We always enjoy putting these collections together, but we’re nearing a point where we have less previously-released short stories. Fortunately, this gives us the opportunity to release brand new material, making this latest collection an even more sought after product.

It was inevitable that Tim would write for us, as he’s already sent us a short story previously and even a novel pitch. So, now that’s finally being published by us, I find myself in the odd position of a fictional character based on one of our authors. As such, part of The Lost Skin’s objectives is to write the character out of the series. Fortunately, he’s not appeared in the narrative of the novels since last year’s Moon Blink, which makes writing him out relatively easy.

When the Lethbridge-Stewart range was first announced I was really excited. There had been a decline in the volume of Doctor Who novels since 2005 and I welcomed anything else within that universe to help fill the void. I started to follow Andy and Candy Jar on social media to see if there might be opportunities to become involved somewhere along the line. As I recall Andy put out a Twitter request for any of his followers who would like to put their name to a character in a forthcoming book – Beast of Fang Rock as it turned out. I thought to myself ‘yeah, why not?’ and shoved my moniker in the mix. Some months later Tim Gambrell was in print as a scientist at the Vault. As time went on I realised that I’d been a bit hasty – Candy Jar were encouraging new writers to contribute to the range through their short story initiative; here was I, looking for opportunities and my name was already connected through a fictional character. Tim Gambrell couldn’t be both sides of the pen, could he? Andy was brilliant though. He allowed me to submit a story which, thankfully, he liked enough to ask me to develop further story ideas – one of which became The Bledoe Cadets and the Bald Man of Pengriffen. Aware of the conflict of names, I originally offered to use a pseudonym (which I’ve done in the theatre before) but he came up with another solution.

The germ of The Bald Man of Pengriffen was Andy looking for a Famous Five-type story featuring a young Alistair and the Bledoe Cadets (as mentioned in The Forgotten Son). Conveniently enough I’d recently revisited Enid Blyton’s Adventurous Four books from childhood so I knew the kinds of japes and scrapes to aim for – although I was keen for the story to be less cosy than those of Blyton’s world. We discussed a few story ideas but the Bald Man seemed to tick the most boxes – particularly because Andy likes fougous! And by writing a story about the Brigadier as a small boy, I totally avoid any times and situations that could potentially include my namesake.

I'm old enough now to appreciate the importance of family history, of roots and echoes, and genes at work in lives. For every great black-and-white hero that passed away there's a living successor, connected by love and spirit but completely herself. In this story we see an old man who wasn't much good at family, but who recognises a direct line to a curly-haired, fearless little girl hungry for stories of aliens. And we meet Lucy Wilson, who has been denied his name along with the truth about who her beloved grandad used to be. Now, before he dies, Sir Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart needs to make sure Lucy understands both her heritage and her extraordinary future.

After prodding Andy for information about Candy Jar's method for soliciting writers and clumsily inserting myself into said method with a few pitches that he quite rightly shot down, he suggested writing something with Professor Travers returning to Det-Sen. With the professor rapidly became my one of my favorite supporting characters from the series, how could I say no? It was fun inserting him into the thick of James Bond-style danger, watching as he – just as clumsily as my initial pitch – is ensnared by nefarious villains. When Andy told me my short would form the opening prologue for his next novel, I was beyond ecstatic… And immediately began to worry about the safety of the professor. After all, he's getting up there in years now, and just what did I set him up for?

Originally it was planned to be a straight-up novella, not a part-work. I’m not sure I’m keen on this way of writing, as I like to edit and polish as I go along. Since episode one was published months ago, I no longer have the luxury of editing the first third of the story. It presents a unique challenge for me, one I’m taking by the horns. As a result some of my original plans for the story have changed, but luckily the characters are happy to help me along and take the story in surprising paths.

"One of the first thoughts we had after the success of Web and Enemy, was to revisit the first Doctor Who story and complete the commentary for it. The original DVD release of An Unearthly Child covered only two out of four of the episodes, plus the pilot, whereas we have been able to introduce some new voices to the mix and complete all four instalments plus the pilot.

Whilst we have an ongoing mission to cover episodes without any commentary at all, we are also having fun bringing new contributors to the fold to provide alternatives on some classic serials. I think Cyber60s is a fitting celebration of fifty years of one of Doctor Who's most popular monsters.

This Christmas sees Peter Capaldi return as The Doctor, alongside Matt Lucas who returns as Nardole with a stellar cast including Charity Wakefield, and Justin Chatwin. Doctor Who: The Return of Doctor Mysterio, will be on DVD and Blu-ray from 23rd January 2017.

In this epic Christmas Special, The Doctor joins forces with a masked Superhero for a fantastic New York adventure.

With brain-swapping aliens poised to attack, the Doctor and Nardole link up with an investigative reporter and a mysterious figure known only as The Ghost.

The 60 minute Doctor Who Christmas Special is written by Steven Moffat, Executive Produced by Brian Minchin, Produced by Peter Bennett and Directed by Ed Bazalgette (Poldark).

Bonus material for the DVD & Blu-ray includes two features:

• The Doctor: A New Kind of Hero
  The Doctor has no superpowers, but he can stand proudly alongside the greatest superheroes ever known. In this special program, we’ll ask what it is about the Doctor that makes him so heroic.
• Doctor Who Extra: The Return of Doctor Mysterio
  Join stars Peter Capaldi and Matt Lucas, showrunner Steven Moffat, and many more for this very special inside look at the making of The Return of Doctor Mysterio.

The first new episode in twelve months sees The Doctor and the previously decapitated Nardole (Matt Lucas taking on the companion role, now thankfully with his head reattached) arrive in present day New York. They team up with reporter Lucy Fletcher and the mysterious superhero The Ghost to fight aliens with a fondness for brain-swapping.

These two beautifully sculpted pewter figures feature The Ghost as portrayed by Justin Chatwin, and Dr Sim, played by Aleksandar Jovanovic.

I also had an idea to write a couple of scenes to show what our other regulars were up to while the Brigadier was enjoying Christmas with Sally. And after writing a couple of scenes, a new thought came to me. Wouldn’t it be fun to get as many of our authors involved as possible? I sent out an email, asking for those free to send me a scene, and many responded. Bit by bit the story became longer.”