Andrew J. Cartmel (born 6 April 1958) is a British author and journalist. He was the
script editor of ''
Doctor Who'' during the
Sylvester McCoy
Percy James Patrick Kent-Smith (born 20 August 1943), known professionally as Sylvester McCoy, is a Scottish actor. Gaining prominence as a physical comedian, he became best known for playing the seventh incarnation of the Doctor in the lon ...
era of the show between 1987 and 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
Film studies is an academic discipline that deals with various theoretical, historical, and critical approaches to cinema as an art form and a medium. It is sometimes subsumed within media studies and is often compared to television studies.
...
lecturer, and as a novelist.
Biography
Raised in Canada, Cartmel returned to England in order to complete his education. He took a post-graduate course in computer studies and worked on
computer-aided design for Shape Data Ltd (now
UGS Corp
UGS was a computer software company headquartered in Plano, Texas, specializing in 3D & 2D Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) software. Its operations were amalgamated into the Siemens Digital Industries Software business unit of Siemens Indus ...
) in
Cambridge
Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...
, 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, 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
John Nathan-Turner (''né'' Turner; 12 August 1947 – 1 May 2002) was an English television producer. He was the ninth producer of the long-running BBC science fiction series ''Doctor Who''. He was also the final producer of the series' firs ...
by the producer's agent, who had seen some unproduced scripts Cartmel had written. Cartmel worked on the programme for the next three years, overseeing the final three seasons of its original run on
BBC One
BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...
. He brought in several young, new writers 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
The Cartmel Masterplan is a fan name for the planned ''Doctor Who'' backstory developed primarily by script editor Andrew Cartmel and writers Ben Aaronovitch and Marc Platt, by which they intended to restore some of the mystery of the Doctor's ...
", 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.
Although hints were dropped in the two final 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
Casualty may refer to:
*Casualty (person), a person who is killed or rendered unfit for service in a war or natural disaster
**Civilian casualty, a non-combatant killed or injured in warfare
* The emergency department of a hospital, also known as ...
'' for one season. In the 1990s he wrote comic strips for ''
Judge Dredd Megazine
''Judge Dredd: The Megazine'' is a monthly British comic magazine, launched in September 1990. It is a sister publication to '' 2000 AD''. Its name is a play on words, formed from "magazine" and Judge Dredd's locale Mega-City One.
Content
Li ...
'' and ''
Doctor Who Magazine'' and three ''Doctor Who'' novels for
Virgin Books
Virgin Books is a British book publisher 90% owned by the publishing group Random House, and 10% owned by Virgin Group, the company originally set up by Richard Branson as a record company.
History
Virgin established its book publishing arm ...
in their ''
New Adventures
New Adventures is a British dance-theatre company. Founded by choreographer Matthew Bourne in 2001, the company developed from an earlier company Adventures in Motion Pictures, now dissolved.
History
Adventures in Motion Pictures (AMP) was es ...
'' 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
''Lungbarrow'' is an original novel written by Marc Platt and based on the long-running British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. Published in Virgin Books' ''New Adventures'' range, it was the last of that range to feature the ...
'', 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.
Since then he has written several pieces of ''Doctor Who'' fiction: in 2000 ''
Winter for the Adept
''Winter for the Adept'' is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who''.
Plot
The Fifth Doctor and Nyssa investigate the mystery of a malevolent poltergeist in a Sw ...
'', 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
BBC Books (also formerly known as BBC Publishing) is an imprint majority-owned and managed by Penguin Random House through its Ebury Publishing division. The minority shareholder is BBC Studios, the commercial subsidiary of the British Broadcasti ...
. He developed a script for the third series of ''
Torchwood
''Torchwood'' is a British science fiction television programme created by Russell T Davies. A spin-off of the 2005 revival of ''Doctor Who'', it aired from 2006 to 2011. The show shifted its broadcast channel each series to reflect its growin ...
'' 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
''The Lost Stories'' is the eleventh and penultimate book in the series ''Ranger's Apprentice
''Ranger's Apprentice'' is a series written by Australian author John Flanagan. The first novel in the series, ''The Ruins of Gorlan'', was re ...
'' line, overseeing the adaptation of story ideas created for ''Doctor Whos 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
"Crime of the century" is an idiomatic phrase used to describe particularly sensational or notorious criminal cases. Chua-Eoan, Howard (n.d.)"Crimes of the Century: The Top 25" ''Time''. Retrieved September 10, 2021. In the United States, it is of ...
'' and ''
Animal
Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the Kingdom (biology), biological kingdom Animalia. With few exceptions, animals Heterotroph, consume organic material, Cellular respiration#Aerobic respiration, breathe oxygen, are Motilit ...
'') and co-wrote a third, ''
Earth Aid'', with
Ben Aaronovitch
Ben Dylan Aaronovitch (born 22 February 1964) is an English author and screenwriter. He is the author of the ''Rivers of London'' series of novels. He also wrote two ''Doctor Who'' serials in the late 1980s and spin-off novels from ''Doctor Who' ...
.
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
''Strontium Dog'' was a long-running British comics series starring Johnny Alpha, a mutant bounty hunter who lives in Earth's future. The series was created in 1978 by writer John Wagner (under the pseudonym T. B. Grover) and artist Carlos Ezquer ...
: Day of the Dogs''.
Cartmel has also written a novel set in the world of
Patrick McGoohan's ''
The Prisoner
''The Prisoner'' is a 1967 British television series about an unnamed British intelligence agent who is abducted and imprisoned in a mysterious coastal village, where his captors designate him as Number Six and try to find out why he abruptl ...
'' television series for
Powys Media. The novel, released on 15 February 2008, is entitled ''Miss Freedom''.
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.
His first stage play, ''End of the Night'', a thriller with gothic overtones, was produced by Long Shadow Productions in the summer of 2003.
In 2007 Cartmel was a finalist in the Nicotinell 'Lose the Smoke Keep the Fire' Stand Up Comedy Auditions.
Bibliography
Comics
*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)
*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)
*
Rivers of London Rivers of London may refer to
* Blue Ribbon Network, a policy element of the London Plan relating to the navigable waterways of London
* ''Rivers of London'' (novel), a 2011 urban fantasy novel by Ben Aaronovitch
:* Peter Grant (book series) - t ...
:
:* ''Body Work'' #1-5 (2015)
:* ''Night Witch'' #1-5 (2016)
:* ''Black Mould'' #1-5 (2016-2017)
:* ''Detective Stories'' #1-4 (2017)
:* ''Cry Fox'' #1-4 (2017)
:* ''Water Weed'' #1-4 (2018)
:* ''Action at a Distance'' #1-4 (2018)
:* ''The Fey and the Furious'' #1-4 (2019-2020)
:* ''Monday, Monday'' #1-4 (2021)
Novels
*Doctor Who: ''
Cat's Cradle: Warhead'' (1992)
*Doctor Who: ''
Warlock
A warlock is a male practitioner of witchcraft.
Etymology and terminology
The most commonly accepted etymology derives '' warlock'' from the Old English '' wǣrloga'', which meant "breaker of oaths" or "deceiver" and was given special applicati ...
'' (1995)
*Doctor Who: ''
Warchild'' (1996)
*''The Wise'' (1999)
*Judge Dredd: ''
Swine Fever
Classical swine fever (CSF) or hog cholera (also sometimes called pig plague based on the German word ) is a highly contagious disease of swine ( Old World and New World pigs). It has been mentioned as a potential bioweapon.
Clinical signs
S ...
'' (2005)
*Strontium Dog: ''
Day of the Dogs
''Day of the Dogs'' is an original novel written by Andrew Cartmel and based on the long-running British science fiction comic strip ''Strontium Dog''.
Synopsis
Johnny Alpha and Middenface McNulty are hired by wealthy wild west
The Amer ...
'' (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)
*''The Vinyl Detective: Victory Disc'' (2018)
*''The Vinyl Detective: Flip Back'' (2019)
*''The Vinyl Detective: Low Action'' (2020)
Novellas
*Doctor Who: ''
Foreign Devils'' (2002)
Audio stories
*Doctor Who: ''
Winter for the Adept
''Winter for the Adept'' is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who''.
Plot
The Fifth Doctor and Nyssa investigate the mystery of a malevolent poltergeist in a Sw ...
'' (2000)
*Doctor Who: ''
Crime of the Century
"Crime of the century" is an idiomatic phrase used to describe particularly sensational or notorious criminal cases. Chua-Eoan, Howard (n.d.)"Crimes of the Century: The Top 25" ''Time''. Retrieved September 10, 2021. In the United States, it is of ...
'' (2011)
*Doctor Who: ''
Animal
Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the Kingdom (biology), biological kingdom Animalia. With few exceptions, animals Heterotroph, consume organic material, Cellular respiration#Aerobic respiration, breathe oxygen, are Motilit ...
'' (2011)
*Doctor Who: ''
Earth Aid'' (2011) co-written with
Ben Aaronovitch
Ben Dylan Aaronovitch (born 22 February 1964) is an English author and screenwriter. He is the author of the ''Rivers of London'' series of novels. He also wrote two ''Doctor Who'' serials in the late 1980s and spin-off novels from ''Doctor Who' ...
.
Television
*''
Dark Knight'': "Shameer" (2002)
References
External links
Interview with Cartmel on the BBC ''Doctor Who'' website*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cartmel, Andrew
Living people
1958 births
Writers of Doctor Who novels
British comics writers
British television writers
British science fiction writers
20th-century British male writers
21st-century British male writers
British male television writers
Starburst (magazine) editors