AL Kennedy writes Doctor Who e-book adventure

SHE is best known for her ­serious, somewhat gloomy ­literary works, and won the Costa book prize for her post-war novel Day.

In 2012 Kennedy gave a talk about her passion for Doctor Who at the Wigtown Book Festival. Picture: Robert Perry

Now Scottish author AL Kennedy has revealed she has turned her attentions to a more popular subject: Doctor Who.

Kennedy, who lives in Glasgow, has written an e-book chronicling a new adventure for the Time Lord as part of the BBC show’s 50th anniversary celebrations. It will be published later this year.

Kennedy said she was excited to have had the opportunity to contribute to the Doctor Who canon, and had been allowed to pick which of the 11 incarnations of the TV time traveller she would write about.

“I was first introduced to Doctor Who when I was three or four and he has been a ­happy part of my life ever since,” she said. “I am delighted to become in any way a part of his stories.”

The author also revealed she had just sent off the first draft of her e-book – and that she was “nervous” about how it would be received.

“My first pass at the Doctor Who story has wheeched off into the delivery vortex.” she tweeted. Adding “Nervous now...”

Kennedy is one of a number of writers who has been asked to write a 10,000-word story for the 50th anniversary. Others include Scottish chicklit writer Jenny Colgan, Nick Harkaway and Trudi Canavan.

In 2012 Kennedy gave a talk about her passion for Doctor Who at the Wigtown Book Festival. She said the character was an icon of hers. “I ­remember the joy in the Doctor, and the exploration – which I think is a good thing for kids – of the monstrousness of human beings, and the fact that he’s always the champion of, ‘You can be better than that’,” she said. “Yes, we absolutely have to bear in mind that we are monstrous, but we can overcome it.”

BBC Books senior editorial director Albert DePetrillo said the e-books would be a long-term project. “Time Trips is a project I have long wanted to do,” he said. “There’s a unique affection for Doctor Who among writers and readers across genres and I can’t believe our good luck to have Harkaway, Kennedy, Colgan and Canavan on the launch list. It’s a truly formidable line-up, with more to come.”

Matt Smith, who plays the current Doctor, is due to stand down this year, with his successor, the 12th version, to be revealed in the 2013 Christmas Special.