Customer Reviews

Doctor Who: The Writer's Tale ("Doctor Who") (Doctor Who (BBC Paperback))

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you think the description of what this book is about lets you know what you're getting into, you're wrong. Well, half wrong. You do get to understand what a head writer/show runner has to deal with day to day. You even get to read a few of Russell T. Davies' first drafts of the episodes for series 4 of Doctor Who. All Through Emails.
But - You also get to hear his inner most thoughts of procrastination, stress, the absolute passion he has for his characters, (every one of them that he has created) and the passion he has for writing. He talks of writing as if his head never turns off, and he even admits he would be writing whether or not he had a job on a tv show. He brings you into his passion and his excitement when he decides to kill off a character, or when he discusses why it all is for the good of the story.
The other half of the emails are by Benjamin Cook. He asks all the right questions at all the right times. I was almost surprised that when I asked something in my head, he would be right there asking the question and sometimes even asking a better one.
Russell doesn't want it to be a "how you should write" book, but he does teach you that the way you write is just wonderful and the love you have for writing and creating is the most important thing. There was so much advice in this book that I'm sure Russell didn't think he was giving but I'm glad he gave.

As the author of a book on writing myself (The Musical Theatre Writer's Survival Guide), and as a fellow very hard on books about writing (I don't think they're worth much unless they're by people who actually do the kind of writing they're expounding on for a living), I promise you, this one is worthwhile. For anyone who tells or wants to tell stories in any print or performance medium.

Though the book collects the seemingly unedited, largely unexpurgated email dialogue between Russell T Davies and journalist Benjamin Cook -- and as such may instill the apprehension that it will be a long-winded ramble (the print is small and it is a BIG, THICK book, and a coffee-table edition at that) -- it turns out to be a breathless and often un-put-downable read, akin to any of the classical philosophical exchanges of literature between mentor and student. Davies, despite being a telly populist at heart, is among the brightest, most articulate dramatists in the English speaking world, with a staggering analytical perception I'd liken only to a very few (such as Sondheim and Stoppard) and his thoughts and observations are passionate, funny, touching, instructive and provocative throughout. He makes it clear that he doesn't mean for his process to be regarded as any kind of template for everybody's process, but as with any great writer, the acquaintance is still well worth making. And there are full scripts represented too. Not only that, but among the profuse illustrations are many by Davies himself, who seems to be as gifted a cartoonist as he is a wordsmith.

Caveats? One, and it may be a big one. I'm not sure how well the text of this book will translate to anyone who is not at least passing familiar with Davies' new millennium renovation of DOCTOR WHO in general, and his work on season four (the primary launching pad for this book's ruminations) in particular. Not that it isn't all quite comprehensible -- but I wonder if it will resonate as meaningfully to one who isn't already an aficionado. It's probably worth at least a trip to the public library to find out; whereupon if it passes muster, I would absolutely recommend shelling out the shekels to add it to yours.

This textbook-sized tome (512 page of 2 column printed in some relatively small font) contains correspondence (emails) between Russell and Benjamin (the author) as the development of season 4 begins.

These e-mails radiate personality and huge insights into where the seeds of ideas germinated into the final product and some seeds just withered (i.e. Season 4's companion called "Penny").

Though I shouldn't be, I am amazed by the volume of Russell's text and how he seems so fearless and, at the same time, racked with doubt. You do feel the power of his love for television medium and his completely driven nature.

The writing process is something that cannot be described with a few pages or even a book but this book feels like it pushes around the edges so completely, you feel like you getting a glimmer of the forces that defines the product of the writing process.

Now, I agree that you should really be versed with Doctor Who TV lore and the universe created within the last 4 years - and more than a passing understanding of English colloquialisms. Just like the TV show, you will feel more impact if you understand the body of work that leads up to the present.

It is just great fun to peek into Russell's mind to see how he created one of the most enjoyable shows on TV (for me at least).

Now, I _wish_ they had also done this with Joss Whedon while he was doing Buffy, Angel and/or Firefly.

*sigh* Meanwhile, I'll be sated with this one.

As many other reviewers have told us, this is a great book, especially for fans of "Doctor Who" and/or Russell T. Davies. Davies is one of the best writers in any medium and it's fascinating to have a behind-the-scenes tour of his creation of 2+ seasons of "Doctor Who" scripts (with a little "Torchwood" on the side.)

However, Amazon's listing is a bit confusing. The current listing makes it appear that there are two editions (hardcover and paperback) of the same book, which is not the case. The hardcover edition (THE WRITER'S TALE, published in 2008) is the beginning of the correspondence between Davies and Cook, dated between the winter of 2007 and the summer of 2008, and includes samples of scripts which were attached to that correspondence. The paperback (THE WRITER'S TALE: THE FINAL CHAPTER, published in 2010) includes all of the correspondence from the hardcover edition but eliminates the script samples. (They are moved to their website [..].) It picks up where the correspondence left off in the hardcover edition and continues till the summer of 2009. The illustrations overlap to a certain extent but not entirely. Oddly enough, Amazon's UK site makes this distinction perfectly clear.

Personally, I'm glad I have both editions, though I could wish that THE FINAL CHAPTER was also available in hardcover to make a nice pair. And what I would REALLY like is for Mr. Davies to dig into his memory and tell us about what happened before the books, all the way back to when he first started work on the resurrection (or is it regeneration) of "Doctor Who."

I have just finished reading A WRITER'S TALE by Russell T. Davies & Benjamin Cooke and I want to strongly recommend it to everyone who aspires to being a good writer.

Davies is the man who brought the new award-winning BBC series DR.WHO back to the screen as Head Writer and Executive Producer. He also created TORCHWOOD, THE SARAH JANE CHRONICLES, CASANOVA and QUEER AS FOLK among many other brilliant and sometimes controversial TV series.

Cooke is a journalist who writes for Dr. Who Monthly and Radio Times and is the author of a book about the audio adventures of Dr.Who.

This weighty tome - and it is surprisingly heavy due to the high quality paper and hundreds of colour pictures - is a unique insight into the creative process of a writer who has to not only generate many of the high quality scripts in the series but oversee many of the practical aspects of running the show.

It takes the form of emails back and forth between Davies and Cooke over a year and a complete series and are the totally uncensored thoughts of a writer at the top of his game.

It's also completely up to date as it brings us to the last episode shown which was the Xmas Special shown on Xmas Day 2008.

There are several scripts exactly as he writes them each day and it's fascinating as you see how he shapes the stories due to not just rewriting but the constraints of practical TV production, from budgets to the death of an actor!

There are nuggets of gold in here as his insights are original and powerful emparted with Davies' well-known humour and directness.

You don't need to know the series - though if you don't, shame on you - to enjoy and learn from this book and the fact it's a British writer and TV series are irrelevant because Davies grapples with all the same problems that face writers everywhere in the world. His description of his crippling procrastination in the face of deadlines is worth the price of the book alone!

As you can tell, I loved this book and I want everyone to share in the excitement of that discovery.

John

In February 2007, Benjamin Cook shot DOCTOR WHO's Russell T. Davies an e-mail: would he be interested in providing some input to Cook about how a WHO episode is written? As Russell answered, "You had me at hello."

The "article" evolved into THE WRITER'S TALE, and then THE FINAL CHAPTER, a 700-page collection of the e-mails (and occasional texts) shot back and forth between Cook and Davies between the fateful day in 2007 through David Tennant's final appearance as the Doctor. In between, in a great cascade of words, one actually does find out how more than one episode is conceived, filmed, and finished, and a whole lot more. Before Catherine Tate signed up for her season, for example, Davies was working through the creation of a new companion for the Doctor, a young woman named Penny, whose father was a stargazer. How Penny changed and then morphed into Donna Noble, and how the stargazer became her grandfather, played by the delightful Bernard Cribbins, is completely told here.

In the meantime, there are behind-the-scenes glimpses, Davies' growing pressures as a writer for both WHO and TORCHWOOD, premieres, filming successes and problems (that damaged bus in "Planet of the Dead," for instance, was supposed to be whole; it was damaged in transport), script flaps, actor changes, the conception of the final story, and perhaps even a partridge in a pear tree. All in great fun--I found it totally absorbing, down to the terrible puns.

I loved this book. Consisting entirely of e-mails between Russell T. Davies (show-runner for the New Doctor Who Series through the first 4 seasons + year of specials) and Benjamin Cook (journalist from the Doctor Who Magazine), we given a behind the scenes look at how the last two years of Doctor Who (under Davies) came together.

The most interesting aspect of the book is seeing how insecure Mr. Davies could be, despite the brilliant work he produced. He's also quite the procrastinator, something I could relate to a lot.

I don't think everyone will love the book as much as I did...you really have to enjoy the behind the scenes look at the writing process. I'm sure some readers won't care about that...instead looking for juicy tidbits about the production (there are quite a few of those as well, but it isn't the bulk of this large book).

I highly recommend this to Doctor Who fans who are interesting in the creative process. I also recommend it to anyone who wants to know what running a large show like this entails.

I thought this was a great insight into how Doctor Who is written by Davies and other writer's and what goes on behind the scenes. I thought it should have left in the scenes they had in the first book (too much of a hassle to go on line to read the scripts)and how Davies and company was able to resurrect Doctor Who back in 2005. Despite the two critiques, I would recommend this book to anyone who was interested in writing for television or movies and wanted to know about the ins and out of Doctor Who.

As a huge Dr. Who fan, I had to have this book. It has exceeded every expectation I had! More than just a behind-the-scenes of Dr. Who, the email correspondence between Davies and Cook delves into Davies' personal life, inspiration and previous works. Surprising is Davies' persistent self-doubt mixed with exploding arrogance over his own talent. He is consumed by his profession and was truly destined to be a writer. As the end of his time on Dr. Who approaches (during which time he is producing and writing for three shows), it becomes obvious that his labor of love has become an intolerable burden. But, he keeps going...out of loyalty to his fans, co-workers and cast.

Davies' philosophical humor about what it means to be a writer, how to make it in the business and monk-like cloistering in Cardiff make it clear why he is such a successful writer.

Davies, while insisting that this isn't a how-to guide, provides really interesting examples of how he has developed his writing technique and why is works. It's more than just what he writes, but how he writes it that makes his stories so successful. The difference between "He runs to the TARDIS quickly" and "He runs to the TARDIS. FAST!"

Overall, this book gives a peek at the consumptive passion the artist has for his art. Whether painter, sculptor or writer. It's not a job for these people. It's a compulsion!

This book would be an excellent primer for anyone who wishes to be a screenwriter or who wants to break into TV. Written as an e-mail correspondence that lasted two years or more, you get a really fascinating look into how a writer works (or doesn't!) how decisions such as casting get made, and all the vicissitudes of filming.

One of the more interesting sections is a "before and after" script: the original, written by a staff writer, and the improved version, edited and re-written by Mr. Davies. What a difference!

You don't have to be a Doctor Who fan to appreciate this book, but it probably helps if you've seen the 2005+ re-boot version (not the old, 1970s silly sci fi), so that you have a clearer idea of the discussion topics.

In summary, it's not hard to see why Doctor Who became the number one show in the U.K. under show runner Mr. Davies. He's brilliant!