Some things are not meant for the faint of heart. Writing Doctor Who is one of them.

Consider why you’re writing Doctor Who in the first place. We’re in the 21st century and you’re writing Doctor Who because the show is very successful. In fact, it has sixty years of history. Sixty years. There have been TV episodes, novels, comics, not to mention audio plays and books from Big Finish and the BBC. Even through the wilderness years, after the show was cancelled, there were many stories, including the TV movie. That’s a lot of content.

How does one get one’s head around it all? Short answer: you can’t.

How much of that content is canon? What is canon, anyway? The answer to that depends on who you are writing for. In all cases, the TV episodes are canon (mostly). Depending on the TV showrunner, some Big Finish might be canon. If you’re writing for Big Finish, previous Big Finish will be canon. I’ve always preferred the TARDIS wiki’s approach. For them, the question is meaningless. There is no canon. I mean, just think about it. We’re talking, after all, about a show in which time can be rewritten and the entire universe can be rebooted.

Let’s say you’ve got your head around all of that, and you’ve written a story that’s wonderful. Perfect. It has thrills. It has chills. It has humour and pathos and tragedy all rolled into one. And it’s published. That’s where Doctor Who fandom, bless their collective hearts, come in. I will always be grateful that my Big Finish stories were greeted with mostly positive comments. But whenever you put your writing out there, you’re taking a risk. Fans might love it. They might hate it. They might say, “meh.” Some might accuse you of ruining Doctor Who, or ruining their childhood, or being “woke” (heaven forbid). You just don’t know. I don’t have an answer for how you prepare yourself, except that, if you truly believe in what you’ve written, then the rest will fall into place.

It might sound as if I’m being negative, and I don’t mean to be. But I do want to be realistic. Being asked to write Doctor Who is a huge thrill. You might even say it’s the trip of a lifetime. I humbly suggest that, if you’re given the chance, you buckle in and enjoy the ride.

But what, you might wonder, is the worst thing about writing Doctor Who? Easy: it’s addictive. Despite all of the above, you never want to stop.