Doctor Who: The Writer's Tale: The Final Chapter

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Doctor Who: The Writer's Tale: The Final Chapter

4.48 of 5 stars 4.48 · rating details · 835 ratings · 129 reviews

For this new edition of The Writer’s Tale, Russell T Davies and Benjamin Cook expand their in-depth discussion of the creative life of Doctor Who to cover Russell’s final year as Head Writer and Executive Producer of the show, as well as his work behind the increasingly successful Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures spin-offs. Candid and witty insights abound throughou...more

Paperback, Expanded Edition, 704 pages

Published January 14th 2010 by BBC Books (first published October 31st 2008)

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

More…

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

This book is not yet featured on Listopia. Add this book to your favorite list »

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 2,219)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

Feb 06, 2012 Ben Dutton rated it 5 of 5 stars

There are many hundreds of books about writing – some of them are very good indeed. When I taught creative writing at university, I used to wax lyrical about Stephen King’s On Writing, but also about E.M Forster’s Aspects of the Novel and Dorothea Brande’s Becoming a Writer. To that inestimable list I can now add The Writer’s Tale by Doctor Who head Russell T Davies.

When this book first appeared in 2008, it was hailed as a masterpiece. Included in top ten lists at the end of the year, appearing...more There are many hundreds of books about writing – some of them are very good indeed. When I taught creative writing at university, I used to wax lyrical about Stephen King’s On Writing, but also about E.M Forster’s Aspects of the Novel and Dorothea Brande’s Becoming a Writer. To that inestimable list I can now add The Writer’s Tale by Doctor Who head Russell T Davies.

When this book first appeared in 2008, it was hailed as a masterpiece. Included in top ten lists at the end of the year, appearing on Richard and Judy’s Book Club list and read by millions of Doctor Who fans, I was a little wary that it would be too populist, contain not nearly enough about the actual writing process. I did not buy it then. When Russell T Davies completed his final episodes for David Tennant, they updated the book, and it was declared even richer in content. Now I had to have a look.

Constructed around an email correspondence between RTD (as he’s known) and Doctor Who Monthly editor Benjamin Cook – he requested RTD to deconstruct his writing process over the course of one episode that became a two year analysis in writing, living and thinking. That this is a book about Doctor Who is almost incidental: the lessons one can learn from this invaluable tome can be applied to any form of TV writing. As someone looking to begin a career in the BBC very soon, it has been an eye-opener and primer for what I can expect.

It is also very, very funny. This was the biggest surprise – though it shouldn’t have been, for RTD’s scripts have always been funny (a small aside: I’ve followed RTD’s writing career since 1999 when Queer as Folk showed me that there was more to TV than the serial killer dramas and dull action movies my family thoroughly enjoyed. I think I enjoyed that show all the more as I had to watch it in secret, at two in the morning, and couldn’t talk to anybody about it as all my friends and family were/are homophobic and so I related to Nathan Malone and his journey, and boy did I laugh with them too) and this book is just as funny: his lift journey at the NT Awards with Liz Sladen and the rest made me buckle over with splitting sides.

If one has even the slightest interest in writing, Doctor Who, the television industry, then The Writer’s Tale is an absolute must. I’d recommend you watch the finished products of David Tennant’s final episodes as The Doctor, as it illuminates those moments wonderfully: and made me keen to sit through them all again. (less)

6 likes · like · see review

Nov 20, 2011 Jonathan rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: science-fiction, non-fiction

This was an unusual book. As of recently I've been in a very Doctor Who mood and like any of my fads I read up about things related, I watch things related and I'll often do things related to that fad.

The Writer's Tale: The Final Chapter is a follow up to The Writer's Tale and includes the original text along with 300 extra pages of content. So while all up it was a 700 page book it was virtually two books in one. The original book had developed as a result of an email correspondence between Rus...more

2 likes · like · see review

Apr 26, 2010 Holly Heisey rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: writers, Doctor Who fans

I'm a huge fan of Russell T. Davies' big, epic writing in the new Doctor Who, so as a writer I welcomed this chance to peek inside his head, through his email correspondence with journalist Benjamin Cook. What I found surprised me, enlivened me, heartened me; made me laugh and cry and say, "yes, I know that exactly!" He's candid, sordid, "big and blousy," and funny. He doesn't sugar coat things; many parts are painfully honest.

But here unfolds the twin story of one of the most successful shows o...more

3 likes · like · see review

Dec 23, 2009 Nicholas Whyte rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

"http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/1278783.html[return][return]This book is essential reading, not just for the Doctor Who fan, but for anyone who is even slightly interested in the show, or more broadly who is interested in the process of writing for television.[return][return]It is structured as a year-long email conversation between journalist Benjamin Cook and Russell T Davies about the process of writing the fourth season of New Who, from Voyage of the Damned to Journey's End. (Also briefly inc...more "http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/1278783.html[return][return]This book is essential reading, not just for the Doctor Who fan, but for anyone who is even slightly interested in the show, or more broadly who is interested in the process of writing for television.[return][return]It is structured as a year-long email conversation between journalist Benjamin Cook and Russell T Davies about the process of writing the fourth season of New Who, from Voyage of the Damned to Journey's End. (Also briefly including Time Crash.) On the scale of loving or hating RTD, I am sort of in the middle: I respect and admire his achievement in reviving Who in the first place, which I think in the end puts me just slightly on the 'love' side of the divide, but I don't always like his writing, or his public persona. This book reinforced both my positive and negative prejudices about him as a professional, but it grounded them in a much deeper understanding of his personality, and in the awful responsibility of the writer on a show like Who: his loyalty and his guilt circulate around his key colleagues - Julie Gardner, Phil Collinson, David Tennant - and worrying that he won't produce the goods with adequate quality or promptness.[return][return]Vast amounts of draft script are included in the book, much of which made it to screen. I found the roads not taken rather interesting - who was the comedienne who might have played Penny, the companion who never was because Catherine Tate accepted the invitation to return? Imagine if Dennis Hopper had been available? And at the very end of the book, Cook rightly persuades Davies to drop a really awful linking script between Journey's End and The Next Doctor. [return][return]But even more interesting is to see what the fundamental idea of each story actually is. They are not always very strong. The Stolen Earth/Journey's End is almost entirely about showing rather than telling:[return][return]...Daleks, en masse. Lots of gunfire and exterminations. And the biggest Dalek spaceship ever - more like a Dalek temple. Christ almighty! The skies over the Earth need to be changed to weird outer space vistas. Also, visible in the sky, a huge Dalek ship exterior. The size of a solar system! This will probably explode. Like they do.[return][return]And Davros.[return][return]So the episodes are seen at this point largely as spectacle rather than story; the most effective bit, the end of Donna's travels with the Doctor, emerges rather late in the day from Davies' fevered imagination. One may not always like the solutions he comes up with, but the insight into the creative process. Is utterly fascinating and compelling.[return][return](Certain sections of fandom will not be pleased by what he has to say about the internet. Too bad. To paraphrase Neil Gaiman on George R.R. Martin, Russell T Davies is not your bitch.)[return][return]There is a surprising amount of death in the book: Christopher Ecclestone's driver, David Tennant's mother, Verity Lambert, and most of all Howard Attfield, called from his sick bed to reprise his role as Donna's father, but unable to complete the scripts. After his death, his scenes are reshot with Bernard Cribbins. The show must go on.[return][return]Indeed, that is the bigger lesson from the. Book. If Doctor Who is sometimes less than perfect, it happens basically because The Show Must Go On, and because the writers and producers have determined to put on screen what they can. It is rather amazing that it ended up so well as often as it did.[return][return]Anyway, this is probably the most interesting book about Doctor Who that will ever be written. If you are even slightly interested in the subject, get it."(less)

3 likes · like · see review

Apr 07, 2010 Jay Bell rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book is a series of emails between Russel T. Davies and journalist Benjamin Cook. I found that disappointing at first, but most of the emails are long rants from Davies about what it is like to be a writer, so it isn't far from what a proper book from him might have been like. I think writers would get the most from this book, since the interesting tidbits on Doctor Who are few and far in between.

This new edition contains 300 pages of new material, which mostly consist of Davies feeling str...more

2 likes · like · see review

Sep 24, 2011 JJ rated it 5 of 5 stars

This summer (in contrast to last year), I can't seem to finish anything. I pick up books and then drop them without abandon. A fatigue has settled over everything like a pall, so I'd decided to give reading a break until I could muster up the enthusiasm again.

Enter Russell T. Davies' THE WRITER'S TALE, which is a collection of emails from him to Boswell-type young man, in the year he wrote the fourth series (plus specials) of Doctor Who. I am, of course, an unabashed fan of Doctor Who (and parti...more This summer (in contrast to last year), I can't seem to finish anything. I pick up books and then drop them without abandon. A fatigue has settled over everything like a pall, so I'd decided to give reading a break until I could muster up the enthusiasm again.

Enter Russell T. Davies' THE WRITER'S TALE, which is a collection of emails from him to Boswell-type young man, in the year he wrote the fourth series (plus specials) of Doctor Who. I am, of course, an unabashed fan of Doctor Who (and particularly of RTD's run as showrunner) and of David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor, but more than fangirl's dream, this book is full of amazing and TRUE advice for writers. Even more wonderfully, this isn't RTD's "This is How You Write" manual that he's handing down from on-high, these brilliant nuggets of information are sneaked in-between him fancying the pants off Gareth Lloyd David (who played Ianto Jones in Torchwood), his love of Misfits and Russell Tovey, scheduling, casting, and budget issues, and other small everyday details.

Some examples of great wisdom:

"Most people ARE likeable, or go through the world with some construct of character that they hope is likeable. That's how you get through life. [...] The key with characters is to be HONEST. If a character's actions are believable, then that character will work. Notions of like or not-like become irrelevant."

"'Something to say' sounds political, but that doesn't mean I sit here thinking, oh, I must announce my thoughts about gay men, about Christianity, about life. Maybe that's when bad scripts are written, when you choose the theme first."

"A prerequisite of a good story is that the audience watches the central character--or characters--change, even if the characters themselves aren't aware of that process happening."

I'm aware that some people find Russell T. Davies' writing melodramatic and overwrought. I can't deny those claims (he did get his start writing soaps, after all), but behind the melodrama, what RTD has successfully managed to do in EVERYTHING he's written that I've seen is make me CARE--from Queer as Folk to Casanova to Bob and Rose to Doctor Who. He's one of the few writers who can make me cry. I remember the Doomsday of Doctor Who so very clearly--it was the first episode to make me sob (and I mean proper ugly crying with snot and everything) and the first to get me well and truly hooked into the series. As RTD says, "there is an echo of every loss you've ever felt" in Doomsday and it's true.

This is an indulgent work and make no mistake, but it's also amazing. Also, Philip Pullman blurbed AND wrote a foreword for it, and you all must know my opinion of Philip Pullman's storytelling gifts by now.

A must read for every writer out there. (And I don't say this lightly.) If even a quarter of the manuscripts I read took at least ONE of his nuggets to heart, my job would be so much easier...(less)

2 likes · like · see review

Oct 19, 2011 Bludhaven rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011, doctor-who-and-related, non-fiction

This is very interesting for everyone who wants to know about the process of writing - not only for Doctor who fans. Russell T. Davies, the chief writer of the Doctor Who relaunch success and Benjamin Cook were exchanging emails through the writing process of Season Four (including all the specials and a good part of Torchwood and the Sarah Jane Adventures) and these email paint a very colorful picture of what it means to be a writer in general - and for an ongoing TV series in particular.
As vie...more

1 like · like · see review

Apr 07, 2011 Persephone rated it 4 of 5 stars

Okay, I'll be straight with you. If you're not a follower of the sci-fi/fantasy television series Doctor Who, there's probably little reason for you to read this book (or this review, for that matter). It's not just about Doctor Who, of course. It's about British television in the early part of the first decade of this century, and, above all, it's about writing, but to get to that, you 'll be wading up to your waist in Doctor Who and if you're not a Whovian, you'll just get lost, trust me.

Russe...more

2 likes · like · see review

Jan 30, 2011 Mely added it · review of another edition

Shelves: memoir, writing, tv, 2011-read

Pretty much the strengths and weaknesses you would expect. Interesting reading about BBC TV production, which is not as different from US production as I'd expect -- it seems to end up with the same crazed rush at (and well past) deadlines despite the apparently more sensible schedule and more limited seasons.

Davies is surprisingly oblivious to some of his own prejudices/carelessness -- I'd have expected the awareness of how gay men are stereotyped in the media (he complains, understandably, abo...more

2 likes · like · see review

Oct 25, 2010 Larry Zieminski rated it 5 of 5 stars

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...more

1 like · like · see review

May 23, 2011 Bill rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-by-famous-people, biography-and-memoir, european, fantasy, horror, humor, life, monsters, mystery, pop-culture, sci-fi, space, tv-and-movies, doctor-who

This giant, doorstopping, potential lethal weapon of a book documents the creation of the current version of Doctor Who from the very beginning of the writing process of Season 4 up through the Specials and the end of Russell T. Davies' time as writer, producer, and show-runner. The story is told by verbatim reprintings of the email correspondence between Davies and Doctor Who Magazine writer Benjamin Cook, and the effect is twofold: first, it's like a really nerdy version of Dear Mr Henshaw; an...more

1 like · like · see review

Feb 20, 2010 Richard Wright rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2010

Oh dear. The original Writer’s Tale in hardback was in my top five books in 2008. In it, Russell T. Davies gives a year’s worth of correspondence detailing agonies and wonders of writing and producing his final regular season of Doctor Who. I loved it, and declared it to be one of only a handful of books I’ve read about writing that I needed to read. Now comes the paperback release, except it contains another three hundred pages, continuing the story through the year in which he produced the fiv...more

1 like · like · see review

May 08, 2011 Sandy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book was an unexpected delight. I noticed it by accident at my local library, and picked it up expecting some backstage insights into the television show but not much else. What I found was something richer and broader - an insightful and intelligent look at the whys and hows of scriptwriting, and of working in television in general.

"Doctor Who: The Writer's Tale" consists of approximately a year's worth of emails between Russell T. Davies, the head writer and producer of the relaunched Doc...more This book was an unexpected delight. I noticed it by accident at my local library, and picked it up expecting some backstage insights into the television show but not much else. What I found was something richer and broader - an insightful and intelligent look at the whys and hows of scriptwriting, and of working in television in general.

"Doctor Who: The Writer's Tale" consists of approximately a year's worth of emails between Russell T. Davies, the head writer and producer of the relaunched Doctor Who series, and Benjamin Cook, a fellow writer and reporter. The emails attempt to answer broad creative questions like "Where do ideas come from?", "What does it take to be a professional writer?", and "How do you know when a script is good?" in the framework of a year of writing the fourth season of Doctor Who. The book also contains several full-length scripts for episodes, printed chronologically as they are written over multiple days, with comments and revisions.

This book was very nearly a five star read for me. I loved the email correspondence between Davies and Cook. However, the scripts themselves felt redundant, mostly because Davies's writing style is to let everything kind of percolate for a while, thinking about things, and then write in one creative burst - meaning that his scripts are written nearly exactly as they end up being aired. It can feel like reading the long text version of an episode you've already seen, without additional insights, when you just want to get back to the conversation at hand.

But what a great conversation! Russell T. Davies discussing his creative process highlighted a lot of the things I admire and love about his work, and find frustrating at the same time. The Doctor Who miscellany (the companion that didn't make it, the script ideas he muses on - like Doctor Who meets Harry Potter) are a bonus for Who fans. And did I mention he draws as well? The book is full of little comics of the characters and scenes in his scripts (he has a very visual imagination).

I'd highly recommend this for anybody interested in the nuts and bolts of writing, television, and Doctor Who fans in particular.

Four enthusiastic stars.
(less)

3 likes · like · see review

Feb 13, 2013 Magdalena rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites

Amazing adventure. Voyage not only into great screenwriter's head, but also into life of very interesting, very kind, very funny person. Two weeks ago I didn't especially like RTD. I love RTD now. Hard work. Sleepless nights. Doubts. Constant strive for perfection, for improvement. But above all - fun and happiness, because it's the best TV show ever created, isn't it? And pride. Quite justified. I really enjoyed reading about the creative process, abandoned ideas, evolving stories. About Davies...more

1 like · like · see review

Feb 13, 2010 Sarah rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This was actually very, very entertaining. I was very amused by the interaction between Russell and Ben and loved learning the ins and outs of some of the scripts I cherish. It's also intriguing to learn how Russell's mind works, which stories he clung on to, and which he didn't. It was also very insightful to see how plagued by insecurity he was and how he had to push passed all of that to give us the Doctor Who we know and love. Also, his crush on Russell Tovey just made me grin like an idiot....more

1 like · like · see review

Aug 09, 2011 Joshua Pruett rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

One of the BEST books about writing I have ever read, providing an unprecedented peek behind the scenes at the joy that is DOCTOR WHO (which you all should be watching anyway). This collection of emails between showrunner and reporter manages to capture the impossible - an answer to that mythological writing question; "where do you get your ideas?" Full of great stories, script samples and rambling brainstorm transcriptions. Get the paperback - at almost seven-hundred pages, it's twice as long a...more

1 like · like · see review

Feb 07, 2009 Rosianna rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Even if you're blubbing at the Doctor and Rose on Bad Wolf Bay in 'Doomsday', you're empathising, you're feeling it, and there's an echo of every loss you've ever had in that.

It's tricky to write about my reaction to The Writer's Tale because it was so mixed. Primarily, it was so honest, and I never expected about 98% of the book (if not more) to be made up of emails between Russell T. Davies and journalist Benjamin Cook. Cook asks brilliant questions, never forced, and Davies has a wonderful ma...more

7 likes · like · see review

Jan 08, 2009 Emma rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is a book that not everyone would enjoy, since you obviously need to have an appreciation of Doctor Who.
However, for anyone interested in both the programme and script writing it is a fascinating read, as Russell T Davies discusses how he writes the scripts for the show, talking in depth about his thought processes, formation of ideas and how his work is effected by outside influences, as well as his own feelings about being a writer. For someone who has already watched the finished series...more

like · see review

Mar 30, 2013 Stephen Bates rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is a year in the life - told in emails between the two authors - of the original New Doctor Who writer Russell T Davies. This thick and weighty tome covers his time writing the fourth season of the show, from around early 2007 to early 2008 and even covers stuff like the Christmas special "The Next Doctor" and onto Series 5.

For those interested in writing or Dr Who - or both - this is a great read. I got it as a Christmas present and it's nice to dip into it and read a chapter, although cha...more

like · see review

Oct 25, 2011 Jessica Snell rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction, science-fiction, writing

I just got a book that's been on my Amazon wishlist for awhile: Russell T Davies' (and Benjamin Cook's) Dr. Who: The Writer's Tale.

I've been an admirer of his work, and I'm becoming even more admiring of his honesty about his writing process. Some great stuff so far:

When asked if he's ever gone into some tricky situation in order to gather material, he says no, but then says, "Is that true, though? Did I just lie my way out of that? Okay, so I've never sought out an experience just so that I ca...more

like · see review

Apr 10, 2010 Erik rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Having completed a two-month long viewing of the entire new Doctor Who series courtesy of my Netflix queue (I bought them all shortly thereafter, I gushingly admit), and while waiting for the new series with the new Doctor and companion in just a week’s time, I ordered up the second updated edition of Davies and Cook’s email correspondence through Amazon (using a generous Amazon gift certificate I received on my birthday last month) and devoured it in a less than a week. Yes, all 700 pages. Whic...more Having completed a two-month long viewing of the entire new Doctor Who series courtesy of my Netflix queue (I bought them all shortly thereafter, I gushingly admit), and while waiting for the new series with the new Doctor and companion in just a week’s time, I ordered up the second updated edition of Davies and Cook’s email correspondence through Amazon (using a generous Amazon gift certificate I received on my birthday last month) and devoured it in a less than a week. Yes, all 700 pages. Which ain’t all that hard to do when a.) you’re on Spring Break, and b.) you can’t put the darn book down. My love for the Doctor knows no bounds, it seems.

In a nutshell, this hefty tome collects all the back-and-forth emails exchanged between Davies and Cook (more of the former than the latter, in actuality) during the three year period beginning when Davies started sketching out the plot threads and story-arcs for Season Four, and ending with his completion of the final Tennant specials that aired at the close of 2009 and beginning of 2010. (Since then, he has relocated to LA with under BBC America/Worldwide to develop Torchwood America with FOX. Can you spell B-R-I-L-L-I-A-N-T?)

Some of the more interesting insights that I gleaned from Davies’ hilariously witty and snarky banter with Cook were the initial ideas for the Tenth Doctor’s final season and subsequent specials that never developed beyond mental sketches in his mind. For instance, imagine a Season Four that might-have-been with Penny Carter, instead of Donna Noble? (The former eventually made it into that season’s initial episode, although in much diminished status.) Or what if Buckingham Palace had been blown to smithereens – with a cameo by Prince Charles, no less -- in the 2007 Christmas Special Voyage of the Damned? (In hindsight, that would have lessened the impact of the events in Turn Left, towards the close of Season Four.) These are just many of the delicious twinklings of ideas that were considered by Davies, many of which never saw the light of day – let alone the front of a TV camera.

Also just as intriguing is being able to witness second-hand the exploding cultural obsession with all things Doctor Who in the UK since the series was restarted in 2005. (I missed it as I was last there in 2003. But I’m sure that come this summer when I return to the Isles, I’ll see first-hand how much it has pervaded their culture.) Here’s hoping that Moffet, Smith, and Gillan are able to make their dream come true of causing a Who-Invasion here in the States when they arrive next week in NYC for a special screening of the new series leading up to its premiere on BBC America. (In all honesty, this show is better than the last UK cultural bomb that dropped on America. That being a certain bespectacled boy wizard. Oh, was that sacrilege I just uttered? Jeepers.)

Whether you’re a newly-minted Who fan as I am, an aspiring writer, or, -- even better – both, this book’s an absolute gem. Run, don’t walk, to get it in your fanboy/girl-loving hands. Not only will you not regret it, but you won’t be able to put it down.
(less)

like · see review

May 06, 2011 Melissa rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011, hardback, library-book, media-tie-in, non-fiction

I was pretty disappointed with this. The parts about development and storylining of Doctor Who were really interesting - exactly the sort of behind-the-scenes insights I'd been hoping for. Sadly, they were few and far between. The vast bulk of the book comprised Russell T Davies moaning about how hard it is being a writer, and salivating over Russell Tovey. It's actually pretty weird how much he goes on and on about the incidental character Midshipman Frame, who had, what, four minutes of screen...more

2 likes · like · see review

Feb 01, 2009 Stephen Theaker rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

An absolutely brilliant book. Doctor Who's been blessed with a wonderful range of non-fiction works over the years, not least among them Benjamin Cook's book on the audio adventures, but this tops them all.

You get to see what goes through the mind of the man presiding over what's arguably the greatest triumph of modern British television. There are dozens of surprises in here. Sometimes it's how early some things happened (Steven Moffat had written the first pages of episode 5.1 - to be broadcas...more

1 like · like · see review

Jan 16, 2013 JA rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I really loved this book -- enough that I stayed up too late several nights because I just wanted to read a few more pages -- but I think that says a great deal about my level of Doctor Who fandom, as opposed to whether it is intrinsically a great book.

I can imagine it also being of interest to someone contemplating a career as a writer, or especially specifically as a screenwriter. But for me, the primary joy of it was reading the descriptions of work in progress on specific scripts, knowing h...more

like · see review

Mar 10, 2011 Anna rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Ok, so Davies is a nutter. A wildly creative nutter who is very good at smoking, ogling nice men, making himself crazy with missed deadlines, and a maniac writing practice that involves mapping entire episodes in his head before even beginning. All after red line panic has set in, so he can whip himself into a Phillip K. Dick type frenzy and actually you know, write summat.

He also rewrites everybody else's scripts for consistency. Flagellant. The book left me with a sense of gladness that he is...more

like · see review

Mar 04, 2011 Lyndon rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

There are lots of reasons to love this book. Firstly, it's about writing. Secondly, it's about Doctor Who. Which is really enough to sell any book. But to be honest this candid reprinting of the correspondence between Russell and Ben is more than that - it's also simply a joyous account of two fanboys working on a show they love.

I adored every second of behind-the-scenes access offered in this book. Some of Russell's writing advice is truly inspiring, and to watch the story of the series changin...more

like · see review

Jul 10, 2009 Gareth rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Part how-to-write-like-Russell-T-Davies, part biography-of-RTD, part how-to-make-a-successful-science-fiction-programme, part gossip-about-various-actors'-bottoms. If you're a Dr Who fan with any interest in what goes in to making the show, this is great. If you're a writer, or are just fascinated by writing and people who make stuff up for a living, this is an awesome book.

RTD provides a valuable insight into the way he works. It is very honest, covering his procrastination, his fears about not...more

like · see review

Jun 28, 2010 Steve rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: doctor-who

I actually read Writer's Tale: The Final Chapter, the updated paperback version with 300 more pages. And yes it's great because it's Who-tastic, but it's also of great interest to me as a teacher of writing as he breaks down very well the struggles he deals with as a writer and how his creative process works. Highly recommended.

1 like · like · see review

Aug 07, 2009 Rob Bakie rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: writers, Doctor Who fans.

I've just started this, but it's pretty much everything I'd want out of a book on writing by the man who resurrected Doctor Who. It takes the form of a (pretty much) verbatim email and text message exchange between Russell and Benjamin Cook over the period of several months starting before Season 3 had aired and during the preparation for the Christmas Special and subsequent Season 4. For a Doctor Who fan, it's fascinating to watch the various stories and cast members for what would follow fall...more

like · see review

Mar 31, 2013 Lauren rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: wishlist, non-fiction, favorites, science-fiction

This book is an absolutely fascinating background story of the making of the fourth season/specials of new Doctor Who from showrunner Russell T. Davies. It's told through a series of emails and text messages between Davies and Doctor Who Magazine writer Benjamin Cook.

The exchanges are for the most part incredibly compelling, and I spent more than one night pushing off bedtime so that I could keep reading more. At times I could tell chunks of email between the two had been cut out for length, bu...more

like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … 73 74 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

topics	posts	views	last activity
Who out there watches Dr. Who?	8	14	May 07, 2013 06:18pm

combine
Other Editions (4)

Genres

Non Fiction

18 users

Media Tie In > Doctor Who

10 users

Media Tie In > Tv

6 users

Autobiography > Memoir

5 users

Biography > Autobiography

5 users

Language > Writing

4 users

Biography

4 users

Pop Culture > Fandom

3 users

Culture > Pop Culture

3 users

Biography Memoir

3 users

See top shelves...

Readers also enjoyed similar books

About Russell T. Davies

Russell T Davies, OBE, is a Welsh television producer and writer. He is a prolific writer, best known for controversial drama serials such as Queer as Folk and The Second Coming, and for spearheading the revival of the popular science-fiction television series Doctor Who, and creating its spin-off series Torchwood. Both are largely filmed in Cardiff and the latter is set there.

More about Russell T. Davies...

Books by Russell T. Davies

Queer as Folk : The Scripts from the British TV Series

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, #1)

More…

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Trivia About Doctor Who: The W...

No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »

Quotes from Doctor Who: The Writer...

“My God, that scene in Monster Inc. where the monsters realise that their entire world is founded on hurting children -look at that for a change! Two galumphing cartoon characters making a shattering realisation about their world and their role in sustaining it. A truly epic moment. It's stunning.” — 40 people liked it

“Writing is such an industry now. In many ways, that's a good thing, in that it removes all the muse-like mystique and makes it a plain old job, accessible to everyone. But with industry comes jargon. I was aware that jargon was starting to fill those growing shelves of Writer's Self Help books, not to mention the blogosphere. Wherever I looked, the writing of a script was being reduced to A, B, C plots, Text and Subtext, Three Act Structure and blah, blah, blah. And I'd think, that's not what writing is! Writing's inside your head! It's thinking! It's every hour of the day, every day of your life, a constant storm of pictures and voices and sometimes, if you're very, very lucky, insight.” — 15 people liked it

More quotes…

title link	preview: Doctor Who: The Writer's Tale: The Final Chapter
avg rating	preview: Doctor Who: The Writer's Tale: The Final Chapter Goodreads rating: 4.48 (835 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8867736-doctor-who?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1288500457l/8867736.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8867736-doctor-who?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Doctor Who: The Writer's Tale: The Final Chapter by Russell T. Davies[/url]

Doctor Who: The Writer's Tale: The Final Chapter

Friend Reviews

Community Reviews

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website