Warning: contains a spoiler forAn Adventure In Space And Time.
Mark Gatiss is a busy man but polite to a fault.
Thats when it occurs to me: Mark Gatiss isnt the talent.
Hes one of us.
That got him into plenty of trouble.
[laughs] Did he write the 3,000 words?
Hedid indeedwrite 3,000 absolutely separate words, in sentences.
He took it seriously!
But its taught us not to place bets any more.
[laughing] The Doctor meets One Direction, thatd be quite a good story.
Youve just exploded Tumblr.
We were having aSherlockmeeting in Beryl Vertues flat and it must be now where are we?
I suppose it was about eighteen months ago?
Weve been nerdily trying to reconstruct the timeline.
Thats Andrew Pixleys job [chief writer of the DWM archive], hell do that!
It was just one of those things.
Sometimes it just happens like this.
After that, everyone you talked to… it was amazing.
I think sometimes its just in the air isnt it?
I actually remember putting Hes the perfect choice.
Does that rule him out?
That was when I first broached the idea I mean, I didnt work on it every day!
It was a long time though.
It was a real labour of love.
A bit of both I suppose really.
That one though was an idea that needed to find its time.
Id tried years ago when the show was off-air, which was an uphill struggle obviously.
I remember thinking Oh, another delay!
but of course, with time going so quickly it didnt really seem that long in the end.
As you should be.
I watched it again today and I have to say I cried yet another time.
[laughing] I cry every time I see it.
It always gets me.
How long has the idea forRobot Of Sherwoodbeen bubbling away?
Has that been a while too?
No no, it was Stevens idea.
Its sort of give and take.
And then this year, he said, what about Robin Hood?
I loveeverythingabout that movie.
To me, Robin Hood is a fairy tale.
And theres a miniscope!
Which is a reference to an old Jon Pertwee story.
I couldnt agree more.
Is this your antidote to all that?
This is my antidote, yes.
Its a fantastic piece of television, but you dont want it all the time.
With the shark repellent Bat-Spray!
You mention Peters Doctor being characterised as darker.
With the career youve forged, you must be sick to death of that word?
[laughs] Oh yes.
Would you agree with that?
Its hard to argue against it when you actually look at the stuff.
Thats what I mean about it being really nice to have light and shade.
Theres a sort of tendency for people to want things to be absolutely one thing or the other.
It would be nice to think that that kind of light and shade goes across the spectrum.
There have always been laughs in yourWhoepisodes before now.
Those kind of definitions are very suffocating.
I mean, do you remember who created the Daleks?
Terry Nation, chief gag-writer for Tony Hancock!
The idea that you cant do one if you do the other, thats alien to me.
Thats the essence of all good stuff I think.
When you wroteRobot Of Sherwood, it feels as if its been written specifically for his Doctors comedy capabilities.
Did you mould it to that?
It makes for a wonderful silhouette.
Putting that into the lovely bright, sunny Sherwood Forest was a treat.
Could you imagine swapping the Doctors in any of your stories, or would that just feel wrong?
Could you imagineThe Unquiet Dead, for instance, with Peters Doctor?
I thinkRobot Of Sherwoodis like a sort of season sixteen Tom Baker story, its like aKey To Timestory.
Its a romp and its good fun and it sits into that flavour.
You would tailor it to suit.
Oh yes, definitely.
It follows all the patterns of that.
An important part of all that is Clara.
How has the way you approach writing her character changed now that her mystery has been revealed?
She comes across as a much surer presence in series eight, very much the grown-up.
Thats interesting isnt it?
It happened to Sarah-Jane Smith from Pertwee to Tom Baker, and to Tegan.
But there was a definite decision this year to make Clara more front-foot.
The final sanction speech?
Tell me, how glorious is it to write one of the Doctors grandstanding moments?
Well, its lovely obviously.
Its always a privilege, and still exciting to write Int.
TARDIS, its still extraordinary.
As I say though, its all about light and shade for me.
Jon Pertwee was my Doctor and the final moment ofPlanet Of The Spidersis so beautifully done,sobeautifully done.
Yes, and its the first timeevertheyve had genuine Northern accents!
[laughing]
Lots of planets have a North, of course.
What a brilliant line that is!
Thats not even an alien planet, thats just 300 miles up the A1.
That idea is really interesting I think.
Does that then affect what you write the next time an idea for a moment like that comes up?
It is a difficult question.
The mistake I made was simply not asking people not to, which Steven has had remarkable success with.
Its a shame, but you have to shut these things off.
I think its very different if someone is maliciously spoiling something.
I remember watchingGridlock, and when David peers through the fog and he sees those crabs and says Macra!
I got up and ran around the room I was so thrilled!
It would be nice to!
As long as theyre enjoying it and as long as youre proud of the work, it doesnt matter.
Theres just a big difference when you’ve got the option to smell that people are being nasty.
They were looking for an angle.
It seems that untrammelled enthusiasm is really unfashionable.
[laughs] Quite!
You cant just love things anymore.
We make a run at.
Every show has this, and then theyll decide that its time to love it again.
I dont know what its all about.
I couldnt give a monkeys really, as long as were proud of it.
Am I right in thinking that theSherlockChristmas special script is being written as we speak?
Well not, as we speak, because Im talking to you now Im writing with my right foot!
Yes, except its not a Christmas special.
Its a special, but we honestly have no idea when it might be on.
Were making it in January but we dont know when its going to be on.
Christmas would be nice.
Its not a Christmas special then?
The scheduling is not up to us.
I dont think even the schedulers know [laughing].
Well yes indeed, Im sure they are, its the Christmas story!
Mark Gatiss, thank you very much!
