Lawrence Miles

Lawrence Miles (born 1972 in Middlesex) is a science fiction author best known for his work on original "Doctor Who" novels (both for the Virgin New Adventures and BBC Books series) and the subsequent spin-off Faction Paradox. He is also co-author (with Tat Wood) of the "About Time" series of "Doctor Who" critiques.

Life and work

Miles' first professionally published fiction was a 3-page comic strip, illustrated by Richard Elson and run under the generic title "Tharg's Time Twisters" in the weekly science fiction comic 2000AD. It appeared in issue 722 (March 1991) and to date is Miles's only contribution to "2000AD".

Miles' major contribution to the "Doctor Who" expanded universe is the "War in Heaven" arc begun in his novel "Alien Bodies". He has also written several novels and short stories outside this arc.

After most of the elements contributed by Miles were removed from the BBC novel range in the novel "The Ancestor Cell", Miles reused the major elements of this arc, without the "Doctor Who" references, to create the Faction Paradox universe. He now enjoys popularity as originator, editor and writer of the Faction Paradox series, which encompasses books, comic books and audio dramas.

Miles is also a champion of new comedy and in 2006 initiated a new comedy club in central London, Club Sabbath. The initial venue was the London Stone, run by the Eerie Pub Company in Cannon Street, and the club's name comes from the fact that the comedy nights took place on Sunday evenings. Acts included up and coming comediennes Hils Barker, Natalie Haynes, Elise Harris and Clare Clifford.

He has also developed a following for his web site [http://www.beasthouse.co.uk The Beasthouse] , where he has posted since 2004. Initially the site was used as a venue for "analysis of British popular culture using the UK Hit Parade as a framework and all-purpose excuse." Since then, its format has shifted often, from actual diary format entries to postings consisting simply of lists. Miles is a commentator on culture and is not afraid to express his opinions. Currently, the site contains a serialised work of fiction purporting to tell the story of an 1800s criminal mastermind time traveller.

His weekly reviews of Doctor Who episodes have attracted particular controversy. They can be found on his other blog, Lawrence Miles' Doctor Who Thing. In May 2008, Miles temporarily posted online a spec script for the TV series entitled "Book of the World", in a self described attempt to provide a legitimate basis for his polarising criticisms of the production team behind the revived series.

"About Time"

Miles is the co-author of the first five volumes of "About Time", a "Doctor Who" episode guide which examines the series in its cultural and historical context. Co-written with Tat Wood, the guide contains detailed accounts of the various concerns that fed into the making of the series and a number of essays answering specific questions (e.g. "How might the sonic screwdriver work?" and "Why didn't they just spend more money?"). In contrast to other "Doctor Who" guides, "About Time" is divided by "era" rather than by the lead actor, broadly reflecting different production philosophies and cultural climates. The several volumes are published in order of popularity rather than chronologically; volumes three and four were published first, covering the early and late 1970s. There are six volumes in total, the last covering the late eighties, the 1996 television movie and everything up to, but not including, the new 2005 series. Miles chose to leave the project after the completion of volume two, and the sixth and final volume was written entirely by Wood with additional material by Lars Pearson.

The volumes released so far have garnered considerable praise on the "Outpost Gallifrey" forums for their cultural and historical perspective, although some have also pointed out that several fan myths about the series (for example, the Cybermen and Daleks having been considered for the 1973 serial "Frontier in Space") are repeated in them.

Controversies

Miles is also known for being an outspoken member of the "Doctor Who" fan community, having publicly voiced his frank opinions of other "Doctor Who" authors and fans in an infamous "final" interview before withdrawing from fandom. [cite web |url=http://planeteleven.co.uk/features/lmia/lastever.php |title=The Potential Last Ever Doctor Who Interview with Lawrence Miles |accessdate=2007-01-21 |last=Miles |first=Lawrence |date=2000-05-28|archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20050301095733/planeteleven.co.uk/features/lmia/lastever.php |archivedate=2005-03-01] The interview was not printed in the intended fanzine, but was subsequently posted on the Internet. Miles later changed his mind and has conducted interviews since.

Miles also created controversy when he posted a damning review of the 2005 series episode "The Unquiet Dead", focusing on a perceived political subtext about asylum seekers.cite web |url=http://www.beasthouse.fsnet.co.uk/who03.htm |title=Doctor Who, Season X-1: "The Unquiet Dead" |accessdate=2007-01-18 |last=Miles |first=Lawrence |date=2005-04-11 |format=free registration required |work=The Beasthouse |archiveurl=http://www.gallifreyone.com/forum/showpost.php?p=982613&postcount=624 |archivedate=2005-05-12] [cite web |url=http://www.novachild.com/2005/04/lawrence-miles-reviews-unquiet-dead.html |title=Lawrence Miles Reviews Unquiet Dead |accessdate=2007-01-18 |last=Rich |first=Bruce |date=2005-04-11 |work=novachild.com] The review produced considerable backlash in various Internet forums, mainly over his comments about writer Mark Gatiss. [cite web |url=http://www.gallifreyone.com/forum/showthread.php?t=31032 |title=Lawrence Miles Reviews TUD - Oh Dear! |date=2005-04-11|accessdate=2007-01-18 |format=free registration required |work=Outpost Gallifrey Forum] Miles conceded in a later edit of the review that the subtext was probably unintentional, but still felt it should have been detected and edited out of the script, as well as admitting in a later blog that he was intoxicated at the time of writing the original review. He later wrote a favourable review of the subsequent episode, "World War Three". [cite web |url=http://www.beasthouse.fsnet.co.uk/who05.htm |title=Doctor Who, Season X-1: "World War Three" |accessdate=2007-01-18 |last=Miles |first=Lawrence |date=2005-04-23 |work=The Beasthouse ]

Bibliography

;Doctor Who
* Virgin New Adventures:
** "Christmas On A Rational Planet" (featuring the 7th Doctor, Chris Cwej, and Roz Forrester)
** "Down" (featuring Bernice Summerfield)
** "Dead Romance" (featuring Chris Cwej)
* Eighth Doctor Adventures:
** "Alien Bodies"
** "", "Shock Tactic"
** "", "The Hour Of The Geek"
** "The Adventuress of Henrietta Street"
* "The Judgement of Solomon", short story from "" (featuring Bernice Summerfield)
* "Vrs", short short story from "Short Trips and Sidesteps"
* "The Adolescence of Time", audio drama from Big Finish (featuring Bernice Summerfield)

;Faction Paradox
*Books (published by Mad Norwegian Press):
**"The Book of the War" (fictional work presented in the form of an encyclopaedic guide to the Faction Paradox universe, edited and co-written by Miles)
**"This Town Will Never Let Us Go" (first in the series of Faction Paradox novels)
**"Dead Romance" (re-issue of the Virgin title, includes short stories "Toy Story" and "Grass")
*Audio dramas:
**(produced by BBV):
***"The Eleven Day Empire"
***"The Shadow Play"
***"Sabbath Dei"
***"In the Year of the Cat"
***"Movers"
***"A Labyrinth of Histories"
**(produced by Magic Bullet Productions):
***"Coming to Dust"
***"The Ship of a Billion Years"
***"Body Politic"
*Comics:
**"Faction Paradox" issues one and two

;Other short stories
* "Grass", "The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction" issue 599 (September 2001, edited by Gordon van Gelder; also appeared in The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror 15th Annual Collection (2002), edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling
* "Toy Story","Perfect Timing" 2 (December 1999), edited by Helen Fayle and Julian Eales

;Non-fiction
*(published by Mad Norwegian Press):
**"About Time: The Unauthorised Guide to Doctor Who: 1963-1966: Seasons 1 to 3" (co-written with Tat Wood)
**"About Time: The Unauthorised Guide to Doctor Who: 1966-1969: Seasons 4 to 6" (co-written with Tat Wood)
**"About Time: The Unauthorised Guide to Doctor Who: 1970-1974: Seasons 7 to 11" (co-written with Tat Wood)
**"About Time: The Unauthorised Guide to Doctor Who: 1975-1979: Seasons 12 to 17" (co-written with Tat Wood)
**"About Time: The Unauthorised Guide to Doctor Who: 1980-1984: Seasons 18 to 21" (co-written with Tat Wood)
**"Dusted: The Unauthorised Guide to Buffy The Vampire Slayer" (co-written with Lars Pearson and Christa Dickson)

References

External links

* [http://www.beasthouse.co.uk Lawrence Miles' Beasthouse] , Miles' own web page
*Miles' [http://beasthouse-lm.blogspot.com/ general blog] and [http://beasthouse-lm2.blogspot.com/ Doctor Who blog]
*A [http://www.ninthart.com/display.php?article=739 more recent interview] with online comic fanzine [http://www.ninthart.com/ Ninth Art]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/news/drwho/2004/01/01/13690.shtml Interview with Miles on the BBC "Doctor Who" website]
* [http://www.gallifreyone.com/interview.php?id=miles Outpost Gallifrey's interview with Miles] concerning "Alien Bodies", "Interference": "Shock Tactic" & "The Hour Of The Geek" and "The Adventuress of Henrietta Street"
* [http://www.madnorwegian.com Mad Norwegian Press] , who publish most of Miles' current output
* [http://www.kaldorcity.com/ Magic Bullet Productions] , publishers of Miles' Faction Paradox audios
* [http://www.factionparadox.co.uk/homepage.htm Faction Paradox] , further information on the Faction Paradox universe