It's turned out to be rather a good year for various writing bits and pieces of mine, and this month has seen that rounded off with my final professional piece of 2025. If you've ever taken even the most casual look at this blog over any period of time, it will probably not surprise you to learn that this is another article for Doctor Who Magazine.
A few weeks ago, I was asked if I had any ideas for a forthcoming special edition they were putting together all about UNIT - the fictional military taskforce dealing with alien threats to Earth, which has been a part of Doctor Who off-and-on since the late 1960s. This magazine was released on December 4th, tied-in with the current broadcast on Sunday nights on BBC One of the Doctor Who spin-off The War Between the Land and the Sea, in which UNIT features heavily.
Always, of course, pleased to be asked to do something for them I pitched three ideas, one of which they liked and asked me to write for the special, with a slight tweak to expand it out a bit.
The piece I have ended up writing for them is called Old Soldiers Never Die, and looks at how some of the UNIT characters who were a regular part of Doctor Who in the early 1970s have subsequently had their lives explored in various spin-off books, audio dramas, straight-to-video productions and even stage shows.
It was, as these things always are, good fun to research and to write, and has undergone only a few minor changes here-and-there in the subbing process before appearing in print, which is always a good sign that you have actually come up with something close to what they wanted! A nice little bit to end the year with.
I always feel priviliged to be able to write for Doctor Who Magazine, and never take it for granted. I've been lucky enough to be an occasional contributor to the magazine and its specials for over ten years now. Hopefully that can continue for... well, as long as they want me and as long as I can keep coming up with good ideas for them!
I do have one feature which should be coming up next year about which I am particularly pleased, dealing with something not often covered in the pages of the magazine. It's one I am really looking forward to putting together - but more on that in 2026, which looks as if it could end up being a busy and exciting year, writing-wise.
