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WORK TITLE: The Vinyl Detective
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE: 1958
WEBSITE: http://venusianfrogbroth.blogspot.com/
CITY:
STATE:
COUNTRY:
NATIONALITY: British
http://tardis.wikia.com/wiki/Andrew_Cartmel * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Cartmel * https://alternativemagazineonline.co.uk/2017/07/11/interview-in-conversation-with-andrew-cartmel-author-the-vinyl-detective/ * https://civilianreader.com/2016/05/19/interview-with-andrew-cartmel/
RESEARCHER NOTES:
LC control no.: nb2005006862
LCCN Permalink: https://lccn.loc.gov/nb2005006862
HEADING: Cartmel, Andrew
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PERSONAL
Born 1958.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer, journalist, magazine editor, script editor, comic book writer, playwright, reviewer, educator, and novelist. Worked as a script editor on the British television series Doctor Who, 1987-89; Dark Knight, 2001; Lost Stories, Big Finish Productions, 2010; Midsomer Murders; and Torchwood. Lecturer in film studies. Shape Data Ltd. (a computer company), computer-aided designer. London Jazz News, music reviewer.
WRITINGS
Writer of comic strips for British comics publications, including Judge Dredd Megazine and Doctor Who Magazine; writer of audio drama Winter for the Adept, 2000.
Writer of the stage play End of the Night, a thriller, produced by Long Shadow Production, 2003.
SIDELIGHTS
Andrew Cartmel is a prolific British writer and editor whose work is represented in prose fiction, film, television, and graphic novels. He is perhaps best known to television audiences as the script editor of the popular British television series Doctor Who, which he worked on from 1987 to 1989 when actor Sylvester McCoy portrayed the Doctor. In addition to his work on Doctor Who, Cartmel has also worked on television programs such as Dark Knight, Torchwood, Midsomer Murders, and Lost Stories.
As the script editor for Doctor Who (a position that is often called “showrunner” today), Carmel was responsible for establishing the direction of the storyline for three seasons. He was known for developing the “Cartmel Masterplan” with several other writers, which was a complex backstory for Doctor Who that would have explained exactly who he was and where he came from. In an interview with James Gent on the website We Are Cult, Cartmel described the Masterplan as an intention to “restore the Doctor’s mystery, power, autonomy and stature.” The story elements of the Masterplan were never developed into scripts or broadcast, however, because that incarnation of the series ended in 1989.
Cartmel provides a detailed account of his time working on Doctor Who in his book Script Doctor: The Inside Story of Doctor Who 1986-89. The book is “based on diaries I kept at the time and is an extremely vivid and immediate account of those years. I’m very proud of it,” Cartmel told an interviewer on the website Civilian Reader. Cartmel also wrote Through Time: An Unauthorized and Unofficial History of Doctor Who, where he takes a far-ranging look through the show’s history as well as its impact on popular culture in England and beyond.
Cartmel has also written several novels based on Doctor Who, including the “New Adventures” series consisting of Warchild, Warlock, and Cat’s Cradle: Warhead. Doctor Who: Atom Bomb Blues is a stand-alone novel in which the Seventh Doctor works to prevent an unknown force from altering history at the point where the first atomic bomb is being developed.
In the field of comic books and graphic novels, Cartmel has worked on another character with a long-standing history and continuing popularity: Judge Dredd. He scripted a number of comic strips for the Judge Dredd Megazine. He also wrote the novel Judge Dredd #7: Swine Fever, in which pork has been banned in Mega-City One after a group of hyperintelligent pigs has demanded equal rights. Someone is still producing bacon, however, and Dredd, along with his new partner—a pig—has to stop them.
"Rivers of London" Series
Cartmel is the coauthor of the “Rivers of London” series of graphic novels, urban fantasies written with Ben Aaronovich and with art by Lee Sullivan. The series “is as much police procedural as it is mythic fiction. But the magical elements are integral to the stories,” commented Charles de Lint, writing in the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. The series consists of Body Work, Night Witch, and Black Mould. In Body Work, Cartmel and his collaborators introduce series regular Peter Grant and the Special Assessment Unit, a group of investigators who are tasked with looking into strange and unusual occurrences in London. Grant and other members of the team possess magical abilities, while others are normal human detectives. In this story, Grant and his nonmagical partner, Sahra Guleed, must look into a murder that appears to have been committed by a car. They discover that a dealer has inadvertently sold off a haunted car, piece by piece, leaving them with no choice but to track down and recover each piece before more deaths occur. The magic in the story creates a “world of subtle intricacies rather than dazzling fireworks, and the supernatural is blended into the police procedural with satisfying realism,” commented reviewer Jesse Karp in a Booklist assessment.
In Night Witch, Grant and his partners are called in to investigate the kidnapping of the daughter of a Russian oligarch now living in Kent. The girl’s mother is convinced that the child was abducted by a mythological creature called a leshy, a forest deity that the Russians had set against the Germans during World War II. The case is complicated by the involvement of the Russian mob, the abduction of Grant’s mentor, and the need to seek help from a Russian witch who is serving a sentence in a British prison. De Lint remarked that the “The authors also take full advantage of the [graphic novel] medium, presenting a layered story in a way that you can’t pull off in a regular prose version.”
"Vinyl Detective" Series
Cartmel has published two novels in the “Vinyl Detective” series, a mystery series set in the world of music collectors and vinyl record albums. The first book in the series, Written in Dead Wax, introduces the unnamed protagonist, a former DJ and current expert in finding rare and obscure musical recordings. He spends most of his time scouring thrift shops and record stores, making a meager living by selling what he finds. In this story, however, he is hired by Nevada Warren, who hires him to find a rare jazz album produced by a Los Angeles, California, label in 1955. The performer on the record, a piano player, died mysteriously shortly after the recording was made. The detective takes the case despite the unlikelihood that the album will be found in Britain. Unanswered questions soon become important to the detective’s search: who is Warren’s employer, and why does that person want this particular album so badly? Readers will find generous references to vinyl record collecting, jazz history, and high-end stereo equipment that fill in important details for jazz fans and audiophiles. A Publishers Weekly reviewer commented favorably on the “marvelously inventive and endlessly fascinating first section.” Booklist contributor Bill Ott concluded, “Vinyl fans, this one’s for you.”
The Run-Out Groove, the second “Vinyl Detective” novel, finds the detective living with Nevada Warren from the first book and searching for a rare 45rpm disc. The record features a 1960s rocker named Valerian who committed suicide and whose son was abducted shortly afterward. The detective is hired by the performer’s brother, John Drummond, to find the record, which allegedly includes a secret string of lyrics that are actually a black magic incantation. By hearing what is actually on the record, the brother hopes to have the means to rehabilitate his sister’s reputation. In the process, the detective is also expected to find the woman’s missing son. As the story progresses, it appears that Valerian may have been murdered. Ott, in another Booklist review, called the book a “goofy, thoroughly endearing hipster romp, starring a just-zany-enough cast of vintage-loving Londoners.” A Publishers Weekly contributor found it to be an “affectionate nod to the vagaries of rock stardom,” while a Kirkus Reviews writer named the Vinyl Detective a “very amenable companion to have on a treasure hunt.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, April 15, 2016, Jesse Karp, review of Body Work, p. 41; April 15, 2016, Bill Ott, review of Written in Dead Wax, p. 25; March 15, 2017, Bill Ott, review of The Run-Out Groove, p. 24.
Kirkus Reviews, March 15, 2017, review of The Run-Out Groove.
Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, May-June, 2017, Charles de Lint, review of Night Witch, p. 84.
Publishers Weekly, February 1, 2016, review of Written in Dead Wax, p. 46; March 6, 2017, review of The Run-Out Groove, p. 42.
Starburst, November 12, 2017, Ed Fortune, interview with Andrew Cartmel & Hans Yang.
ONLINE
Alternative Magazine Online, http://alternativemagazineonline.co.uk/ (July 6, 2017), Marty Mulrooney, review of Written in Dead Wax; (August 6, 2017), Marty Mulrooney, review of The Run-Out Groove; (November 7, 2017), Marty Mulrooney, “In Conversation with Andrew Cartmel.”
Civilian Reader, http://www.civilianreader.com/ (May 19, 2016), interview with Andrew Cartmel.
London Jazz News, http://www.londonjazznews.com/ (November 19, 2017), review of Written in Dead Wax.
Matthew Stott Website, http://www.mrmatthewstott.com/ (December 21, 2015), interview with Andrew Cartmel.
Troughton Is My Doctor, http://www.troughtonismydoctor.com/ (June 12, 2014), Martin Ruddock, “In Conversation with Andrew Cartmel.”
We Are Cult, http://www.wearecult.rocks/ (May 29, 2017), James Gent, “Cult Q&A: Andrew Cartmel.”
Andrew Cartmel
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Andrew Cartmel
Cartmel, Andrew (2008).jpg
Andrew Cartmel at a Doctor Who fan convention in 2012
Born 1958 (age 58–59)
Nationality British
Area(s) Writer
Andrew Cartmel (born 1958) is a British author and journalist. He was also the script editor of Doctor Who from 1987 to 1989. He has also worked as a script editor on other television series, as a magazine editor, as a comics writer, as a film studies lecturer, and as a novelist.
Contents [hide]
1 Biography
2 Bibliography
2.1 Comics
2.2 Novels
2.3 Novellas
2.4 Audio stories
2.5 Television
3 References
4 External links
Biography[edit]
Cartmel took a post-graduate course in Computer Studies and worked on computer-aided design[1] for Shape Data Ltd (now UGS Corp) in Cambridge, England during the mid-1980s. He then turned more to writing and managed to gain an agent on the strength of two unproduced scripts, also attending workshops run by the BBC Television Drama Script Unit.
In late 1986, when he was in his late twenties,[2] Cartmel was hired as the script editor for the twenty-fourth season of the science-fiction programme Doctor Who, having been recommended to the producer John Nathan-Turner by the producer's agent, who had seen some unproduced scripts Cartmel had written.[3] Cartmel worked on the programme for the next three years, overseeing the final three seasons of its original run on BBC One. He brought in several young, new writers[4] and despite declining ratings, tried to take the series in a new creative direction.
The most significant legacy of this new direction might have been the so-called "Cartmel Masterplan", a backstory developed with other writers that restored some of the mystery of the Doctor's background and could have explained exactly who he was.[5] Although hints were dropped in the two full series Cartmel edited, the proposed revelations never materialised on screen because the programme was taken off the air in 1989.
When production of Doctor Who was placed on indefinite hold, Cartmel became script editor on the BBC's popular medical drama series Casualty for one season.[6] During the 1990s he wrote comic strips for Judge Dredd Megazine and Doctor Who Magazine and three Doctor Who novels for Virgin Books in their New Adventures series. This series had used elements of the "masterplan" as part of their overall story arc for the Doctor, particularly in the last Seventh Doctor novel Lungbarrow, written by Marc Platt.
In 1999 his first original novel, The Wise, was published in Virgin's short-lived series of new science-fiction novels, Virgin Worlds. That same year he became editor of the science-fiction magazine Starburst, although the appointment was a short one and he left the magazine in 2000.[7]
Since then he has written several pieces of Doctor Who fiction: in 2000 Winter for the Adept, an audio drama for Big Finish Productions; in 2003 Foreign Devils, a novella for Telos Publishing; and in 2005 Atom Bomb Blues, a novel for BBC Books. He developed a script for the third series of Torchwood entitled 'The Jinx', but it was dropped when the show's format was reworked. In 2010 Cartmel worked as script editor for Big Finish Productions' The Lost Stories line, overseeing the adaptation of story ideas created for Doctor Who's unmade 27th series into audio dramas (released in 2011). In addition to script-editing the four "Season 27" stories, Cartmel wrote two scripts (Crime of the Century and Animal) and co-wrote a third, Earth Aid, with Ben Aaronovitch.
As well as Atom Bomb Blues, 2005 saw the publication of: Script Doctor – The Inside Story of Doctor Who 1986–89, an account of his work on the Doctor Who television series; Through Time: An Unofficial and Unauthorised History of Doctor Who; and two 2000 AD spin-off novels, Judge Dredd: Swine Fever and Strontium Dog: Day of the Dogs.
Cartmel has also written a novel set in the world of Patrick McGoohan's The Prisoner television series for Powys Media. The novel, released on 15 February 2008, is entitled Miss Freedom.[8]
Common themes and techniques in Cartmel's novels include: animal rights; the use of animal perspectives; and extended metaphors of animal behaviour. These elements appear in the three Virgin New Adventures novels, the original novel The Wise, the Judge Dredd novel Swine Fever and the audio play Animal.
In 2001 Cartmel briefly returned to television as script editor on the second season of Channel 5's fantasy / adventure series Dark Knight, writing what proved to be the final episode of the series.[9]
His first stage play, End of the Night, a thriller with gothic overtones, was produced by Long Shadow Productions in the summer of 2003.[10]
In 2007 Cartmel was a finalist in the Nicotinell 'Lose the Smoke Keep the Fire' Stand Up Comedy Auditions.[11]
Bibliography[edit]
Comics[edit]
Doctor Who (in Doctor Who Magazine #164–166, 175–178, 180 & 188–190, 1990–92)
Doctor Who: Evening's Empire (in Doctor Who Classic Comics Autumn Holiday Special 1993)[12]
Judge Dredd (in Judge Dredd Megazine vol.3 #11–12, 1995)
Doctor Who: Phantom Freight (in Doctor Who Fan Fiction Illustrated as a special guest author, upcoming)
Novels[edit]
Doctor Who: Cat's Cradle: Warhead (1992)
Doctor Who: Warlock (1995)
Doctor Who: Warchild (1996)
The Wise (1999)
Judge Dredd: Swine Fever (2005)
Strontium Dog: Day of the Dogs (2005)
Doctor Who: Atom Bomb Blues (2005)
The Prisoner: Miss Freedom (Published February 2008)
The Rupert Hood Spy Thrillers: Operation Herod (2012)
The Rupert Hood Spy Thrillers: Event Driven (2012)
The Vinyl Detective: Written in Dead Wax (2016)
The Vinyl Detective: The Run-Out Groove (2017)
Novellas[edit]
Doctor Who: Foreign Devils (2002)
Audio stories[edit]
Doctor Who: Winter for the Adept (2000)
Doctor Who: Crime of the Century (2011)
Doctor Who: Animal (2011)
Doctor Who: Earth Aid (2011) co-written with Ben Aaronovitch.
Television[edit]
Dark Knight: "Shameer" (2002)
References[edit]
Jump up ^ http://doctorwho.org.nz/archive/tsv40/andrewcartmel.html
Jump up ^ Bishop, David (1 August 1994). "Andrew Cartmel Interview". Time Space Visualiser. Retrieved 28 September 2007. Christ, well, I'm 36 now, so late twenties then, I guess.
Jump up ^ Cartmel, Andrew (2005). Script Doctor: The Inside Story of Doctor Who 1986–89. London: Reynolds & Hearn. p. 14. ISBN 1-903111-89-7.
Jump up ^ http://troughtonismydoctor.com/2014/06/12/in-conversation-with-andrew-cartmel/
Jump up ^ Cartmel, Andrew (2005). Script Doctor: The Inside Story of Doctor Who 1986–89. London: Reynolds & Hearn. pp. 134–135. ISBN 1-903111-89-7.
Jump up ^ https://www.linkedin.com/pub/andrew-cartmel/10/477/120
Jump up ^ "Authors A to Z – Andrew Cartmel". Telos Publishing Ltd. Retrieved 28 September 2007.
Jump up ^ http://scottvharrison.blogspot.co.uk/2010/03/in-run-up-to-hubs-doctor-who-special-i.html
Jump up ^ Cartmel, Andrew (23 April 2002). "Dark Knight RIP". Down the Tubes. Archived from the original on 8 July 2007. Retrieved 28 September 2007.
Jump up ^ Nelson, Paul. "Murder in Mind at the White Bear". IndieLondon. Archived from the original on 5 October 2007. Retrieved 28 September 2007.
Jump up ^ "Nicotinell searches for new talent". Metro. Retrieved 28 September 2007.
Jump up ^ http://troughtonismydoctor.com/2014/06/12/in-conversation-with-andrew-cartmel/
External links[edit]
Interview with Cartmel on the BBC Doctor Who website
Andrew Cartmel Interview, by David Bishop (Time Space Visualiser issue 40, July 1994)
Andrew Cartmel on IMDb
Andrew Cartmel at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
Preceded by
Eric Saward Doctor Who Script Editor
1987–89 Succeeded by
Elwen Rowlands
Authority control
WorldCat Identities VIAF: 58597546 LCCN: nb2005006862 ISNI: 0000 0000 3893 917X
Categories: British comics writersBritish television writersBritish science fiction writersLiving people1958 births
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BY MARTY MULROONEY | 11/07/2017 · 9:45 PM ↓ Jump to Comments
INTERVIEW – In Conversation With Andrew Cartmel (Author, The Vinyl Detective)
By Marty Mulrooney
Andrew Cartmel Interview - Alternative Magazine Online
Following on from our recent reviews of Written In Dead Wax (“charming, funny and engaging”) and The Run-Out Groove (“a follow-up every bit the equal of its highly memorable predecessor”), Alternative Magazine Online is proud to present an exclusive online interview with the talented cat lover behind The Vinyl Detective, author Andrew Cartmel!
Hi Andrew, thank you for your time and welcome to Alternative Magazine Online!
My pleasure.
Can you tell our readers a little bit about yourself please?
I used to script edit Doctor Who in the Sylvester McCoy era (‘The Cartmel Masterplan’). These days I am writing crime novels, comics (including Rivers of London in collaboration with Ben Aaronovitch) and, most recently, a stage play.
When did you first decide that you wanted to become a writer?
Very early. As soon as I learned to read.
You’ve written for TV shows such as Doctor Who, Midsomer Murders and Torchwood – quite an enviable CV for any writer! Do you have a favourite TV show that you’ve worked on?
I have to correct you there. I script edited Doctor Who (which means I led the writing team) but I never wrote an episode myself. And though I wrote scripts for Midsomer and Torchwood, and I was paid for them (very handsomely in the case of Midsomer), the episodes were never made. So in some ways my favourite TV show of those I worked on was Dark Knight, for which I did write some episodes that were made, and were broadcast.
You’ve also written several novels and comic books and even performed stand-up comedy! Regardless of the medium, would you say your writing has any recognisable hallmarks?
These are more easily spotted by other people. However I am aware that I do like to blend drama and comedy, so certainly that’s a hallmark — and hopefully it’s a fairly wry, ironic and absurdist kind of humour that I employ. But there we are talking about form. I suppose the most notable characteristic which I have been made aware of is in the content of my writing, and that is my enduring concern about animals — my love for them and my anger at their mistreatment. This often features in my work without me being particularly aware of it.
My father is a huge fan of Rivers of London! Have you enjoyed working on the graphic novels with Ben Aaronovitch? When is the next one due for release?
Say hi to your dad! He is a man of taste and we are proud to hear that. The third Rivers of London graphic novel (Black Mould) has just been printed. The fourth comic mini-series (‘Detective Stories’) is halfway through its appearance as monthly issues (‘singles’ in the jargon) and once that has been completed, it too will appear as a graphic novel.
In 2016 you released the debut novel of a new series: The Vinyl Detective. I greatly enjoyed both Written In Dead Wax and The Run-Out Groove, as I’m sure you could tell from my recent reviews! Where did the idea for this new series come from?
Thank you. You’ve mentioned Rivers of London, the bestselling series of novels by my friend Ben Aaronovitch. It was Ben who advised me that if I wanted to succeed as a novelist I should write about what I really love. And I have a passion for searching out and listening to music on vinyl. I combined that with my love of crime novels, and the Vinyl Detective was born.
It was only when I came to write my review of the first book that I realised the protagonist’s real name is never revealed! Was this a conscious decision, or just something that happened organically as part of the writing process?
Very perceptive of you to mention the ‘organic’ possibility, because that is exactly what happened. Because it is a first person narrative, told from our hero’s point of view, the lack of a name for him didn’t immediately become obvious. And when I realised I hadn’t given him a name, I quite liked it and began to run with it. I imagine plenty of people can read one or more of my books and not even notice. I was the same way with Len Deighton’s novels The Ipcress File, Funeral in Berlin, Horse Under Water, etc… I was caught up in the story and simply never registered that the narrator was nameless.
What drives the main character?
His love of Nevada (his girlfriend), his love of music, his love of vinyl (not quite the same thing), his love of his friends, his love of his cats, his need to earn money to help fund all of the aforementioned…
For those who haven’t yet read either book, how would you describe the basic premise of the series?
They are refreshingly different from the current trend for Nordic noir, which is full of grisly killings and gloomy, tormented protagonists. My books are thrilling and suspenseful but also funny and engaging — we get to know the characters and care about them. They are a hybrid of some very different types of crime novels — the mystery, the thriller and the ‘cosy’.
I love how you mix dark drama with light comedy – is that a hard balance to strike?
It comes naturally to me. It’s just the way I think. It is also what I enjoy as a reader, and as a movie goer — the contrast is very effective.
How much research was involved when writing the first two books?
Well, there’s a lot of research in them — I try and get all my facts right. But the essential material, about vinyl and record collecting, is something I obviously already know about because I’m a vinyl nut myself.
Is it safe to say you’re a connoisseur of LPs?
I’m looking happily at a rare British pressing of a classic jazz LP right this minute — Earthy by Kenny Burrell and the Prestige All Stars (Esquire 32-120). I love this stuff. And nothing sounds better.
So far you’ve covered 1950s American jazz and 1960s British rock – what can readers expect in book three and beyond?
Book 3 (Victory Disc) features swing music from the 1940s. In Book 4 I plan to write about psychedelic British folk.
Are any of the fictional characters from the books based on real people you’ve met or researched?
Sure. For Valerian, the singer in the second book, my starting point was imagining a British rocker like Syd Barrett, a major talent who tragically became a casualty of drugs and mental illness. But I’d stress that this was just a starting point… I was also thinking about Janis Joplin and Jim Morrison when I was creating that character.
LPs seem to be making a massive comeback – Sony has just announced that its going to start production again for the first time since 1989! Why do you think vinyl remains so popular to this day, despite the advent of CDs, MP3s and Spotify?
For a start, vinyl really does sound better than even the finest digital recording, if the vinyl is properly made and played on a good system (which admittedly can be a big ‘if’). It’s an analog format and there is no way digital music can ever be as good as an analog recording, simply because analog is the real thing. Digital will always, by its very nature, be a copy or an approximation. And it will always fall short. Also, simply as a physical artefact, LPs are so attractive — look at how beautiful the art can be on their huge covers. People sometimes buy records and don’t even play them. They just like to touch them, look at them, hang them on their wall (I’ve got quite a lot hanging on my own wall)… you don’t get that with a download.
Who’s your favourite music artist and why?
Well, Miles Davis and Duke Ellington come immediately to mind. Two towering jazz greats. Miles was the ultimate example of the small group leader. Duke was the same thing for the big band. But just at the moment I’m listening a lot to a sax player called Jackie McLean, and he’s stupendous… so he’s my current favourite. I will also hastily mention Art Pepper, Hank Mobley, Lee Morgan, Donald Byrd and Cannonball Adderley, all of whom are instrumentalists. My favourite male singer is Mark Murphy. My favourite female singer is Lucy Ann Polk. Sorry to give a long answer, but this is such wonderful music I wanted to spread the word.
What’s next for you Andrew?
As I mentioned, I’ve just written a stage play. Ideally for me the next thing would be to see that open in a nice theatre and win over audiences. Keep your fingers crossed.
Thank you for your time, I loved the first two Vinyl Detective books and I can’t wait to read and review Victory Disc next year!
Thank you. It’s been my pleasure.
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HomeInterview with ANDREW CARTMEL
Interview with ANDREW CARTMEL
May 19, 2016 Civilian Reader InterviewAndrew Cartmel, Doctor Who, Fiction, Music, Rivers of London, Run-Out Groove, Titan Books, Titan Comics, Urban Fantasy, Vinyl Detective, Written in Dead Wax
CartmelA-AuthorPicLet’s start with an introduction: Who is Andrew Cartmel?
A question I often ask myself on my bleaker days. The answer is, I’m a writer. Ever since I could read I’ve wanted to write books. I thought an easy way to support myself while breaking through as a novelist would be to write TV scripts. The word “easy” is not a good choice in that context. But I did end up working as a script editor/show runner on Doctor Who for three seasons.
Your new novel, The Vinyl Detective: Written in Dead Wax, is published by Titan Books. It looks rather interesting: How would you introduce it to a potential reader? Is it part of a series?
The book is called Written in Dead Wax, and the Vinyl Detective is the title of the series. It’s a murder mystery in the classic mould, with our sleuth being a record collector hired by a beautiful mysterious woman and embarking on a quest for a desirable object which people are willing to kill to obtain. In this case (and in the future books) the object is a rare record. Three books in the series have been written so far and are scheduled for publication.
CartmelA-VD1-VinylDetectiveUK
What inspired you to write the novel? And where do you draw your inspiration from in general?
My friend Ben Aaronovitch is a bestselling novelist (the Rivers of London series). I asked him, somewhat enviously, what the trick was. He told me to write about what I genuinely love. And I love vinyl — searching out great music (usually jazz) on records in junk stores, thrift shops and (of course) online. Plus I love crime fiction: Chandler, Hammett, Cornell Woolrich, John D. MacDonald, Thomas Harris, Charles Willeford. And I’m also just getting into a little known British novelist called Agatha Christie.
As for general inspiration, I find I think best when I’m doing repetitive mundane, mindless tasks like swimming laps or vacuuming the house. So I work out my stories then. It’s either that or brood about how pissed off I am with assorted family and friends…
How were you introduced to genre fiction?
HeinleinR-HaveSpacesuitScience fiction was my first love (which came in handy when I worked on Doctor Who). When I was a little kid my mum took me to the library and reached down a book from the shelf for me. “This looks good,” she said. It was Have Spacesuit Will Travel by Robert A. Heinlein, one of the greats. I devoured science fiction until my early teens when I broadened out to other genres (including crime) and also, ahem, ‘real’ literature. I adore the writing of Thomas McGuane, for instance.
How do you like being a writer and working within the publishing industry?
I love being a writer. It’s all I ever wanted to do. I don’t feel I work ‘within’ the publishing industry. I’m a freelance who connects with people who are within the industry (like my marvellous editor Miranda Jewess and groovy publicist Lydia Gittins) when I sell a book. And that feels great.
Do you have any specific working, writing, researching practices?
Research has become way easier since the advent of the internet. I’m pretty scrupulous about it. I do a detailed outline before I start a bark, generally in the voice of the character. And I break the book down into chapters (usually about fifteen) which I create as (initially blank) Word documents in a folder. Each chapter has its own title — like a mini-novel — so that I know more or less what happens in it, and which help to inspire me. I lay them out in the folder as icons so I can see them and move them around. Other than that I have a sofa where I sit in a room which looks out over my pleasant little garden, with my hi-fi system in front of me, and I listen to music while working there on the laptop. My cat occasionally sashays in to distract me by demanding food or attention. Plus I have to get up every 20 minutes to turn the record over.
When did you realize you wanted to be an author, and what was your first foray into writing? Do you still look back on it fondly?
CartmelA-ScriptDoctorLike I said, ever since I first learned to read, so about five years old. I suppose my first foray was a trilogy of Doctor Who novels. I can’t re-read my early fiction though. I’m afraid to look at it in case I’ll spot my mistakes. The first book where I felt I got it right was my memoir about working on Doctor Who, entitled Script Doctor. It’s based on diaries I kept at the time and is an extremely vivid and immediate account of those years. I’m very proud of it. The first novel of mine which I look back on fondly is Miss Freedom, which is inspired by the classic TV show The Prisoner. It’s a taut little spy novel in the 1960s tradition. Good luck finding a copy.
What’s your opinion of the genre today, and where do you see your work fitting into it?
Crime fiction is obviously thriving. The dominant paradigm has shifted from the serial killer/intuitive-profiler-cop model (which was entirely the creation of Thomas Harris) to the Nordic-Noir model, which still borrows a lot from Harris’s invention. My books, for all the extremity and mayhem they depict are what you call “cosy” crime fiction, not least because the hero has a couple of cats. And the stories are funny. This was perceived as a problem in certain quarters, where all they wanted was nihilistic Norwegian necrophilia, until they landed on the desk of an editor who saw all the attributes of my books as a feature, not a bug. Thank you, Miranda.
Do you have any other projects in the pipeline, and what are you working on at the moment?
As I mentioned, three Vinyl Detective books have been written and I’m circling nervously around the fourth one, on which I’ve already done a lot of work. At the same time I’m co-writing a series of comics with Ben Aaronovitch, which spin off from the world of his Rivers of London novels. They’re called, you guessed it, Rivers of London and are also published by Titan. The first graphic novel collection (Body Work) is in bookstores now and, touch wood, seems to be finding quite a wide readership.
CartmelA-RoL-BodyWork&NightWitch
What are you reading at the moment (fiction, non-fiction)?
My non-fiction reading is generally the New Scientist magazine, which I find incredibly useful. In terms of fiction I’m currently deeply into John Steinbeck’s giant novel East of Eden, which I think is just tremendous.
What’s something readers might be surprised to learn about you?
I can only be killed by a silver bullet.
What are you most looking forward to in the next twelve months?
The publication of my second Vinyl Detective novel, The Run-Out Groove.
*
Vinyl Detective: Written in Dead Wax is published by Titan Books. For more on Andrew’s writing and novels, be sure to check out his website, and follow him on Twitter and Goodreads.
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IN CONVERSATION WITH ANDREW CARTMEL
JUNE 12, 2014 MARTIN RUDDOCK 3 COMMENTS
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I meet Andrew Cartmel, former Doctor Who Script Editor, writer of scripts, books, comics, and more via a Skype window early on a bright Wednesday morning. He’s good company, friendly and witty, and seems happy to discuss his work at such an early hour.
AC: Good morning!
MR: Good morning Andrew, thank you for taking the time to talk to me.
Obviously, as we all know very well, you were Script Editor for Doctor Who from 1986 to ’89, and Script Editors on the original series were often really what you would call Showrunners these days.
AC: That’s true, yes. That’s very true.
MR: You dictated the show’s direction with other writers, but you didn’t write for it yourself, which a lot of your predecessors did, was that deliberate?
AC: Well, I think that was basically a mistake, it was partly a combination of not wanting to just hire myself, as the standard thing to do is just commission yourself. So, that was not entirely wrong, but I felt that was a little teeny bit wrong. More importantly I really wanted to bring on a bunch of new writers, I was very keen and gung-ho to give them all a chance. In a sense I’d been given my break through the script editing, so I wanted to give other people a break. However, in retrospect, that is my greatest regret on the shows, that I didn’t write at least one story every season.
MR: It’s a shame that you never got to do that, but it’s a very good principle that you brought in so many new writers, once you’d seen off Pip and Jane Baker.
AC: Yeah, apart from Pip and Jane, whose work I didn’t like, if I had written for the show, I’d be very hard pressed to say which of those scripts, which of the existing stories I would not like to see up there. In fact, I’d like to see them all up there, so in a way it’s perhaps just as well that I didn’t write.
MR: Have you got a particular favourite of those stories?
AC: There’s no real one favourite, but Ben (Aaronovitch)’s first script, Remembrance of the Daleks generally edges across the finishing line ahead of the others, but I think there’s tremendous virtues in Survival, which I adore…..Ghost Light.….Fenric, but when I start listing them, there’s some of those virtues attached to all of them.
MR: You were very young when John Nathan-Turner appointed you as Script Editor, what was it like being such a young man, doing that job? Normally it was a job that more seasoned, veteran, tweedy writers might have done in the past….
AC: Well, as you say….. your use of the word ‘seasoned’ but perhaps not the word ‘tweedy’ indicates it’s not a matter of age, it’s a matter of experience, but as it happened, I had a very clear idea of what needed to be done. I was not unacquainted with scripts, there were still things for me to learn, but I had a good, solid feel for television scripts having written a load of them myself on spec and studied them quite closely…and I had a very strong idea of which direction we could take Who in, although that was to develop and elaborate once I started working on the show. I’m by no means saying that I knew everything, or even everything I needed to know, but I had a really good starting point.
MR: Sure, what I mean is that you came to it through a slightly different route, didn’t you, and you were younger and had very different influences, for example the interest in comics; 2000AD, Love and Rockets, Watchmen…
AC: Yes, all of the above, most crucially it was Alan Moore’s comics. I remember, I was just thinking about this this morning, because I’ve been re-reading Alan Moore’s run on Swamp Thing, because I’m currently working on some Graphic Novels for Titan. My friend Ben Aaronovitch of Remembrance fame and I are doing some comic books about his Rivers of London series, I don’t know if you know that, it’s a series of best-selling books he’s written.
MR: I don’t know it, but that sounds good.
AC: You should check ’em out, they’re wonderful, they’re supernatural police procedurals set in London, and they’re a huge success, and now we’re doing some comic books based on the characters, so I’ve been going for the first time in years into my comic book influences…re-reading the Swamp Thing, which is probably one of the first things by Alan Moore outside 2000AD that really knocked my socks off. I remember when I went in for my Doctor Who interview, I believe the Swamp Thing run was at the point where he was a spore, floating through space….I wouldn’t swear to that, but I do know that story was in my mind when I went for my interview with Jonathan Powell about Doctor Who.
MR: That’s interesting. Do you think you would have liked to have written for comics at that time?
AC: Well, interestingly Doctor Who gave me the chance to write for comics, because there was a regular comic strip feature in Doctor Who Magazine, and I had the opportunity to write for that, so Doctor Who got me writing comics at the time. I continued to write for comics briefly, I did a bit for the 2000AD Megazine, but it trailed off, but now it seems to be happening again, which is great.
MR: Evening’s Empire, wasn’t it?
AC: Evening’s Empire was the best and most beautiful thing that came out of my Doctor Who work. There were a number of stories, but that one was a long-form story, self contained, and it was published as a kind of graphic novel.
MR: Oh yes, I’ve got it.
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AC: It was perhaps a little too short and the cover was a little too floppy, you couldn’t quite call it a graphic novel, but it was a terrific piece of work on the part of Richard Piers Rayner, the illustrator. I’m quite pleased with a lot of the things I did in the story there. It had a long and tortuous and frustrating genesis, but once it finally got out there, it certainly was the best thing I’d done in comics up to that date, I’m delighted you’ve got a copy, it’s a pretty obscure item.
MR: Yes, it’s the Classic Comics reprint or something along those lines….it was the first time the whole story came out, wasn’t it? I remember reading the first part in DWM and thinking, wow, this is great, but then the second part didn’t materialise…
AC: Yeah, me too! It was serialised in Doctor Who Magazine, and Richard was doing some great work on it, but then something happened, and I never really found out what happened, I think Richard just…….. artists often lead complex and exciting lives, and he just couldn’t, or didn’t make the deadline, and didn’t deliver the art, and that was that, it just stopped in mid-stream.
Now, that’s not that unusual, there was a fantastic series by Alan Moore and Bill Sienkiewicz called Big Numbers….and that just stopped (laughs), it was great, I thought, I’ll just wait for the next issue, and it just stopped and it never started again. That was the kind of fate I thought had befallen good old Evening’s Empire, but, lo and behold, Richard did eventually deliver it. I mean this was probably a year or two later, he actually delivered all the art, and the real hero in this was John Freeman, who was my editor. Instead of just throwing up his hands in despair, John saw the project through, reprinted the earlier material and the new material and put it all together in this beautiful one-shot. I don’t remember that happening elsewhere. So, John Freeman, bless him, I thank him so much for that, cause I thought this project was dead in the water, but he actually carried it across the finishing line.
MR: It was a lovely piece of work, it was a real labour of love, to see it actually come out in colour as well.
AC: Yeah, it ended up being a better and more beautiful thing, because it was in colour, it was all together in a single dedicated comic between two covers, and it was a much, much better situation than if it had just been serialised in a fragmentary fashion in black and white. Having said that it was quite stressful waiting for it to happen, but once it was out it was great.
MR: I’d definitely read more of that. At the time I was a teenager and there was no Doctor Who on TV anymore, Evening’s Empire for me was a real highlight of that time. I walked into a newsagent, saw it on the shelf, and just snatched it up…
AC: Thank you. And what a great cover. The picture of Sophie (Aldred)’s really nice on it.
MR: Yes, it’s a great picture of Sophie, he captures her likeness really well I think.
AC: Yeah, that’s one of the things with comic artists, they’re often great in their own right, but they don’t necessarily draw the characters consistently, especially when they’re based on real people, that’s such a crucial thing. Richard did a good job on Sylv too, he looks really mysterious.
MR: Yeah, very dark, very brooding.
AC: All that business in Middlesborough at the canal, yeah. It’s coming back to me now, Martin (laughs)
MR: I didn’t realise until fairly recently, but you wrote an unproduced script for Torchwood a few years ago?
AC: Yeah, and it was a cracker, it was called The Jinx. It was superb (laughs). I say that in all modesty as the poor thing never saw the light of day. Tremendously frustrating, they paid me for it but they didn’t make it. There was unconscionable delays with that script, not at my end, at their end, and by the time they finally commissioned it, which I’m grateful that they did, because I got paid, and I got to write this lovely thing……Um…Torchwood had completely changed format, so it was dead in the water.
However, a guy at Torchwood magazine did a feature about all the lost stories, and he got in touch with me about it, a very good piece, his name is James Goss. He’s a nice bloke, and the thing is, he actually read the script and he refers to it in the article. The reason I invoke his name is that it proves that at least two people like the script, me and him! It was a terrific piece of work, and it was very Torchwood and I loved it. It was a tremendously frustrating point of my career when that just didn’t happen. At some point, perhaps somebody should put some pdfs of it out on the web and people can read and decide for themselves.
MR: That would be good to see. I didn’t realise there were plans for a third series of Torchwood in the same mould as the first two, rather than what eventually emerged, Children of Earth.
AC: It’s hard to remember now. I think I was commissioned for series two, and everything just turned to tapioca, as we say. But it’s an interesting script, and a step forward in my development as a TV scriptwriter, so I’m quite proud of it.
MR: Would you like to write for the current series of Doctor Who?
AC: Yeah…I have a standard answer for that, but we’ve got to be a bit careful with it.
My standard answer is, I’d love to write for Doctor Who, but people should really approach Ben first, as he has an idea, a fantastic Doctor Who idea. Actually, Ben’s way too busy to write for Doctor Who, but the distinction I’m making is that I’d love to write for it, but at the moment I don’t have an idea at the front of my head which I’m champing at the bit to write. Ben’s got this wonderful idea, and I keep saying to Ben that somebody should commission you to do that. However, I made the mistake of saying this in front of a reporter, I think for the Islington Gazette. Now, the headline that appeared is “Ben Aaronovitch has written Doctor Who script”…. No, he hasn’t written a script. He has in his head, within his big brain he has an idea floating around.
Yeah, so I’d love to write for Doctor Who, and I’m sure some of the other writers from my period would too, and could do a cracking job. So, we’ll see what happens. I quite understand why when Russell (T. Davies) first took over he wanted a new slate, he didn’t want to return to the earlier group of writers. But, I think, perhaps, as the years go by, people might be more open to doing that. Certainly they’ve had some of the classic directors back, and it’s in no way been a bad thing, so I’m hoping that that’ll happen.
MR: I think that would be really good. I understand where he came from as well, just bringing in new blood at first, but I would love to see Bob Baker or Terrance Dicks write for it again. I’d like to see yourself, or Ian Briggs do one.
AC: Thank you. Terrance is a lovely bloke. Did you say Ian Briggs? The great thing about Briggs is, I’ve always been so peeved at him, as he’s such a good writer, and he hasn’t been doing anything. However, lately, just a couple of weeks ago, a script from Ian Briggs came into my inbox. He had emailed me this short film he had written, and it’s hilarious, and beautifully written. After all these years he’s getting back into writing, and I had a little discussion with him about it, and he’d become disillusioned, and I understand that. I recently did some interviews for Doctor Who Magazine with all the writers of my period…
MR: I’ve been reading that, yes.
AC: Oh great. Well, a lot of these people haven’t spoken for years, and some of them have never spoken on record, like Rona Munro, and,the thing is, Rona was saying about how working on Doctor Who, it kind of spoiled her, as television otherwise was some kind of a sausage factory, and the writers were not particularly well treated. And that was what Ian was saying, he’d had a great experience on Doctor Who, and then he’d had a pretty crappy experience on shows like The Bill…
I quite understand why people can lose their enthusiasm like Ian did, and to some extent, Rona did, although she’s a hugely successful playwright, radio writer, and film writer too….but, television has tended to fall by the wayside, as writers are often treated really badly in television. So, I’d love to see Briggs back again, I’m just sorry that he got discouraged, but I do understand why that happened.
MR: I’ve read the first part of the series, it’s very interesting, where you talk to Stephen Wyatt, and Malcolm Kohll….and Ian as well?
AC: Yeah, I’ve talked to Ian twice and Ben twice, and Stephen as well, as all three of them did two stories each.
MR: The second and third part haven’t been published yet…
AC: No, it was put on hold for an issue because they did the grand poll. The next issue should have part two, and the issue after that, with a bit of luck should have part three. Part one was very well received. I was just chuffed to do it, really.
MR: I look forward to reading the rest, I was with you on Time and the Rani, I remember watching it as a kid and thinking..”Oh no…”, but then Paradise Towers followed that, and that really interested me..
AC: It rallied a bit, didn’t it? I said my first greatest regret about Doctor Who was not having written any. My second greatest regret was that on Time and the Rani…..Pip and Jane and I just couldn’t agree on anything, so that was a really bad experience. I really wish I could have done a better job on that, and that it had turned out better, but failing that, I think I should have not had my name on it as Script Editor, because I cannot take any credit…..for people who loved that show, it was really nothing to do with me, and for people who hate it…..I refuse to take any blame!
So, I wish I’d just drawn a line in the sand and just said to John, look, I refuse to be credited as Script Editor on this. If I really was script editing….either I would change it completely, or I would hire other writers. And if I had drawn that line in the sand then John might have realised how seriously I felt about it. Or, alternatively, he might have found another Script Editor, so we just don’t know…But, Martin, I do need to ask, have you read Script Doctor?
MR: I don’t have a copy, but I understand there’s a revised edition.
(Andrew would like to point out that this is some of his most shameless hustling, but the revised edition of his Who Production memoir Script Doctor is now available from miwk publishing, and contains 32 pages of colour photos, plus new material from Andrew, as well as a new intro by Steven Moffat and an afterword from Sophie Aldred)
AC: The thing is, if you’re interested in the show, that completely covers it, because I through a large portion of time when I was on Doctor Who, I actually had a diary going, so I wrote down what happened, who said what….and it’s just like being there, it’s a fantastic little time capsule. It’s the next best thing to having shot a documentary at that time.
MR: It must be interesting to go back and see where your head was at, at the time.
AC: Yeah….It’s kind of lovely and also a little bit too much, because it’s a little bit too much of a trip down memory lane sometimes. It brings back memories, good and bad. No, but it’s terrific, it’s a great way of reliving it.
MR: As far as the modern series goes, do you have a particular favourite episode?
AC: You know what, the one that introduced Freema Agyeman, Smith and Jones…..I would say that one really. I thought she was such a great companion, it’s a terrific kick-ass episode, and it just sticks in my mind, but I haven’t seen them all. People are often surprised by that, but because I was so closely involved with it myself, it’s a bit of an emotional wrench to see other people doing it. I’m delighted they’re doing such a great job, but I’ve got kind of mixed emotions about it, so I don’t watch every episode.
MR: It’s a big ask to watch all of anything.
AC: Yeah, even with DVDs to catch up. However, I am doing a revised version of my book about the history of Doctor Who, and I’ve been writing about key episodes, so I’ll be watching some more of them soon. That book was called Through Time, which is a rubbish title, but the publisher was very concerned about getting in trouble for doing an unauthorised, unapproved Doctor Who book.
So it didn’t have any TARDIS on the cover, and the title was a little enigmatic, not a bad book. I watched a lot of key episodes from every era and said what I thought about them, but we’re doing a hugely enhanced new version, which is going to be called Who as Who, which at least sounds like a Doctor Who book. Over the years I’ve been involved in writing quite a few articles for DWM about the show, and the great thing about that is it’s led me to interview most of the surviving Script Editors. I’ve spoken to Donald Tosh, I’ve spoken to Chris Bidmead, I’ve spoken to Eric Saward, I’ve spoken to Terrance, on a number of occasions.
So, I’ve got all these interviews to draw on. It’s going to be about Doctor Who from the writers and Script Editors perspective, so I’m going to include those interviews. Also, we’ve managed to get hold of the writer’s guides. When I was working on the show, I wrote this document for prospective writers telling them what to do, what not to do. Apparently most of the Script Editors did that, so we’ll be including those in the book, and there’ll be some new illustrations, so it’ll be quite a nice package. So I haven’t seen a lot of the new era stuff, but I’ll be seeing a lot more about it, so I can write about it in this book.
MR: I was about to ask you if the former Script Editors ever met up and compared notes, but you’ve just answered that for me.
AC: We all got together at Panopticon many years ago to do a panel, and I’ve remained in touch with a lot of these guys since and they’re just lovely blokes. Donald Tosh is just wonderful, he’s this lovely guy, still there from the Hartnell era, isn’t that amazing?
MR: He’s the oldest surviving Script Editor, isn’t he?
AC: Yeah, and long may he survive, he’s a great bloke.
MR: I’d love to meet Terrance Dicks.
AC: Terrance and I had a lot of conversations, and the interesting thing is…we had such different approaches, so when I’m talking about how he went about his script editing and shaping the show, and how I did it, we were finding we were in complete disagreement about most things, and yet, we were each fascinated by the other guy’s methodology. He loved talking to me, as it made him think about it in a completely different way. I must say I look at the show in a different light thanks to his comments.
MR: It’s great to have that exchange, isn’t it?
AC: One of the most fascinating things was the Time Lords. I’ve always been completely against the Time Lords because they make the Doctor one of many, as opposed to a unique entity. But when you look at why they did it, and I discussed this with Terrance, who’s effectively responsible for introducing the Time Lords. I mean, the occasional Time Lord had popped up earlier, like the Meddling Monk, but the Time Lords as Time Lords from Gallifrey only really came in under Terrance and Malcolm Hulke in The War Games. And when you discuss the motivations for that it’s just fascinating, as to why it happened and why the logic took them there.
MR: If I ever cross paths with Terrance, because of all those old stories and Target Books I grew up with, I definitely owe that man a pint.
AC: He’ll definitely accept it.
MR: We spoke a little bit earlier about when you talked to the Islington Archaeology and History Society in April. You were quoted on the subject of missing episodes…
AC: Yeah that was great.
MR: What was the story with that?
AC: Well, if you actually read the story, there’s a headline that says “Script Editor says all missing episodes will be found”, and then if you actually read the body of the text it says all missing episodes may be found. Even the headline and the story disagree. I got in touch with the journalist via Twitter, as I was misquoted about Ben Aaronovitch, but they were “Well, my notes say this…”
So the guy took some stuff down wrong, but even what he got right was misrepresented by the headline. All I said was, they’ve found so many episodes, which I’m delighted about, I couldn’t be more pleased that these Troughton episodes have finally seen the light of day…how wonderful is that? Having found these great episodes in Africa, I believe, I think that there’s a good chance that all of them are out there, somewhere in some dusty corner of the world, and I hope, and I trust, and I believe we’ll find them all, but I don’t have any sort of inside scoop on it.
There was a story before that, saying I’d said that some missing episodes had been found, and that was true, but that was these rediscovered Troughton episodes that we’re talking about. I’d seen some blokes at the BBC, who had told me that, yes, they found some classic missing episodes, and I made the mistake of mentioning this. And people got really irate about it as I couldn’t quote chapter and verse, as I didn’t have any chapter and verse, so they said, “Oh, he doesn’t know what he’s talking about”. In that case what I’d said was entirely accurate, as demonstrated when those lost Troughton episodes surfaced, but in this case, I really don’t know what I’m talking about, I’m just speculating.
MR: Thanks for clearing that up for us! It’s been a huge thing in fandom the last year or so.
AC: I can understand that, as it’s such a scoop, it’s so great when they do find them, and I do hope they will find them all. So much of Troughton is missing, isn’t it, which I think in many ways is the greatest era of the show. There’s no reason more shouldn’t be found, what’s happened could be called proof of principle — it indicates that they can be found, and they are out there.
MR: Thank you very much for talking to me, Andrew, it’s been lovely to talk to you.
AC: Good to talk to you, take care.
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INTERVIEW, WRITING
INTERVIEW WITH ANDREW CARTMEL
DECEMBER 21, 2015 MATTHEW STOTT LEAVE A COMMENT
Hey! I interviewed writer Andrew Cartmel for Genre Reader.
Enjoy!
Andrew Cartmel will be well known to many of you as the script editor of Doctor Who during the McCoy years. Today he’s writing for the comic run of the Rivers of London novel series, as well as preparing to release a new novel series of his own. Andrew kindly let me throw questions at him. Despite being a huge McCoy era fan, I was very good and hardly even mentioned Who.
Ben Aaronovitch’s very popular Rivers of London novels are also now a comic series, which you co-write. How long ago did the idea to branch the series out into comics first come on your radar? Was it Ben coming to you with the idea?
Ben came to me. He’d been toying with the idea of doing a Rivers spin off comic from a very early stage. Maybe even from the first novel. And quite early on he had a fragment of a comic script — the first page of what eventually became ‘Body Work’. So that was the seed of that story. We didn’t know anything else, but we knew what the first page was!
How do you approach your novels and scripts; do you plan everything out before starting, or are you more a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants kind of a guy?
I use to be the latter, but I learned the hard way to become the former. I think the results are vastly superior if you plan as much as possible in advance — and it is ultimately much less hard work. Of course, everybody has a different process. Quentin Tarantino says he just starts writing with no plan — and I love his scripts. Django Unchained was especially brilliant.
With your background as a Doctor Who script editor, the Rivers of London comics aren’t the first time you’ve stepped into an existing story world. This time though, you’re actually writing alongside the original author of the series. Has this been an easy process, or was there a period of feeling out what would and wouldn’t fly with Ben.
Not so much, because I’m so intimately acquainted with the novels, having read them all in draft form before they were published, and often discussing them with Ben — by which I mean he’ll run things past me and use me as a sounding board for ideas. So I was fairly well calibrated to the mindset of the books. The one area where Ben has tended to correct me is in Nightingale’s dialogue, but I think even there I’m gradually overcoming his resistance. (Imagine a sinister laugh at this point.)
andrew cart
How many abandoned novels do you have gathering digital dust on your laptop?
Jesus — good question. Fully finished novels? Let’s see… I’ve had a little search around, both my brain and the computer and I can definitely think of four. There used to be a lot more, but there’s been a recent and welcome surge in my back catalogue being sold and going into print . For example, all three Vinyl Detective novels were written before we got the publishing deal from Titan. So I wouldn’t say these are abandoned novels. Just novels which have yet to sell…
Next year sees the release of The Vinyl Detective, how long has this book been in the works for? And where did the original idea spring from?
Just to clarify — the book is called Written in Dead Wax, and the character is called the Vinyl Detective. Of course, the words ‘Vinyl Detective’ feature on the cover in a much bigger typeface than the title. But it’s the same with James Bond novels, if you’ll allow a modest comparison. As for how long it’s been in the works… thanks to your previous question which sent me on a rampage down memory lane, I can verify that with some precision. The book was well underway in 2010. As for the original idea, it had two primary sources. Firstly I was discussing with Ben the success of his own books, and he urged me to write about what I loved. So I thought… a crime novel about record collecting. The second thing was simply the phrase ‘Written in dead wax,’ which was really evocative to me and began to suggest the book. It’s a phrase, incidentally, which will mean something to a lot of record collectors.
What’s the biggest influence on the kind of thing you write? Another author? A TV show? Some other thing that is neither of those two things? SPILL!
I’m influenced, I suppose, by my favourite authors. These would be, in genre fiction, the crime writers John D. MacDonald (creator of Travis McGee) and Thomas Harris (do I need to say he created Hannibal Lecter?). And in the world of ‘literary’ fiction, the marvellous Thomas McGuane. Of course, there are innumerable others, but those are the writers I most admire and keep going back to. There are other specific influences, though. For example, in the third Vinyl Detective novel Victory Disc, I had some set pieces which specifically called for intense, claustrophobic suspense. So I made it a deliberate project to read (and re-read) a lot of Cornell Woolrich, because he was the master of that.
The Vinyl Detective has the subtitle: Written in Dead Wax; do you see the series running as long as you have ideas, or do you have a set number of adventures in mind?
See my earlier answer. Written in Dead Wax is no more a subtitle than From Russia with Love was. But yes, I do see the series running as long as the ideas are fun. I’m already a substantial way into the fourth novel, have clear ideas for a couple more, and a long list of titles which are appropriate for the series and which excite and interest me in the same way Written in Dead Wax did.
written in dead wax cover for sarah
Have you ever read a book that scared you?
Yes. But I’d point out that there’s an overlap between suspense and fear. I recently was intensely afraid while reading The Martian by Andy Weir — an absolutely magnificent novel. But the fear there was that something terrible would happen to our beloved hero (and of course it often did), not fear per se. For fear per se I remember when I was a kid reading Stephen King’s ’Salem’s Lot and finding it so intense and scary that I had to wander outside into the garden to where my dad was burning leaves — a comforting return to normality and the real world. I’d add, though, that I don’t think King ever got better than that book.
What was your favourite book as a kid?
Hmm… depends on what you mean as a kid. As a teenager I was knocked out by John Fowles’s The Magus. When I was younger I adored The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury. Before that, The Marvellous Land of Oz by Frank L. Baum (a more interesting sequel to Wizard). Younger still, I used to love Bill Frog to the Rescue by Cam (Barbara Mary Campbell).
What are you reading/watching/hiding from right now?
Watching… I’m finally catching up on the last two series of Breaking Bad (no spoilers, please). I’m waiting to get hold of Series Five of Game of Thrones on Blu-ray (I’m old school; and I absolutely don’t hold with piracy — or watching Sky). But it’s not out until March, the bastards. So no spoilers until April. I really do think Game of Thrones may be the greatest television drama ever made. And I recently watched Darling and Nothing But the Best, two 1960s movies, because I was interested in their screenwriter Frederic Raphael. On the big screen, I’ve recently loved Sicario, written by Taylor Sheridan and Steve Jobs, written by Aaron Sorkin. Reading… In comics, I’ve just read the first two ‘chapters’ (i.e. 12 issues) of The Walking Dead comics by Robert Kirkman. In books, I’m working my way through the Hugo Bishop novels, a gentleman-detective series written in the 1950s by Adam Hall (Elleston Trevor). These I chose largely because (besides loving Hall’s Quiller novels), they’re old fashioned paperbacks which are small enough to fit in my pocket. They’re actually ‘pocket books.’ (That’s one thing I dislike about so-called trade paperbacks.) But besides being the right size, they’re also proving surprisingly good. Before Adam Hall it was Iris Murdoch. At home, where I keep the larger books, it’s a lot of non-fiction, often about jazz. When I travel (long plane and train journeys) I read the stack of New Scientist magazines which have built up since my last long plane or train journey.
After the classic run of Doctor Who finished, you were one of a number of writers who wrote Who novels for the Virgin New Adventures range; are there any of those titles that you’re still particularly proud of?
The trouble with the really old stuff I wrote is that when I think about those books, all I see is the flaws. Hence I can’t go back to them and read them again. I feel disassociated from them. Luckily this stopped at a certain point, when I wrote my memoir about working on Doctor Who, entitled Script Doctor, of which I’m very proud. And also a Prisoner novel called Miss Freedom. I felt I got that right. So those were the turning points. From then on I’ve been able to enjoy my own stuff — and look at it without fear of finding fault. That doesn’t mean I have no pride in the War Trilogy (as I pretentiously call my New Adventures novels — Warhead, Warlock and War Child), because people keep coming up to me and telling me about stuff in them that I’d forgotten was there. I think, hey — that sounds interesting…
Name me a ‘classic’ novel that you’ve started, then not been able to get through.
Oh Christ. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. Too much crime and not enough punishment, as I compelled one of my characters to say about it. And The Tin Drum by Günter Grass. But in the case of The Tin Drum I strongly suspect it was a dodgy translation. A better one might prove much more readable. Of course, that could be a factor with Crime and Punishment, too.
‘Script Doctor’ is extracts from your diary during your time as the script editor of Doctor Who during the Sylvester McCoy era, and rather a wonderful read it is too, especially for someone like me whose favourite two seasons of Who are 25 &26. There, uh, isn’t really a question in there, is there? Well done, though. Good work and all that. I’m a shameless suck-up.
Thank you so much. Can I fussily say it isn’t really diary extracts but a gorgeously fashioned memoir cunningly incorporating material from my diaries of the time, thus creating a rich tapestry which brings a lost era vividly to life? That’s what it says here, anyway…
script_thumb-200x300
What’s the last great book you read?
The Martian by Andy Weir. Very emphatically. Thank you to the galactically groovy Lucy Kissick for turning me on to it.
Do you currently have any idea when the second Vinyl Detective novel might be released? Will it be a yearly schedule?
Yup, it will be May 2017 for the second one, entitled The Run Out Groove and May 2018 for the third, Victory Disc. Assuming the world doesn’t end, he added cheerfully.
D’you listen to music whilst you write? The TV on in the background providing a pleasent white-noise babble? Or d’you DEMAND SILENCE WHILST YOU CREATE FROM NOTHING.
Yes, music, absolutely and almost always. But whereas the nefarious Ben Aaronovitch will choose music specifically suited to the mood of the sequence that he’s writing, I can listen to anything providing I like it. So — a jaunty tune while fashioning a tragic death scene is not out of the question. I tend to prefer instrumental music to songs, though — often jazz or film scores; maybe even some classical (he lied, trying to sound cultured). Because sung words can interfere with the words I’m trying to conjure up in my head. Though if it’s a really good jazz singer, the words are almost abstract sounds — like an instrument being played — so they don’t interfere.
What does the long-term future hold for you? Apart from gradually succumbing to the dreadful passing of time. (You’re going to die.) But writing-career-wise, gimme the lowdown. (Seriously, you’re future worm food)
What is this death you speak of? While we’re arguing the ontological toss… Well, I’m enjoying writing comics and it would be good to broaden out into that area. I’d like to write other comics titles besides Rivers of London. I’m doing some short Doctor Who strips for Doctor Who Adventures magazine (the editor there, Jason Quinn, is terrific) and indeed I’m talking to Titan about doing some ‘grown up’ Doctor Who for their comics line. And eventually it would be great to create my own comic title. In other areas, I’d like to do a bit more writing for television. I feel that is unfinished business. More than any of those things, though, I want to write some stage plays. Besides novels, I would say that is my primary ambition. On the novel front, I hope to go on crafting Vinyl Detective novels, and I have another series I’ve started (first novel written) and I’d like to see that set in motion as well. It’s also a crime series, so I’d like to do one book in each series every year — two novels a year the way Agatha Christie used to do. You might have heard of her.
THANKS, ANDREW!
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Interview: Andrew Cartmel & Hans Vang | DOCTOR WHO - FAN FICTION ILLUSTRATED
PrintE-mail WRITTEN BY ED FORTUNE
If you have ever wondered how the Slyvester McCoy era of Doctor Who would have ended had the BBC not stupidly cancelled the show, you may yet still get the chance. Legendary former Doctor Who script editor (and one-time Starburst editor!), Andrew Cartmel has teamed up with comic book producer Hans Vang in order to create Fan Fiction Illustrated, which will feature comic strip versions of those lost stories.
This exciting new publication is being launched via crowdfunding website IndieGoGo, and only has a few days left to run. Starburst caught up with Andrew and Hans, and quizzed them about this exciting new project, as well as other things.
Starburst: What should we expect to see from Fan Fiction Illustrated?
Hans Vang: You should expect to see a high quality fanzine full of great fan fiction comic strips, some novelettes and short stories, and maybe even some articles - but for the first issue we're sticking with comic strips, that's really the absolute main attraction of FFL.
Andrew Cartmel: Be prepared to be surprised.
What’s prompted you to create this after so many years?
AC: The chance to work in comics, a medium I love, with total creative freedom. Well, almost total - put that bullwhip away, Hans!
Will we see fan fiction from other Who shows like Sarah Jane Adventures?
HV: If a good story comes our way, absolutely. Personally, I would like to try to go even crazier, developing a series out of the Nelvana animated series pitch, using the artwork available on the internet as inspiration. I'd like to see The Daleks have their own stories, I'd like to see representations of things like Rose - Defender of the Earth, or whatever that spin-off show was supposed to be called before it was canned. I'd like to see lots of nutty things like that in the 'zine down the line, and I have a feeling other people would also like to see those ideas represented as something tangible rather than an idea floating in the ether.
What elements of the Master Plan should we expect to see?
AC: The Darker Doctor, of course.
It’s called Fan Fiction Illustrated. What other fandoms do you intend to cover?
HV: Whatever we fancy, really. But Fan Fiction Illustrated is meant as a sort of banner title, under which several fanzines could appear, specialising in one franchise or another, rather than strictly doing a magazine with a mix of things.
How different would the newer series of Doctor Who be now, had you been able to enact your Master Plan?
AC: In many ways - particularly the character of the companion - the new series is a natural extension of where we were going. Rose was a direct descendant of Ace.
Knowing what you know now, if you could have done one thing different during your time with Doctor Who, what would it be?
AC: To write a whole bunch of episodes. But whenever I think about that, I realise it would have meant sacrificing some of the stories by my writers - and it would be hard, if not impossible, to imagine the series without the great scripts crafted by this talented crew.
You cite the excellent Vworp! Vworp! as an inspiration. What artists do you have lined up, and what else should we be looking out for?
HV: I've hijacked friends in the comics industry with whom I've worked in the past to illustrate things for the first issue, as there really wasn't much hope of finding enough submissions to be able to boil it down to something of high enough quality, something worth printing, something worth spending your money on. And that's important to me as an editor - if I wouldn't want to buy it myself, it's not good enough - not even when I'm editing a fanzine. The main objective of this exercise, for myself and for Andrew at least, is to have fun. That said, there's not much point to the whole thing if we just include every scrap of content sent to us without looking on it with a critical eye, editing and conversing with the writers. I'm constantly looking for talent with whom to work in the future, so I also look upon this as a sort of development program for another project of my own that I intend to spend the rest of my life on.
What future projects do you have planned?
AC: I have a series of mystery thrillers coming out around Christmas, a trio of novels concerning a record collector turned detective. Keep an eye out for them. They're a real labour of love, and the best thing I've ever done.
HV: I've got a project planned that I intend to spend the rest of my life on, to one extent or another. It's a comics project that could potentially change the way comics are distributed in the future. I'm currently looking for investors.
What work do you wish you’d created? How would it be different?
AC: I don't think in that way. If I love a TV show or book (eg The Mentalist by Bruno Heller or Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch) I enjoy it because of the specific way the writer has created it. I couldn't imagine myself doing it better than the person who thought it up. I can do my 'own' stuff better.
HV: I really don't want to have created any of the things I love - I'd be unable to enjoy them the same way, I think.
If you were stranded on a desert island and could only have one book for company, what would that book be?
AC: The complete Encyclopaedia Britannica.
HV: Gosh, that's an impossible question. Right now? Today? Probably The Star Wars Trilogy novelization. I've been enjoying the Star Wars saga again recently, so that's off the top of my mind. If I were a masochist, I'd probably bring a cook book - full of pictures!
What inspires you?
AC: Although I'm not a huge classical fan, Stravinsky is a person who inspires me, because he never grew old or stale or fixed in his work. He just kept on changing, evolving and improving throughout a long creative life. US TV drama in general I admire (I don't know if I'd say it inspires me) because it's so goddamn much better than what we have in Britain.
HV: I'm very inspired by television. I adore television. Since Buffy, as mentioned above, I've adored television. I am so infatuated by the idea of getting 22 or 13 hours of great storytelling per year, rather than 2 hours every few years in a cinema. I love serialised storytelling to death.
I learned to write by watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer as a teenager, when it appeared on television in Denmark. So Joss Whedon, I guess. There's not really any one author that has influenced me, I'm more influenced by ideas and good work than individual authors. I respect authors very much, and there are two or three authors that I would like to work with for the rest of my life, but that's the editor/producer talking.
George Lucas is also a great inspiration to me. I still feel that special magical, almost tingling feeling when I think back to being a six year old watching a behind the scenes documentary on television about the making of Willow or the making of Indiana Jones... That feeling of magic is something George Lucas will always represent for me. This independent filmmaker's stories and works, that are so colorful and so wonderful, will always hold a very special place in my heart indeed.
Simpsons or Futurama?
AC: Simpsons.
HV: Honestly? Neither. Family Guy all the way.
Coke or Pepsi?
AC: I don't drink stuff that comes out of a factory.
HV: Pepsi!
Truth or Beauty?
AC: I'm shallow. Give me beauty every time.
HV: What's the difference?
Rose or Dorothy?
AC: Got to be loyal. The latter.
HV: Dorothy, I think. She didn't need a Tardis to go home - just a pair of shoes.
Tom Baker or Matt Smith?
AC: Hmm. Now that's an interesting question. Damn close call. The production values are so much better in Matt Smith's era that it's not really a fair comparison. In the end I'd have to go with Tom because of the sheer scale of the body of work during his tenure.
HV: Tom Baker, obviously.
The website for Fan Fiction Illustrated’s IndieGoGo page can be found by clicking on the pic below...
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Cult Q & A: Andrew Cartmel
May 29, 2017 James Gent Books 0
❉ The man with a masterplan.
Andrew Cartmel is a novelist, playwright and screenwriter.
His work for BBC television includes a legendary three year stint as the Script Editor on Doctor Who.
His latest novel is The Run-Out Groove, second in a new series of noir thrillers about the Vinyl Detective — a record collector turned sleuth.
In our latest Q&A, Andrew Cartmel tells We Are Cult about his cult faves, writers and writing, his recent work including The Vinyl Detective series and Titan Comics’ Rivers Of London series (set in the world of the Rivers of London novels by fellow Doctor Who alumnus Ben Aaronovitch) and .. Just what WAS the Cartmel masterplan?
What were you like at school?
Bookish.
What did you want to be when you were growing up?
A writer. I’ve never wanted to be anything else.
What advice would you give to your teenage self?
Take up yoga.
Who were your pop culture heroes growing up?
James Bond. The Man With No Name (Clint Eastwood in the Spaghetti Westerns). Rod Serling (host of the Twilight Zone).
What do you consider to be the single greatest piece of television ever?
Game of Thrones.
Monty Python: Is it funny?
It is beyond funny.
What was the last film that you watched?
Unlocked, a superb spy thriller written by Peter O’Brien, directed by Michael Aped and starring Noomi Rapace.
What film could you watch every day?
The Last Picture Show (Larry McMurtry and Peter Bogdanovich). Or Chinatown (Robert Towne and Roman Polanski). Or Heat (Michael Mann).
What’s your favourite film soundtrack?
Chinatown by Jerry Goldsmith.
Which four actors would you like to see in a film together and which genre?
I’m more interested in writers, directors and composers than actors. Having said that… Alicia Vikander, Emily Blunt, Tatiana Maslany and Marion Cotillard. In a thriller.
Which film, book or album last disappointed you the most?
Film: Sleepless, a promising Las Vegas police thriller starring Jamie Foxx, which goes fatally, hopelessly wrong.
Which album would you recommend and lend to a friend?
Kind of Blue by Miles Davis.
Which record wouldn’t you let out of your sight?
Waltz for Debby by Bill Evans.
Which book or record would you save if your house was on fire?
My cat.
What’s your definition of what makes something cult?
I think the internet has killed that concept.
What are you reading at present?
‘The Dogs’ by Robert Calder, ‘The Good Old Stuff’ (a collection of short stories) by John D. MacDonald and ‘John D. MacDonald’ (a critical biography) by Edgar W. Hirshberg.
When did you first decide that you wanted to become a writer?
When I first learned to read. So around four or five years old.
In 2013, Miwk Publishing reprinted Script Doctor, your memoirs of your time working on Doctor Who, with a new introduction by Steven Moffat. Do you have any plans to update or reprint Through Time?
Miwk have indeed asked me to update Through Time for them and are eager to publish it in a new edition under a new and better title. I really like Miwk and would love to do this for them, but finding the time to do it is proving difficult.
This year Rona Munro, who wrote the last Dr Who serial you script-edited, Survival, becomes the first ‘classic series’ writer to write for the 21st century series (‘The Eaters of Light, to be broadcast 17 June). You must be thrilled!
Guardedly thrilled. I hope she is well treated.
In retrospect, the period you worked on Dr Who, particularly Seasons 25 and 26, seemed to paved the way for the direction of the series when it returned in 2005 produced by Russell T Davies. Do you feel this is a fair assessment?
Yes.
What was the Cartmel masterplan?
To restore the Doctor’s mystery, power, autonomy and stature.
You’re a big comics fan, and Alan Moore’s Watchmen and 2000 AD’s The Ballad of Halo Jones have been referenced as creative influences on your own period of Doctor Who. Which comic creators or titles have been your biggest inspirations?
Unquestionably Alan Moore. He remains head and shoulders above all others, today as then. I was a big fan of comics when I was working on the show. Or, more accurately, a big fan of Alan Moore’s Swamp Thing and V for Vendetta.
There were a few other creators whose work I read at the time that I started doing Who — Frank Miller, Love & Rockets by the Hernandez Brothers and Howard Chaykin’s American Flagg and a handful of others but really, compared to Alan Moore they hardly existed.
Richard Piers Rayner’s art from Doctor Who: Evening’s Empire.
At the time you were working on Doctor Who, were you familiar with the DWM strip at the time and the different directions it had taken to the 80s TV series?
I fear I was completely unaware of any developments on the Who comic strip — I merely had my beady eye on it as a potential route into writing for comics. Since I was script editing the show I figured I could swing that and indeed, with the help of John Freeman, I did.
Some of the Doctor Who Magazine comic strips you wrote, Evening’s Empire and The Good Soldier, were recently published in paperback by Panini. Are you happy with how they have been presented?
I’m very proud of Evening’s Empire, but it’s a crying shame some of the original art was lost and had to be reconstituted.
Evening’s Empire was my most ambitious work and the one of which I was (and am) most proud. It was like a Seventh Doctor TV story but with an unlimited budget — and also slightly darker, more abstract and more adult. Other than that I don’t think I can say much about it except you should read it.
But I also have a soft spot for The Good Soldier, a Cyberman story I wrote, which I think was very good and made imaginative use of the possibilities of the Cybermen in a way which I still don’t think has been explored or achieve by the show.
You’ve collaborated with one of your Who peers, Ben Aaronovitch, on the Titan comics series Rivers of London, based on his book series of the same name. Can you tell us a little about what that’s been like?
Sheer pleasure.
Your book The Run Out Groove, the second in the Vinyl Detective series, was published recently. Can you tell us a little about this series?
It’s a combination of suspenseful thriller and cosy murder mystery with a record collector as the sleuth. In each book the ‘McGuffin’ is some kind of rare or lost record. The books are, I hope, engrossing and fun. Definitely a remedy for all the grim Nordic Noir and Danish Disembowelment there is around these days. Warning, though: May contain cats.
Who is your editor and publisher for this series? What have they been like to work with?
The superb Miranda Jewess at Titan Books. She’s been a dream come true.
What’s the best bit of advice anyone has given you?
Luis Buñuel once said, ‘The imagination is a muscle” and I realised that the more I wrote, the better I’d get.
Who has had the biggest influence on your career, and how has that person changed your work/life?
That would be a whole bunch of writers — Thomas McGuane, John D. MacDonald, Alan Moore, Thomas Harris, Elleston Trevor, Harold Pinter, Jack Rosenthal, Simon Moore and many others. They have taught me my craft.
Do you think it’s true that you should never meet your heroes?
Not never, but you have to be prepared for some damaging disappointments upon occasion.
What element of your work gives you the most personal satisfaction?
Completing some piece of writing which achieves exactly what I set out to do.
What has been the most rewarding project in your professional career so far – and why?
The Vinyl Detective series. I felt I’d succeeded in doing what I described in the answer above 🙂
Do you have any upcoming projects?
Besides further Vinyl Detective novels and Rivers of London comics I’m currently writing a stage play.
How can our readers discover more about you and you work?
Twitter: @andrewcartmel
Blog: http://venusianfrogbroth.blogspot.co.uk/
Facebook: If you find the picture of me and my cat, you’re in the right place.
GoodReads will work, too.
Thank you for taking time out to talk to us!
❉ The Vinyl Detective – The Run-Out Groove is out now from Titan Books, RRP £7.99
❉ Rivers of London Vol. 3: Black Mould, is due out on 25 July 2017, RRP £10.49. It can be pre-ordered from Amazon. You can find the complete series of issues and collections via Comixology’s Rivers of London page.
❉ Script Doctor by Andrew Cartmel is available to buy directly from Miwk Publishing, at a special price of £14.99 (RRP £17.99) or for insane amounts of money on Amazon.
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2000 AD
ALAN MOORE
ALICIA VIKANDER
AMAZON
AMERICAN FLAGG
BEN AARONOVITCH
BILL EVANS
BLACK MOULD
BY ROBERT CALDER
CHINATOWN
CLINT EASTWOOD
COMIXOLOGY
CULT
CULT Q & A
DOCTOR WHO MAGAZINE
EDGAR W. HIRSHBERG
ELLESTON TREVOR
EMILY BLUNT
EVENING’S EMPIRE
FRANK MILLER
GAME OF THRONES
HAROLD PINTER
HE TWILIGHT ZONE
HEAT
HOWARD CHAYKIN
JACK ROSENTHAL
JAMES BOND
JAMIE FOXX
JOHN D. MACDONALD
KIND OF BLUE
LARRY MCMURTRY
LOVE & ROCKETS
LUIS BUNUEL
MARION COTILLARD
MICHAEL APED
MICHAEL MANN
MILES DAVIS
MIRANDA JEWESS
NOOMI RAPACE
PANINI
PETER BOGDANOVICH
PETER O’BRIEN
Q & A
RICHARD PIERS RAYNER
RIVERS OF LONDON
ROBERT TOWNE
ROD SERLING
ROMAN POLANSKI
RUSSELL T. DAVIES
SCRIPT DOCTOR
SIMON MOORE
SLEEPLESS
SWAMP THING
TATIANA MASLANY
THE BALLAD OF HALO JONES
THE DOGS
THE EATERS OF LIGHT
THE GOOD OLD STUFF
THE GOOD SOLDIER
THE HERNANDEZ BROTHERS
THE LAST PICTURE SHOW
THE MAN WITH NO NAME
THE RUN-OUT GROOVE
THE VINYL DETECTIVE
THOMAS HARRIS
THOMAS MCGUANE
THROUGH TIME
TITAN BOOKS
V FOR VENDETTA
WALTZ FOR DEBBY
WATCHMEN
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Print Marked Items
Rivers of London: Night Witch
Charles de Lint
The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction.
132.5-6 (May-June 2017): p84.
COPYRIGHT 2017 Spilogale, Inc.
http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/
Full Text:
Rivers of London: Night Witch, by Ben Aaronovitch & Andrew Cartmel, and Lee Sullivan, Titan Comics, 2016, $14.99,
tpb.
First off, this is a graphic novel. A comic book. I mention this because I was taken to task recently by a reader who was
quite interested in another graphic novel I was discussing in this column, only to find out near the end of the review that
it wasn't prose. Somehow, even though everything about the book intrigued him, the delivery medium was a deal
breaker.
I get it. We all have quirks in our reading habits. I have trouble reading something in second person. I can make it
through a short story, but would never read a novel, because the entire time the author is telling me, "you're walking
into the room," I can't shut off the voice in my head that's saying, "No, I'm not."
For some reason, first person doesn't affect me in the same way. Not because I think I'm telling the story (which is as
implausible as second person, when you think about it), but because I'm able to accept as part of my suspension of
disbelief that I'm reading an account that happened to someone else, as though I'm privy to their personal journal.
But I digress. Rivers of London: Night Witch is a graphic novel. If you like Ben Aaronovitch (and why wouldn't you?),
you'll like this book, which is a completely new story set in his Rivers of London world, co-written with Andrew
Cartmel (Doctor Who, The Vinyl Detective ) and illustrated by Lee Sullivan.
I find the best graphic stories based on established properties are those that involve the original creator in a primary
role. You know you're getting the real deal, and that's certainly the case here.
Rivers of London is an urban fantasy series with a very different feel from those with which you might already be
familiar. It's set in Britain (London, perhaps obviously?), and is as much police procedural as it is mythic fiction. But
the magical elements are integral to the stories.
In Night Witch, the case begins with the daughter of a Russian oligarch being kidnapped from the family's new home in
Kent, England, by what his wife claims is a leshy--a mythological forest creature that the Russians used in the Second
World War against the Germans.
Enter PC Peter Grant, London's only wizard in training on the police force.
But the case isn't as straightforward a monster hunt/rescue as it seems. The Russian mob appears to be involved. Peter's
mentor Nightingale has been abducted. And Peter's only useful aide is a Russian witch currently incarcerated in the
British prison system.
If you're new to graphic novels, this is a good place to see how far they've come from the days of the Gold Key, Disney,
or the superhero comics you might have grown up on. There are no superheroes bashing away at each other, and the art
is moody and dark to suit the narrative. The authors also take full advantage of the medium, presenting a layered story
in a way that you can't pull off in a regular prose version.
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The characters are adults, facing their problems as adults, and--as often appears to be the case with a lot of British
fiction I read--there's a wry sense of humor percolating away under the darker elements.
This is the second Rivers of London graphic novel Titan Comics has done, the first being Rivers of London: Body Work,
and it's just as good as the one in hand. Both books, I should probably mention, are stand-alone stories that, for all their
ties to Aaronovitch's body of work, still make excellent entry points into this world of his where British policework
meets the supernatural.
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
de Lint, Charles. "Rivers of London: Night Witch." The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, May-June 2017, p.
84+. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA491230378&it=r&asid=484d7ffcb7686b5725091a389bbe7cb1.
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Cartmel, Andrew: THE RUN-OUT GROOVE
Kirkus Reviews.
(Mar. 15, 2017):
COPYRIGHT 2017 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Full Text:
Cartmel, Andrew THE RUN-OUT GROOVE Titan Books (Adult Fiction) $14.95 5, 9 ISBN: 978-1-78329-769-6
A tracker of rare records goes on the hunt to find out the truth behind the suicide of a 1960s legend and the kidnapping
of her child in the second outing of Cartmel's (Written in Dead Wax, 2016) series.The inadvertent sleuth known as the
Vinyl Detective is hired by the brother of a casualty of the '60s London rock scene to find an ultrarare 45 attributed to
his sister. The track is said to contain a secret message which has been rumored to be a black-magic incantation. The
detective's client wants to hear what is actually on the disc so as to remove a smear from his sister's reputation. He also
expects the detective to find the singer's missing son. Soon the hero and his main squeeze find themselves encountering
legendary photographers and the not-so-legendary veterans of the dead singer's time. Part of the fun of the series is the
obsessiveness of record collectors, the contradictions between the mundane places in which they hunt their treasures--
charity shops, church bazaars--and the sophisticated sound systems they have set up to play what they find. At times the
book tips a bit too much into vinyl wonkiness, leaving the reader on the outside of the joke. And Cartmel seems unsure
whether he wants to write an essentially feel-good series or whether he wants to go for something darker and more
memorable. Still, the Vinyl Detective is proving to be a very amenable companion to have on a treasure hunt. This is
one vinyl nerd you won't mind spending time with.
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Cartmel, Andrew: THE RUN-OUT GROOVE." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Mar. 2017. General OneFile,
go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA485105342&it=r&asid=2995b2cf0eda1201e1abd97de200e0ca.
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The Run-Out Groove
Bill Ott
Booklist.
113.14 (Mar. 15, 2017): p24.
COPYRIGHT 2017 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist_publications/booklist/booklist.cfm
Full Text:
The Run-Out Groove.
By Andrew Cartmel.
May 2017.416p. Titan, paper, $14.95 (9781783297696).
When last we saw the jazz-loving Vinyl Detective (Written in Dead Wax, 2016), he was doing what he does best:
finding rare LPs--vinyl only, of course. That case came with an attendant mystery involving the circumstances
surrounding the recording of a jazz pianist's lost album, but this time everything is backward: the rare album has
already been found, and it kicks off the case, a missing person this time, not a missing record. And it's rock, not jazz.
The cult rock star Valerian killed herself shortly after her last album was released, and after her death, her baby
vanished. But was Valerian really murdered, and what happened to the child? The Vinyl Detective is hired to find the
answers, despite his protestations that he finds records not people. So begins another goofy, thoroughly endearing
hipster romp, starring a just-zany-enough cast of vintage-loving Londoners: the hero, of course, and his even more
obsessed cohort Tinkler, crave vinyl; his girlfriend, the fetching Nevada, goes for vintage clothes; and let's not forget
their cab-driver pal, the equally fetching Clean Head, who gets all tingly over rare Penguin Classics. Great premise,
great fun. Keep 'em coming.--Bill Ott
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Ott, Bill. "The Run-Out Groove." Booklist, 15 Mar. 2017, p. 24. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA490998446&it=r&asid=139786771751c6ba75f5e9e48d7d2893.
Accessed 22 Oct. 2017.
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The Vinyl Detective: The Run-Out Groove
Publishers Weekly.
264.10 (Mar. 6, 2017): p42.
COPYRIGHT 2017 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
The Vinyl Detective: The Run-Out Groove
Andrew Cartmel. Titan, $14.95 trade paper
(416p) ISBN 978-1-78329-769-6
British author Cartmel's entertaining second record-spinning mystery finds the eponymous hero, otherwise unnamed,
living in London with Nevada Warren, who hired him in the series debut, 2016's Written in Dead Wax. When John
Drummond, who likes to be called Colonel, and Drummond's companion, self-styled journalist Lucille Tegmark, call
on the vinyl detective, they first express interest in a rare 45 rpm single, "All the Cats Love Valerian," which they
spotted on his blog. But this is just the lead-up to what the bickering couple really want: to hire him to investigate the
disappearance of the infant son of Drummond's notorious singer sister, Valerian, who committed suicide in 1967 around
the time the boy went missing. Encouraged by Nevada, the vinyl detective takes on the case. Cartmel treats music and
records seriously, plays his strange characters for laughs, and provides a bit of danger and some unexpected twists in
this affectionate nod to the vagaries of rock stardom. Agent: Tom Witcomb, Blake Friedmann Literary, Film & TV
Agency (U.K.). (May)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"The Vinyl Detective: The Run-Out Groove." Publishers Weekly, 6 Mar. 2017, p. 42. General OneFile,
go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA484973636&it=r&asid=b3a9b7bbe994f18e20f6bd34f8a1994b.
Accessed 22 Oct. 2017.
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Rivers of London: Body Work
Jesse Karp
Booklist.
112.16 (Apr. 15, 2016): p41.
COPYRIGHT 2016 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist_publications/booklist/booklist.cfm
Full Text:
Rivers of London: Body Work. By Ben Aaronovitch and Andrew Cartmel. Illus. by Lee Sullivan and Luis Guerrero.
2016. 128p. Titan, paper, $14.99 (9781782761877). 741.5.
When something strange and inexplicable occurs in London, the Special Assessment Unit is called in to deal with it.
Peter Grant is an officer of this branch and the star of Aaronovitch's Rivers of London novels, quite popular in the UK
but less well-known stateside. This first comics adaptation introduces Grant and his impressively diverse supporting
cast as they investigate a bizarre case of murder by car. Led to a junk dealer, Grant and his nonmagical partner, Sahra
Guleed, find that the dealer has inadvertently sold off various pieces of a haunted car, which must be tracked down
before they take their drivers on the worst kind of ride. The magic--or "falcon," as police slang would have it--is
pleasingly grounded here, creating a world of subtle intricacies rather than dazzling fireworks, and the supernatural is
blended into the police procedural with satisfying realism. The characters are familiar but engaging enough, and the art
does much to make each face distinctive and expressive as well as give the story its down-to-earth sturdiness.--Jesse
Karp
YA: Teens looking for a good mystery, police procedural, or supernatural adventure will find plenty to enjoy here, and
the racial diversity of the cast could give it even greater appeal. JK.
YA RECOMMENDATIONS
* Young adult recommendations for adult, audio, and reference titles reviewed in this issue have been contributed by
the Booklist staff and by reviewers Poornima Apte, Emily Borsa, Carolyn Ciesla, Craig Clark, Carol Haggas, Biz Hyzy,
Jesse Karp, Brian Odom, Cortney Ophoff, and Emily Whitmore.
* Adult titles recommended for teens are marked with the following symbols: YA, for books of general YA interest;
YA/C, for books with particular curriculum value; YA/S, for books that will appeal most to teens with a special interest
in a specific subject; and YA/M, for books best suited to mature teens.
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Karp, Jesse. "Rivers of London: Body Work." Booklist, 15 Apr. 2016, p. 41. General OneFile,
go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA451632248&it=r&asid=bfcc6218f983173a446bd23ddd0a1a3c.
Accessed 22 Oct. 2017.
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The Vinyl Detective: Written in Dead Wax
Bill Ott
Booklist.
112.16 (Apr. 15, 2016): p25.
COPYRIGHT 2016 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist_publications/booklist/booklist.cfm
Full Text:
The Vinyl Detective: Written in Dead Wax. By Andrew Cartmel. May 2016. 480p. Titan, paper, $14.95
19781783297672); e-book (9781783297689!
Jazz-loving mystery fans have plenty of similarly inclined sleuths to follow--from Bill Moody's Evan Horne through
Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch--but this series debut, about an unnamed "vinyl detective," adds the crazy world of
record collectors to the mix. Our hero, a failed London DJ turned LP finder, makes a meager living--just enough to
keep his two rambunctious cats in kibble and him in high-end coffee beans--by tracking down whatever obscure vinyl
recording his clients desire, though jazz is his specialty. So it seems like his ship has come in when a fetching Louise
Brooks look-alike arrives on his doorstep, checkbook in hand, asking him to track down a 1950s recording on a small
label by a piano player who died mysteriously shortly thereafter. It's off to the jumble sales, but soon enough it becomes
clear that our guy and gal have competition who are willing to play dirty. The plot gets a little far-fetched (and Cartmel
definitely overplays the now-you're-dead-now-you're-not card), but this one is all about mood (jaunty and clever, in
swinging, four-four time) and frame story (jazz history mixed with geeky references to Ortofon Rohmann cartridges
and Roksan Xerxes turntables). Vinyl fans, this one's for you.--Bill Ott
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Ott, Bill. "The Vinyl Detective: Written in Dead Wax." Booklist, 15 Apr. 2016, p. 25+. General OneFile,
go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA451632203&it=r&asid=363707773669080d507827f032f4874f.
Accessed 22 Oct. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A451632203
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The Vinyl Detective: Written in Dead Wax
Publishers Weekly.
263.5 (Feb. 1, 2016): p46.
COPYRIGHT 2016 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
The Vinyl Detective: Written in Dead Wax Andrew Cartmel. Titan, $14.95 trade paper (480p) ISBN 978-1-78329-767-
2
The vinyl detective, the narrator of this fast-paced, lighthearted adventure from Cartmel (Doctor Who: Atom Bomb
Blues), is a failed London disc jockey, who scratches out a living by scouting collectable LPs in thrift shops and usedrecord
stores and selling them at inflated prices to serious collectors. The action picks up when an alluring woman,
Nevada Warren, offers him a hefty sum to track down the first American pressing of a jazz album issued by a Los
Angeles-based label in 1955. It's not likely to turn up in the British Isles, but the detective accepts the commission. In
the course of his quest, he scatters endless bits of jazz history and sound-equipment technicalities that will please jazz
buffs and audiophiles alike. Who is Warren's employer, and why is this particular LP so valuable? It takes most of the
book, "Side One," to answer these questions. Unfortunately, Cartmel deconstructs the previous narrative in "Side Two,"
which isn't bad but comes as a letdown after the marvelously inventive and endlessly fascinating first section. Agent:
Tom Witcomb, Blake Friedmann Literary, Film & TV Agency (U.K.). (May)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"The Vinyl Detective: Written in Dead Wax." Publishers Weekly, 1 Feb. 2016, p. 46. General OneFile,
go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA442780288&it=r&asid=e56a275146d47610e899c6a41f9004bd.
Accessed 22 Oct. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A442780288
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BOOK REVIEW: Andrew Cartmel - The Vinyl Detective: Written in Dead Wax
Andrew Cartmel - The Vinyl Detective: Written in Dead Wax
(Titan Books, 477pp., £7.99. Book Review by Chris Parker)
From Lesley Thomson’s cleaner sleuth Stella Darnell to Brian Eastman’s gardening detective Rosemary Boxer and Elizabeth Peters’s Egyptologist Amelia Peabody, the specialist, amateur investigator has provided a rich seam in crime fiction ever since G. K. Chesterton first set Father Brown loose against the criminal underworld in 1910.
Andrew Cartmel will be familiar to visitors to this site, courtesy of his erudite reviews of vinyl releases, and to the wider world via his involvement with TV classics such as Midsomer Murders and Doctor Who (for which he was a script editor), so his charity-shop-haunting, record-fair-regular vinyl obsessive with an encyclopaedic knowledge of jazz is a natural and welcome addition to the genre’s pantheon.
As early as page three, indeed, we are deep in a discussion of deep grooves and flat-edge pressings, triggered by a Gil Mellé Blue Note featuring Max Roach, Red Mitchell and George Wallington, and the plot itself centres on our intrepid and resourceful hero’s increasingly fraught and dangerous search for a series of albums released by an obscure (fictional) Californian label at the height of the West Coast jazz boom. It also involves a highly entertaining cast of supporting characters ranging from a feisty mystery woman and an obnoxious DJ to a dope-growing sound-reproduction technician and an accident-prone stoner with a grape addiction – not to mention a pair of utterly convincing cats which effortlessly steal every scene in which they appear.
Of course the success of such novels depends on the degree of naturalness with which the specialised knowledge of its protagonist is deployed in the service of the plot, and here Cartmel scores heavily, weaving his obsession with the minutiae of vinyl fetishism uncontrivedly into a racy account of amateur derring-do opposed to corporate ruthlessness. In short, this is a sharp, amusing and compulsively readable detective yarn packed with witty asides dealing with everyone from Sun Ra to Elvis Presley, as enjoyably accessible to the jazz obsessive as it is to the general reader.
On Tuesday, May 24, 2016
2 comments:
Adam Sieff24 May 2016 at 10:28
I'm half way through and loving it, learning how to make a good tomato sauce too!
Reply
Geoff Winston31 May 2016 at 09:12
Just in case the term 'flat edge' is unfamiliar / impenetrable to the reader, look no further than the extraordinary survey of Blue Note edge pressings at http://jazzcollector.com/blue-note/blue-note-flat-edge-all-you-need-to-know ! You'll also find out why some later Blue Note issues still have genuine 'Lex' labels!
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