Saturday 16 September 2017

What I've Been Training For - Possibly

Some people spend their lives training to be fighter pilots, to be doctors or to do other such useful things.  In theory I've spent my life training to be a writer and performer, which I have, to some degree.  I've mostly produced theatre, and I've mostly done quite well.
But I suspect this is not what I've actually spent my life training to do.  I suspect my life has been heading in one direction since I was a child.  Yes, I have finally decided to embrace my destiny.
I'm going to write and produce a science fiction series.  It was inevitable.
Now, I'd love to say I've been handed a budget and a platform to do this, but I haven't.  It'll be on my own time and will, one day, be a podcast.  But it will happen.  Because I was born this way.
I first started my training in science fiction as a child.  I worked my way through all the basic courses - Doctor Who, Star Trek, Star Wars etc. - the low hanging fruit, sci-fi, rather than SF.  I took intermediate courses in SF with the classics - HG Wells, Asimov, Clarke etc. - and second module work on the television sci-fi of higher plains.  I took special courses in the radio dramas, the comedy, the odd.  I still have a lot of catching up to do with modern SF, but, hey, it's a journey, we all take different paths.
I served my apprenticeship in various theatre works, half and half sci-fi shows that hid their colours within other genres.  Theatre and science fiction are slightly uneasy bedfellows.  I was fairly pleased with my version of The Time Machine, but it wasn't without issues.
But now I'm working in audio, full time, and the reasons not to do science fiction disappear.  I want to write something that touches on the influences that matter to me.  Journey into Space, Hitchhikers Guide, Earthsearch, The Foundation Trilogy - all BBC, all radio.  All made a fair while ago now.
So, I made the first step.  I've started my project.  It's stupidly complex, and long.  Actually, I have no idea if there is an end point.  I'm universe building, and it's fun.
And, because good titles can be lost from under you before production begins, I'll declare the title now - even though this show won't happen for a while.

Welcome to The Overnight Empire.

No comments:

Post a Comment