Whovians Create Interview
20th May 2012
By kind permission of http://www.whovianscreate.com/.
J.R. Southall joined the chat on Sun May 20, 2012 2:01 pm
J.R. Southall : Hello folks! I just spoke to Tim (Hirst) yesterday afternoon (via Text!) and he's told me that the first book will definitely be in print next month, by the way.
Campion : Excellent. Hello!
DalekSupreme08 : What's the book about, if you'll excuse my ignorance?
J.R. Southall : It's called You and Who, and essentially it's a series of 66 essays in which people talk about how and why they first got into Doctor Who... There's a little bit more to it than that, obviously, but that's at the core of it. I basically set up a website about 18 months ago (youandwho.weebly.com), and asked people to write about themselves and their relationship with the programme.
SevensUmbrella : What a lovely idea!
J.R. Southall : Thanks! The idea was, initially, to self-publish the book (it was going to be through Lulu), but then things moved on and now it's going to be published 'properly'.
DalekSupreme08 : That is a good idea, actually. So... the obvious question – who's your favourite Doctor?
J.R. Southall : Haha! Well, I grew up with Tom (and the latter part of Pertwee's era), but having discovered Patrick Troughton on VHS and then DVD, I must admit he's the one I'm most happy in the company of. I just think Pat, Frazer and Wendy is the ideal, most fun – and most welcoming (if you're a new viewer, maybe) – TARDIS team.
DalekSupreme08 : Same, actually. Even though I'm 14, I think Troughton is definitely the best!
J.R. Southall : Completely. There's just something about the actor that is so screen-friendly. Every time he's in the frame, you just can't help watching him and his performance, and wanting to hear more of what he says. He's brilliant. It's the same with Tom, to be fair, but to me, Patrick seems the most friendly. Off-screen, I think Colin's a wonderful, wonderful man, too. It's just a shame that what happened on-screen while he was there didn't really make his era the best.
DalekSupreme08 : What about least favourite?
J.R. Southall : Ah, least favourite. I've got to say, it's a bit of a toss-up between Davison and Pertwee, for different reasons... Peter Davison, who I happen to think is a great actor and an awesome human being, made a couple of choices with the acting that I wasn't particularly happy about. His "panting acting" is one of those things that really grates with me whenever I watch his stories - and he wasn't blessed with the strongest of scripts either, to be fair.
Scary : Oh no, I love Pertwee.
J.R. Southall : Scary, I don't think any of them have been "bad" Doctors, I hasten to add. I love Pertwee too! But having to pick a "least favourite"... I just find Pertwee slightly pompous, which was fine when I was watching him when I was 5, but not so much as an adult. Love the stories, love the eras, and deep down, love the Doctor too - but I just think I'd prefer one of the slightly less self-important Doctors. The Pertwee era is massively fun. But the UNIT family atmosphere makes Pertwee come across a bit like a grumpy grandparent sometimes!
SevensUmbrella : Are the essays in the book by your friends? Or did you ask online? Was there a process?
J.R. Southall : They're mostly by complete strangers – although several people I already knew online were only too eager to take part. There's nobody in there I knew "in person", though. My local friends never got around to writing anything - I think they wish they had now! Tim (Hirst) has suggested he'd like a new volume every spring for the forseeable future (as long as they're doing well, of course). The idea, if you'd like to submit, is just to make it as personal a history, or essay on whatever subject, as you can... The one thing that really helps is variety, so if you can think of an "angle" that will make your essay different to everyone else's, then that's going to help it stick in people's memories after they've finished the book.
Campion : Personally, I'm really looking forward to seeing Guy's submission.
J.R. Southall : Ah, Guy Lambert's. It's a bit different to the norm, and a bit longer (the ideal length is around 1,000 to 1,5000 words, really). But Guy's essay deals with the subject of working at the BBC while Doctor Who came back to television, and there are all sorts of anecdotes of being at CBBC at the time. It's great! I'll try and give a few more tips about writing an essay for You and Who 2... For one thing, always try and put as much of yourself in there as you can. The more "personal" the essay, you see, the more it resonates. And try and point at specific things that will remind readers of their own experiences. (Although don't get too involved with being over-specific. You don't want to bore people!)
Campion : From my own experience of writing it (not to sound pompous or what not) sit down and write what you think about Doctor Who and it comes out quite easily.
J.R. Southall : Campion's got it completely right. Just write what you think about the programme, and the "why" you think it will begin to shine through all by itself. In the first book, one author simply writes an essay about why he loves the character of Barbara so much. Another does a compare-and-contrast between how he first saw the episodes and what he thinks of them now. The compare-and-contrast essay is brilliant and weird and very, very different. But it's also utterly fascinating! Another author writes a submission not about how he first saw Doctor Who the programme, but about his first encounter with one of Doctor Who the actors!
Campion : Didn't Dez Skinn write one for You and Who 1 as well JR?
J.R. Southall : He does indeed. It's only a fairly short piece, but it's lovely. A couple of anecdotes about working with Tom Baker to promote the first edition of Doctor Who Weekly. Great stuff! Of course, he's my honorary editor-in-chief at Starburst now, too!
Campion : I remember Sean Baldwin telling me that he was in a pub with some friend once and it took him a bit before he discovered that the man getting the drinks was Dez.
J.R. Southall : Yeah, Dez Skinn's involvement was because of someone else I know who's in the book who knows him, and actually went around his house and explained the book and asked him to write something for it. Book One also contains an essay from a chap (same chap as knew Dez, coincidentally) whose dad worked on Who in the sixties. There's a really nice blend of people who are just fans (if there's anything "just" about being a fan) and people who also have connections with the programme in one way or another. It's a great way for the unknowns, the knowns and the semi-knowns to all rub shoulders with no hierarchy whatsoever. Everybody who's in You and Who is there because they love Doctor Who, period. As long as you're a fan, there's always a place for you in You and Who. And a few 'names' scattered among the contributors is never going to hurt, is it? I tried to persuade Colin Baker to write an intro for book one, but it didn't happen sadly! Maybe I can try again with book 2...
Before I go, let me leave you with a little present. It’s an extract from the essay we were talking about earlier, by Guy Lambert.
SevensUmbrella : Thanks for chatting.
J.R. Southall : I had a great time – thank you too. Cheerio!
Guy Lambert : “Back in 2005 I also worked a lot with Andrew Hayden-Smith. He was presenting BBC1 live afternoons, something I produced now and again. We were quite good friends, and one day we had a conversation about how he wanted to get back into acting. This then turned to Doctor Who and whether they would consider casting a CBBC presenter in the next series. I remember saying: ‘Andrew, Russell T Davies will love you!’ Well, you know what happened next... One day Andrew snuck up to my desk and excitedly whispered in my ear: ‘I’ve got a Doctor Who audition, but I can’t tell you anything else about it!’ These were exciting times. When he disappeared off to Cardiff to make the show, CBBC was very proud of him, and I was beyond thrilled. Once again, in a very small way, I was involved in Doctor Who, even though over in Cardiff they were completely unaware of any of this!”
J.R. Southall joined the chat on Sun May 20, 2012 2:01 pm
J.R. Southall : Hello folks! I just spoke to Tim (Hirst) yesterday afternoon (via Text!) and he's told me that the first book will definitely be in print next month, by the way.
Campion : Excellent. Hello!
DalekSupreme08 : What's the book about, if you'll excuse my ignorance?
J.R. Southall : It's called You and Who, and essentially it's a series of 66 essays in which people talk about how and why they first got into Doctor Who... There's a little bit more to it than that, obviously, but that's at the core of it. I basically set up a website about 18 months ago (youandwho.weebly.com), and asked people to write about themselves and their relationship with the programme.
SevensUmbrella : What a lovely idea!
J.R. Southall : Thanks! The idea was, initially, to self-publish the book (it was going to be through Lulu), but then things moved on and now it's going to be published 'properly'.
DalekSupreme08 : That is a good idea, actually. So... the obvious question – who's your favourite Doctor?
J.R. Southall : Haha! Well, I grew up with Tom (and the latter part of Pertwee's era), but having discovered Patrick Troughton on VHS and then DVD, I must admit he's the one I'm most happy in the company of. I just think Pat, Frazer and Wendy is the ideal, most fun – and most welcoming (if you're a new viewer, maybe) – TARDIS team.
DalekSupreme08 : Same, actually. Even though I'm 14, I think Troughton is definitely the best!
J.R. Southall : Completely. There's just something about the actor that is so screen-friendly. Every time he's in the frame, you just can't help watching him and his performance, and wanting to hear more of what he says. He's brilliant. It's the same with Tom, to be fair, but to me, Patrick seems the most friendly. Off-screen, I think Colin's a wonderful, wonderful man, too. It's just a shame that what happened on-screen while he was there didn't really make his era the best.
DalekSupreme08 : What about least favourite?
J.R. Southall : Ah, least favourite. I've got to say, it's a bit of a toss-up between Davison and Pertwee, for different reasons... Peter Davison, who I happen to think is a great actor and an awesome human being, made a couple of choices with the acting that I wasn't particularly happy about. His "panting acting" is one of those things that really grates with me whenever I watch his stories - and he wasn't blessed with the strongest of scripts either, to be fair.
Scary : Oh no, I love Pertwee.
J.R. Southall : Scary, I don't think any of them have been "bad" Doctors, I hasten to add. I love Pertwee too! But having to pick a "least favourite"... I just find Pertwee slightly pompous, which was fine when I was watching him when I was 5, but not so much as an adult. Love the stories, love the eras, and deep down, love the Doctor too - but I just think I'd prefer one of the slightly less self-important Doctors. The Pertwee era is massively fun. But the UNIT family atmosphere makes Pertwee come across a bit like a grumpy grandparent sometimes!
SevensUmbrella : Are the essays in the book by your friends? Or did you ask online? Was there a process?
J.R. Southall : They're mostly by complete strangers – although several people I already knew online were only too eager to take part. There's nobody in there I knew "in person", though. My local friends never got around to writing anything - I think they wish they had now! Tim (Hirst) has suggested he'd like a new volume every spring for the forseeable future (as long as they're doing well, of course). The idea, if you'd like to submit, is just to make it as personal a history, or essay on whatever subject, as you can... The one thing that really helps is variety, so if you can think of an "angle" that will make your essay different to everyone else's, then that's going to help it stick in people's memories after they've finished the book.
Campion : Personally, I'm really looking forward to seeing Guy's submission.
J.R. Southall : Ah, Guy Lambert's. It's a bit different to the norm, and a bit longer (the ideal length is around 1,000 to 1,5000 words, really). But Guy's essay deals with the subject of working at the BBC while Doctor Who came back to television, and there are all sorts of anecdotes of being at CBBC at the time. It's great! I'll try and give a few more tips about writing an essay for You and Who 2... For one thing, always try and put as much of yourself in there as you can. The more "personal" the essay, you see, the more it resonates. And try and point at specific things that will remind readers of their own experiences. (Although don't get too involved with being over-specific. You don't want to bore people!)
Campion : From my own experience of writing it (not to sound pompous or what not) sit down and write what you think about Doctor Who and it comes out quite easily.
J.R. Southall : Campion's got it completely right. Just write what you think about the programme, and the "why" you think it will begin to shine through all by itself. In the first book, one author simply writes an essay about why he loves the character of Barbara so much. Another does a compare-and-contrast between how he first saw the episodes and what he thinks of them now. The compare-and-contrast essay is brilliant and weird and very, very different. But it's also utterly fascinating! Another author writes a submission not about how he first saw Doctor Who the programme, but about his first encounter with one of Doctor Who the actors!
Campion : Didn't Dez Skinn write one for You and Who 1 as well JR?
J.R. Southall : He does indeed. It's only a fairly short piece, but it's lovely. A couple of anecdotes about working with Tom Baker to promote the first edition of Doctor Who Weekly. Great stuff! Of course, he's my honorary editor-in-chief at Starburst now, too!
Campion : I remember Sean Baldwin telling me that he was in a pub with some friend once and it took him a bit before he discovered that the man getting the drinks was Dez.
J.R. Southall : Yeah, Dez Skinn's involvement was because of someone else I know who's in the book who knows him, and actually went around his house and explained the book and asked him to write something for it. Book One also contains an essay from a chap (same chap as knew Dez, coincidentally) whose dad worked on Who in the sixties. There's a really nice blend of people who are just fans (if there's anything "just" about being a fan) and people who also have connections with the programme in one way or another. It's a great way for the unknowns, the knowns and the semi-knowns to all rub shoulders with no hierarchy whatsoever. Everybody who's in You and Who is there because they love Doctor Who, period. As long as you're a fan, there's always a place for you in You and Who. And a few 'names' scattered among the contributors is never going to hurt, is it? I tried to persuade Colin Baker to write an intro for book one, but it didn't happen sadly! Maybe I can try again with book 2...
Before I go, let me leave you with a little present. It’s an extract from the essay we were talking about earlier, by Guy Lambert.
SevensUmbrella : Thanks for chatting.
J.R. Southall : I had a great time – thank you too. Cheerio!
Guy Lambert : “Back in 2005 I also worked a lot with Andrew Hayden-Smith. He was presenting BBC1 live afternoons, something I produced now and again. We were quite good friends, and one day we had a conversation about how he wanted to get back into acting. This then turned to Doctor Who and whether they would consider casting a CBBC presenter in the next series. I remember saying: ‘Andrew, Russell T Davies will love you!’ Well, you know what happened next... One day Andrew snuck up to my desk and excitedly whispered in my ear: ‘I’ve got a Doctor Who audition, but I can’t tell you anything else about it!’ These were exciting times. When he disappeared off to Cardiff to make the show, CBBC was very proud of him, and I was beyond thrilled. Once again, in a very small way, I was involved in Doctor Who, even though over in Cardiff they were completely unaware of any of this!”