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.

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.

A week ago, Bradley's Basement celebrated its fifth anniversary!

Hosted by long-time Wordsmiths author, Tim Bradley (writer of "The Crimson Lion" and "The Popiz" from The Paul Spragg ReCollections and "Psychic Image" from Genesis of Terror), Bradley's Basement is a website for blogs, timelines and reviews of all things Who with a level of detail that will bring you thoughts on a favourite story as seen on television, listened on audio and read in a novelisation all in one.

After five years of content, here are five announcements of what to expect from Bradley's Basement over the forthcoming months:

• Two brand new adventures, "The Saviour of the Daleks", featuring the Twelfth Doctor and Bill, and "The Two Salvadors", starring the Thirteeenth Doctor, Graham, Ryan and Yaz, to accompany a catalogue of stories ranging across various incarnations;
• Phase 3 of The Nyssa Challenge, set to debut in December 2020, including reviews of "Doctor Who and the Keeper of Traken", "Downward Spiral" and "Thin Time/Madquake";
• The Bradley's Basement Advent Calendar leading up to Christmas 2020, sharing tales of encounters with the famous names and faces who bring our beloved Who characters to life;
• The March of the Thirteenth Doctor marathon review season exploring the latest Doctor's escapades in March 2021, and;
• The BB@5 Anniversary Celebration Blog-a-thon with three new timelines for original creations Billy Walker (featured in "Psychic Image"), James Darby and Jen Ward.

Doctor Who: Lockdown! was a phenomenal period of creativity, both on and off the various livestreams, for fans and production staff alike. A chance to celebrate the show and bring together an isolated worldwide community under the same police box lantern.

One such project was created with the assistance of Joshua Wanisko, author of "Farewell to Kindness" from Unbound Imaginings - Volume 1 and the inaugural Big Finish Short Trip, "Forever Fallen". Gathered alongside a bevy of other talents brought together by Selim Ulug (author of "Landbound") for something rather special -- The Eighth Day. An original tale for the Eighth Doctor and Charley Pollard, and a tribute for LGBTQ+ mental health service, MindOut.

The results are nothing short of incredible and Josh has very kindly lain out his own thoughts on the behind-the-scenes of The Eighth Day on his blog here. Narrated by Conrad Westmaas (the voice of C'rizz, companion of the Eighth Doctor), illustrated by Sophie Iles (author of "A Song for Running") and sound design by Jaspreet Singh, climb aboard the TARDIS for a journey to uncover the black sheep of Time...

And its shepherd.

Tony Jones, author of the Big Finish Companion Chronicle "The Tactics of Defeat", featuring Ruth Matheson (Daphne Ashbrook) and  Zoe Heriot (Wendy Padbury), is contributing new fan content for Doctor Who and short stories in general speculative fiction! 

As much a writer of prose fiction as audio plays, he has also contributed to Terraqueus Distributors' Unofficial Doctor Who Annual 1987, pitting the Sixth Doctor and Peri against their own dream-like imaginings, and Unofficial Master Annual 2074, where the Master falls afoul of a vault of secrets somehow linked to his unusual passengers. There's even more to be found further afield.

Between engagements in relativistic time zones, he's contributed to the Castle of Horror, Volume Four: Women Running from Houses, celebrating Gothic Romance and also featuring the work of fellow Who writer Rob Nisbett (author of Big Finish Short Trips "A Heart on Both Sides" and "Intuition"). Two additional tales of Tony's can be found for free through The Infinite Bard, detailing the ongoing duel of identity between "The Princess and the Assassin" and the irrepressible charm of little memories in  "Souvenir".