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Gareth Roberts interview - Radio Times, May 2008 |
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The writer of 2007's Doctor Who tale, The Shakespeare Code, returned to literary pursuits with the fourth season's The Unicorn and the Wasp. An Agatha Christie-style murder mystery, it featured Christie herself. Nick Griffiths found out that Gareth Roberts is a huge fan.
"Right from the moment I could read," he enthuses. "Some of her books I read so long ago, I've forgotten who did it.
"She's a brilliant writer, very good at character. And brilliantly simple prose. Anyone can write simple prose, but to write simple prose that's gripping is very difficult."
Roberts, who penned last season's bawdy, Bard-y romp, The Shakespeare Code, focused first on the era. "We couldn't decided initially whether Christie should be young or old," he says. "When someone says 'Agatha Christie' to you, you immediately think of an elderly lady. But her disappearance [the author mysteriously vanished for ten days in 1926] was just too tempting, so it's set firmly during the time of that disappearance."
The Unicorn and the Wasp - which even sounds like a Christie title - is a whodunnit with a Time Lord thrown in. Given a cast that involves two Felicitys, a Fenella and a Goodman-Hill, it's also very British. "We don't see posh people that much on television any more, except at Christmas," suggests Roberts. "And it's kind of odd to be writing a Doctor Who where people are talking in cut-glass accents."
Even the Doctor and Donna?
"They do try to fit in. The thing about the Doctor is that he can command confidence, authority and respect wherever he goes, and the great thing about Donna here is that she's so excited to be in a murder mystery. As you would be!" he laughs.
While stressing that his script isn't remotely tongue-in-cheek, Roberts explains further, "When I saw the finished episode, I was quite taken aback by how different it was in some regards. Because of the genre. Little things have a lot of emphasis in whodunnits, and little things never have any emphasis in Doctor Who - nobody ever says, 'Your hair looks nice!' or 'Ooh, what's in your handbag?' In Doctor Who, when somebody speaks it has to be significant or relevant; there's never any slack.
"The murder mystery plays by different rules. I think this will intrigue people, because it's different."
**
Read our interview with Felicity Kendal - or take a look at our full Doctor Who guide.
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