DWO: Neil, thank you very much for joining
us!
First of all, congratulations on your new
book; 'The Ocean At The End Of The Lane'.
For the few stragglers who haven't actually
got the book yet, can you tell us a little
bit about it and what we can expect?
NG: I'd hate to tell anybody what they can
expect, I'd rather surprise them.
It's a story, I suppose, about memory, amongst
other things.
It begins with a middle-aged man, following
a funeral, going back to a place that he remembers
as a child, and then starting to remember
properly, what happened to him when he was
7, and many, many strange, dark, magical things
happen to him.
In the darkness he is helped by three ladies
who live at the farm at the end of the road.
The youngest of them, who is about 11, says
that her pond, the duck pond at the back of
the farm, is actually the ocean.
And the oldest of them claims to remember
the big bang!
DWO: (laughs) Fantastic!
Well, I think you've pretty much encapsulated
everything we need to know about that, everyone
can go out there and get the book now from
all reputable retailers.
Obviously Doctor Who, you're a big Doctor
Who fan, what's your earliest memory of the
show and do you have a particular favourite
episode?
NG: Earliest memory of Doctor Who as a phenomenon
actually predates the show.
I would have been 3 - 3-and-a-half and I would
have been at school, my little kindergarten.
Back then kids were give one third of a pint-bottle
of milk, which you had to drink in the break.
DWO: (laughs) *had* to drink!
NG: You had to drink a third of a pint of
milk, during the break.
And I noticed the other kids were doing this
thing where they would drink all the milk
out with the straw, and then they'd bubble
in, and that was what we always did, you drank
it all out and then you made bubbles, but
then they'd bend their straws over and they'd
start going "I AM A DALEK!
EXTERMINATE!
I WILL KILL YOU!
I HATE YOU!".
And I'd go "what are they doing? what is this"
I'd say to them "what is this?" and they said
"This is Doctor Who, it's The Daleks!".
We had a television, but watching it was discouraged
I was allowed to watch it during Children's
Hour, I'd watch these little puppet things
happen, but had to go to my grandparents...
DWO: So it was a secret mission was it?
NG: Absolutely!
And the trick was always being at my grandparents
on Saturdays.
So then I got to watch Doctor Who.
My earliest memory of Doctor Who - actually
watching one - which I also know, and the
weird way of memory was nowhere near the first
episodes of Doctor Who I'd seen, but it was
the first time is was sort of so weird and
traumatic as to send me behind the sofa, was
The Zarbi.
DWO: Oh really!
The Web Planet!
NG: The Web Planet!
Which is the only classic DVD I will not watch
because I have these amazing memories of the
Menoptera and of the Zarbi, and in my head
the Zarbi are the scariest things in the whole
world.
I don't want to go back and see these men
in ant costumes bumping into the scenery.
DWO: You want to preserve that?
NG: I really like having this memory of The
Web Planet as just this terrifying thing and
I know that will not last re-watching it,
so I'm keeping it sacred.
DWO: Cardboard sets and things, yeh it would
probably ruin it!
When we knew we were going to interview you,
we asked our Twitter followers if they had
a question for you and it just kept coming
up about the sequel to Sandman.
Can you tell us how that's going and if you've
got any bits of information you can give us
about it?
NG: Ahh, it's going slowly!
One reason it's going slowly is because I
kind of feel like the entire world, approximately
15 million people are looking over my shoulder
and going "OK, this better be good" which
is just no fun at all.
But it's going ok, the characters feel like
the characters, they sound like the characters,
its got that big, strange, weird space opera
plot and its going.
The first issue should be out on October 30th
and its being drawn by JH Williams, covers
by David McKean and it definitely feels like
Sandman.
DWO: Oh brilliant, that's fantastic!
Well I know that's going to put a lot of hearts
at rest, as well online.
Your Doctor Who episodes, The Doctor's Wife
and Nightmare In Silver - fantastic episodes,
loved them, 10/10 both of them on our site
- lots of fans wanting to know if you would
be up for a third script, would you be willing
to do that?
NG: Absolutely!
I definitely, definitely - I don't want to
be coy, you know with Nightmare In Silver
it was like I was being coy, but I figured
they would like to have me, I would like to
do more.
The only problem that I'm having right now
is the time that I probably would have spent
writing a Doctor Who script this year suddenly
got eaten by going on tour for this book.
So, what I'm hoping, is that I can persuade
Steven Moffat, instead of getting the BBC
to pay me in cash, cos, you know, I'm now
like this best-selling author - I've got enough
money!
Money is just fine!
So I'm wondering if maybe I can get them to
start paying me in time.
You know, I know he knows people, so if he
can just sort of...
DWO: And who better than the executive producer
of Doctor Who?
Time travel!
NG: That's what I'm hoping!
If I can just get him to send me, you know,
like 9 weeks and I can write in it.
I don't know, I'd love to write an episode
for Season 8, it may well be that I'm over
in Season 9, but I promise I haven't gone
away!
The idea of writing for Peter Capaldi's Doctor
is one that I find so thrilling and exciting,
I've been a fan of his since Neverwhere when
he played the Angel Islington.
DWO: Finally, if you could take a round trip
in the TARDIS anywhere in time and space,
where would you go and why?
NG: If I could take a round trip I'd come
back here!
Where would I go?
And why?
Umm, I think the joy of a round trip in the
TARDIS, is what you do is you say "I think
the best thing that we could do in the TARDIS
is go off and watch the sinking of Atlantis..."
(cos Atlantis sinks an awful lot in Doctor
Who) "...or we'll go off and we'll actually
go back to Gallifrey...", or whatever, you
announce where you're going and then you get
in the TARDIS, and then the doors open and
you go "Funny, this doesn't look like Atlantis!"
and then the story starts!
So I would not want to screw things up by
actually announcing where I want to go in
the TARDIS and getting there.
I think what I really ought to do is say "Oh
I'd really like to take a trip to Gallifrey,
around the end of The War Games and find out
what actually happened.
DWO: Good choice, good choice!
NG: I'd just like to be hanging around there
and find out what happened between the end
of The War Games and the beginning of Spearhead
From Space.
DWO: Oh you know your Doctor Who very well,
impressive!
NG: You know there's stuff!
DWO: That's fantastic!
Thank you so much for you time Neil, really
appreciate it.
NG: So welcome!
