Award-winning Dr Who writer materialises at Napier

THE man who brought the Daleks back to the small screen is to become writer-in-residence at Edinburgh Napier University.

Robert Shearman, who reintroduced the Daleks to the BAFTA-winning first series of Doctor Who, will take up his post in September. The multi-award-winning writer will provide advice to students on the MA in Creative Writing course as part of the role previously held by Scottish novelist James Robertson.

The London-based writer, who will spend an average of two days a week at the university, said: "One of the hardest parts about writing is the isolation. The sense of 'so what?' that creeps over you every time you stare, alone, at a blank computer screen. What the students at Edinburgh Napier are offered is a sense of community, an answer to that 'so whattery'."