Benjamin Cook
Encyclopedia
Benjamin Cook is an English
journalist
, writer
and regular contributor to Radio Times
and Doctor Who Magazine
. He has also been published in The Telegraph, TV Times
, Filmstar, Cult Times, TV Zone
and The Stage
, and is the author of Doctor Who: The New Audio Adventures – The Inside Story. In 2008, BBC Books
published Doctor Who: The Writer's Tale, based on a year-long email correspondence between Cook and Doctor Who
executive producer Russell T Davies. A revised and updated paperback edition, The Writer's Tale: The Final Chapter (featuring 350 pages of new material, extending the correspondence by another year), was published in January 2010.
in Twickenham
from 1994 to 1999. At the age of 13, in 1996, he won a competition run by BBC
children's news programme Newsround
. In a 2008 interview, he explained:
He went to Richmond upon Thames College
from 1999 to 2001, and then, from 2002 to 2006, attended Collingwood College
at the University of Durham, where he studied English Literature.
magazine, Cook has written on E4
teen drama Skins
("The assertion that it's our job simply to reflect life is always a cop-out," co-creator Bryan Elsley
told him. "But people who think it's our duty to educate young people on the correct way to live are just as bonkers"), ITV
talent show The X Factor
("We weren't always fighting," Dannii Minogue
confessed about ex-judge Sharon Osbourne
, "but Sharon made it clear that she didn't like me, so she won't be missed. Not by me"), short-lived ITV fantasy drama Demons
("I didn't entirely understand Demons," actor Richard Wilson told Cook. "I just had to say I did and hope no-one caught on"), the BBC's The Omid Djalili Show
("The first series was OK, but we all agreed it was there to be bettered," said Omid Djalili
. "It was a bit slapdash, to be honest"), Dan Cruickshank's Adventures in Architecture
and Wild China
, Comedy Central's Kröd Mändoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire
, as well as BBC dramas Doctor Who, The Sarah Jane Adventures
, Merlin
, Little Dorrit and Spooks
. In 2009, Cook interviewed US boy band the Jonas Brothers for Radio Times, in which they spoke out about the controversy surrounding comedian Russell Brand
's ridicule of their chastity rings at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards
: "You know what? We were happy to see he recognised their value," reasoned Joe
. "You have to learn to laugh," Kevin
added. The next year, Cook conducted the "first Twitter
interview" with Stephen Fry
, asking him how he accounted for (fellow 2010 National Television Award nominee) Piers Morgan
's career: "It's pretty hard to imagine, isn't it?" replied Fry. "Biodiversity is the answer... Just as nature needs a few snakes and bugs, TV needs Piers Morgan and me!"
(DWM) in March 1999. Since then, his catalogue of interviews for the publication ranges from David Tennant
, Billie Piper
, Kylie Minogue
and Richard E Grant to Peter Kay
, Charlotte Church
and McFly
, and the first ever major print interview with Matt Smith
. Cook's regular back-page interview column, Who on Earth is..., has featured such diverse names as Bernard Cribbins
, Timothy Dalton
, Duncan James
from Blue
and Professor Richard Dawkins.
Cook has compiled six DWM Special Editions – published between 2005 and 2010, under the umbrella title In Their Own Words – providing a chronological commentary on the making of the TV series, from 1963 to 2009, by those involved in its production, collated from extracts of interviews previously published in DWM.
In 2002, Cook tracked down elusive Doctor Who scriptwriter Christopher Bailey
and interviewed him for DWM. This inspired Robert Shearman to write Deadline, an acclaimed audio play starring Sir Derek Jacobi as retired writer Martin Bannister (loosely based on Bailey) and Ian Brooker
as journalist Sydney (loosely based on Cook), reporter for the fictional Juliet Bravo Magazine. In a 2004 interview, Shearman explained:
In February 2008, Cook had a contentious interview with actor Clive Swift
. "I'm quite aggrieved," Swift told him. "Why should I do this? I'm not getting paid, am I?" Swift refused to answer some of Cook's questions and replied brusquely to others. When Cook asked Swift – best known for his portrayal of Richard Bucket
in BBC sitcom Keeping Up Appearances
– whether people shout "Richard" at him in the street, the actor replied: "Sometimes. I tell them to fuck off." The encounter ended with Swift insisting, "I know that you all think that this is a big world, this Who business. But it isn't. There are much bigger things than this." When Cook replied, "Maybe, but it means a lot to a great many of us," Swift terminated the interview.
In another controversial interview, in January 2010, outgoing Doctor Who star David Tennant told Cook:
Tennant's comments were widely reported, with Cameron offering a rebuttal on Richard Bacon's BBC Radio 5 Live
show on 11 January:
. Extracts were published in The Times
on 16 and 17 September 2008, and the book itself met with positive reviews. Esther Walker of The Independent
predicted that "the fans will adore it. Davies has engaged with the book totally and there is full disclosure from him about everything." The Daily Telegraph
's Robert Colvile called the book "Remarkably open", adding: "Despite the self-deprecating bonhomie, there's a ruthless confidence to Davies." In a five-star review for Heat
magazine, Boyd Hilton called it "a funny, revealing insight into the workings of the genius who puts the show together." In another five-star review, SFX Magazine
said, "You can douse all the other books about new Who in lighter fuel and spark up your Zippo – this is all you need. It’s the only one that opens a door into the brain of the series’ showrunner." Darren Scott of The Pink Paper – which also awarded the book five stars – agreed: "If you’re an uber fan of the show... or an aspiring (or even established) writer, this book will very, very quickly fall into the 'can’t put down' category." Scott Matthewman of The Stage
said, "I can’t recommend The Writer’s Tale highly enough… It’s a genuine insight into the entire television production process." "The Writer’s Tale is an enormous book, but consumed compulsively it doesn’t last very long at all," said Thom Hutchinson of Death Ray magazine. "We learn, brilliantly, the difference between bellowing media personage Big Russell and the apprehensive, chain-smoking obsessive who exists alone and silent in the early hours." The Scotsman
s team of arts writers said: "The Writer's Tale offers a fascinating insight into the writing of one of TV's biggest hits." Veronica Horwell of The Guardian
called it "the Doctor Who Annual for adults", suggesting that 500-odd pages "is not nearly enough, should have been 1001 pages, because Davies doesn't need to be writing fiction, shaping stuff retrieved from the flux of his Great Maybe, to be a storyteller. He's the Scheherazade
of Cardiff Bay
." Horwell described Davies as "a total romantic about writing. It's his love, his drug, his force for change: over the year even invisible, unopinionated Cook emerges as a proper companion who challenges Davies over the last image in the series. And wins. Brilliant."
In the blogosphere, Sci-Fi Onlines Daniel Salter claimed that The Writer's Tale "could be one of the most important Doctor Who books you're ever likely to read, even if it's not always about Doctor Who." "Page after page of banter that's just as exciting and suspenseful as the show itself," enthused Sebastian J. Brook of Doctor Who Online. "Cook's fearless and intelligent approach to asking questions pave [sic] the way for some fantastic responses as he manages to temper Davies' fun, energetic and sometimes insecure narrative with good, solid and sometimes cheeky responses." Off The Tellys Graham Kibble-White concluded: "Candid, lucid and an all-too painful evocation of the challenges inherit in writing and running perhaps the most important show on the BBC".
In November 2008, it was announced that Richard and Judy
, the couple credited with revolutionising the reading habits of Britons, had selected The Writer’s Tale for their Christmas Presents book strand – in the Serious Non-Fiction category – as part of the prestigious Richard & Judy Book Club. The couple described the book as "an absolute snapshot into the mind of a creative writer... It's a free flow of thought – a stream of consciousness. It's a great book."
On 2 December 2008, inspired by The Writer's Tale, Charlie Brooker
devoted an extended edition of his BBC Four
TV show Screenwipe
entirely to interviews with prestigious writers, including Russell T Davies.
In June 2009, The Writer's Tale was shortlisted in the "Best Non-Fiction" category at the 2009 British Fantasy Awards, but ultimately lost out to Stephen Jones
' Basil Copper: A Life in Books.
Published in January 2010, the paperback edition, The Writer's Tale: The Final Chapter, updates Davies and Cook's correspondence to September 2009, to cover Davies' final year as Head Writer and Executive Producer of Doctor Who, taking in David Tennant's final few episodes as the Doctor. Critical reception was generally positive. SFX magazine's Ian Berriman described the book as "satisfyingly voyeuristic" and said, "It’s well worth buying, even if you’ve already got the original edition." The Guardians Vera Rule called it "Far more than a ritual ‘making of'" and the "Best masterclass in telly I’ve ever attended," adding: "Made me cry." Heat magazine included the book on its "Hot List" of "The Top Ten Things We At Heat Are Completely Obsessed With This Week." However, Private Eye criticised the tome for being "breathlessly self-congratulatory" – "a bring-your-own-extolment party in which readers are invited to bask in the outrageous genius of this bear-like TV demagogue."
Asked, in a February 2010 interview, whether there were any plans to conduct a similar correspondence with Davies' successor as showunner, Steven Moffat
, Cook replied:
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
, writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
and regular contributor to Radio Times
Radio Times
Radio Times is a UK weekly television and radio programme listings magazine, owned by the BBC. It has been published since 1923 by BBC Magazines, which also provides an on-line listings service under the same title...
and Doctor Who Magazine
Doctor Who Magazine
Doctor Who Magazine is a magazine devoted to the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who...
. He has also been published in The Telegraph, TV Times
TV Times
TVTimes is a television listings magazine published in the United Kingdom by IPC Media, a subsidiary of Time Warner. It is known for its access to television actors and their programmes. In 2006 it was refreshed for a more modern look, increasing its emphasis on big star interviews and soaps...
, Filmstar, Cult Times, TV Zone
TV Zone
TV Zone was a British magazine published every four weeks by Visual Imagination that covered cult television. Initially, it mostly covered science fiction, but branched out to cover other drama and comedy series.-History:...
and The Stage
The Stage
The Stage is a weekly British newspaper founded in 1880, available nationally and published on Thursdays. Covering all areas of the entertainment industry but focused primarily on theatre, it contains news, reviews, opinion, features and other items of interest, mainly to those who work within the...
, and is the author of Doctor Who: The New Audio Adventures – The Inside Story. In 2008, BBC Books
BBC Books
BBC Books is an imprint majority owned and managed by Random House. The minority shareholder is BBC Worldwide, the commercial subsidiary of the British Broadcasting Corporation...
published Doctor Who: The Writer's Tale, based on a year-long email correspondence between Cook and Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
executive producer Russell T Davies. A revised and updated paperback edition, The Writer's Tale: The Final Chapter (featuring 350 pages of new material, extending the correspondence by another year), was published in January 2010.
Early life
Cook went to Orleans Park SchoolOrleans Park School
Orleans Park School is a mixed, state-run comprehensive secondary school located in Twickenham, Middlesex, England, 10 miles south-west of central London.Orleans Park teaches pupils in years 7–11 , with 8 tutor groups in each school year...
in Twickenham
Twickenham
Twickenham is a large suburban town southwest of central London. It is the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames and one of the locally important district centres identified in the London Plan...
from 1994 to 1999. At the age of 13, in 1996, he won a competition run by BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
children's news programme Newsround
Newsround
Newsround is a BBC children's news programme, which has run continuously since 4 April 1972, and was one of the world's first television news magazines aimed specifically at children...
. In a 2008 interview, he explained:
The first thing I ever wrote was for Newsround’s Press Packers... to enter a competition, and I won that, so I got to go to the BBC for the day – and work at Radio Times for a day, which now of course, a decade later, I’m doing regularly, and getting paid for it! – so that sort of sparked my interest.
He went to Richmond upon Thames College
Richmond upon Thames College
Richmond upon Thames College is a further education college in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, which provides education primarily to 16-19 year olds...
from 1999 to 2001, and then, from 2002 to 2006, attended Collingwood College
Collingwood College, Durham
Collingwood College is a college of Durham University in England. It is the second largest of Durham's undergraduate colleges. Founded in 1972 as the first purpose-built, mixed-sex college in Durham, it is named after the mathematician Sir Edward Collingwood , who was also for a time Chair of the...
at the University of Durham, where he studied English Literature.
Radio Times
For Radio TimesRadio Times
Radio Times is a UK weekly television and radio programme listings magazine, owned by the BBC. It has been published since 1923 by BBC Magazines, which also provides an on-line listings service under the same title...
magazine, Cook has written on E4
E4 (TV)
E4 is a channel on British digital television, launched as a pay-TV companion to Channel 4 on 18 January 2001. The "E" stands for entertainment, and the channel is mainly aimed at the lucrative 15–35 age group...
teen drama Skins
Skins (TV series)
Skins is a BAFTA award-winning British teen drama that follows a group of teenagers in Bristol, South West England, through the two years of college. The controversial plot line explores issues such as dysfunctional families, mental illness , adolescent sexuality, substance abuse and death...
("The assertion that it's our job simply to reflect life is always a cop-out," co-creator Bryan Elsley
Bryan Elsley
Bryan Elsley is a Scottish television writer, known most notably for the co-creation of E4 teen drama Skins with his son, Jamie Brittain...
told him. "But people who think it's our duty to educate young people on the correct way to live are just as bonkers"), ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
talent show The X Factor
The X Factor (UK)
The X Factor is a British television music competition to find new singing talent. Created by Simon Cowell, it began in September 2004 and is contested by aspiring singers drawn from public auditions. It is the originator of the international X Factor franchise. The seven series of the show to date...
("We weren't always fighting," Dannii Minogue
Dannii Minogue
Danielle Jane "Dannii" Minogue is an Australian singer-songwriter, actress, television personality, radio personality, fashion designer and model...
confessed about ex-judge Sharon Osbourne
Sharon Osbourne
Sharon Rachel Osbourne is an English television host, author, music manager, businesswoman and promoter as well as the wife of heavy metal singer-songwriter Ozzy Osbourne....
, "but Sharon made it clear that she didn't like me, so she won't be missed. Not by me"), short-lived ITV fantasy drama Demons
Demons (TV series)
Demons is a pilot episode of a proposed drama series, initially competing to run as part of the CBS primetime schedule during Fall 2007. Demons was created by Barbara Hall, who also created Joan of Arcadia. The pilot starred Ron Eldard and Harold Perrineau. The pilot was not picked up by the network....
("I didn't entirely understand Demons," actor Richard Wilson told Cook. "I just had to say I did and hope no-one caught on"), the BBC's The Omid Djalili Show
The Omid Djalili Show
The Omid Djalili Show was a British sketch comedy/stand-up comedy television show produced by Hat Trick Productions for BBC One. Writing by Omid Djalili, Will Smith, Roger Drew, Ian Stone, Ricky Grover with script editor Steve Punt...
("The first series was OK, but we all agreed it was there to be bettered," said Omid Djalili
Omid Djalili
Omid Djalili is a British Iranian stand-up comedian, actor, television producer and writer.-Personal life:Djalili was born in Chelsea, London to Iranian Bahá'í parents and is a Bahá'í himself...
. "It was a bit slapdash, to be honest"), Dan Cruickshank's Adventures in Architecture
Dan Cruickshank's Adventures in Architecture
Dan Cruickshank's Adventures in Architecture is a BBC series first aired on BBC Two in April 2008 in which British architectural historian Dan Cruickshank travels around the world visiting what he considers to be the world's most unusual and interesting buildings, structures and sites. In...
and Wild China
Wild China
Wild China is a six-part nature documentary series on the natural history of China, co-produced by the BBC Natural History Unit and China Central Television and filmed entirely in high-definition . It was screened in the UK on BBC Two from 11 May to 5 June 2008...
, Comedy Central's Kröd Mändoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire
Kröd Mändoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire
Kröd Mändoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire is a British-American comedic sword and sorcery series created by Peter A. Knight, co-produced by Hat Trick Productions and Media Rights Capital for Comedy Central and BBC Two, which premiered on April 9, 2009 in the USA and on June 11 in the UK. It began...
, as well as BBC dramas Doctor Who, The Sarah Jane Adventures
The Sarah Jane Adventures
The Sarah Jane Adventures is a British science fiction television series, produced by BBC Cymru Wales for CBBC, created by Russell T Davies and starring Elisabeth Sladen...
, Merlin
Merlin (TV series)
Merlin is a British fantasy-adventure television programme by Julian Jones, Jake Michie, Julian Murphy and Johnny Capps. It began broadcasting on BBC One on 20 September 2008. The show is based on the Arthurian legends of the wizard Merlin and his relationship with Prince Arthur but differs from...
, Little Dorrit and Spooks
Spooks
Spooks is a British television drama series that originally aired on BBC One from 13 May 2002 – 23 October 2011, consisting of 10 series. The title is a popular colloquialism for spies, as the series follows the work of a group of MI5 officers based at the service's Thames House headquarters, in a...
. In 2009, Cook interviewed US boy band the Jonas Brothers for Radio Times, in which they spoke out about the controversy surrounding comedian Russell Brand
Russell Brand
Russell Edward Brand is an English comedian, actor, columnist, singer, author and radio/television presenter.Brand achieved mainstream fame in the UK in 2004 for his role as host of Big Brother spin-off, Big Brother's Big Mouth. His first major film role was in the 2007 film St Trinians...
's ridicule of their chastity rings at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards
2008 MTV Video Music Awards
The 2008 MTV Video Music Awards took place on September 7, 2008 live from Paramount Pictures Studios , honoring the best music videos from the previous year. Nominations for a majority of the categories were announced on the MTV program FNMTV after being selected through viewer online voting at...
: "You know what? We were happy to see he recognised their value," reasoned Joe
Joe Jonas
Joseph Adam "Joe" Jonas is a Pop American singer, musician, actor, and dancer. He is a member of the Jonas Brothers, a pop-rock band made up of him and his two brothers, Nick and Kevin...
. "You have to learn to laugh," Kevin
Kevin Jonas
Paul Kevin Jonas II , better known as Kevin Jonas and K2, is an American musician and actor. He is the oldest member of the Jonas Brothers, a pop rock band he created with his younger brothers Joe and Nick...
added. The next year, Cook conducted the "first Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
interview" with Stephen Fry
Stephen Fry
Stephen John Fry is an English actor, screenwriter, author, playwright, journalist, poet, comedian, television presenter and film director, and a director of Norwich City Football Club. He first came to attention in the 1981 Cambridge Footlights Revue presentation "The Cellar Tapes", which also...
, asking him how he accounted for (fellow 2010 National Television Award nominee) Piers Morgan
Piers Morgan
Piers Stefan Pughe-Morgan , known professionally as Piers Morgan, is a British journalist and television presenter. He is editorial director of First News, a national newspaper for children....
's career: "It's pretty hard to imagine, isn't it?" replied Fry. "Biodiversity is the answer... Just as nature needs a few snakes and bugs, TV needs Piers Morgan and me!"
Doctor Who Magazine
Cook first wrote for Doctor Who MagazineDoctor Who Magazine
Doctor Who Magazine is a magazine devoted to the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who...
(DWM) in March 1999. Since then, his catalogue of interviews for the publication ranges from David Tennant
David Tennant
David Tennant is a Scottish actor. In addition to his work in theatre, including a widely praised Hamlet, Tennant is best known for his role as the tenth incarnation of the Doctor in Doctor Who, along with the title role in the 2005 TV serial Casanova and as Barty Crouch, Jr...
, Billie Piper
Billie Piper
Billie Paul Piper is an English singer and actress.She began her career in the late 1990s as a pop singer and then switched to acting. She started in acting and dancing and was talent spotted at the Sylvia Young stage school by Smash Hits magazine who wanted a "face" for their magazine...
, Kylie Minogue
Kylie Minogue
Kylie Ann Minogue, OBE - often known simply as Kylie - is an Australian singer, recording artist, songwriter, and actress. After beginning her career as a child actress on Australian television, she achieved recognition through her role in the television soap opera Neighbours, before commencing...
and Richard E Grant to Peter Kay
Peter Kay
Peter John Kay is an English comedian, writer, actor, director and producer. His work includes That Peter Kay Thing , Phoenix Nights , Max and Paddy's Road to Nowhere , Britain's Got the Pop Factor... and other independent productions which have included two sell out tours.-Early career:Peter Kay...
, Charlotte Church
Charlotte Church
Charlotte Maria Church is a Welsh singer-songwriter, actress and television presenter. She rose to fame in childhood as a classical singer before branching into pop music in 2005. By 2007, she had sold more than 10 million records worldwide including over 5 million in the United States...
and McFly
McFly
McFly are an English pop rock band who first found fame in 2004. The band consists of Tom Fletcher , Danny Jones , Dougie Poynter and Harry Judd . They were signed to the Island Records label from their 2004 launch until December 2007, before creating their own label, Super Records...
, and the first ever major print interview with Matt Smith
Matt Smith (British actor)
Matthew Robert Smith is an English stage and television actor. He is known for his role as the eleventh incarnation of the Doctor in the British television series Doctor Who, for which he received a BAFTA Award nomination in 2011....
. Cook's regular back-page interview column, Who on Earth is..., has featured such diverse names as Bernard Cribbins
Bernard Cribbins
Bernard Cribbins, OBE is an English character actor, voice-over artist and musical comedian with a career spanning over half a century who came to prominence in films in the 1960s, has been in work consistently since his professional debut in the mid 1950s, and as of 2010 is still an active...
, Timothy Dalton
Timothy Dalton
Timothy Peter Dalton ) is a Welsh actor of film and television. He is known for portraying James Bond in The Living Daylights and Licence to Kill , as well as Rhett Butler in the television miniseries Scarlett , an original sequel to Gone with the Wind...
, Duncan James
Duncan James
Duncan Matthew James Inglis is an English singer, actor and television presenter. He is best known as a member of the boyband Blue.-Early life:...
from Blue
Blue (boy band)
Blue are an English pop vocal group, whose members are Simon Webbe, Lee Ryan, Duncan James and Antony Costa. Blue originally formed in 2001 before splitting in 2005. In 2009, it was confirmed that the band would reform. In April 2009, the group reunited and a Best of Blue Tour was announced...
and Professor Richard Dawkins.
Cook has compiled six DWM Special Editions – published between 2005 and 2010, under the umbrella title In Their Own Words – providing a chronological commentary on the making of the TV series, from 1963 to 2009, by those involved in its production, collated from extracts of interviews previously published in DWM.
In 2002, Cook tracked down elusive Doctor Who scriptwriter Christopher Bailey
Christopher Bailey
Christopher Bailey is a lecturer of English at the University of Brighton and is an occasional screenwriter for television.He wrote the script for the Doctor Who serial Kinda in 1982...
and interviewed him for DWM. This inspired Robert Shearman to write Deadline, an acclaimed audio play starring Sir Derek Jacobi as retired writer Martin Bannister (loosely based on Bailey) and Ian Brooker
Ian Brooker (actor)
Ian Anthony Brooker better known as Ian Brooker is a versatile character actor, with experience of theatre, television and film. However, it is in the medium of radio and audio drama that he is best known....
as journalist Sydney (loosely based on Cook), reporter for the fictional Juliet Bravo Magazine. In a 2004 interview, Shearman explained:
I think Deadline is in some ways inspired by the idea that he [Martin Bannister] gets tracked down by, essentially, Ben Cook. Not called Ben Cook in the play, of course – but it was actually based on DWMs Christopher Bailey interview. Here was a writer who hadn't been interviewed for many years, and was obviously not bitter about it, but had [...] his own perspective of what he wanted to say and do.
In February 2008, Cook had a contentious interview with actor Clive Swift
Clive Swift
Clive Walter Swift is an English character comedy actor and songwriter. He is best known for his role as character Richard Bucket in the British television series Keeping Up Appearances. He is less known for his role as character Roy in the British television series The Old Guys...
. "I'm quite aggrieved," Swift told him. "Why should I do this? I'm not getting paid, am I?" Swift refused to answer some of Cook's questions and replied brusquely to others. When Cook asked Swift – best known for his portrayal of Richard Bucket
Richard Bucket
Richard Bucket is a fictional character played by Clive Swift in the British comedy TV series Keeping Up Appearances, which was aired from 1990 to 1995...
in BBC sitcom Keeping Up Appearances
Keeping Up Appearances
Keeping Up Appearances is a British sitcom created and written by Roy Clarke for the BBC. Centred on the life of eccentric, social-climbing snob Hyacinth Bucket , the sitcom portrays a social hierarchy-ruled British society...
– whether people shout "Richard" at him in the street, the actor replied: "Sometimes. I tell them to fuck off." The encounter ended with Swift insisting, "I know that you all think that this is a big world, this Who business. But it isn't. There are much bigger things than this." When Cook replied, "Maybe, but it means a lot to a great many of us," Swift terminated the interview.
In another controversial interview, in January 2010, outgoing Doctor Who star David Tennant told Cook:
Clearly the Labour PartyLabour Party (UK)The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
is not without some issues right now [...] but they're still a better bet than the ToriesConservative Party (UK)The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
. I would still rather have Gordon BrownGordon BrownJames Gordon Brown is a British Labour Party politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 until 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Labour Government from 1997 to 2007...
than David CameronDavid CameronDavid William Donald Cameron is the current Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service and Leader of the Conservative Party. Cameron represents Witney as its Member of Parliament ....
. I would rather have a Prime Minister who is the cleverest person in the room than a Prime Minister who looks good in a suit. I think David Cameron is a terrifying prospect. I think he's a regional newscaster who will jump on whatever bandwagon flies past. I get quite panicked at the notion that people are buying into his rhetoric, because it seems very manipulative to me... It's very weird that you can work in the arts – which tends to be about empathy, and understanding the human condition, and hopefully feeling some kind of sympathy for your fellow man – and vote for the Tories. I do find that inconceivable.
Tennant's comments were widely reported, with Cameron offering a rebuttal on Richard Bacon's BBC Radio 5 Live
BBC Radio 5 Live
BBC Radio 5 Live is the BBC's national radio service that specialises in live BBC News, phone-ins, and sports commentaries...
show on 11 January:
Well, that's a pity, but there we are. You're never going to win over everybody. I definitely believe there's no point trying to win over everyone. Say what you think, say what you believe in, say what you believe needs to be done – and if people will come with you, they will come with you. I never give up, so maybe I'll have another go at convincing him.
The Writer's Tale
In 2008, BBC Books published Doctor Who: The Writer's Tale, based on an in-depth email correspondence between Cook and Doctor Who executive producer Russell T Davies, spanning February 2007 to March 2008, during production of the show's fourth seriesDoctor Who (series 4)
The fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who began on 25 December 2007 with the Christmas special "Voyage of the Damned". Following the special, a regular series of thirteen episodes aired, starting with "Partners in Crime" on 5 April 2008 and ending with "Journey's End"...
. Extracts were published in The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
on 16 and 17 September 2008, and the book itself met with positive reviews. Esther Walker of The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
predicted that "the fans will adore it. Davies has engaged with the book totally and there is full disclosure from him about everything." The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
's Robert Colvile called the book "Remarkably open", adding: "Despite the self-deprecating bonhomie, there's a ruthless confidence to Davies." In a five-star review for Heat
Heat (magazine)
Heat is a British entertainment magazine published by German company Bauer Media Group. it is one of the biggest selling magazines in the UK, with a regular circulation over half a million. Its mix of celebrity news, gossip and fashion is primarily aimed at women, although not as directly as in...
magazine, Boyd Hilton called it "a funny, revealing insight into the workings of the genius who puts the show together." In another five-star review, SFX Magazine
SFX magazine
SFX is a British magazine covering the topics of science fiction and fantasy.-Description:SFX magazine is published every four weeks by Future Publishing and was founded in 1995. The magazine covers topics in the genres of popular science fiction, fantasy and horror, within the media of films,...
said, "You can douse all the other books about new Who in lighter fuel and spark up your Zippo – this is all you need. It’s the only one that opens a door into the brain of the series’ showrunner." Darren Scott of The Pink Paper – which also awarded the book five stars – agreed: "If you’re an uber fan of the show... or an aspiring (or even established) writer, this book will very, very quickly fall into the 'can’t put down' category." Scott Matthewman of The Stage
The Stage
The Stage is a weekly British newspaper founded in 1880, available nationally and published on Thursdays. Covering all areas of the entertainment industry but focused primarily on theatre, it contains news, reviews, opinion, features and other items of interest, mainly to those who work within the...
said, "I can’t recommend The Writer’s Tale highly enough… It’s a genuine insight into the entire television production process." "The Writer’s Tale is an enormous book, but consumed compulsively it doesn’t last very long at all," said Thom Hutchinson of Death Ray magazine. "We learn, brilliantly, the difference between bellowing media personage Big Russell and the apprehensive, chain-smoking obsessive who exists alone and silent in the early hours." The Scotsman
The Scotsman
The Scotsman is a British newspaper, published in Edinburgh.As of August 2011 it had an audited circulation of 38,423, down from about 100,000 in the 1980s....
s team of arts writers said: "The Writer's Tale offers a fascinating insight into the writing of one of TV's biggest hits." Veronica Horwell of The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
called it "the Doctor Who Annual for adults", suggesting that 500-odd pages "is not nearly enough, should have been 1001 pages, because Davies doesn't need to be writing fiction, shaping stuff retrieved from the flux of his Great Maybe, to be a storyteller. He's the Scheherazade
Scheherazade
Scheherazade , sometimes Scheherazadea, Persian transliteration Shahrazad or Shahrzād is a legendary Persian queen and the storyteller of One Thousand and One Nights.-Narration :...
of Cardiff Bay
Cardiff Bay
Cardiff Bay is the area created by the Cardiff Barrage in South Cardiff, the capital of Wales. The regeneration of Cardiff Bay is now widely regarded as one of the most successful regeneration projects in the United Kingdom. The Bay is supplied by two rivers to form a freshwater lake round the...
." Horwell described Davies as "a total romantic about writing. It's his love, his drug, his force for change: over the year even invisible, unopinionated Cook emerges as a proper companion who challenges Davies over the last image in the series. And wins. Brilliant."
In the blogosphere, Sci-Fi Onlines Daniel Salter claimed that The Writer's Tale "could be one of the most important Doctor Who books you're ever likely to read, even if it's not always about Doctor Who." "Page after page of banter that's just as exciting and suspenseful as the show itself," enthused Sebastian J. Brook of Doctor Who Online. "Cook's fearless and intelligent approach to asking questions pave [sic] the way for some fantastic responses as he manages to temper Davies' fun, energetic and sometimes insecure narrative with good, solid and sometimes cheeky responses." Off The Tellys Graham Kibble-White concluded: "Candid, lucid and an all-too painful evocation of the challenges inherit in writing and running perhaps the most important show on the BBC".
In November 2008, it was announced that Richard and Judy
Richard and Judy
Richard and Judy is the name informally given to Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan, a married couple who are both British television presenters and columnists. Since their marriage, their television appearances have been largely made as a couple. They are best known for presenting This Morning and...
, the couple credited with revolutionising the reading habits of Britons, had selected The Writer’s Tale for their Christmas Presents book strand – in the Serious Non-Fiction category – as part of the prestigious Richard & Judy Book Club. The couple described the book as "an absolute snapshot into the mind of a creative writer... It's a free flow of thought – a stream of consciousness. It's a great book."
On 2 December 2008, inspired by The Writer's Tale, Charlie Brooker
Charlie Brooker
Charlton "Charlie" Brooker is a British journalist, comic writer and broadcaster. His style of humour is savage and profane, with surreal elements and a consistent satirical pessimism...
devoted an extended edition of his BBC Four
BBC Four
BBC Four is a British television network operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation and available to digital television viewers on Freeview, IPTV, satellite and cable....
TV show Screenwipe
Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe
Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe is a British television review programme broadcast on BBC Four by Charlie Brooker. The programme contains reviews of current shows, as well as stories and commentary on how television is produced.-Format:...
entirely to interviews with prestigious writers, including Russell T Davies.
In June 2009, The Writer's Tale was shortlisted in the "Best Non-Fiction" category at the 2009 British Fantasy Awards, but ultimately lost out to Stephen Jones
Stephen Jones (author)
Stephen Jones is an editor of horror anthologies, and the author of several book-length studies of horror and fantasy films as well as an account of Lovecraft's early British publications....
' Basil Copper: A Life in Books.
Published in January 2010, the paperback edition, The Writer's Tale: The Final Chapter, updates Davies and Cook's correspondence to September 2009, to cover Davies' final year as Head Writer and Executive Producer of Doctor Who, taking in David Tennant's final few episodes as the Doctor. Critical reception was generally positive. SFX magazine's Ian Berriman described the book as "satisfyingly voyeuristic" and said, "It’s well worth buying, even if you’ve already got the original edition." The Guardians Vera Rule called it "Far more than a ritual ‘making of'" and the "Best masterclass in telly I’ve ever attended," adding: "Made me cry." Heat magazine included the book on its "Hot List" of "The Top Ten Things We At Heat Are Completely Obsessed With This Week." However, Private Eye criticised the tome for being "breathlessly self-congratulatory" – "a bring-your-own-extolment party in which readers are invited to bask in the outrageous genius of this bear-like TV demagogue."
Asked, in a February 2010 interview, whether there were any plans to conduct a similar correspondence with Davies' successor as showunner, Steven Moffat
Steven Moffat
Steven Moffat is a Scottish television writer and producer.Moffat's first television work was the teen drama series Press Gang. His first sitcom, Joking Apart, was inspired by the breakdown of his first marriage; conversely, his later sitcom Coupling was based upon the development of his...
, Cook replied:
Not at the moment. Well, not by me. Maybe Steven's e-mailing someone else! But look, e-mailing me isn't a prerequisite for taking the job of showrunner. I'm not handed down from head writer to head writer, like a soup recipe. Or a genetic disorder. The Writer's Tale sort of came about by accident, really, and it was quite an organic process, at a time when Russell already had three series under his belt...
Selected bibliography
- Cook, Benjamin (2003). Doctor Who: The New Audio Adventures - The Inside Story. Berkshire: Big Finish. ISBN 978-1-84435-034-6.
- Hickman, Clayton, ed. (2005), "Cook, Benjamin", Doctor Who Annual 2006, pp.47-52. Kent: Panini Books. ISBN 978-1-904419-73-0.
- Davies, Russell T; and Cook, Benjamin (2008). Doctor Who: The Writer's Tale. London: BBC Books. ISBN 978-1-84607-571-1.
- Davies, Russell T; and Cook, Benjamin (2010). Doctor Who: The Writer's Tale: The Final Chapter. London: BBC Books. ISBN 978-1-84607-861-3.
- Hickman, Clayton, ed. (2010), "Cook, Benjamin", The Brilliant Book of Doctor Who 2011, pp.104-107. London: BBC Books. ISBN 978-1-84607-991-7.
- Hickman, Clayton, ed. (2011), "Cook, Benjamin", The Brilliant Book of Doctor Who 2011, pp.10-14, 36-39, 64-67, 94-97, 154-159. London: BBC Books. ISBN 978-1-849-90230-4.
External links
- http://www.benjamincook.net/ – official website
- Benjamin Cook on TwitterTwitterTwitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
- The Writer's Tale official website
- Radio Times official website
- Doctor Who Magazine on FacebookFacebookFacebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...