meant that Penny was consigned to the realm of never was and might have been.

Even more fascinating is that the only reason we know anything at all about Penny is because Davies mentions her in his emails to Cook. Davies never wrote about her anywhere else; she doesn't crop up in any draft scripts. Although part of the reason for this is simple chronology -- by the time Davies started writing Partners in Crime, Donna had already re-entered the story -- it also reflects the way in which Davies writes. Ideas float around in his head and develop mentally without being committed to paper.

Writing, for Davies, is a source of both agony and ecstasy. He vividly describes long, torturous days spent in his Cardiff flat failing to write, endless cigarettes smoked as deadlines loom and then disappear in the rear mirror. He also describes moments of sudden inspiration, which raised morale, causing scripts to be written in a matter of days. From the book, it becomes clear that writing Doctor Who was a real labour of love for Russell T Davies. The best job in the world, yes, but a job that could also be a real grind, requiring a superhuman work-rate. In his emails to Cook, Davies makes it clear that, despite all his love for the show, he was happy to be able to step away from it after five years at its helm.

The book also reveals many of Davies' ideas about writing itself. Prompted by Cook's questions about the writing process, Davies talks about why he needs to write with an ending in sight, the significance of cutting down dialogue and the importance of jokes. He is at pains to stress, however, that his answers simply reflect his own personal writing preferences and should not be taken for hard-and-fast rules.

As a showrunner, Davies had a level of influence over the show that has historically been unusual in the UK, effectively acting as an executive producer and script editor, as well as lead writer. Alongside writing his own episodes, Davies also edited scripts by other writers. In The Writer's Tale he notes that 'people know that I polish stuff, but they think that polishing means adding a gag or an epigram, not writing half the script', showing the extent to which his interest went well beyond his own episodes. That Davies paid close attention to a wide range of details when making Doctor Who is further shown by comments he makes at the end of the second edition. Noting the very few things that still annoy him about Rose, he comments on the fact that Nelson's Column isn't visible in scenes filmed at Trafalgar Square, observing that 'nowadays, I'd just march up to the camera and turn it around'.

Despite this level of involvement with the whole TV-making process, it would be wrong to see Davies as a dictator with total power over the shape of Doctor Who. One of the great strengths of the book is that it shows how messy and unpredictable the process of making television can be. Financial pressures were a major cause of cuts to scripts, with the limited FX budget causing many effects-heavy scenes to be written out entirely.

The book also shows the extent to which making television is a collaborative process. Davies' relationship with Julie Gardener, the show's producer, was especially important. While Davies was responsible for creating the series' stories, Gardener made them happen. Another key figure mentioned in the book is Jane Tranter, the BBC's Head of Fiction, a key voice in championing the show. In fact, she is probably one of the most important people in the recent history of Doctor Who, as, in her earlier role as Head of Drama, she was responsible for bringing it back to our screens in 2005.

Davies' role also involved communicating with the public and promoting the show. While his visceral description of being mobbed by fans at the Doctor Who Exhibition in Cardiff highlights some of the downsides of being such as recognisable and popular figure, the chapter describing how the team managed the announcement of David Tennant's departure shows the challenges and joys of being behind one of the UK best-loved shows.

The brilliance of The Writer's Tale lies in the way in which it evokes the difficulties and joys of making Doctor Who. Despite being made up almost entirely of emails, it is a well-written, addictive and often very funny read. Davies' personality shines through in his writing and is complemented by Cook, who asks interesting questions, whilst also acting as a sympathetic, but occasionally critical ear. The book not only provides unique insights into the production of Series 4 but also provides a fascinating look at the scriptwriting process in general, making it a must-read, not just for fans of Doctor Who but also for anyone interested in writing and TV production.