Lance Parkin

Lance Parkin is an author of books, including the first original Eighth Doctor novel; The Dying Days and the BBC novels: The Infinity Doctors, Father Time, Trading Futures and The Gallifrey Chronicles. His 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!", when 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]

In the three years between writing The Infinity Doctors and Father Time, Parkin worked as a storyline editor for Emmerdale. He also wrote a synopsis for a book that was to have been published in the 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 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]