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{{real world}}
'''Lance Parkin''' is an author who has written a number of books, including the first-ever original [[Eighth Doctor]] novel; ''[[The Dying Days]]'' and the BBC novels; ''[[The Infinity Doctors]]'', ''[[Father Time]]'' and ''[[Trading Futures]]''. Other works include ''Warlords of Utopia'' and (with Mark Jones) ''Dark Matter'', a guide to the author Philip Pullman.
==Writing novels==
Parkin's shortest ever pitch for a novel was ''"I'll set it on Mars!"'', after then Virgin editor [[Rebecca Levene]] said that she needed a [[Bernice Summerfield]] book in six weeks. <ref name= "Outpost interview">[http://web.archive.org/web/20050302200552/gallifreyone.com/interview.php?id=parkin Interview with Lance Parkin Interview by Graeme Burk (Originally published in ''Enlightenment'', republished on Outpost Gallifrey] via [http://www.archive.org/web/web.php Internet Archive: Wayback Machine]</ref>
His final pitch to Levene was for ''[[The Dying Days]]'' and went (something like); .."20 Years ago Dan Dare discovered the truth about Mars and Francis Urquart (the Prime Minister from the House of Cards series) put him in prison. Now he's escaped."''. <ref name="Outpost interview"/>''
Parkin has noted that
''[[Just War]]'' was a reaction to ''[[Timewyrm: Exodus]]''.
<blockquote>''"I like the book, and at the time I was preparing the original submission (Autumn [[1993]]), it was one of the best of the range. It's still very popular - which is why the blurb I wrote for ''Just War'' makes it sound like a sequel! There were problems, though: my main criticism being the depiction of [[Hitler]]. The frightening thing, to my mind, is that Hitler wasn't possessed by the devil or the [[Timewyrm]]; he was just an ordinary man. [[Oskar Steinmann|Steinmann]] is a reaction to the Exodus Hitler - a talented, intelligent, cultured man who chooses to be a [[Nazi]]. That is much scarier than the thought he's been hypnotised by aliens. ...Hitler, of course, isn't mentioned once in Just War - I wanted to try and explore the Nazi mentality without needing to refer to him."''<ref>[http://nzdwfc.tetrap.com/archive/tsv48/lanceparkin.html TSV 48 Lance Parkin interview by Paul Scoones]</ref></blockquote>
Between his three year writing gap between ''The Infinity Doctors'' and ''Father Time'' Parkin was working as a storyline editor for ''Emmerdale'' he was also writing a synopsis for a book that was to have been published in the publishing slot that ''[[Parallel 59]]'' occupies, known as ''Enemy of the Daleks''. <ref name="BBC interview">[http://web.archive.org/web/20061212182253/http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/news/cult/news/drwho/2004/01/01/13699.shtml BBC Website Interview with Lance Parkin 01 January 2004] via [http://www.archive.org/web/web.php Internet Archive: Wayback Machine]</ref>
Parkin has also admitted that he ''"relies on 'continuity references' in my books, and I still do to an extent – but references to the spirit, not the letter. It's good to be looking forward, not back. It's good to have the Doctor centre stage, as the protagonist."'' In particular following events of ''[[The Ancestor Cell]]''/''[[The Burning]]''.<ref name="BBC interview"/>
On the [[EDA]]s as a whole; ''"I think that particularly from The Burning to, say, Time Zero, they’re just about all as good as the NAs, which is about the highest praise I have for Doctor Who."<ref name="Unreality interview">[http://unreality-sf.net/interviews/parkin.html Unreality SF Lance Parkin interview Part 1]</ref>''
When writing ''[[The Gallifrey Chronicles]]'' he has noted that ''"It seems absolutely bizarre to say it at this point but the BBC were keeping their options open. If Doctor Who had bombed on telly, it would have been over and done in thirteen weeks. So part of the brief was to leave things open just in case the EDAs needed to pick up just where they’d left off!"'' <ref name="Unreality interview"/>
However Parkin has noted concerning
''The Gallifrey Chronicles'' and its relation to the new [[Series 1 (Doctor Who)|series]]
<blockquote>''"It’s not an open ending - we know what happens because we saw the result on telly. The Doctor gets his memory back, the Doctor restores Gallifrey, the Doctor wins . . . then at what must be his all time high, it’s all taken from him. And it’s this great big epic story full of mysteries and huge events far too grand to spell out in a book on or TV. A lot of people, wanted a book where the Doctor was led to a big glowing ball of his memories and he grabbed it with both hands and went '[[Drahvin]]s . . . [[Voord]] . . . [[Nimon]]s . . . that bit in ''[[The Dæmons]]'' where [[Bessie]]’s got a remote control . . . I remember it all!' and I understand that impulse, but . . . well, we know he got his memories back. We don’t need to see and be spoonfed everything.<ref name="Unreality interview"/>''</blockquote>
==Bibliography==
===Doctor Who Novels===
'''[[Virgin New Adventures]]'''
*''[[Just War]]''
*''[[The Dying Days]]''
'''[[Virgin Missing Adventures]]'''
*''[[Cold Fusion]]''
'''[[BBC Past Doctor Adventures]]'''
*''[[The Infinity Doctors]]''
'''[[BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures]]'''
*''[[Father Time]]''
*''[[Trading Futures]]''
*''[[The Gallifrey Chronicles]]''
'''[[BBC Tenth Doctor Adventures]]'''
*''[[The Eyeless]]''
===Doctor Who Short Stories===
*''[[A_Town_Called_Eternity|A Town Called Eternity]]'' (with [[Mark_Clapham|Mark Clapham]])
*''[[The_Exiles|The Exiles]]''
===Bernice Summerfield Novels===
====[[Virgin Bernice Summerfield New Adventures]]====
*''[[Beige Planet Mars]]''
====[[Big Finish Bernice Summerfield Series]]====
*''[[The Big Hunt]]''
===[[Big Finish Doctor Who Audio Dramas]]===
*''[[The Extinction Event]]''
*''[[Primeval]]''
*''[[Davros (audio story)]]''
*[[The Company of Friends]]
===Iris Wildthyme Short Stories===
*[[Iris Explains|Iris Explains ]]
===Faction Paradox Novels===
*''[[Warlords of Utopia]]''
===Comics===
Writer / Letterer
*''[[Miranda (comic)|Miranda]]''
===Reference Books===
*''[[A History of the Universe]]''
*''[[AHistory]]''
==External links==
*[http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/news/cult/news/drwho/2004/01/01/13699.shtml BBC Website Interview with Lance Parkin 01 January 2004]
*[http://www.gallifreyone.com/interview.php?id=parkin Interview with Lance Parkin Interview by Graeme Burk (Originall published in ''Enlightenment'', republished on Outpost Gallifrey]
*[http://lostluggage.org.uk/?p=60 Lost Luggage.org.uk Doctor Who and Mythology, by Lance Parkin]
*[http://theeyeless.blogspot.com/ Lance Parkin's blog]
==Footnotes==
<references/>
{{wikipediainfo}}
[[fr:Lance Parkin]]
[[Category:Prose writers|Parkin, Lance]]
[[Category:Prose writers|Parkin, Lance]]
[[Category:Audio writers|Parkin, Lance]]
[[Category:Audio writers|Parkin, Lance]]

Revision as of 01:57, 4 October 2010

RealWorld.png

Lance Parkin is an author who has written a number of books, including the first-ever original Eighth Doctor novel; The Dying Days and the BBC novels; The Infinity Doctors, Father Time and Trading Futures. Other works include Warlords of Utopia and (with Mark Jones) Dark Matter, a guide to the author Philip Pullman.

Writing novels

Parkin's shortest ever pitch for a novel was "I'll set it on Mars!", after then Virgin editor Rebecca Levene said that she needed a Bernice Summerfield book in six weeks. [1]

His final pitch to Levene was for The Dying Days and went (something like); .."20 Years ago Dan Dare discovered the truth about Mars and Francis Urquart (the Prime Minister from the House of Cards series) put him in prison. Now he's escaped.". [1]

Parkin has noted that Just War was a reaction to Timewyrm: Exodus.

"I like the book, and at the time I was preparing the original submission (Autumn 1993), it was one of the best of the range. It's still very popular - which is why the blurb I wrote for Just War makes it sound like a sequel! There were problems, though: my main criticism being the depiction of Hitler. The frightening thing, to my mind, is that Hitler wasn't possessed by the devil or the Timewyrm; he was just an ordinary man. Steinmann is a reaction to the Exodus Hitler - a talented, intelligent, cultured man who chooses to be a Nazi. That is much scarier than the thought he's been hypnotised by aliens. ...Hitler, of course, isn't mentioned once in Just War - I wanted to try and explore the Nazi mentality without needing to refer to him."[2]

Between his three year writing gap between The Infinity Doctors and Father Time Parkin was working as a storyline editor for Emmerdale he was also writing a synopsis for a book that was to have been published in the publishing slot that Parallel 59 occupies, known as Enemy of the Daleks. [3]

Parkin has also admitted that he "relies on 'continuity references' in my books, and I still do to an extent – but references to the spirit, not the letter. It's good to be looking forward, not back. It's good to have the Doctor centre stage, as the protagonist." In particular following events of The Ancestor Cell/The Burning.[3]

On the EDAs as a whole; "I think that particularly from The Burning to, say, Time Zero, they’re just about all as good as the NAs, which is about the highest praise I have for Doctor Who."[4]

When writing The Gallifrey Chronicles he has noted that "It seems absolutely bizarre to say it at this point but the BBC were keeping their options open. If Doctor Who had bombed on telly, it would have been over and done in thirteen weeks. So part of the brief was to leave things open just in case the EDAs needed to pick up just where they’d left off!" [4]

However Parkin has noted concerning The Gallifrey Chronicles and its relation to the new series

"It’s not an open ending - we know what happens because we saw the result on telly. The Doctor gets his memory back, the Doctor restores Gallifrey, the Doctor wins . . . then at what must be his all time high, it’s all taken from him. And it’s this great big epic story full of mysteries and huge events far too grand to spell out in a book on or TV. A lot of people, wanted a book where the Doctor was led to a big glowing ball of his memories and he grabbed it with both hands and went 'Drahvins . . . Voord . . . Nimons . . . that bit in The Dæmons where Bessie’s got a remote control . . . I remember it all!' and I understand that impulse, but . . . well, we know he got his memories back. We don’t need to see and be spoonfed everything.[4]

Bibliography

Doctor Who Novels

Virgin New Adventures

Virgin Missing Adventures

BBC Past Doctor Adventures

BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures

BBC Tenth Doctor Adventures

Doctor Who Short Stories

Bernice Summerfield Novels

Virgin Bernice Summerfield New Adventures

Big Finish Bernice Summerfield Series

Big Finish Doctor Who Audio Dramas

Iris Wildthyme Short Stories

Faction Paradox Novels

Comics

Writer / Letterer

Reference Books

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Interview with Lance Parkin Interview by Graeme Burk (Originally published in Enlightenment, republished on Outpost Gallifrey via Internet Archive: Wayback Machine
  2. ↑ TSV 48 Lance Parkin interview by Paul Scoones
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 BBC Website Interview with Lance Parkin 01 January 2004 via Internet Archive: Wayback Machine
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Unreality SF Lance Parkin interview Part 1
Lance Parkin
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