Interviews David Llewellyn for Consequences by DJ Forrest

David Llewellyn is a Welsh novelist and script writer and was born in 1978 in Pontypool.  He’s written quite a few stories for Torchwood, ‘Trace Memories’ (2008), ‘Consequences – The Baby Farmers’ (2009) and short stories for the Torchwood Yearbook – Mrs Acres (2008), and for the Torchwood Magazine – The Book of Jahl (2008), and I May Be Some Time (2009).  Quite recently David wrote a Torchwood audio play read by Tom Price called ‘Fall Out,’ He has also written two Doctor Who novels, ‘The Taking of Chelsea 426’ which featured the 10^th Doctor, and ‘Night of the Humans’ featuring the 11^th Doctor and Amy Pond.

The Baby Farmers

One of the things I found very comfortable about your story was how quick the piece came together, how descriptive the story was that I found myself in that ‘driving rain and howling wind’  with Mary and her baby.  The other thing I liked about the story was it was well before Gwen and Ianto and the rest of the team we’ve come to follow in the series, it put it right back to the early days when Emily Holroyd and Alice Guppy were in control, and I liked that. 

When you put the story together between the five of you, had it been a conscious choice to start the story off, and was it your decision to set it in this era?

David: Well, actually, the real genius behind ‘Consequences’ was our editor, Steve Tribe. The idea to do a kind of “portmanteau” book, with five interlinking stories, was his idea, and he corralled us all together.

I think he and I had had a conversation, after I’d written my Torchwood novel ‘Trace Memory’, about how much fun it might be to write expanded universe stories set in the past, and when he was planning ‘Consequences’ he asked if I’d like to write a story about Victorian Torchwood.  Well, I almost bit his hand off at the chance!

After that, it was just a case of running it by the Powers That Be (who are understandably cautious about sanctioning anything that might conflict with continuity at a later date), and getting the permission of Chris Chibnall, who created the 1890s Torchwood characters Emily, Alice and Charles.

If it were possible to write another Torchwood story, would you set it back in the 1800’s or would you choose a different era?

David: Funnily enough, Steve and I discussed this not long afterwards, some time after ‘Children of Earth’ was televised, and I seem to remember saying I’d like to do either another Victorian one, or perhaps one set in the 1930s, but that was about as far as it went!

It did surprise me however that as ever in Torchwood that the leader of the organisation was having same gender relations with another of the team.  Almost like the female version of Captain Jack with her Ianto, as it were.  Was this something that you as a writer already knew about the two female characters or was this something you’d decided on for the story?

David: I think it had been alluded to in the series 2 episode ‘Fragments’, so I just went with it! But yes, it does make a nice counterweight to all the man-on-man action that’s going on in present-day Torchwood!

How long did it take to put the story together, and were you working on a deadline?

 David: I honestly can’t remember how long it took to put it all together. Probably a sign that I’m getting old, but in my defence this was almost 4 years ago! Based on my experience writing other stuff for Doctor Who and Torchwood, I can imagine the deadline was probably not long after I’d agreed to write it! As for writing it, I don’t think it took very long for me to bash out a first draft. Probably only a couple of weeks. Then it’s usually the case that you play tennis with your editors, bouncing it back and fore until either it’s good to go or you’ve all run out of time!

I liked the description of the HMS Hades and wished I could see it for real but then wondered if it were related to any of the tall ships that have been in Cardiff Bay?

 David: HMS Hades was actually based on two ships that were once docked in Cardiff; the Hamadryad, which was used as a naval hospital, and the Havannah, which was used – like the Hades – as a ragged school, a kind of orphanage-meets-borstal for wayward boys. I’d seen black and white or sepia photos of both ships, and they were both a little creepy-looking, particularly the Hamadryad.

You’ve written a few stories for Torchwood, have any of these been adapted for audio play/book?

David: The only one that’s been recorded as an audio was written specifically to be recorded, and that was ‘Fallout’, which was read by Tom Price (aka Sgt Andy). That was quite recent, following on directly from ‘Miracle Day’, and was focused almost entirely on Sgt. Andy. I’d love to do more stuff like that, stories set on the fringes of the Torchwood universe, but one of the most common complaints about ‘Fallout’ from listeners was that it didn’t have enough Torchwood in it, so maybe there isn’t much appetite for that sort of thing!

When you were writing The Baby Farmers, what was the best part in the story for you?

 David: The joy of writing something for a book is that you don’t have to worry about a budget. Scriptwriters for the series are always aware that everything they write costs money, and that some things cost more than others, but with a book or a short story, a description of an explosion doesn’t cost any more than a description of somebody crossing a room.

With everything I write, for Doctor Who or Torchwood, I try and include at least one moment that would be ludicrously expensive to film, so that it feels a little bit special. With The Baby Farmers, that scene was probably the moment when Torchwood charge across Cardiff’s Tiger Bay on horseback. It feels very cinematic, and was certainly exciting to write, so I hope it’s exciting to read!

Are you working on any projects at the moment that you’d like to share with Project: Torchwood? 

David: Well, I’m not working on anything Torchwood-related as that all seems to be on hold at the moment. I have recently written an episode for the second series of The Confessions of Dorian Gray, an audio series starring Merlin’s Alexander Vlahos in the title role. Obviously, Dorian is immortal, sexually ambiguous, and in the series has adventures across the 20^th Century, so there are some similarities with Torchwood there, I guess!

Other than that, I’ve just put the finishing touches on a novel called ‘Ibrahim & Reenie’ which is out in autumn, but that’s a very different type of story altogether! It’s about a 75-year-old woman and a 24-year-old man walking from Cardiff to London.

Do you attend any of the Cons up and down the country or those overseas? 

David: I haven’t, not really. I did attend Alt. Fiction in Derby a couple of years ago, where I got to meet some other Torchwood novelists, including Mark Morris and Consequences’ very own Sarah Pinborough, but I haven’t really done much conventioneering. I never seem to get invited! I must have some sort of scandalous reputation…

Do you have a blog or a site that the fans can follow you from aside from Twitter?

David: Yes, I’m on Twitter as @TheDaiLlew, and I write an occasion blog about films, TV, and books at   

www.aforestofbeasts.wordpress.com     

Special thanks to David Llewellyn for the interview and to wiki for the information source