WHO: HOW & WHY

There's no U.S. publication date yet, but the book Doctor Who: The Writer's Tale by Russell Davies is on my must-read list.

Davies spearheaded the revival of the classic British TV show, the longest-running sci-fi series in history (seen stateside on the SciFi Channel and available on DVD). In this book, a series of emails between Davies and journalist Benjamin Cook, Davies pulls backs the curtain on what it's like to revamp, write and produce one of the genre's most enduring icons. You can read some excerpts from the book here.

The publisher has made available several of Davies' Who scripts here. They're all worth reading but I definitely recommend "Midnight," an uncanny alien encounter tale that takes place mostly within the confines of one room.

Davies is leaving the show in the capable hands of writer Stephen Moffat, who penned some of the revamped show's more memorable episodes. As a parting gift, Davies leaves us with a rare glimpse inside the world of television production. Writers everywhere will want to sample his insights and process:

There's little physical evidence of the script process to show you. No notes. Nothing. I think, and think, and think...and by the time I come to write, a lot has been decided. Also, a lot hasn't been decided, but I trust myself, and scare myself, that it'll happen in the actual writing. It all exists in my head, but in this soup. It's like the ideas are fluctuating in this great big quantum state of Maybe. The choices look easy when recounted later, but that's hindsight. When nothing is real and nothing is fixed, it can go anywhere. The Maybe is a hell of a place to live. As well as being the best place in the world.

I filter through all those thoughts, but that's rarely sitting at my desk, if ever. It's all done walking about, going to town, having tea and watching telly. The rest of your life becomes just the surface, chattering away on top of the Maybe...and the doubts. That's where this job is knackering and debilitating. Everything - and I mean every story ever written anywhere - is underscored by the constant murmur of: this is rubbish, I am rubbish, and this is due in on Tuesday! The hardest part of writing is the writing.

via i09