I thought it would be fun to bring back out Author Talk series of topics, this time focus on Gary Russell.
Gary Russell is a very prolific writer in the Whoniverse, and the fact that he has written so much means his work is a very mixed bag.
Here is a selection of “highlights” from his work in different mediums.
NOVELS
Gary has written the novelisations of The Star Beast and the TV Movie, plus a few Sarah Jane Adventures novelisations.
For Virgin, he wrote Legacy, Invasion of the Cat-People, and The Scales of Injustice.
His contributions for BBC Books include Placebo Effect, Divided Loyalties and Spiral Scratch.
He has also written for the New Series Adventures range, with memorable books such as Beautiful Chaos and The Glamour Chase.
AUDIO
Gary has written Lies and Annihilation (with Scott Handcock) for Big Finish’s Gallifrey series (he also contributed to the collection Echoes of Eternity), Unbound’s He Jests at Scars, and has worked with other writers on Main Range stories such as Minuet in Hell, The Next Life and Zagreus.
This has just been a selection of his work. He has written a lot of stories.
He was also an executive producer at Big Finish from 1998 to 2006, was a script editor on the TV show, and a Doctor Who Magzine editor.
Gary Russell is an icon for creating Gallifrey and I obviously love him for that. His actual writing though I can find a little hit and miss, though generally he does produce bangers
I haven’t read/listened to much of his stuff, but the handful I have, I really loved (well, except minuet in hell, that was more odd, but idk how much and what of that he wrote). I think he’s really done a lot for doctor who, especially in the wilderness years, and of course for creating gallifrey! He also seemed like a really kind and passionate person at Timelash, very good to listen to
I do think Gary is great, from what I heard he seems like a lovely Man, at least from what I heard.
As for his Writing:
I must admit I haven’t experienced much of his Stuff, looking at the Amount he did. I am mainly familiar with his 8th Doctor Stories, in particular the Audios. For example, he wrote the short Run of Radio Times Comics, which while having some lovely Companions (one of which an Ice Warrior) was just decent at best, of course it was rather limited, and I think he did a fine job, but they can be rather forgettable at times. Not really helped with it being finished in a fairly rushed state.
His Audio Work on the other Hand is much more my Thing. While he can be quite a hit-and-miss with those, I do always enjoy the Core Idea of his Stories. I think I enjoy Minuet in Hell much more than a lot of other People, but it’s fairly flawed and at times shows off some lesser aspect of the Wilderness Time for me. Zagreus on the other Hand is mad in the best way possible, and I absolutely adore this one. The Next Life suffers similarly as the Radio Times Comics and especially that one’s Coda as it being a fairly rough and at times rushed Conclusion to an Arc which would have spanned much longer. His Short Trip Erasure is amazing.
There is also the TV Movie Target Novel and his 8th Doctor Shada, which I am having a hard time rating here since while he does a good work on both of them, especially the Target Novel with a lot of more fleshing out. Both of them at their core are kinda Stories from some other people, therefore a bit harder to count fully or a fair example of his very own writing and ideas, if that makes any sense. I do enjoy both of them. Shada is shada, so it’s great. And the TV Movie Novel is just lovely all around, adding so many details to it, which I enjoy and think should be the approach for any good Target Novel.
Love Gary’s Gallifrey work, it’s stellar. He’s an icon for creating that series, and for steering Big Finish throughout its early days—that list of director’s credits is a marvel!
As for his prose work—well, I enjoyed some of his short stories, but the less said about Placebo Effect the better, unfortunately. They can’t all be winners…
Gary Russell shines for me as executive producer even more so than a writer; there is a lot I love in Big Finish post-Russell but his time at the job is when it feels the most flexible. Truly, in the last few years of wilderness he took Doctor Who to new heights. Current-time Big Finish is a bit notable for an excess of releases and throwboard plots, which is not the case at all for 1999-2006.
It’s fair to call him the showrunner of old Big Finish. And he is my favorite showrunner Doctor Who ever had.
But I do also like him as a writer. I only listened to four stories penned by him - Minuet in Hell, Zagreus, The Next Life and Real Time. Minuet in Hell is a great example of a audio I don’t like at all; Zagreus and The Next Life are both stories with some problems but which I love nonetheless and consider epic finales to their respective story arcs; and Real Time is great.
Gary Russell is an author I always enjoy. He is unashamedly the King of Fanwank.
The first story to return to Peladon
A story which partly dealt with why the Silurians look different in Warriors of the Deep to The Silurians
Mel’s debut story
The first return of the Wirrrn (with 3 'r’s as in the novelisation)
The return of the Celestial Toymaker and Gallifrey: The College Years with every renegade Time Lord from the show
A Sixth Doctor novel with Evelyn Smythe AND Jeremy Fitzoliver
The Sixth Doctor’s final story
A comic strip run which had the Cybermen, the Ice Warriors on Mars exploring their history and plans to feature the Zygons.
But for all the fanwank, Russell writes with a clear love of the series and a sense of joy sometimes missing from Doctor Who expanded universe stories which want to be taken seriously. Russell just has fun with the show we all love.
