Im guessing events like this really mean a lot to you.
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Absolutely.
A Forbidden Planet signing.
Who wouldnt be proud of it?
We do tend to, literally, make our holidays around the conventions.
Worldcon, wherever it is in the world, we do two weeks there beforehand.
And weve got the wonderful double-header this time round of New York Comic Convention and then Gallifrey.
Absolutely, Im in three different fandoms: SF, comics andDoctor Who.
And this is a balanced diet, I think.
You have to get three major food groups there, and it certainly keeps it fresh.
Can we talk Captain Britain first, as hes the reason for this signing today.
How would you describe him to a complete outsider?
He is Marvels Shazam.
Hes a dirty great big magical superhero who deals in magic in a physical way.
He cant cast spells but he can find his way through magic.
He literally rips a spell apart with his bare hands in the new issue.
He is the British icon.
He is the central British superhero like unto Captain America, and thus, he is not silly.
He is not whimsical, except when he wants to be.
He is not a drunkard.
Hes not an alcoholic.
He is not all sorts of things.
Because theres not a huge tradition of British superheroes…?
Well, actually, theres a pretty big tradition.
There was a huge for about three weeks in the 1990s Marvel UK was enormous!
For a very short cameo.
But, no- so, its getting those characters, its doing well by them.
Have you got Deaths Head in there as well?
Id love to do Deaths Head.
Hes one of the few my opposite numbers, Abnett and Lanning, have actually used him recently.
So, they also are keeping the traditions going.
Is it very special to have the Marvel name [on a piece], what with their tradition?
Because that would be my geek goosebump moment…!
I am such a Marvel fanboy.
Its a wonder theThe Defendersthing wasnt in there as well.
And yet, youve endured at Marvel quite awhile…
They are so welcoming.
This is the thing you dont expect.
And what I love is the speed of it.
Me, Nick Lowe and Leonard Kirk can make a creative decision and get it approved in an afternoon.
We can turn a book around just like that.
Coming from television,thatsthe luxury that you have a huge lever to make creative work.
Do you even do that onFantastic Four..?
I wrote it for him and he said okay.
Does that kind of thing just come up in conversation: have you got aFantastic Fourstory?
Hed actually reach out to me, which was very nice.
That must be great.
Hes a very nice man, as well.
Ohh… bloody lovely.
But thats also a subset of writing the title so theyll be a comics audience thatll like it.
Im never gonna write something, a Briticisms that Americans cant understand.
Which has never- its only ever come up once, I think.
Maybe its because Nick Lowe is fairly rife with Briticisms himself.
But, anyway, yes, its great.
Are any more obscureExcaliburcharacters set to appear, like Crazy Gang or Slay Master?
But Crazy Gang, entirely possible.
But anyway…
Just before I get toDoctor Who, Ive got to ask you youve writtenCasualtyepisodes.
Is that the British equivalent of writingFinal Destinationmovies?
It is, rather.
I hate the fact that on my Wikipedia, it still lists all this previous, non-SF stuff.
IMDb page, as well, its gotCoronation Streetlisted…!
Every single convention I go to, in the booklet theres: He wrote forCasualty.
I dont give a damn now!
Actually, I do about myCasualty.
Then we lost the budget and it shrank back to soapy-the-hospital.
Ill go back toDoctor Who.
I mean,Doctor Whos really my thing…
Yeah, mine too.
I dont know if youve seen it.
There was a real yin and yang to the way he felt these stories had been interpreted.
WithBattlefield, though, he was frustrated as anything with the end result.
Im wondering how you feel about the way yours came across?
I think whatever happened is between oldWhoand newWho.
These days, theres a much smoother process from script to screen.
Youre much more part of a team getting there.
So Ive beennicelysurprised by visuals several times, but Ive never had any nasty surprises.
Ive never had anything that I thought, Well, thats not what I wrote.
And, no, its been really good like that.
I have to ask when you got the call.
I knowexactlywhen I got the call.
[Laughs] No, actually.
Russell actually said, What are you doing at this moment?
[laughs]
Because you always remember!
We gather that congratulations are in order because youre writing forStar Wars.
[laughter] I thought, The rents gonna go up.
Theyd got it completely wrong; I was writing forDoctor Who.
But, that second, Russell called for a second time.
You ought to get a collection of these.
As he says, its probably the best night of his life.
We had this really quite extraordinary almostXFactor-esque episode this time round for the casting of Matt Smith.
Can you just explain your feelings on that a bit more?
Not that towers have skirts.
I think theres a certain kind of literati, and its by no means all.
I mean Doris Lessing, bless her, was very up for being an SF writer.
[Replies quickly] Im not!
But youve still got to answer this question…!
We want to know your casting for the twelfth Doctor in Season 9.
Did you like the surprise factor of casting of Matt Smith?
I thought it was brilliant.
It was really old-fashioned in its own way, I thought.
I love Matt Smith.
I think hes got that look about him.
I think he is that new Tom Baker.
I think hes got that spark there.
And I really, really cant wait to see what he does with it.
Can I ask if youre remaining involved in it?
Will you be doing any writing for it?
Its far too early to say that.
Were not at that place yet.
Oh, I think its gonna be great.
Its just wonderful to feel that sense of it all starting up again, you know?
The regeneration of the show.
Every time theres a new Doctor this happens.
Its a great feeling.
And would you like to see Bernice Summerfield in there?
The thing is I would love to see Lisa Bowerman in the show.
Which, Id have been upset if he did with Benny.
It would be really hard to have Benny in it now.
Captain Britain would you like to go down a movie route there?
Is there any hint about it?
I suspect that will be the case, although… lets see.
Lets see if anything happens.
And for you, personally, what are your plans next?
Well, theres several more Marvel things, all of which I cant talk about yet.
Marvel is like surfing a dream.
Its absolutely wonderful at the moment.
There are two telly things I cant talk about.
Im in the midst of a novel.
Theres been some awards attention there, as well.
I love Hugo season.
Its always my favourite time of the year.
Winning one would make it better.
Its Moffats bloody favourite time of the year.
[laughs] The other day I said to him, Youre like the Hugo Channel.
Were never more than 15 minutes away from another mention of your bloody Hugos.
[laughter] I hope he wins a fourth one forSilence In The Library, as well.
Four would give us all forms ofStar Trekput together.
Whats that doing on IMDb?
How do they know?!
Theyre quoting you directly on it.
You make a point in there about how youre not afraid to admit…
Oh!
Number one: is it?
And number two: why?
Because I love it.
It ruined my Christmas.
Because as a kid, as soon as the BBC did their film reel, you got really excited.
Get the Radio Times and they were plugging it, and plugging it, and plugging it.
For Christmas Eve, the big Christmas Eve film… And I should have loved it.
Have you seen it as an adult?
Does that make a huge difference?
Yes, Its ninjas versus nannies.
[laughs] Jon Pertwee firing guns out of windows!
Would you write a modern day remake of it?
No, because that would spoil it.
And, I tell you what.
We wouldnt be able to have Peter Ustinov playing Chinese again.
And, actually, nor should we, frankly.
Its a really good performance but…
Youve gotRobin Hood,Primeval,Doctor Who…
There seems to be this little gang of you who go from show to show.
Its like in the 70s.
We have television fantasy writers again.
Does the mechanic change?
James Moran clearly had a ball onPrimevalbecause he got to meet his monster.
Yeah, I loved it.
It was almost like he got to write around his creature.
Would you share that view?
Yeah, I lovePrimeval.
They just asked me back and I turned them down just because I was so busy.
But I would have loved to have gone back.
Theyre a really nice bunch.
They care so much a bout the natural history.
Its a wonderful thing for the kids at home that they dont treat them as monsters.
A thoroughly lovely bloke, who weve very much enjoyed chatting to.
We hope he gets that call forDoctor Whoseason five, and we suspect were not alone…
Many thanks to Forbidden Planet for sorting out the interview.
you’re free to find their websitehere.
