Inside the Whale's Stomach

Julius Caesar was killed during the Ides of March, 44 BC, stabbed multiple times by multiple people wielding various knives of different shapes and sizes. The Emporer of Rome, on the verge of becoming a vicious dictator, and the title character of William Shakespeare's beautiful play, brutally murdered by his friends, foes and fellow colleagues - he died in a puddle of his own blood, staring up at the ceiling of the Theatre of Pompey. How unfortunate.

2,063 years later and I'm sat at my computer, writing up a story about the Master luring an unsuspecting politician into his TARDIS, which then proceeds to gobble her up for energy so the Master can carry on doing very terrible things throughout time and space. Those two events might appear unconnected, but if you took the time to look closely, you might find there are many similarities. However, I don't have that sort of time, so I won't be going into the details, they're probably not even there at all, but all the same, it's very fun to make things up.

Making things up is a writer's greatest talent, to go from nothing, and then proceed to turn it into a something. That something can take the shape and form of any numerous things, for example, my something took the shape and form of a Doctor Who short story titled; The Whale's Stomach, which then proceeded to take another shape and form, something that ended up looking an awful lot like a Big Finish short trip, narrated and performed by the wonderful Taya Van Dyke - a Canadian who I'm sure will end up doing some very great things in both the near and far, future.

Whenever I watch a film, or a piece of television (like Doctor Who), something I always enjoy looking into is the context behind its creation. What was the writer thinking when he wrote this? What was their intent? What are their thoughts on what they are doing? Do they enjoy it? How do they feel about what happens after it's done? Are they fulfilled? Is the climb from out of the abyss worth all the pain and suffering? Will it ever end? Are they finally happy? All that and more, that's what I find interesting. I'm a huge fan of Andrew Cartmell's Script Doctor and Russel T Davies' A Writer's Tale, so to indulge in my obsession, as well as providing what I would want from a writer, I thought I would explain my thoughts behind the production history of The Whale's Stomach as well as a way to place thanks on the other creators behind the final product. There will be spoilers, so if you haven't listened to the audio, please check it out here before reading on.

Hope you enjoy!

So, to begin, let's start with the inception of the idea that kicked everything off; I had always liked the idea of TARDISes having diets. I liked that they would absorb matter to gain power, as the Doctor's TARDIS did with the Cardiff rift. It got me thinking about what other ways a TARDIS could ingest things and if there was a story in it - then I remembered the Master, in the extended universe, had a TARDIS called Lolita and how she was far from the nicest of creatures, which got me thinking about how it would be fun to see a horror story surrounding someone being devoured by a TARDIS, how they could be unravelled and thrown away like a chicken leg. Creepy stuff.

Then there's the Master, the ever devious, ever wicked mirror of the Doctor, a horrible creature in his own right, especially when living in the form of Geoffery Beevers (whose voice is like melting chocolate). I wanted to try and see just how horrid I could make the Master without going over the top, I wanted to set him up as the Lovecraftian threat that no one would want in their child's bedroom - and the best way to do that was to have him throw a baby out the window. Marvellous. You won't get that on the BBC, which was exactly why I did it, because it couldn't be anywhere else.

The Master, much like the Doctor, is connected to his TARDIS - he wouldn't like to admit it but they have a bond, they're friends, partners in crime (as well as time), even if Lolita refuses to acknowledge it, much preferring the idea that she's beyond such a relationship. She's a TARDIS, a higher power, a greater creature, and the Master is an ugly looking thing in a dark cloak who just so happens to be as wickedly wicked as her. A match made in Hell, two hideous beings of darkness, out there causing trouble in a similar vein to the Doctor and his own time-ship companion. It was fun to explore that sort of thing, even if it's just a minor part of the story, who knows what those two will get up to next? Trouble, most likely - as the Doctor tends to seek trouble to restore things to normality, the Master is usually the opposite, searching out various slices of life and reigning hell until he either gets bored or is defeated - an endless cycle, but it passes the time.

Once the hard part (writing the bloody thing) was over, the next thing I needed to work out was the title, what would it be called? I hadn't really thought about it much because usually, that ends up impeding the process, so for a while, it was just titled Lolita, which seemed rubbish compared to the absolute stroke of genius (ego check) that was The Whale's Stomach - WOWIE, what a title. I'm really quite proud of that one. It's both funny, creepy and weird all at the same time, so a perfect Doctor Who title.

Once I was done slaving over it, I was promptly thrown in front of the firing line that was Spectral Horizons, they were looking for writers and I gladly sent it over. They quickly accepted and production swiftly began, and when I say swiftly, I mean it took a while for the gears to start turning, but once they did - boy did they move. I was receiving voice recordings from Taya (the Canadian from earlier), who quickly started to feel tortured over my tendency to write in long, comma-infested paragraphs with big descriptive words that soon enough started to toil on her mental well being, by the end of it she was swearing like a sailor. One must find entertainment where they can in these trying times, and I found it in buckets, all readily available for me to listen to on repeat at my own leisure.

Then it was over. It had been written, recorded, edited and rendered for both video (with little tiny cartoon images depicting various scenes) and audio - now all that was left was the release, and my breath was being held. I was excited to see what the world would think of my work, and also very frightened - because that's the writer's curse; thinking you're terrible at what you do.

The first thing I was shown regarding its release was the front cover, a spitting resemblance to the usual style that Big Finish uses for their own releases, and I just have to say that the absolute artistry that went into creating the cover for TWS is remarkable. It really does capture the tone and style of the story, with the grotesque face of the Master peering out from the shadows behind his beloved Lolita, it's dread-inducing and I love it to pieces, the person behind its creation is (by sheer luck) a master at what they do and I am in love with every piece they have created since. Well done Kelog (the master in question)! Give yourself many massive pats on the back - glorious work.

Now, onto the moment that changed a nation; March 2021 - a whole year after I'd originally written the story and 2,064 years after the brutal stabbing of Julius Caesar. The Whale's Stomach was released to the public, and like a newborn Whale, it was either going to sink or swim. I also showed it off to my close family, who then sent it off to whoever they knew who might be interested, who then proceeded to send it off to any old weirdo who might have a few moments to spare for my silly little horror story. Spreading like wildfire - I was freaking out over what everyone would think of it. Anxious would be a good word to use to describe my mental state. Really, really anxious.

To make a long story short, people really enjoyed it and I was over the moon, way over the moon, I was over Jupiter! It was a surprise to me because I really didn't think it was going to be as well-received as it ended up due to it being a tad colourful in some areas, what with a baby going splat on some pavement and being able to hear in glorious detail as someone's skin slowly peels away, alongside their eyes reaching a boiling point, evaporating into freshly squeezed time juice - I'm surprised no one was suing me for damages.

My parent's response was one of frustration, mostly because they were expecting the Doctor to swoop in at any minute and save the day, which was sort of the point, the story just gets darker and darker with no possible redemption in sight. They were very adamant in telling me that I should write a sequel where Roger (the now dead baby) is saved from his fate and goes on a revenge mission to kill the Master - which I'll never do as long as I live and breath so you can stop asking me!

The world loved my story, which in turn rocketed Spectral Horizons towards new horizons. We garnered the attention of the outside world, the outer regions of the Doctor Who community; MrTardis (name drop) interviewed the producers of the piece (one of which was the Canadian Sailor) on one of his livestreams, it was a nice way to get the word out about the company, as well as all the stories they had been producing so far, getting one's name out there into the world is fairly tricky so it was nice to have been mentioned by name in front of a main staple within the community.

All in all, I had a terrific time writing The Whale's Stomach, and I'm excited to write more and more for the company that brought it to life, to venture out further, and to get my name out there - that's the goal, I'm going for gold. Although the real dream is to one day write for the show itself, could you imagine that? I can, in dreams only, for now - to one day see my name flashing up upon the screen, under a really cool title during the opening credits of a proper episode of Doctor Who. "Written by Aaron Burley". I can dream, and I'll keep dreaming, until I'm right there at the very top, alongside all the others who dreamed the exact same dream as me...

Thank you to everyone involved in the creation of the story, thank you to all the lovely people at Spectral Horizons for using your extraordinary talents to make something beautiful. I look forward to creating more wonderful things with you. The only way is up.