This interview with Gary Russell was conducted by Kevin
Mahoney in late 1998.
KM: What first got you into writing?
GARY RUSSELL: Factual? Wanting to my own fanzine.
Fiction. Wanting to write Legacy. Plus doing the Audio Visuals plays.
KM: You've had quite a varied career as a writer, having been
editor of Doctor Who magazine, you've written several novels, and a CD Rom
game. What did you enjoy doing most?
GARY RUSSELL: I like "did". My career is over?
You know something I don't? *gulp* Heeelp!!! Seriously though, editing DWM was
the best fun I've ever had, especially once I was working alongside Marcus
Hearn. The dream team. 1993/94 was the best period possible. Novel writing is
fun but bloody hard work, made much harder by my inability to spread my load
and try to cram it into about three weeks! The CD ROM was an... experience.
Parts of it were great - working with the guys at Studio Fish was brill,
sitting at home compiling the initial database not so.
Doing the scripts was great, but it was blanketed by a feeling that no-one
really knew what they wanted only, so each secton was finished, what they
*didn't* want. And it got a bit hectic towards the end!
KM: One of your novels was called 'Invasion
of the Cat-People', and I believe another one of your alien races is based
on the Guinea Pig. Why this move to put aggressive traits into otherwise
harmless domestic pets?
GARY RUSSELL: I'm a cat fiend, love 'em to death. But my
two cats have very diverse and deep personalities and I have frequently stared
them in the eye and thought 'there's more going on in there than we humans
realise. You're planning on conquering us all soon.' As for the Pakhars
(hamsters rather than guinea pigs) that kind of just wrote itself. I wanted
something furry, fussy and habitual - the idea that hamsters wash themselves
constantly, always flicking their heads around, observing things. Originally
there was just one Pakhar, the reporter, but within, oh, moments, it'd turned
into a planet of the buggers! But they're all sweet and loveable. Few
'aggressive' Pakhars out there y'know.
KM: One of the most distinctive aspects of 'The
Placebo Effect' was the use of theology. Why did you decide to include
this?
GARY RUSSELL: A very good friend of mine comes from a
very Christian background, goes to an almost fundamentalist college. I, on the
other hand, am a very strong atheist - a find organised religion repellent,
mainly because I find most people involved somewhat hypocritical and always
using the Bible to
justify their own personal bigotries and vendettas. Thus we clashed - and had
over the course of a few months some amazing theological/creationist/athiest
arguments. We both learned a great deal from each other, not just our views but
how to appreciate and understand oppossing ones. Determined to open my
mind, I found it surprisingly easy to use our discussions as a focal point of
the both, setting Sam up as me and the Church of the Way Forward as him.
My only determination was that the book offered no proof, no arbitrary solution
on either side. It all came down to faith, believing in yourself rather than
what others told you to believe in. I don't think it is
necessarily obvious from reading Placebo Effect that my own views are
discernable, which was always my intention. People state their beliefs and
their reasons for holding them, rather than ever saying "I'm right"
or "You're wrong". Just as I was polishing the book off I saw the
movie Contact in which Jodie Foster and the male lead have a conversation on
the balcony regarding what faith actually means. I felt that encapsulated a lot
of what I was trying to get over as well. There are no rights and wrongs in
faith. As a people, we chose. Sadly I find a number of people chose to accept
rather than question. I believe it is every human being's duty to use the
intelligence we have to question, disseminate and draw our own conclusions. I
find a number of religious faiths, American Christian right-wing
fundamentalists particular, prefer to treat their believers as sheep and
actively discourage free-thinking. To me, they are a far more frightening
threat to the future of mankind than any atomic bomb or political dictator.
KM: Virgin have just announced that they're cutting down
the number of New Aventures they publish. Why do you think that they are doing
this?
GARY RUSSELL: To make money. If a range isn't selling
enough on a monthly basis because people simply can't afford one per month, one
every two or every four months is far more likely to sell higher quantities.
KM: You're involved in Big Finish, a company which is
producing audio versions of the New Adventures. You've produced a version of
Nigel Robinson's 'Birthright'. Now obviously, you haven't got the
licence to include the characters of the Doctor and Ace. What problems have you
had in adapting this novel, and are there any plans to do any other novels in
the Doctor/Ace era?
GARY RUSSEL: Birthright is relatively easy - the Doctor
isn't present during the Bernice Edwardian action, which is why I thought it'd
be fun to do a Benny story that was a step out of the current range. Nigel was
very happy for us to do so, so that was great, and we put Jason Kane in. It's
the middle part of a three-story arc. And yes, there are at least two other DW
novels we plan to adapt as Bernice novels, both with the full blessing and
enthusiasm of the authors.
KM: You're writing a book about the American TV movie
Doctor Who with producer Philip Segal. What are your impressions of Segal? Does
the future of Doctor Who lie with him?
GARY RUSSELL: Well, if I didn't like Phil a whole lot, I
wouldn't work with him. I'm too arsey to work with people I don't like! The
whole story behind the McGann movie fascinates me, both as a Who fan and as
someone with an intrerest in TV production in general. It was a convoluted
experience for Phil that started in 1989 and ended, initially, in 1996. If
there is a future for the show, I think given circumstances where he could
produce something closer to his heart rather than a US network's heart, he
could well be the best
hope it has.
KM: 'Placebo Effect' was quite ambitious, involving the
return of the two of the Doctor's enemies, the Wirrrn and the Foamasi, and
characters from your Doctor Who strip in the Radio Times. How did you marry all
these elements?
GARY RUSSELL: Easy - I just write 'em down. I adore
playing with other people's characters and because I get criticised so much for
it, the more I can do to piss people off, the more I'm going to do it. The best
thing anyone can ever say to encourage me is 'don't you dare...' I filled the
book with races and characters from comic strips and annuals rather than TV Who
(bar the odd Daleks' Master Plan references, the Wirrrn, the Foamasi and an Ice
Warrior) and had a ball. Some people have spotted the comic/annual
references. No one has spotted them all! And wrapping up the storyline and
characters from the RT strip was a desire after the strip was cut short to make
way for more film reviews in Radio Times (like it really needed them!) and I
had plans for Stacy and Ssard. Here I got to give them the ending I planned.
All that's missing is the middle bit. Anyone who wonders what that was should
ignore the two-parter that ended the RT strip called Coda. As far as I'm
concerned, the strip really ended with Stacy's evil double aboard the TARDIS,
and would have gone on for another 30 weeks. That's what we were commissioned
to do, so that's how we plotted it. Of all the things I've done, I'm very proud
to have done that particular series, but equally sadder about its end than
anything else.
KM: What was your favourite era of Doctor Who? Which characters
do you like writing for the best, and which Doctor Who authors have you tried
to emulate?
GARY RUSSELL: Grew up with Pertwee and so I guess that's
my fav, although I have a soft spot for Davison. I like writing for women best,
be they companions, villain or nurses, policewomen whatever. I write women far
better than I write men. If any of my characters can be said to have more than
one dimension, they are always the women. Well, my biggest influence
writing-wise is Malcolm Hulke. I loved his Who books (I also think his
Crossroads novelisations were sublime!). I learnt a lot from Marc Platt as
well. He told me the mark of someone who has got the Seventh Doctor off well in
prose is the person who gives him nothing to say and Ace everything. Mainly
because on TV Sylvester couldn't remember the lines. So books that have great
long speeches of the Seventh Doctor imparting information to Bernice, Ace, Cwej
etc are innaccurate!
KM: If you were the producer, what sort of Doctor Who
would you create? Who would be your leading choice for the Doctor?
GARY RUSSELL: A good Doctor Who. Ninety minute specials,
four per year, Inspector Morse/Hornblower style. Events rather than an on-going
series for people to get bored with. I have no great choices for the Doctor
really. If I wanted whimsical, a Welsh actor called Alan David, late fifties,
would be my first choice. If I wanted a 'name', Robert Lindsay without a doubt.
KM: What is the most difficult problem you come across in crafting your novels?
GARY RUSSELL: Time. I'm inherently lazy (not a good flaw
for a full-time freelancer!) and work best under pressure. Deadlines. No good
Steve Cole giving me eight months to write a novel. Give me six weeks and it'll
get done. But if I have the luxury of time, I squander it.
KM: Do you write people you know into your books? I'm
thinking here of a certain TV producer character in 'Legacy'...
GARY RUSSELL: I give characters names of mates fairly
often, yes. I never put their actual characteristics in a story, though. The TV
producer in Legacy is *not* based on JNT at all. Lots of people thought he was,
but seriously that never crossed my mind. I wanted to create a sympathetic gay
character searching for his one true love - his career was incidental. The fact
that he (probably) fails was just me trying to be realistic.
KM: Are you already thinking of ideas for future novels?
GARY RUSSELL: Constantly.
Thank you Gary Russell.
You can buy the following Gary Russell novels from
AMAZON.CO.UK:
Business
Unusual The Sixth Doctor investigates a sinister internet company, and
meets up with a fearsome creature from Pease Pottage... Mel!
Doctor
Who: The Novel of the Film: Novelisation of the recent Paul McGann TV
Movie.
The
Scales of Injustice The Third Doctor and Liz Shaw run into a group of
Silurians.
Deadfall
Jason Kane gets into trouble
Lisez cette page en français avec
Babelfish Lesen
diese Seite auf Deutsch mit
Babelfish
