Don’t forget to enter in our exclusive contest to win an autographed copy of “What’s All The Fuss About…?” by Ian Wheeler and Will Hadcroft. And to tie-in with the contest, why not check out our interviews with the authors of the book in the latest edition of Whotopia. Both Ian and Will spoke with us about writing the book, their love of reading and writing and their own personal thoughts on Doctor Who.
Interviewed by Jez Strickley, Ian has this to say when asked what sort of writing he prefers…
With fanzine articles, you can get them finished relatively quickly so it’s nice to see something that is complete and ready to be printed without too much fuss. A book takes longer but is more satisfying when it is finished because you feel that you have achieved something substantial. Both types of writing are rewarding in their own way. The downside of being a fan writer is that you don’t get much feedback, although occasionally nice comments have come my way.
While Bob Furnell spoke with Will and asked him what led to his collaboration on “What’s All The Fuss About” with Ian…
I’d always wanted to do an at-a-glance guidebook helping people who were curious about Doctor Who get to grips with the basics and sample recommended stories, but not bog it down with loads of detail. So I decided each Doctor should have a little introductory paragraph or two, then some recommended viewing, and then a miscellaneous section with all the detail of production and received fan wisdom that a new reader could take or leave. I imagined most readers ignoring most of the miscellaneous background stuff.
To see if the format would work, I wrote the first two Doctors up. I didn’t really want to write the entire thing myself, so I started looking round for a suitable co-author. I got on with Ian Wheeler. He’d published some pieces of mine years ago when he was editor of Celestial Toyroom and I’d met him once at a convention and we clicked. So I knew I liked him and I’d be able to work with him. He’d also contributed to a number of anthologies like the You on Who books, so I guessed he might like to get involved with my project. Thankfully, he said yes!
