Time Lord Eleven's 11 Questions: Tom MacRae

Our own exclusive interview with The Girl Who Waited writer himself, Tom MacRae.

Hello. Today, Time Lord Eleven had an exclusive interview with Tom MacRae, the man who wrote the incredible episode The Girl Who Waited. Tom also wrote Rise of the Cybermen and the Age of Steel in 2006. Hopefully, more Time Lord Eleven's 11 Questions will be coming soon! You can read the entire interview below:

1) The Time Glass has been an idea you have been brewing for a long time. How did you think of it?

I was looking at a magnifying glass in my house a while back and thinking about how it could be part of a story, and the Time-Glass idea just came to me.

2) Did you always want The Girl Who Waited to be a 'Doctor-lite' episode?

No, that came much later on for practical reasons - but I'm very glad it di as it makes it even more Amy and Rory's story.


3) If you were to come back, how do you think the episode would differ to The Girl Who Waited? Would it be more action? More aliens?
I'd like to do a real thrill ride action romp - just to try something different.


4) Excluding your own, what has been your favourite episode of Doctor Who in Series Six so far?
A Good Man Goes to War (Series Six Part One Finale, it's cliffhanger being the revelation of River being Melody).

5) In the episode, the Handbots are the main enemy. What spurred that idea of robots trying to kill you with kindness?

Because it fitted the logic of the world Amy was in. The world was trying to be kind, so the Handbots had to be too.

6) Was it strange to write for an Amy that was, in a way, the exact opposite of the Amy we all know so well (ie hating the Doctor and attacking the Handbots so aggressively)?

No - it was great fun! And Karen loved to do it.


7) Did Steven Moffat tell you anything that needed to be in the episode or was it all your ideas?
It was all my idea.


8) How did you first get into writing for Doctor Who?
Russell T Davies asked me onto Series Two. I was very pleased to be invited!

9) Why did you want to write for the Cybermen?

I didn't especially - Russell gave them to me.

10) How was the first draft of The Girl Who Waited too 'timey-wimey'?

The ending to the story was more complicated and clever - like escaping from a prison. In the end I jettisoned all of that because Old Amy's story was more interesting than any plot cleverness.

11) Are you planning on writing any more Doctor Who episodes in the future?

Yes. But we shall have to wait and see what - if any - actually get made!

Tom MacRae, thank you.