Vortex #202 - Bret Vyon Lives!

The new issue of Big Finish's free magazine Vortex includes a feature on the forthcoming audio boxset Space Security Service - Bret Vyon Lives!, on which I was producer and wrote one instalment: The Man Inside.

The feature by Kenny Smith includes an interview with me and fellow writers David Llewellyn and James Kettle.

Space Security Service - Bret Vyon Lives! is released in February 2026 but available to pre-order now.

Pretty ugly - piece on Daumier for Art UK

Art UK has posted a new piece by me, "Pretty ugly: Honoré Daumier drawing for print".

If that sort of thing is of interest, here are 10 posts with me rabbiting on about pictures:

• Daumier, by Sarah Symmons
• Don Quixote by Cervantes and Rob Davis
• Van Gogh's paintings in Doctor Who
• Augustus John by Michael Holroyd
• Seurat and the Science of Painting, by William Innes Homer
• Mr Lear – A Life of Art and Nonsense, by Jenny Uglow
• Manet to Picasso at the National Gallery
• Sickert in Venice at Dulwich Picture Gallery
• Mrs King, my 2011 talk for the National Portrait Gallery
• Doctor Who: Portraits in Time and Space, my 2010 talk for the National Portrait Gallery

Bergcast #39 - The Blu-ray Xperiment

The latest episode of the Bergcast podcast, devoted to all things Nigel Kneale, features an interview with Steve Rogers at Hammer Films, responsible for the current run of deluxe Blu-ray releases including The Quatermass Xperiment and Quatermass 2.

I'm also interviewed about the two-part documentary about Kneale I worked on for these releases, with Jon Clarke and Robin Andrews at Eklectics, brother Tom and expert pundits Toby Hadoke, Andy Murray, Brontë Schiltz, Dr Tom Attah, Joel Morris, Jane Asher and Ted Childs.

Excitingly, Hammer are showing Quatermass 2 and the second-half of the documentary TONIGHT, 9pm on 31 October 2025, on YouTube. Quatermass! The rocket guy! Pew!

Both Quatermass films are also being shown at Derby QUAD on 6 December, with talks by Toby Hadoke, Andy Murray, Brontë Schiltz and Jon Dear.

Writing Magazine #251

I've written a piece for the new issue of Writing Magazine, out now, on handling factual material. There are pointers on copyright, libel and building good relationships, but I also hoped to get across why working in non-fiction can be so creatively rewarding.

This issue includes tips for writing dialogue, "the latest romance trends in YA and romantasy and guidance on how to fight back against AI. Plus, explore cosy fantasy and creating your own literary gardens, and discover what self-awareness can add to your writing."

• Buy Writing Magazine #251 (November 2025)
• Writers' Guild of Great Britain free online guide to Working With Factual Material

Social Care Today report: People First With AI and Tech-Enabled Care

I did some work on the new Social Care Today special report, People First With AI and Tech-Enabled Care, now available to download for free.

The report includes my interview with Luke Geoghegan, Head of Policy and Research at the British Association of Social Workers (BASW) about the way AI is already changing the provision of social work and care. A longer version of the interview is available on the SCT website.

There is also an interview with William Flint, Director of Bluebird Care NEW Devon, who oversaw a trial of the Access Assure system of discreet sensors in the home that monitors a person’s activity and is able to recognise anything out of the routine.

Other case studies in the report include the rollout of Cassius by Suffolk County Council, the Dorothy app designed to support people living with dementia and the Earzz acoustic monitoring system.

The Heartless Sea

Big Finish have announced another new Doctor Who audio play I've written, to be released in February 2026.

The Heartless Sea by Simon Guerrier

As Harry Sullivan and Naomi Cross investigate the apparently haunted “Warehouse 9”, they come across someone who they didn’t expect to meet – the Doctor! But one who hasn’t met them yet… and soon after they find themselves dealing with the wrath of the most furious sea there has ever been. 

The story is part of Companion Chronicles: The Legacy of Time, paired up with a story called The Kraken of Hagwell by Barbara Hambly. What a thrill to be teamed up with Barbara, who I've sat on panels with at conventions.

The Heartless Sea stars Michael Troughton as Doctor Who, Eleanor Crooks as Naomi and Christopher Naylor as Harry. It is directed by Nicholas Briggs and produced by Dominic G Martin.

Bret Vyon Lives!

Big Finish have announced the details of Bret Vyons Lives!, the second volume of adventures for the Space Security Service. This time, as well as being producer, I've written one of the three stories. 

The set is out in January. Blurb and puff as follows:

Bret Vyon Lives!

Jane Slavin and Joe Sims encounter some familiar faces in the second volume of full-cast Space Security Service audio adventures, due for release January 2026. 

The guardians of the Solar System – agents Anya Kingdom (Jane Slavin), Mark Seven (Joe Sims), and Sola Akinyemi (Madeline Appiah) – return for three thrilling original adventures. 

Their most dangerous enemies, the Daleks (Nicholas Briggs), are back, in greater numbers than ever, exterminating their way across the cosmos. And when she becomes their prisoner, Anya encounters a man she used to know and love – her uncle Bret Vyon. 

This Space Security Service agent was originally played by Nicholas Courtney in 1965-66 Doctor Who TV serial The Daleks’ Master Plan, and here is voiced by Jon Culshaw. Anya knows her uncle is dead, so who is this living, breathing Bret Vyon? 

The Worlds of Doctor Who – Space Security Service: Bret Vyon Lives! is now available to pre-order for just £19.99 (as a digital download to own). 

The three exciting interplanetary adventures are: 

The Man Inside by Simon Guerrier 

Anya Kingdom is a prisoner of the Daleks on a very peculiar space station orbiting a very peculiar star. The Daleks don’t want to kill Anya; they want to break her down psychologically.  

One way to do that is to lock her in a cell with someone Anya knows is a fake. Whoever, whatever, this man really is, he cannot be her beloved uncle. Bret Vyon is dead, end of story. 

But if Anya is to survive, she will need his help… 

The Wages of Death by David Llewellyn 

Furiosa 237 is a remote world in the hinterlands of the galaxy. Anya and Mark teleport in and quickly take jobs on a cargo shop. They’re undercover – on an urgent, secret mission. 

Their task is to locate a device called a Progenitor, then drop it into the nearest black hole — and quickly, before it can hatch. 

But at least one person on board is determined to save the Progenitor and unleash its deadly contents: a whole army of Daleks. 

The Sky is for Sale by James Kettle 

A huge satellite mines the atmosphere of Saturn. Following a number of threats, agent Sola Akinyemi of the Space Security Service is on board, tasked with keeping the workers and their families safe. 

Meanwhile, Anya Kingdom is at Triple-S headquarters, working to expose and eradicate corruption in the service. But just as she’s making progress, HQ is attacked. And then the mining satellite is invaded – by a different hostile force! 

In the desperate battle that follows, Anya and Sola will have to make impossible choices. Who can they really trust? And what horrors are they willing to sanction if it means defeating the Daleks? 

The guest cast of Space Security Service: Bret Vyon Lives! includes Shobu Kapoor (We Are Lady Parts), Forbes Masson (The High Life), and Louiza Patikas (The Archers), plus further names yet to be announced. 

Producer and writer Simon Guerrier said: “Anya Kingdom faces her greatest challenge yet as a prisoner of the Daleks. But help is at hand from the least expected person – Bret Vyon, traitor of the SSS and Anya's long-dead uncle! With this second batch of adventures, we really wanted to raise the stakes. With the Daleks on the warpath, Earth's future depends on alliances – but who can Anya really trust? 

“What a delight it’s been working on this set of three thrilling adventures steeped in the rich lore that Terry Nation created all those years ago. I’ve loved every stage of collaboration with John Dorney and Barnaby Kay on this compelling, fast-paced series. 

“The one I've written is a particular treat. An age ago, I worked on stories featuring SSS agent Sara Kingdom as played by the brilliant Jean Marsh. So it's been a particular pleasure to revisit Sara’s brother Bret and tell something of his side of their fateful story. And then there's what David and James have written to follow... Oh, just you wait!” 

Big Finish listeners can save money by pre-ordering Bret Vyon Lives! in a multibuy bundle with the previous volume of Space Security Service (June 2025’s The Voord in London) for just £38 (download to own). 

All the above prices (including pre-order and multibuy bundle discounts) are fixed for a limited time only and guaranteed no later than 28 February 2026.

Writers' Guild guide to working with factual material

The Writers' Guild of Great Britain has produced a new, free guide to working with factual material. 

I've been involved in helping put it together, in my role as chair of the guild's Books Committee. Earlier this week, I was quoted by trade paper the Bookseller in its coverage of the free guide. Later this week, on 27 August, I'll be hosting a free online event about it later this week (see below for details).

It's likely to be my last job as chair, as my three-year stint comes to an end next month at the guild's AGM. 

Full blurb for the guide and event details as follows:

The lives of real people and true stories have always provided inspiration for writers. But the practicalities of working with factual material – and the potential to upset an existing person (or their lawyer) – can leave writers feeling anxious.

Which is why WGGB has today (19 August 2025) launched a new free, online guide on working with factual material.

The guidelines cover how copyright law treats factual material and how writers can build relationships with their subjects. They also provide advice on how to avoid being accused of libel or defamation.

The guidelines have been produced by the WGGB Books Committee, but the advice and principles contained in them will also be useful for writers working in other craft areas such as film, TV, theatre or audio.

The guide includes answers to questions that the WGGB is regularly asked. For example:

• Do I need ‘life rights’ to write about a real, living person?
• What if I want to write about a real, deceased person?
• Do I need permission to include a reference to a brand or trademark in my work?
• Do I need a licence to quote an academic or journalistic article in my work?
• Do I need a licence to parody or pastiche something factual in my work?
• What if my sources are in the public domain?
• How do I protect my copyright when doing research/conducting interviews?
• Should my interview subjects sign an NDA?
• How do I work with historical consultants?
• What if my subject wants a cut of the profits from my project?
• I want to base a fictional character on a real person – can I do that?

When it comes to undertaking research and interviews, for example of subjects or specialists in the author’s chosen area, we have published an accompanying template ‘Right to release’ form (as a free download) which the writer can ask the interview subject to sign to confirm that they understand the purpose of the interview and which grants the writer the right to use their material.

Working with factual material guides writers through understanding the differences between libel and defamation, best practice to protect themselves against a legal case, and the implications of writer warranties and indemnities.

WGGB Books Chair Simon Guerrier said: “When it comes to working with factual material, there are clearly many areas in which writers want help and clarification — as WGGB has received numerous enquiries in the past few years.

“This clear, concise publication guides writers through what they need to know and includes some practical tips.

“I’m very grateful to everyone on the WGGB Books Committee and at the union for their hard work in putting these guidelines together.”

Working with factual material – come to our free event on 27 August

WGGB Books Chair Simon Guerrier will be offering some practical advice on this subject and discussing with guests (to be announced) the pitfalls of writing about real-life characters, events and issues, whether contemporary or historical.

Live captions will be available throughout. Please let us know when you register if you have any additional access needs.

5-6pm, 27 August

Online, via Zoom

Price: free

More information and bookings

Doctor Who Magazine #620

The new issue of the official Doctor Who Magazine is out today and includes After Image by me, in which I look again at recent TV episodes Lucky Day, The Story & the Engine, The Interstellar Song Contest, Wish World and The Reality War.

I, in turn, get reviewed, with Jamie Lenman casting his critical eye over Smith and Sullivan: Reunited, of which I wrote one episode. He says Blood Type is "complex and nuanced", which is nice.

There are lots of other goodies this issue, not least Gary Gillatt's lovely piece about the war service of the actors who played the first three Doctors Who. 

Anyway. I'm on deadlines so must dash. Will write up notes on some recent books read and post them here asap.

Target Books Day audio recording

I had a lovely time at Target Books Day on Saturday (19 July), organised by James Goss. He assembled a really fun, engaging series of talks and readings related to the Doctor Who novelisations, including me wanging on about Terrance Dicks - most prolific of the Target authors - and the early days of the range that launched in January 1974, alongside learned critiques and readings from new books that won't be published until next year.

You can now listen to my talk, "The Unseen Terrance Dicks", and lots of the other contributions, as episodes of the Hamster with a Blunt Penknife podcast:

Target Book Club Part One on Apple, Podbean, Spotify

• Gary Gillatt, "Opening Lines"
  Every first line of a Target novelisation, in publication order. Bliss.
  
  
• Simon Guerrier, "The Unseen Terrance Dicks"
  
  
• Jenny Colgan, reading from her forthcoming novelisation of 2010 TV episodes Time of Angels and Flesh and Stone
  
  
• Mags L Halliday, "Romancing the Target"
  Including much love for the loved-up work of David Whitaker

Target Book Club Part Two on Apple, Podbean, Spotify

• Robert Shearman, reading from his forthcoming novelisation of 2002 audio play The Chimes of Midnight
  
  
• John Grindrod, "Terror of the Blurboids"
  On the changing face of back-cover blurbs
  
  
• Nev Fountain, "The Policeman's Face Peeled Away"
  On the work of illustrator Alan Willow 
  
  
• Dr Paul Quinn, "I See The Rumours About You Are True..."
  On sexual predation in the TV version and novelisation of Ghost Light - requiring a trigger warning

Target Book Club Part Three on Apple, Podbean, Spotify

• Stephen Gallagher discusses and reads from the novelisation of his own 1980 TV story Warrior's Gate
  
  
• Steve Cole, "The Wheel of Tara" aka confessions of a books editor
  
  
• Alex Hewitt, "Reading Games with Pip and Jane"
  On literary games for children written by Pip and Jane Baker years before they scrivened for Doctor Who
  
  
• Joe Lidster reading from his forthcoming novelisation of 2005 TV story Alien of London and World War Three
  
  
• Gareth L Powell reading from his newly published novelisation of 2025 TV episode The Well
  
  
• James Goss reading from his newly published novelisation of 2025 TV episode Lux

Ace Jacket - The Inside Story

Published today to raise money for autism charities, Ace Jacket - The Inside Story is an A4 softback boasting more than 250 pages of original stories, pieces, artwork and photographs relating to Doctor Who companion Ace and her iconic badge-bedecked jacket.

• Buy Ace Jacket - The Inside Story

The book features a foreword by the Tenth and Fourteenth Doctors, David Tennant, and an afterword by former Doctor Who executive producer Chris Chibnall. There are contributions from Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy, Peter Capaldi and Jodie Whittaker, as well as - it says here - "companions, past showrunners, writers, producers, villains and monster makers". 

I wonder which one of those I count as. My contribution is on Flowerchild's time-travelling earring.

Fittingly, the book will soon have a companion volume, Ace Jacket - The Outside Story, which details the onscreen appearance of Ace's jacket (or jackets plural) in ferocious detail. It is published on 25 November but you can pre-order it now.

The Legend of Nigel Kneale 2. Enemy From Space

The super deluxe collectors' edition of Quatermass 2 is now available to pre-order from Hammer Films. It's released next month.

Among the many goodies included in the set is the second part of the documentary me and Brother Tom have produced with Eklectics about Quatermass creator and writer, The Legend of Nigel Kneale.

As with the first part, included on the collectors' edition of The Quatermass Xperiment, the documentary is presented by Toby Hadoke and includes interviews with Kneale's biographer Andy Murray, Dr Tom Attah, Joel Morris, Brontë Schiltz and Jane Asher. This second part also includes two other on-screen contributors... but wait and see.

Smith & Sullivan cover reveal

Big Finish have shared the cover artwork for Smith & Sullivan: Reunited, the Doctor Who spin-off audio set out next month which includes my story, Blood Type, as well as stories by Tim Foley and Roland Moore. The art is by Ryan Aplin. 

Cybermen: The Ultimate Guide

I’ve received my copy of this lavish new guide to the Cybermen, produced by the team at Doctor Who Magazine.

Gav Rymill and I have written a history of the changing look of the Cybermen, with a double-page spread devoted to each of 20 iterations from their first appearance in The Tenth Planet (1966) to their last TV story to date, The Power of the Doctor (2022). These are accompanied by new CG illustrations by Anthony Lamb — and Gav, too.

There is plenty of new information in what we’ve written, let alone among all the other stuff by other people. If you like Cybermen, you will like this. And if you don’t, it will convince you.

Is there really more to say about Cybermen, or Doctor Who in general?

Well, last night, I was in Liverpool to meet John Higgs for the first time and hear him talk about his brilliant new book Exterminate, Regenerate. He was interviewed / chatted with the music journalist and novelist David Keenan, who also has a book out, his a collection of writings about the weird fringes of culture while John maps something more mainstream. 

But David said he got into all this weird, edge-of-culture stuff in the first place by, as a kid, reading Doctor Who novelisations by Terrance Dicks. Doctor Who changed the way he looked at things, and the things he looked for. It made the mainstream more rich and strange — and involving.

He also used the word “unfathomable” to describe Doctor Who. Whereas a murder mystery has a solution, or a romantic story ends with a couple getting together — or not — Doctor Who keeps going on and on. That means that, no matter how deeply we dive into it, we will never reach the bottom. 

I’m really taken with that idea, Doctor Who as abyss into which I can’t stop staring.

Deep Space Nine: Outside In Can Live With It

I am one of the 171 authors in the newly announced Outside In Can Live With It, an anthology of perspectives on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. The book is out on 24 July and available to pre-order now, with proceeds going to the charity Against Malaria.

My contribution, “Red Flags”, is focused on episode #168, ’Til Death Do Us Part. By chance, I wrote it while working on the script for our documentary Terror of the Suburbs, which refers to the BBC sitcom Till Death Us Do Part (1965-71), and I had to pay close attention to the order of the “us” and the “do” in each case.

Which has got it right? 

Well, in fact, neither. I mean, both appear in the solemnisation of matrimony, depending which editions of The Book of Common Prayer and other prayer books you check. But if you’re an awful nerd and feel compelled to trace the phrase back to earliest historical source, you reach the 1549 edition of the Book of Common Prayer, and it says something else.

I N. take thee N. to my wedded wife, to have and to holde from this day forwarde, for better, for wurse, for richer, for poorer, in sickenes, and in health, to love and to cherishe, til death us departe: according to Goddes holy ordeinaunce: And therto I plight thee my trouth.

The suggestion is that it was written as “departe” but heard as “do part”; the sense of being together until death mutating into one of being together until death forcibly separates us from each other. That is subtly different but I think slightly more romantic, which may explain why it caught on.

The “do us part” is surely a latter correction so as not to split the infinitive. 

I decided this wouldn’t do for my entry in the Deep Space Nine book so inflict it on you here.

Smith and Sullivan: Reunited - Blood Type

Big Finish have announced the forthcoming release of Doctor Who audio series Smith and Sullivan: Reunited, for release in July 2025. The three stories include Blood Type, written by me.

Blurb for the set as follows:

Sarah Jane Smith: investigative journalist; Dr Harry Sullivan: UNIT operative. Together, they journeyed to the stars with the Doctor. But when the adventures end, what can they do?

Find more...

Reunited in the chaos of 1980s London, Sarah and Harry find danger and darkness lurking beneath the metropolitan veneer of wealth and technology. With trusty super-computer K9 and the brilliant Lavinia Smith alongside, new adventures are just beginning...

The other stories in the set are The Caller by Tim Foley and Union of the Snake by Roland Moore. Sadie Miller plays Sarah Jane Smith, Christopher Naylor is Harry Sullivan, John Leeson is K9 and Annette Badland is Sarah's Aunt Lavinia. More details to come...

Power of 3 podcast #360: Terror of the Suburbs

I've just received my copy of the Blu-ray boxset Doctor Who Season 7, comprising the 25 episodes first broadcast in 1970. This saw the debut of the Third Doctor, as played by Jon Pertwee, his companion Dr Liz Shaw (Caroline John) and Doctor Who being made in colour. It also began a run of adventures in which the Doctor is stranded on Earth, without the use of his TARDIS...

That last element is the subject of the documentary Terror of the Suburbs, included on the new set. It's presented by Matthew Sweet and produced by me and the team at Eklectics. I'll post some more details about it once people have had a chance to watch...

In the meantime, I shared a few not-too-spoilery things with Kenny Smith for episode #360 of his podcast Power of 3. You also get to hear from high wizard Peter Crocker about exactly what was involved in restoring these old episodes. 

Doctor Who Magazine's special issue on the 1970 series of Doctor Who is also on sale and includes my article on the cast and crew it shared with the soap opera Crossroads. Earlier this week, I posted a bit more about that and the fact that David Whitaker wrote 32 episodes of Crossroads.

Doctor Who Magazine #613

The new issue of the official Doctor Who Magazine is out today, with news of who is writing episodes of the forthcoming TV series plus a new column by Gary Gillatt, this time on the subject of dinosaurs.

I've written a couple of things:

pp. 18-22 Script to Screen: The Time Hotel

Digging into the design work on the most recent TV episode, I spoke to executive producer Joel Collins, visual effects supervisor Seb Barker, production design Phil Sims, graphic designer Stephen Fielding and assistant graphic designer Sophie Cowdrey.

pp. 48-50 Get Ready to Play

I spoke to the team behind mobile Doctor Who game Lost in Time: Elin Jonsson (Chief Business Officer at East Side Games); Joao Batista (CEO of Bigfoot); Mario A Mentasti (narrative designer at Bigfoot); and Shannon Maclaughlan (BBC Studios).

Then, on p. 32, there's an interview with me (a whole paragraph) about the documentary I've made with Jon Clarke and others for the new Season 7 Blu-ray, with a photo I took on p. 33. More about Terror of the Suburbs another time...

Power of 3 podcast #351: The Time Travellers

The latest episode of Kenny Smith's Power of 3 podcast is about my Doctor Who novel The Time Travellers, first published in 2005 and so 20 years old. (Of no interest to anyone, but I delivered the first draft on 29 April 2005, the day before Dalek was broadcast.)

The episode includes an interview with me, struggling to remember whatever it was I was thinking at the time - other than "Eeeeeeeee I'm writing a book!"

Last year, I spoke to the same podcast about my 2007 Doctor Who novel The Pirate Loop and, separately, my new book Doctor Who - The Time Travelling Alamanac. And the year before, I spoke to them about David Whitaker in an Exciting Adventure with Television.

A Doctor Who pitch: Perfect Worlds

Yesterday, while searching for something else I came across five one-paragraph ideas for Doctor Who audiobooks that I submitted on Sunday, 15 November 2009, a few hours before settling down to watch The Waters of Mars. 

One of the five ideas is striking. I had no idea at the time that Amy’s Choice had been commissioned for the 2010 TV series and this was all a long time before the Dream Crabs featured in Last Christmas (2014). But, by total coincidence, I came up with something a bit similar:

Perfect Worlds


A sort of ghost story. Amy and the Doctor rescue each other from their dreams. After finally leaving the Doctor behind, Amy is back home with her friends – human ones and those she’s met on her adventures with the Doctor. It’s a nice day and there’s a big party. But some of the friends she knows are really dead. And then the Doctor comes to see her. He explains she’s asleep, she’s been bitten by something that’s feeding off her dreams – and is slowly killing her. He’s using a machine to speak to her: and by willing to wake up she can. The Doctor shows her the small, scaly creature feeding on their desires. And it bites him. Amy now has to go rescue him… He dreams of his own home and the thousands of people who he couldn’t save, all living happily together. Amy talks him out of staying.

This happens quite a lot: more than once I’ve been told I can’t do X or Y in a Doctor Who story because someone else is already doing it or something like it in another story I didn’t know about. As an editor and producer, I’ve sometimes had to tell people the same thing. There is a lot of Doctor Who being dreamt up all the time, so it’s not really surprising.

But on this particular occasion I don’t think I was made aware that I’d chanced upon the wheeze of a forthcoming TV episode. And by the time Amy’s Choice was broadcast on 15 May 2010, I’d forgotten having a similar idea. 

That’s probably because I was a bit caught up in other things at the time. But it’s also how pitching works: if the people you’re pitching aren’t enthused by what you send in, you send in something else. Ideas are the easy bit. If there’s interest in an idea you then move on to the trickier thing of developing it into a storyline.

I sent in some more ideas and one of those eventually became The Empty House, released in September 2012. 

But I realise (having had it pointed out) that I then worked some of this Perfect Worlds idea into The Anachronauts, released in January 2012. In fact, another of the pitches sent in with Perfect Worlds was called The Deluge and reworked an outline for a Doctor Who novel I’d submitted in the early 2000s. That idea eventually ended up as The Flood, an episode of my science-fiction series Graceless, released in December 2011. 

The three other ideas — Snip! Snip!, 77 Aliens and The Brain Drain — might still find homes somewhere… Never throw anything away, Harry.

This morning, out for a walk, I puzzled over where the wheeze for Perfect Worlds came from in the first place. At the time, one trick I used for sparking ideas was to scan over my shelves of books and DVDs. It wasn’t always to come up with, “A Doctor Who version of X…” Often just being reminded of a scene, a character, a line of dialogue would ignite something.

With that in mind, I think Perfect Worlds was probably inspired by the 1986 movie Labyrinth, especially the “As The World Falls Down” sequence at the ball — hence Amy being at a party — and the bit when Sarah thinks she is back in her room but it’s yet another trick. She has to puzzle out, for herself, the difference between the comforting and the real… 

Maybe I’d been told, or picked up somewhere, that the 2010 series of Doctor Who would have something of a fairy-tale feel. If so, I was trying to get myself in the right kind of head space to match that — and that’s why this idea came so close to what they were already doing.