In The Writer’s Tale in 2009, Russell T Davies said:
Joe Lidster is a genius. This is a fact. If he works hard, gets his head down, and realises what he’s capable of, then in ten years time he could be… me!
Inspired by a wee bit of talk @Tian and I had in a different chat: Joseph Lidster is one of my all-time favourite Who writers and, yet he’s still relatively obscure! I hope against hope he gets an episode of TV Who made someday, because his work so far has been wonderful.
For those who don’t know, Lidster has written:
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Torchwood: A Day in the Death (my favourite TV episode);
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The Sarah Jane Adventures: Mark of the Beserker, The Mad Old Woman in the Attic and The Nightmare Man (each a highlight of their respective series);
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several Who audio dramas, most famously Master;
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several Torchwood audio dramas, most famously Broken;
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numerous Big Finish Short Trips and spinoffs including Bernice Summerfield, Rani Takes on the World, UNIT and so on!
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Outside of Who he’s worked on quite a lot of children’s TV including Wizards vs Aliens, CBBC’s replacement for The Sarah Jane Adventures, and Big Finish’s Dark Shadows range.
What I love most about Joseph Lidster’s writing is his character work and sense of emotion. He writes with real poetry and catharsis. So many of his stories, even light and fluffy ones like Flight into Hull! with Jackie Tyler, end up making me cry once I get to the end.
So I thought I’d make this topic to celebrate his writing, and to ask: what do you think of Joe Lidster’s stories? What are your favourites? Do you agree with RTD (and me!) that he’s a genius? Would you ever like to see him writing for Who on TV?
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Nightmare Man is top tier 
Actually all those SJA eps are banger
You know, I never actually watched Wizards vs Aliens when it was on because I could never forgive it for not being SJA 
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I don’t remember it ever getting massive but I do know people liked it! I’ve heard it brought up outdo of conversations about Who. Maybe I should get into one of these days for the Lidster of it all!
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Yeah I always heard good things about it too but in the young teenage mind its mere existence was a betrayal by taking SJA’s spot 
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Yep I really like Lidsters writing, its very rare for me to not like a story by him. Always been a little surprised he hasn’t allready done a TV Who story tbh
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Wizards vs Aliens was really good. More obviously CBBC than SJA but with a similar DNA at the core. The episode that was adapted from an unused SJA script was superb and the main cast were never less than impressive. In fact, I think it probably deserves a rewatch.
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Along with GDL, Lidster is my joint-fav writer.
He seems to tap into human emotions and ties these into sci-fi plots rather than just creating a shallow story. It’s kinda like he gets into his character’s heads before writing. And he doesn’t shy away from more fantastical/dark/mystical ideas, which I love.
And he co-wrote Nerves in the TW1 range which is my fav story he’s done. In The Shadows is good too. Pretty excited for The Boy Who Never Laughed 
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Broken is an actual masterpiece and it alone proves Joe Lidster is one of the greatest writers to ever touch the show.
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The only works of his I’ve read or listened to are the SJA episodes and one story from Rani Takes on the World, and I enjoyed all of them.
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Oh yes, Nerves is excellent. Phenomenally powerful stuff. It’s a mark of his skill that every character feels so, so real. And oh, that ending!! Another one that had me weeping, and for joy rather than sadness.
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One of the best Torchwood writers in my opinion, I’m yet to see a bad main range story from this guy
And he follows me on Instagram so that’s a plus
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Two interviews with Lidster about his audio work from the Sirens of Audio podcast:
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Wizards vs Aliens gave Gwendolyne Christie her big break
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Also, bloody love The Mad Woman in the Attic
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I like most of his SJA episodes a lot and frequently call A Day in the Death the only good episode of Torchwood (mostly joking), but have actually only done one Big Finish story from him and that’s The Reaping, which is so close to being maybe my all time favorite audio (and absolutely clears Piscon Paradox as a Peri story btw) but then has an ending that I despise.
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Some of his work I really love (A Day in the Death, Consequences), but honestly I never got on with Broken. Which is probably because I can’t take Cyberwoman seriously, so it using that as a starting point sort of taints the whole thing. I never particularly cared for Janto either.
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Never consciously thought of him as a favourite, but looking at his body of work??? Yeah I’m a huge fan
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And no one’s mentioned A Full Life yet, still the best short trip I’ve heard, absolutely brilliant.
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