When Russell T Davies and DWM journalist Benjamin Cook started to and fro-ing e-mails to each other about the writing of Doctor Who, they created between them the best, most unputdownable behind-the-scenes book on the series ever written. The Times serialised it and Richard and Judy’s Book Club put it at the top of their 2008 Christmas ‘must reads’, and only a fool would argue with that. This updates the story to include the Tenth Doctor Specials – the so-called Final Chapter. The title can be misleading though – this isn’t a cynical reprint with 30 or so new pages thrown in at the end; this is a doorstop – even more so than the original – with over half the book entirely new.

The first edition was characterised by Davies’ terrifying and self-punishing work ethic, in as much as he rarely starts a script until the deadline has passed, and by how many demands there are on his time – the welter of readthroughs, edits and other problems. This edition is no different. The maelstrom starts almost immediately – work on Torchwood: Children of Earth means he’s going to have to farm out two of the Specials, funding problems threaten to cut the Specials from four to three (Christmas on Mars, as it was then, is nominated as the one to lose), and Davies starts his last script The End of Time without a single idea and worries that his capacity to invent stories has all but deserted him.

The book stands and falls on the quality of Cook’s questions. When Cook asks ‘How’s the script going?’, Davies responds with a full and entertaining answer. Asked, however, if he’s sad to be leaving the show, or if he’s ever lied during their correspondence, a whole different level of thought opens up. One thread about Davies catching a repeat of The Sound of Drums spirals into a fascinating account of how he constructs an episode and how he can understand why some people hate what he does. ‘I must look like a vandal,’ he muses, ‘a kid or an amateur.’ Cook’s response is to ask Davies if he would watch his very first Doctor Who episode, Rose, and send him a critique of that. A clever ploy – as it kind of completes the circle – and one I’m sure Davies sees through immediately but plays along with for the sake of symmetry. What he finds – no timidity, no flinching – he turns into a mission statement for the revived series as a whole. I’m not sure if I agree that the series hasn’t changed since 2005, as I don’t think you can so easily divorce it from the stories it tells. Rose is confident, unfettered. The perfect reboot for the series. Whereas The End of Time is indulgent, inward-looking and, as Davies at one point says about it himself, worryingly close to fan fiction.

The Writer’s Tale Mark II remains absorbing and insightful at every turn. The first edition felt current – David Tennant was still the Doctor and the engine was still turning. With the Tenth Doctor gone and Davies now working in Los Angeles, this feels more like an epitaph. Like history.

Doctor Who returned to our screens in 2005 and grew to be the biggest drama on the box. This is how it was done.

Vanessa Bishop

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“The back of this updated version of The Writer’s Tale provides a helpful capsule of our original review. ‘You can douse all the other books on new Who in lighter fuel and spark up your Zippo,’ our quote raves, ‘this is all you need!’ What sluts. We were right, though…”

The back of this updated version of The Writer’s Tale provides a helpful capsule of our original review. “You can douse all the other books on new Who in lighter fuel and spark up your Zippo,” our quote raves, “this is all you need!” What sluts.

We were right, though. There’s never been a book like The Writer’s Tale before – partly because no-one ever wanted to read a year’s worth of some bloke’s e-mails until now, and partly because it’s the first to come close to answering that dreaded question: “Where do you get your ideas from?”

This new softback edition adds another year of exchanges between the Who showrunner and journo Cook, 352 pages’ worth. Familiarity with the format makes it less surprising this time around, even when Davies is being startlingly candid. The most fascinating passages concern unused ideas. For instance, one of this year’s specials could have been “The Doctor Onboard the Enterprise”, and the Daleks almost returned, allied with the Time Lords, in The End of Time.

With “only” the specials to write about (and Torchwood, and SJA), there’s less focus on writing and more on the surrounding rigmarole. The editing could have been more ruthless. There’s too much about planning Tennant’s departure announcement. And do we really need to know that Cook’s mate is getting an octopus tattoo? Probably not. But then, it’s these tangents that provide the satisfyingly voyeuristic feeling that you’ve hacked into someone’s inbox.”

Ian Berriman

The Tardis has landed. The original hardback recorded the online dialogue between Russell T Davies, resurrector of Dr Who, and Benjamin Cook, tough and devoted companion, through 2008, year of the last full series of the programme. Although it detailed everything fans could want to know about the BBC Cardiff fantasy factory and rep company, it was far more than a ritual “making of” – it was about creation, where ideas well from and what it means to be responsible for their management from nicotined inspiration to global transmission. Best masterclass in telly I’ve ever attended. The paperback continues the conversation through 2009 to cover the special shows that scripted the long goodbye for Davies and production chiefs as well as David Tennant’s farewell as the Doc: a generous 300 extra pages of budget cuts, on-set catastrophes and tears at wrap parties as the comrades walk away from their consuming adventure. They triumphed, but it’s over, and they’re back to rain, electricity bills and a future swimming as small fishes in a big Hollywood pool. Made me cry.

Vera Rule

» “An astoundingly wonderful release… Here’s hoping Cook is in communication now with Steven Moffat and already working on a book on his era” (Kasterborous)

» “A rare gem – engaging, gritty, enlightening – and something I really hope Steven Moffat continues as he takes over the helm of the BBC’s most beloved and successful series” (Through the Eyes of a Journalist)

» ★★★★★ (or ★★★★ if you’ve read the original already) “I’m jealous. I’m a big jealous idiot who needs a slap… Is Benjamin e-mailing Steven Moffat?” (Scyfilove.com)

» “Sometimes shit happens, but sometimes wonderful things do, too, and The Writer’s Tale shows you the whole ugly-pretty mess” (The Medium is Not Enough)

» “For fans of the show, The Writer’s Tale: The Final Chapter is the ultimate reference book - utterly indispensable… One wonders (and hopes) if the Scotsman [Moffat] will undertake such a tome to record his experiences” (Blogtor Who)

» “For my money anyway, one of the best books ever written about the actual process of writing” (The Mirrorball)

» “They are precious pieces of writing. Worth their weight in gold because they get past all of Davies’ showman bluster” (Behind the Sofa)

» “A fascinating, at times emotional trip” (From the North)

» “A compulsive read, and a revealing - if frightening - glimpse into the working practices of one particular TV writer” (Total Sci-Fi Online)

That’s yer lot. Except to say…

» Chris Addison (The Thick of It, etc) has been saying nice things about The Writer’s Tale on Twitter

“If edition one was my favourite book of 2008, then this is surely the first must-buy of 2010. A superb, fascinating piece of work…”

Read the full review

Yes, really.

Can you believe it?

WE’VE BEEN REVIEWED IN PRIVATE EYE!!! OMG!!!

(Subscription, cancelled, etc, etc.)

“I hope you’re not expecting modesty here,” booms Russell T Davies in The Writer’s Tale: The Final Chapter, a warning that looms out of the dry ice like a rogue Sontaran, laser-gun cocked and levelled at those who assume a reputation as redoubtable as Davies’ requires no further embellishment.

But this is no place for diffidence. Or subtlety. Or self-restraint. As readers familiar with the scriptwriter’s work will attest, his is not a retiring voice; his contributions to television - most notably his recently-departed role as Head Writer, Executive Producer and Chief Resuscitator of Doctor Who - bearing testament to an all-encompassing zeal that, while undoubtedly infectious, may be rather too scattershot for its own good.

The Final Chapter marks what one assumes to be the final chapter in the published correspondence between Davies and journalist/fan Benjamin Cook: a sprawling, unexpurgated electronic dialogue that began in 2007 as a proposed feature for Doctor Who Magazine and snowballed into the 512-page granite slab/occasional table that was 2008’s The Writer’s Tale.

Now, 16 months later, the book rematerialises with an additional 300 pages of email and text message-based conversation: a breathlessly self-congratulatory valediction that covers the writing of the 10th Doctor’s final TV specials, the production of a five-part Torchwood mini-series, press duties for the launch of The Writer’s Tale, the handing over of the executive Who baton to writer Stephen [sic] Moffat, an OBE (Davies’), a chicken stir fry (Cook’s), all manner of idle and invariably saucy pan-dimensional musing (”imagine kissing Davros”) and, ultimately, Davies’ temporary move to Los Angeles.

Though the book’s new, Christmas special-referencing cover - from which peers the 6ft 6ins Davies, squidged between David “the Doctor” Tennant and John “the Master” Simm like a mildly vexed space referee - suggests a cash-in, the existence of this astonishingly long sequel owes more to the gargantuan esteem in which the man behind one of the most successful regenerations in TV history is held.

As a consequence, The Final Chapter reads like an intergalactic love-in: a bring-your-own-extolment party in which readers are invited to bask in the outrageous genius of this bear-like TV demagogue. Here, everything is either “brilliant”, “bloody brilliant”, “awesome”, “lovely” or, should Timothy Dalton agree to a role in your Christmas special, “AMAZING!!!”

We learn why his laborious gags are, in fact, “vital to the whole tone of the show. They ARE flippant, but that flippancy is intrinsic to the Doctor.” We share in his love of his own scripts (”how can you not watch Doctor Who when it’s this good?”) and thrill at his undying appreciation of actor Russell Tovey’s arse. The duo’s free-wheeling, irksome email discourse is “live and unfiltered. We didn’t go back and tidy up”, boasts Davies, as if merely the act of pausing to reappraise a text is anathema to the creative process.

Although the relationship between the journalist and scriptwriter can be endearing - Cook as saucer-eyed pageboy to Davies’ flapping dandy prince - there is always a flash of steel beneath the Welshman’s candyfloss exterior. He discusses his belief that it is “outrageous” not to have a BBC Doctor Who ident - and is not remotely surprised when the BBC promptly gives him one for Christmas. It seems that what Davies wants, Davies gets. “Oh, I’ve become a monster”, he writes towards the end of his Doctor Who tenure, the implied tee-hee not quite erasing the suspicion that this is not a character to be trifled with.

You wonder how his extraordinary ego will serve him in Hollywood; how the hand-on-the-tiller-or-else approach and the breakneck multi-tasking Philip Pullman refers to in his foreword as “omnicompetence” will wash with an industry notorious for its dismissive treatment of scriptwriters.

We leave Davies in his new, temporary home in Venice Beach, waggling his toes in the sand and pondering his new circumstances. “Christ, LA!” he hoots. “What the hell am I doing? Maybe it’s my mid-life crisis…” Had slightly more of this self-doubt been applied to The Final Chapter, it might have been a less irritating experience.

“The Bookworm”

“The Writer’s Tale: The Final Chapter, the paperback version of Russell T Davies’ funny, gripping account of being in charge of Doctor Who, has 300 new pages!” raves the magazine. Other things on Heat’s Hot List include the new series of Skins, the ‘Single Ladies’ scene in Glee, and Empire of the Sun’s latest single ‘Without You’. Naturally.

Read the full article

“We didn’t really plan a second book,” Russell T Davies says of this January’s follow-up to 2008’s The Writer’s Tale. The original book comprised a candid and in-depth e-mail correspondence between Russell and DWM journalist Benjamin Cook, spanning February 2007 to March 2008. It documented the writing and production of Series Four, tackling everything from the courting of JK Rowling to the snubbing of George Lucas, taking in chicken pox, press leaks, the companion that never was, Steven Moffat’s thighs, and the loss of Russell’s third-best pair of trousers in Soho. “But Ben and I just kept on writing to each other,” explains Russell. “It had become a habit. As it went on, it sort of became clear that there was one last gasp between the end of the original book and the end of my work on Doctor Who, so it seemed quite a small step to take… which then tuned into 350 bloody pages!”

The new volume, called The Writer’s Tale: The Final Chapter, features 135,000 words of new material, across 13 chapters, taking the correspondence up to September 2009 and covering David Tennant’s final episodes as the Doctor. It’s as candid, as honest, and as impulsive as the first book… which is thrown in for good measure. “I’m proud of both books,” says Russell. “That’s important to me – that I was honest, and said stuff about writing that I haven’t seen anywhere else. After the first book was published, I had a few letters saying that it was self-indulgent, and one even said ‘solipsistic’ – but if you buy a book stuffed full of my e-mails, what the hell are you expecting?!”

Doesn’t demystifying the writing process make Russell’s job harder, ultimately?

“I did worry, actually. I thought I might wreck my own scripts, because I’d exposed the wiring, and made the whole thing fuse… or something. Look how good it’s made my analogies! Or is that a metaphor? You see, I’m broken. But when it came to the next script, I just put my head down, and got on with it. Writing is so full of fear and panic that the last thing on my mind was what I’d said in the first book.”

In the second book, and knowing that his e-mails might be published, did Russell censor himself as he went?

“There wasn’t any censorship,” he says. “These e-mails are written in the heat of the moment, often in the small hours. The whole point of them is to unburden myself of everything that’s in my head. Start to plan that, and modify it, and I’d be doubling my own workload.”

So, to what extent does this new edition complete the story told in the first?

“It’s not so much a snapshot – a year in the life – as a story with a proper beginning, a middle, and an end,” acknowledges Russell. Topics include the killing of Ianto Jones, an ABBA/Torchwood crossover, slagging off Prince Charles, and the arrival of Matt Smith. “If I’d been in the middle of my time on Doctor Who, we couldn’t have kept going every year, or whole rainforests would have been cut down. But we had the chance, in the new pages, to look back at Series One, and all the peaks and troughs along the way, so there are a good few more memories in the text. And by covering the end of David’s time, we do get to talk about Operation Cobra – the plan to announce David’s departure live on ITV, which was still the maddest thing we ever did. I read those chapters back and think: we were inane! But I wouldn’t have missed a second of it.”

BUY IT BECAUSE: It includes lots of exciting things. Here are DWM’s edited highlights… Page 344: “Imagine kissing Davros!” Page 364: “The Doctor on board the Enterprise, puncturing Starfleet pomposity…” Page 407: “Torchwood is in a desperate state. DESPERATE! I am weeping.” Page 459: “Some sod has had their photo taken with me, and given me BLOODY FLEAS!!!” Page 474: “I realised that I’m channelling The Faceless Ones.” Page 524: “There’s still no sign of the missing £300,000…” Page 538: “Daleks, they’re just dicks in bins.” Page 622: “The fans will says it’s Romana. Or even the Rani. Some might say that it’s Susan’s mother. But of course it’s meant to be –” Page 660: “Michael Jackson wants to visit the TARDIS set at 4.30pm today!”