Oxygen

Writer: Jamie Mathieson
Director: Charles Palmer

The Doctor, Bill and Nardole answer a distress call in deep space, and find themselves trapped on board space station Chasm Forge. All but four of the crew have been murdered - and the dead are still walking!
In a future where oxygen is sold by the breath, and space suits are valued more highly than their occupants, the TARDIS crew battle for survival against the darkest evil of all…

One of favourite TV shows was the ITV programme Shillingbury Tales, a series also filmed in Aldbury. As a location it has always been presented as an idyllic English village, but what if dark forces were at work behind the scenes? My story combines this rural peace with an underbelly of violence.

I remember reading about Starwatch in Doctor Who Magazine a few years back. So when Mark started working with Candy Jar on a new project, we grilled him about this. During these conversations he pitched an idea for a short story: Shillingbury Tales meets The Tomorrow People, with a hint of Children of the Stones. I told him to go away and write it.

I wanted the story to feel as much like the early 1970s as possible. I’m old enough to remember how grim it was. In particular I remember how frightening football violence could be. This story transfers the fears of the terraces to a rural village and throws Lethbridge-Stewart into the mix.

I’ve really enjoyed the detailed work on the novellas, especially as the schedule has been slightly more relaxed. However, I have missed the fun of a tight schedule. And this one was certainly tight! Anyway, nothing brings out creativity better than a tight deadline. I put the artwork together in record time and I am rather pleased with it. It’s like A Clockwork Orange meets Jossey’s Giants.

People who have ordered the bundle already will automatically get the free story, but I would advise those readers who plan to buy all three to do it as soon possible. We only have fifty bundles left and a handful of copies of the individual titles.

In The Last Duty Eileen was only a cameo. Her inclusion came quite late to the mix, and despite her character hinting at a past fighting aliens, we didn’t fully explore this, so when the opportunity came along to delve deeper, I jumped at the chance.

Eileen worked in the Filter Room, the top secret hub of Britain’s air defence, and tracked the first V2 rocket into the country! Before she died, I had a brief conversation with her about our Lethbridge-Stewart series. We joked about her being the first person to track an alien rocket into the country and this sparked an idea. Her sad death prompted us to include her in The Last Duty, but now we feel the time is right to discover more about Eileen’s alien fighting exploits during WW2.

My aunt would have been tickled pink at the fact that she is a central character in this the latest book in the Lethbridge-Stewart series.

For this second cover I wanted to create a full colour image rather than my usual mix of colour and black and white. I had also backed myself into a corner with The Life of Evans. I found it quite difficult to fade the hand-drawn train explosion into the background, so here for the first time I decided to create the fire effects digitally, though Travers and Eileen are still pencil drawings.

I was aware of Eileen from seeing her on the TV, but I never knew just how famous she was until I did my preliminary research. It turns out that she lived quite a life, so there was no pressure to get her portrait right... not! I'm pleased to say that the feedback I received from the family totally blew me away. I just hope that I have done her justice for all her fans.

Travers’ life between The Abominable Snowmen and The Web of Fear is still pretty much unexplored, bar a few hints here and there. It has already been established that he worked for a previous version of the Home-Army Operational Corps during World War 2, but this is our first look at what his work entailed. It’s all part of a much larger canvas, as we slowly unveil the hidden mysteries and secrets of Professor Travers’ remarkable life.

For a limited period, Candy Jar Books are opening their Lethbridge-Stewart short story range to everybody (as long as you've never written for the series before). All you have to do is send a one line idea, and a short story you've written (any original short story, as long as it's a finished piece), so the editors can gauge your writing ability.

Please visit our website for more information and the pitch guidelines. Please note Candy Jar will not consider any submission that had not taken into account the information in the guidelines.

Lauren Thomas, publishing coordinator at Candy Jar, said:

Candy Jar is also looking for submissions for their forthcoming book that celebrate fifty years of Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart.

Shaun Russell, head of publishing at Candy Jar, said

If you have an idea, then send it to havoc@candyjarbooks.co.uk with the words 'FACT PITCH' in the subject bar.

We had great feedback from Richard’s Blood of Atlantis cover. His style harks back to the classic era of Doctor Who, and we wanted to showcase this talent across a number of books. As a result we have commissioned him for all three novellas.

One of my favourite artists is Drew Struzan, the man responsible for some the most iconic poster designs of the 20th century, including Back to the Future, Indiana Jones and Star Wars. I would never compare myself to him, but I do try to follow his traditional design philosophy. Shaun, who is also a fan of his work, wanted the novellas to embrace this hand-drawn style.

The main range evolved into a circular motif, so for the novellas we thought we could do something slightly different. Diamond shapes are a standard element of classic Doctor Who, notably the logo used from 1974 to 1979, and it seemed an obvious thing to echo here. Shaun worked with Richard to develop the overall concept, while I continued my focus on the stories.

Once we’d fixed on the idea, I started work on the individual elements for the composition. Candy Jar prefers the artwork for the covers to be submitted as separate elements, rather than a single completed piece of artwork. I’m sure Drew Struzan has never done this, but it does allow for a greater flexibility when I am creating elements individually, or as a whole. So this cover is actually made up of several illustrations; Evans, the train and explosion, the standing stones, the sunset, the old man, and finally his hand.

Tickets are now available for the Fathom Events presentation of BBC AMERICA’s Doctor Who: Season 10 Premiere, playing in movie theaters nationwide for two nights only on Monday, April 17 and Wednesday, April 19, 2017 at 7:00 p.m. local time, following BBC AMERICA’s television premiere on Saturday, April 15 at 9/8c.

In addition to the feature content, audiences will enjoy the premiere episode of the Doctor Who spinoff series Class, featuring a guest appearance by the Doctor himself, Peter Capaldi, and the never-before-seen bonus feature Becoming the Companion, in which fans will travel with new companion Pearl Mackie from the London stage through the doors of the TARDIS to a once-in-a-lifetime role, or as Pearl says, “the most insane thing that's ever happened to me.” The bonus feature includes exclusive interviews with Pearl Mackie, Peter Capaldi, and Steven Moffat, and is narrated by Ingrid Oliver.

With as the official retail partner of the Doctor Who: Season 10 Premiere cinema event, attendees can bring in their ticket stub or proof of purchase to Hot Topic retail locations for 25% off Doctor Who merchandise, valid March 10 – May 6, 2017.

In addition, fans who purchase tickets through Atom Tickets will receive three free Doctor Who digital comic books from Titan Comics and ComiXology, delivered to purchasing email address on event date.

These partnerships along with Fathom Events presentation is all brought together through licensing deals with BBC Worldwide North America.

Tickets can also be purchased online by visiting www.FathomEvents.com or at participating theater box offices. Fans throughout the U.S. will be able to enjoy the event in more than 550 select movie theaters. For a complete list of theater locations visit the Fathom Events website (theaters and participants are subject to change).

I was thrilled to find out my next cover was to feature Professor Travers, in a tribute to Chris Achilleos’ original Three Doctors Target novelisation. I decided to put Jack Watling as the professor on the cover in his ‘possessed by the Intelligence’ state from The Web of Fear. I screen-grabbed a reference from the platform scene with Victoria, and painted his portrait on my WACOM Intuos Pro at around 2-300 x magnification, colouring as I went, with the shading from the screen-shot as reference. The visualisation of the Intelligence was a greater challenge, with the brief stating an ‘ethereal old man-like figure’ in the Omega pose. So, to give the impression of the burning Intelligence within, I opted for a glow from the eyes and mouth, stopping short at having the energy crack the parchment-like figure’s skin.

With Owen, there was a modern reference picture of Ryan Jaymes (a friend of Andy’s, who ‘modelled’ for us) from which to base the character on. It was just a matter of late-’60s/early-’70s hair needing to be applied, as well as clothing based on Adrian Salmon’s character guide art. I thought it would also be nice to add some sympathetic lighting, picked from colours in the background and reflected on the face/hair (including a Shaggy from Scooby Doo style Beard!).

Thonmi was slightly more challenging, as it had to be the same actor who portrayed him in The Abominable Snowmen, David Spenser, but aged somewhat. So the relevant robes and head-dress were required. Luckily with the assistance of Andy, I managed to find a reference online of the actor in later days so was able to incorporate this into the visualisation of Thonmi you see now on the cover.

Day began as a series of interludes set within the framework of Night, but when we considered the eventual word count of Night (which is deliberately set out to be the longest novel in the range thus far) we decided to make Day a novella in its own right. Although both books are connected, in so much as they both explore the origins of the Intelligence, they are still written in such a way that you don’t necessarily need to read one to understand the other. Although, of course, if you have both, then you will get a fuller and more enriching experience.

The relationship between Lethbridge-Stewart and Sally has been simmering away in the background of the series so far, ten novels in total. The Daughters of Earth has been set up very deliberately to put Sally in a position that makes her look at her engagement in a very different way.

Readers adored the team-up of Lethbridge-Stewart and Chorley in 2015’s Mutually Assured Domination, so it was only a matter of time before we paired them together once again, removing them from all familiar surroundings, leaving them with no choice but to work together. With, no doubt, hilarious results.

We’re very excited about our latest series of novels, which not only begins our 50th Anniversary celebrations of the Great Intelligence, but also brings two new authors to the novel range.

We’re very excited to announce these novellas, a way to tell stories that may not necessarily work as full-length works, giving us a chance to explore different corners of the Lethbridge-Stewart universe. We’re launching this new range with three very special releases, all with very specific goals.

I always had a plan to develop Evans beyond the obvious cliches of his television appearance, but it turned out to be one-too-many character arcs for the series. As such Evans disappeared after 2016’s The Grandfather Infestation. Fortunately, the idea of the novellas came along, and due to the popularity of Evans, I decided it made sense to explore Evans’ character arc in the first novella. John Peel was the obvious choice; he writes quickly, and works very well to spec, and since we’ve had a lot of readers ask for more Peel, it seemed the perfect opportunity to kill two birds with one stone. And, naturally, John nailed it.

Part of the fun of writing this kind of story is inventing new menaces. This time I got to create two – only one of which was alien. Another part of the fun is doing terrible things to our favourite characters, and I certainly put poor old Evans through the wringer. I think he'll survive it.

I contacted Glen McCoy in 2016 about using the characters from his Doctor Who adventure, and after a lovely phone call with me explaining my ideas for the series, he was more than happy with what he called ‘a wicked imagination’. Once that was settled, it was just a case of finding the right person to launch the series, so I turned to Robert as I was very impressed with his speed and level of excellence when he wrote us a Halloween story last year.

When Andy and I were chatting on Skype about the upcoming novellas it suddenly dawned on him we could set up the range with a prequel short story. I immediately said yes and then knuckled down to getting the ideas, themes and plot straight. I didn’t want the story to be a direct sequel to Timelash, but I did want to take elements from that story as a way of looking at how those who assume authority after toppling a dictatorship can end up aping some of the actions of those overthrown. And despite the melancholy tone, it was an exciting project to work on – be faithful to the source material, but broaden and deepen the themes to bring them up-to-date with 21st Century sensibilities. I hope everyone enjoys it and stays for the ride that is about to begin!

We always enjoy putting these collections together, but we’re nearing a point where we have less previously-released short stories. Fortunately, this gives us the opportunity to release brand new material, making this latest collection an even more sought after product.

It was inevitable that Tim would write for us, as he’s already sent us a short story previously and even a novel pitch. So, now that’s finally being published by us, I find myself in the odd position of a fictional character based on one of our authors. As such, part of The Lost Skin’s objectives is to write the character out of the series. Fortunately, he’s not appeared in the narrative of the novels since last year’s Moon Blink, which makes writing him out relatively easy.

When the Lethbridge-Stewart range was first announced I was really excited. There had been a decline in the volume of Doctor Who novels since 2005 and I welcomed anything else within that universe to help fill the void. I started to follow Andy and Candy Jar on social media to see if there might be opportunities to become involved somewhere along the line. As I recall Andy put out a Twitter request for any of his followers who would like to put their name to a character in a forthcoming book – Beast of Fang Rock as it turned out. I thought to myself ‘yeah, why not?’ and shoved my moniker in the mix. Some months later Tim Gambrell was in print as a scientist at the Vault. As time went on I realised that I’d been a bit hasty – Candy Jar were encouraging new writers to contribute to the range through their short story initiative; here was I, looking for opportunities and my name was already connected through a fictional character. Tim Gambrell couldn’t be both sides of the pen, could he? Andy was brilliant though. He allowed me to submit a story which, thankfully, he liked enough to ask me to develop further story ideas – one of which became The Bledoe Cadets and the Bald Man of Pengriffen. Aware of the conflict of names, I originally offered to use a pseudonym (which I’ve done in the theatre before) but he came up with another solution.

The germ of The Bald Man of Pengriffen was Andy looking for a Famous Five-type story featuring a young Alistair and the Bledoe Cadets (as mentioned in The Forgotten Son). Conveniently enough I’d recently revisited Enid Blyton’s Adventurous Four books from childhood so I knew the kinds of japes and scrapes to aim for – although I was keen for the story to be less cosy than those of Blyton’s world. We discussed a few story ideas but the Bald Man seemed to tick the most boxes – particularly because Andy likes fougous! And by writing a story about the Brigadier as a small boy, I totally avoid any times and situations that could potentially include my namesake.

I'm old enough now to appreciate the importance of family history, of roots and echoes, and genes at work in lives. For every great black-and-white hero that passed away there's a living successor, connected by love and spirit but completely herself. In this story we see an old man who wasn't much good at family, but who recognises a direct line to a curly-haired, fearless little girl hungry for stories of aliens. And we meet Lucy Wilson, who has been denied his name along with the truth about who her beloved grandad used to be. Now, before he dies, Sir Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart needs to make sure Lucy understands both her heritage and her extraordinary future.

After prodding Andy for information about Candy Jar's method for soliciting writers and clumsily inserting myself into said method with a few pitches that he quite rightly shot down, he suggested writing something with Professor Travers returning to Det-Sen. With the professor rapidly became my one of my favorite supporting characters from the series, how could I say no? It was fun inserting him into the thick of James Bond-style danger, watching as he – just as clumsily as my initial pitch – is ensnared by nefarious villains. When Andy told me my short would form the opening prologue for his next novel, I was beyond ecstatic… And immediately began to worry about the safety of the professor. After all, he's getting up there in years now, and just what did I set him up for?

Originally it was planned to be a straight-up novella, not a part-work. I’m not sure I’m keen on this way of writing, as I like to edit and polish as I go along. Since episode one was published months ago, I no longer have the luxury of editing the first third of the story. It presents a unique challenge for me, one I’m taking by the horns. As a result some of my original plans for the story have changed, but luckily the characters are happy to help me along and take the story in surprising paths.

I also had an idea to write a couple of scenes to show what our other regulars were up to while the Brigadier was enjoying Christmas with Sally. And after writing a couple of scenes, a new thought came to me. Wouldn’t it be fun to get as many of our authors involved as possible? I sent out an email, asking for those free to send me a scene, and many responded. Bit by bit the story became longer.”