Update: Paul Cornell has a blog. Who knew?
Original post: I'm delighted to see that three different stories from the successful-beyond-anyone's dreams revival of Doctor Who have been nominated for the Hugo Award in the dramatic presentation, short form category.
I'm especially pleased to see former Who novelist Paul Cornell recognized. He was the creator of the companion character Bernice Summerfield, original to the novels. She became so popular that when Virgin books lost the Dr. Who license, they continued publishing books for several years afterwards just about her.
Something he said in an interview has been coming back to me in recent years when I contemplate why I seem to be able to write women well. Asked why he thought Bernice had been so succesful, he replied that most men wrote the kinds of women they wanted to date (or maybe at least sleep with), and...
"I don't want to date Bernice. I want to be her."
Paul became something of a friend during my rec.arts.drwho days, though we haven't spoken in a while. We didn't have a falling out or anything, I've just moved away from active Dr. Who fandom.
That said, I think Steven Moffat's two-parter is (were? was?) the better episode; the story I'd most like to see win. (Sorry Paul if you happen to stumble across this)
2 comments:
I hope the two-parter wins too. "The Empty Child" & "The Doctor Dances" are (is?) just superb television. I do like "Father's Day" as well, and it does make me cry a lot.
Hi Ben! Good to hear from you again. And thanks. The Hugo voting system is a PR variant, so we don't split the vote by there being three of us.
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