somewhere in an alternate uinverse -- maybe -- Neil Gaiman may have written a ‘Doctor Who’ episode
It’s probably not even true, and you certainly didn’t hear it here, but it’s entirely possible that somewhere over the rainbow, way up high, there exists a script for a Doctor Who episode potentially written by Neil Gaiman. And if you open the box and the cat isn’t dead, that story might be entitled “The House of Nothing.” But definitely not, either.
Speaking from an undisclosed dimension to fans at the SFX Awards, where Gaiman won an award for Best Comic for Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader [Amazon U.S.] [Amazon Canada] [Amazon U.K.], Gaiman said (according to SFX):
Over the years SFX, and its readers and their votes in the polls, have always been very kind to me. I thought I’d return the favour with what used to be called, in journalistic circles when I was a boy, a scoop.
As anyone who’s read my blog knows, I’m a big fan of a certain long-running British SF TV series. One that started watching -- from behind the sofa -- when I was three. And while I know it’s cruel to make you wait for things, in about 14 months from now, which is to say, NOT in the upcoming season but early in the one after that, it’s quite possible that I might have written an episode. And if I had, it would originally have been called “The House of Nothing.” But it definitely isn’t called that any more.Countdown. You’ve got about 14 months.
I would be excited about this, if I thought I was living in that particular slice of the multiverse. But I’m probably not.
(Thanks to Kim via email and Ryan H in comments.)
This has been your OMG Thought for the Day.
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comments
posted by Isobel (Mon Feb 08 10, 2:21PM)
Oh God please let it be true! I missed my station on the train home earlier because I was rereading 'Neverwhere' and was so engrossed.
posted by PaulW (Mon Feb 08 10, 9:00PM)
Gaiman wrote a Who episode?
This is akin to Iain M. Banks writing a Torchwood episode... which would also be nice to find out!
The only way this would be topped is if Alan Moore writes a Law & Order: London script...
posted by Tonio Kruger (Mon Feb 08 10, 9:11PM)
Or if actor Simon Pegg wrote an episode for a revived version of Babylon 5...
posted by Alli (Mon Feb 08 10, 10:49PM)
He confirmed it on his Twitter multiple times. So it is true. Yay! The episode will not be this season, but next season.
posted by Mo (Tue Feb 09 10, 12:18AM)
Dinner with Steven Moffatt a while ago, coy non-answers on Doctor Who ever since... yeah, this one has been brewing for a long time.
Hooray for self-fulfilling prophesies.
posted by Matthew (Tue Feb 09 10, 9:26PM)
There were apparently sixteen scripts commissioned for the upcoming season. That would be three extra scripts, to give some flexibility. There were very strong rumours that Gaiman was among those commissioned. These rumours have continued, to the point where it was said that his episode was pencilled in for the episode 7 slot (which is still to be filmed, they're doing 12 and 13 at the moment, with 7 and 11 making up the last filming block) but that he was having trouble finding the time to do the necessary re-writes. Moffat has said that Simon Nye (who is writing episode 7) had to step in when something fell through, so that also fits.
Gaiman's announcement suggests that the rumours could well be true and that Moffat likes his script enough to be planning to use it in the early part of series six. Certainly, the timing and the wording suggest a script that has already been written.
By the way, the other writers who were rumoured to be commissioned this time around were Jack Thorne and Amanda Coe - so they might be turning up as well. Paul Cornell is also perennially rumoured and Matthew Graham says that he could well be writing for the next series.
posted by allochthon (Tue Feb 16 10, 7:37PM)
The idea of Gaiman and Moffat in the same room just hurts my brain. Working together? Makes my brain leak out my ears...