A new writer for Doctor Who: The Legacy, Julio Angel Ortiz, debuts soon with his three part novella WINTER LIGHT. By his own description and from the teaser, this is an unusual and out-of-the-ordinary "Doctor Who" adventure. Julio describes WINTER LIGHT in this way: ‘It starts out as your typical Doctor and companion story. The Doctor and companion (in this case, Ruby) are chatting it up, then the TARDIS lands somewhere randomly, and they step out. From there, it gets a little strange.’

Strange it is. With a story that begins simply in a remote cabin with a dying Ruby and the Doctor, and then soon switches to a bizarre realm with jesters, a king and queen and a Tower of Babel (and that’s only for starters) this tale is certainly unconventional.

He explains quickly, ‘It's an attempt at doing a non-typical WHO story in a traditional WHO mold, if that makes any sense. I try to add a touch of the surreal in my stories, and I hoped that I was successful in doing so with WINTER LIGHT. There's also some subtle (or not-so subtle!) jabs at established WHO conventions.’

How did Julio get involved with The Legacy, and how long did it take him to actually write WINTER LIGHT? ‘I had only about five or so weeks to write it. I had actually sent an email to the Legacy asking for information on submitting a story idea that I had. A few days later, I was included on an email requesting a last-minute addition to Season Four, as one of their stories fell through. I submitted my synopsis, which was originally called "In Winter" (this was before I knew about the title motif) and they liked it enough to commission it. But Andie then told me I only had a few weeks to write it!’ he says, then he adds quite facetiously, ‘The editors were desperate so they picked me. Talk about an ego boost. Ha Ha!’

Of course, now that it’s about to be published, he’s a little anxious on how readers will respond to WINTER LIGHT. ‘I like it. Of course, I'm always nervous as to how it'll be perceived by the public. I liked some of the segments that were cut out. There was, what *I* thought was good, a first-person internal monologue from the older Ruby as she lays dying.' Please note: this passage has since been put back in WINTER LIGHT.

And what does the future hold for this author? 'Well, I have actually been approached to contribute to a season-ending trilogy that has been planned for Season Four. I was rather honored, considering that WINTER LIGHT hadn't even been finished yet! It is in the very, very early stages of development and has a working title of THE SEEDS OF DESPAIR.' More details to come.

A surreal and atypical Doctor Who: The Legacy story from Julio Angel Ortiz, beginning Sunday 3 August.

Teaser
‘Gruesome,’ he said. ‘This is unbelievable. This is the fifth such death in the past two weeks.’

The Doctor fixed Aberine with a stony stare. ‘This has happened before?’

Aberine coughed. ‘Well, not exactly the same way. But something similar, yes. There have been cases where the victims run around, blathering on about something inane, and then they expire, much as he did.’

‘What sort of things did they say?’ Ruby asked.

Aberine bit his lower lip has he considered Ruby’s question. ‘Oh, I’m not sure,’ he said. After another moment, his eyes broadened. ‘They were rather strange, I can remember that. Things like, “What are squares?” “I don’t understand the sky”, and “I don’t understand what I am saying”.’

‘That is three,’ the Doctor said. ‘You inferred that there were four others besides this man. What did he say?’

Aberine’s eyes darkened. ‘I don’t know,’ he said. ‘He was a mime.’

The Doctor and Ruby nodded knowingly.