Guess ‘Who’ Just Came to Doncaster?!!

Fans of the Time Lord had a real treat in Doncaster when Doctor Who author Daniel Blythe came to visit two of our schools at the invitation of the Doncaster Book Award.

Dan’s first stop was in Hexthorpe Primary, where he spent the morning talking to students from Hexthorpe and Balby Central Schools. Then, in the afternoon, it was off to Danum School Technology College, where he met with students from Danum, Rossington, Don Valley Secondary Schools, and Plover primary schools.

In both locations Dan was an instant hit with the students. He is a massive fan of the show, and his sheer enthusiasm and encyclopaedic knowledge of its origins and development are awesome. His excellent presentation took the students on their own journey through time and space. The audience travelled, ably piloted by Dan, all the way from the show’s black and white beginning in the early sixties, through the newly colourful Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker era of the 70’s, on via Thatcher’s Britain of the eighties, right up to the multi-media experience that is today’s Doctor Who phenomenon. We looked at the changes in titles, the costumes, the monsters, the companions, even the theme tune! It was a whistle-stop tour of recent British social history, that cleverly and in an enjoyable way, showed how society and the popular culture of each period has helped to shape and influence the style of the programme and the character of the Doctor.

Dan has written three of the official BBC Doctor Who books, ‘Dimension Riders’ and ‘Infinite Requiem’, and the most recent, ‘Autonomy’, based on the David Tennant Doctor. We ran out of copies of ‘Autonomy’ such was its popularity with the students. As well as sharing his expertise on the various adventures and monsters from the show, Dan, who has published many other titles, including a couple of non-fiction books, spoke to the children about the writing process and the importance of imagination in creating stories. He has a brand new children’s book, called ‘Animus’ and not connected to Doctor Who coming out next year and published by Chicken House. At each session there were lots of great questions, which show that as well as keen readers, Doncaster students are very interested in writing too. I’m sure there were at least a half-dozen budding novelists of the future in the audience.

Each session finished with a quiz based on the presentation, and the response showed how much the children had absorbed. Staff members too had a wonderful time!

These sessions were among the most fun that the Book Award has run to date, and I’m quite sure that we will be seeing more of Dan in the future!

Lyn Hopson,
Librarian, Don Valley School
Secretary, Doncaster Book Award

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