Salutations, Wordsmiths!

As the Thirteenth Doctor closes in on the end of the universe, so too closes the Paul Spragg ReCollections: Volume 2 deadline.

Thank you to all of our authors. Newcomers and returning contributors. Those who submitted their first pitches and those who made it through to the final hour. We appreciate the time and energy you've put into taking part in this latest undertaking by Divergent Wordsmiths. Thanks to you, and your efforts, we're regenerating stories that would otherwise be lost to Time and honouring the passing of Big Finish contributor, Paul Spragg.

It's no exaggeration to say that we've received quite a healthy number of submissions. Including a few firsts for Divergent Wordsmiths. From here on in, it's over to the editors, but that's not the end of Doctor Who for the next few months. Far from it. The cosmos has been imperilled by the Flux in a massive multi-episode saga. Sit back, relax or jump behind the sofa, the Doctor is back.

​Whether you browse our collections here or temporal travels elsewhere... Enjoy!

~Vworp, vworp!
Divergent Wordsmiths

The children all said the house at the end of the lane was haunted. At night it made strange noises: wheezing and groaning. Sometimes, it wasn’t there at all, leaving an empty lot full of thorns and wild roses.
That Halloween, the house was besieged by monsters. Aliens and metal men and ancient horrors pounded the midnight blue door, shouting their demands.
“Trick or treat!”
Dressed as Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Who dispensed candy from his food machine. He never needed to ask the children what they wanted. The food machine knew.
When Dr. Who watched the last trick-or-treaters wandering away, their bags heavy with the night’s loot, he thought of his children and grandchildren and nieces. They were gone now: Barbara, Louise, John, Gillian…
Little Suzie was off at University. She’d sent a picture last month, but he’d hardly recognized her with those elfin features and the short dark hair.
Dr. Who was feeling his age tonight. “Wearing thin,” he murmured.
A shadow moved, out in the night, and Dr. Who looked up to see a tall man walking up the path to the door. He was dressed as Dracula, with a cape and fangs. His beard was streaked black, his forehead was high, and his eyes were dark and twinkling.
“Trick or treat,” said Dracula, his voice like stained glass: magnificent, gothic, and sharp.
“My old friend!” Dr. Who shook Dracula by the hand. “I wasn’t expecting you.”
Dracula frowned. “I didn’t think you’d remember.”
“I’m not senile, you know,” Dr. Who said. “Though sometimes I get mixed up between things that happened and things that will. And things that won’t happen to me at all…” He smiled. “Won’t you come in? I’ll make tea.”
Dracula entered the home of Dr. Who. There were wires everywhere—and banks of instruments, and bookcases, and bubbling chemicals. Dr. Who traipsed through the wild interior of his living room in search of the kettle.
“A social visit, is it?” Dr. Who asked.
“Just wondering how retirement was treating you,” Dracula said, sitting in a black vinyl chair.
“Since I left the University, you mean? I traveled for a while, with the children. We went all sorts of places. Skaro. Rome. The Moon. I have snapshots from our trip to Cornwall somewhere. Dear Arthur was kind enough to hold the camera.” He shook his head. “But after they left… Well, I settled down. I’m not as young as I used to be.”
“None of us are.”
“All I need is a change. But I keep putting it off. I’ve grown to enjoy this quiet life.”
“I’m glad to hear it.”
“But it would be nice to know I carry on.” Dr. Who sighed. “Sometimes I can’t remember if I’m First or Last or somewhere between. And most times I can’t remember what that means.” He poured the tea and tutted. “I suppose I’m afraid I’ll be forgotten.”
“Nonsense,” Dracula said. “I’m sure they’ll remember you.”
There was a knock on the door. Dr. Who turned, and made his way through the tangled living room to the door.
On the doorstep was a little girl with yellow braces and a striped shirt. “Trick or treat!”
“Hello,” Dr. Who said. “And who are you?”
The girl beamed. “I’m Dr. Who!”
“Well, of course you are!”
Dr. Who smiled, and handed her a custard cream.

Beginning in 2018 with their production of Nightshade, Security Kitchen Productions are a noncommercial audio production team focused on returning otherwise out-of-print stories to the contemporary ears of Doctor Who listeners.

As of 2021, they have adapted stories featuring a multitude of Doctors and ranges. Among their collection:

• The Third Doctor and Dr Elizabeth Shaw fight a conspiracy in the British government to avert another Silurian massacre in The Scales of Injustice.
• The Fourth Doctor and Sarah meet Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, author of Sherlock Holmes, in misty Dartmoor as they face a monstrous Evolution. 
• The Sixth Doctor is driven from his exile on Torrok, confronting the spectres of his own trial and a murderous intelligence at the heart of interplanetary broadcasting in Time of Your Life.
• The Seventh Doctor takes a dance with death by Earthlight, as he and Ace battle the Timewyrrm for control over his own mind, in Revelation.

These and many more are available from their YouTube channel.

A massive congratulations and thank you to Caroline Tankersley! A regular artist for and longtime contributor to Divergent Wordsmiths.

​Beginning in 2019 with the publication of Genesis of Terror, she has been instrumental in helping to define the visual shape of our noncommercial productions. Her latest for Divergent Wordsmiths including the stunning front cover for Unbound Imaginings: Volume 2. We're thrilled to learn that, thanks to her distinctive skill and talent, she has been commissioned by Big Finish Productions for their Twelfth Doctor release, Timejacked.

Congratulations, Carrie! You can find a wealth of equally stunning artwork on her Twitter and DeviantArt pages. We hope to see many more such entries in the future!

Salutations, Wordsmiths!

A brand new ongoing installment of our Theories and Addenda section, exploring a rare gap in Doctor Who's history. Six stories from the Sixth Doctor. Mysteries from the midst of his tenure in 1986. Featuring the return of familiar faces such as K9 and Drax, alongside new companions such as the prospector, Mack, and telepathic castaway, Wings. These encounters include:

• Battling through Time against one of the Time Lords' lost founders, Omega;
• Thwarting the interstellar death trap set by arch-criminal Garth Hadeez;
• Uncovering the terrible corruption at the heart of the Elisian faith;
• Matching wits against the Rani's oppressive influence on Pyro Shika;
• Outwitting poltergeists and strange imps aboard the Medusa, and;
• Keeping Earth safe from invasion from the Ormazoids and their mutated leader.

Go to 6: "The Lost Gamebooks" will provide an in-depth, non-fiction examination of the Make Your Own Adventure with Doctor Who stories including their initial premises, editorial reviews, standout moments, links to continuity (current and superceded) and rarely-documented illustrations by artist Gail Bennett. A chance to experience stories that have not been seen by Doctor Who fans for over thirty years.

The very first Search for the Doctor is available to read now from the link here.

~Vworp, vworp!

Salutations, Wordsmiths!

​For the past several years, Big Finish Productions have been running a short story competition commemorating a colleague and friend, Paul Spragg. It was originally suggested 2016 by Ian Atkins, the former producer of the Doctor Who: Short Trips range, and offers an opportunity for new writers to submit their work to the organisation for production. It's a phenomenal opportunity for a good cause.

In 2019, Divergent Wordsmiths (that's us) put our "writing hearts on their writing sleeves", as Ian said himself in our "Introduction", and published The Paul Spragg ReCollections. A volume of stories from all the contributors, still eager and enthused, who wanted a home for stories that were submitted, but didn't make it to that one winning position. These were stories from the past year or from years previous that covered all manner of Doctors and situations. We do this as a means of further celebrating Paul Spragg and giving authors who've already done the work for the competition, an opportunity to see it through to its conclusion.

Many stories from competitions over previous years will fall under the category enforced by Rule #7:

"7. The story should not have been published anywhere before, nor should the entry have been submitted before."

If you have an entry submitted to the Paul Spragg competition you would like to see carried to fruition in the ReCollections anthology, this is the perfect opportunity to submit it to Divergent Wordsmiths. Our submission email can be found by following the instructions on our Submission Guidelines page.

We ask that you submit only a maximum of your 5 best pitches with the expectation of 1 or 2 stories being commissioned for the collection (the precise number to be determined by the comfort of the author). We look forward to seeing where the TARDIS materialises next. Best wishes to our Wordsmiths and happy writing!

~Vworp, vworp!

-> INTERCEPT

-> DECRYPT AND RECEIVE

-> SUBJECT: PRIORITY MESSAGE FOR TRANSDIMENSIONAL INTERLOCUTOR FROM PORTWATCHER DEPT.

"Between our major releases, the Divergent Wordsmiths have uncovered something rather interesting.

​In the intracausal linkages of the Catchvane, caught between the transmission lines, we've uncovered pages of a text called the Gallifrey Historia. A collaborative effort to construct a consistent historical text detailing the planet Gallifrey in the constellation of Kasterborous. Using both preexistent knowledge of events and new accounts of the linkages that form the greater timeline. Over the past months, our technicians have been seeking out further entries that could link with the ups and downs of Time Lord society and civilisation.

Recently, we discovered "Trial by Ordeal", a text detailing -- among other things -- Gallifrey's descent into totalitarianism and a coup launched against the Time Lords by their Gallifreyan brethren. This time, we have uncovered "Romana's Reconciliation", an era nowhere near short of incident. There are details of a Dalek invasion of Gallifrey, an attempted overthrow of President Romana by the Celestial Intervention Agency, a mysterious Galactic Famine, an encounter with one of the forefathers of Time Lord society, and even tale told of the Doctor's family home.

Both texts are available to read now from the link here."

Orwell for the Ears is the debut audio drama series from producer Ethan Gibson. Co-editor of the first Unbound Imaginings, Genesis of Terror, and full editor on The Meaning of Big Finish essay collection. Since his time with us at Divergent Wordsmiths, he's gone on to produce Influencing the Doctor, a podcast featuring many of the prominent creative forces working for Doctor Who today.

His latest endeavour is "adapted from several of the most celebrated works of George Orwell, Orwell for the Ears will bring together a diverse cast and production team, featuring a variety of ethnicities, genders and sexual orientations. The goal of Orwell for the Ears is to bring to life both the classic and lesser-known works of George Orwell for a new generation to enjoy, whilst championing the original text in all adaptations."

Sound like your Victory product? Well, doubleplusgood, it's available to support on Kickstarter now.