David A McIntee Discusses Lethbridge-Stewart Book “The Schizoid Earth”

Christian Cawley is a writer at Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews - All the latest Doctor Who news and reviews with our weekly podKast, features and interviews, and a long-running forum.

Candy Jar Books has confirmed the release date of the second title in the Lethbridge-Stewart series, The Schizoid Earth by David A McIntee, which will be available from September 25th 2015 in paperback and on Kindle.

This follows the announcement that the range schedule was being reorganized following delays. Here’s what the follow up to The Forgotten Son is all about…

Blurb: “Lethbridge-Stewart was supposed to be in the mountains of the east. Things didn’t quite go according to plan.

On the eve of war, something appeared in the sky; a presence that blotted out the moon. Now it has returned, and no battle plan can survive first contact with this enemy.

Plagued by nightmares of being trapped in a past that never happened, Lethbridge-Stewart must unravel the mystery of a man ten years out of his time; a man who cannot possibly still exist.

Why do the ghosts of fallen soldiers still fight long-forgotten battles against living men? What is the secret of the rural English town of Deepdene? Lethbridge-Stewart has good reason to doubt his own sanity, but is he suffering illness or injury, or is something more sinister going on?”

To accompany this news, author David A McIntee has chatted about the release, which sees him return to the Doctor Who universe following a rich history of involvement with the Virgin and BBC Books in the years when the show was off air..

McIntee has been writing TV tie-in books for twenty-two years for popular franchises such as Star Trek and Doctor Who. From 1993 to 2004 he was one of the very few authors to write novels for every Doctor from the classic series, as well as one Doctor-less novel which saw Lethbridge-Stewart taking the lead.

MicIntee said: “I was asked by Andy Frankham-Allen at Candy Jar to write The Schizoid Earth, because he liked what I’d done with some of the Doctor Who books – in particular The Face Of The Enemy, which was very UNIT-heavy, with the Master and Lethbridge- Stewart as co-leads. I was given the basic idea by Candy Jar, and given how much I love the character, and could see lots of cool ideas to do with a pre-UNIT Lethbridge-Stewart, I wasn’t going to turn that down. There’s just so much opportunity with the character at that stage of his life.”

David A McIntee has seized that opportunity with both hands with an exciting and complex tale that covers two worlds, acting as a dark mirror to the first Lethbridge-Stewart novel, The Forgotten Son, creating a sinister plot against the title hero that will be sure to have readers on the edge of their seats.

“You have to be careful with characters,” McIntee explains when asked about writing a spin-off based on one of the most enduring supporting characters in Doctor Who’s long history. “For example one can’t have the unintelligent Lethbridge-Stewart that sometimes appeared (the one who thinks an alien planet is Cromer, for example [in the television story The Three Doctors broadcast in 1972]), because you don’t have this alien bloke to look smart by comparison. And, in my opinion, that’s a good thing, because you want everybody to be portrayed as at their best – these are supposed to be the elite, after all”.

When asked about whether The Schizoid Earth will have any connection to his previous solo outing for Lethbridge-Stewart, McIntee said, “Yes, in some ways, but not necessarily in the way you’d think. For example, what you see on the cover isn’t what you think you see on the cover. And there is at least one linking character.”

Talking about the enduring popularity of the character, McIntee said the continued success of Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart was thanks to the actor who brought the character to life from 1968 to 2007, Nicholas Courtney: “The character’s strengths, when written properly, are his intelligence and loyalty and honour, which I think are also timeless qualities we look for in our fictional heroes – especially military type ones. But Nick was, is, and always will be at the heart of it.”

When asked what to expect, Editor Andy Frankham-Allen says, “The rug to be pulled from under you. The cover, I feel, produces certain expectations from long-term fans, and if there’s one thing we like to do, is play on expectations and then do something completely unexpected. And David has done that brilliantly. It’s something of a dark reflection of The Forgotten Son, and, to utilise a well-worn cliché, Lethbridge-Stewart’s life will never be the same again.” McIntee agrees, and adds, “you can expect ’60s style Spy-Fi, action, thrills, explosions, sudden mad reversals and shocking cliff-hangers.”

Lethbridge-Stewart: The Schizoid Earth can be ordered from the Candy Jar online store for just £8.99.

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