Doctor Who 50th Anniversary - Ninth Author Announced ...

Eleven Doctors. Eleven months. Eleven authors. Eleven stories.
A year long celebration for the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who!

‘The Beast of Babylon’
By Charlie Higson
Published by Puffin on the 23rd September 2013, EBook, £1.99
ISBN: 9781405913300
Suitable for readers aged 9+

The ninth instalment in a sensational series of stories celebrating the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who is written by Charlie Higson – actor, comedian and author of the phenomenally successful Young Bond books and the cult thriller series, The Enemy.

Doctor Who is the longest running sci-fi TV show in the world and celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2013. To celebrate, Puffin – in partnership with BBC Worldwide – is publishing an exclusive series of eleven ebook short stories each based on one of the Eleven Doctors, priced at £1.99 and released on the 23rd January to November 2013. Each story is written by a different author, bringing together some of the most exciting names in children’s fiction, from commercial blockbusters to literary award-winners. These authors will each bring their own interpretation and re-imagining of their chosen Doctor to create a unique Doctor Who adventure in their own inimitable style.

Following on from short stories by Eoin Colfer, Michael Scott, Marcus Sedgwick, Philip Reeve, Patrick Ness, Richelle Mead, Malorie Blackman and Alex Scarrow, Charlie Higson has written the ninth adventure in the series, based on the Ninth Doctor played by  Christopher Eccleston.  Charlie Higson commented: “I grew up with Doctor Who and have always been a massive fan so it's a great honour to be involved in this anniversary celebration. Russell T Davies did a great job of rebooting the series with Christopher Eccleston so to be able to write the Ninth Doctor story was a great opportunity to say thanks to the Doctor and thanks to Russell.”

Synposis: When a girl called Ali pockets a silver orb that falls from the sky, little does she realise it’s her ticket to seeing the universe! Desperate to retrieve the mysterious object, the Ninth Doctor agrees to let her join him on a dangerous trip to ancient Babylon. Together they must join forces to stop a giant Starman from destroying Earth before it’s too late!
 

About Charlie Higson:
Charlie Higson is a successful author, actor, comedian and writer for television and radio.   He wrote the phenomenally successful Young Bond series which has sold over a million copies in the UK alone and been translated into over 24 languages.  The first novel in his bestselling cult thriller series, The Enemy, was published to critical acclaim in 2009. It was followed by The Dead (2010), The Fear (2011) and The Sacrifice (2012). Charlie is a huge fan of horror films and books and even studied gothic literature at university.

Charlie Higson started writing when he was ten years old but it was a long time before he got paid for doing it. On leaving university he was the singer in a pop group (The Higsons) before giving it up to become a painter and decorator. It was around this time that he started writing for television on  Saturday Night Live.  In partnership with Paul Whitehouse, he went on to create hugely successful comedy series  The Fast Show, in which he also appeared. Other TV works include The Harry Enfield Television Programme,  The Smell of Reeves and Mortimer, Shooting Stars, Randall and Hopkirk Deceased, the film Suite 16 and Swiss Toni.

His work for radio includes the award-winning spoof radio series  Down the Line (BBC Radio 4), which became the television comedy series Bellamy’s People (BBC 2). Charlie’s other books include the thrillers King of the Ants (1992), Happy Now (1993), Full Whack (1995) and Getting Rid of Mr Kitchen (1996).  He lives in North London.

Brand new trailer for Charlie Higson’s "The Sacrifice"

Written and directed by Charlie Higson for the fourth book in

his best-selling teen zombie series ‘The Enemy’

 

Puffin Books’ most ambitious trailer ever ...

 

Fans of ‘The Enemy’ by best-selling author Charlie Higson don’t have long to wait for the new instalment in his cult zombie series. But before The Sacrifice, the fourth book in the series, is published on 20th September 2012, it’s horrifying world of zombie ‘sickos’ has been brought to life in a spine-chilling trailer that will whet the appetite of fans new and old.

Please follow this link to see the trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VY-rNt-zzw&feature=youtu.be

Written and directed by Charlie Higson himself, this is the fourth in a series of trailers for the series and is the most ambitious trailer Puffin has ever made for a book. Shot in locations around London, including on the Millennium Bridge, the trailer features young actors from Forest Hill School, South London and a cast of zombie-sickos played by fans who entered a nationwide competition to appear in the short film. They bring to life some of the scenes from the new book and a give a taster of the action to come.

The trailer also introduces us to a grotesque new character, ‘Wormwood’ or the ‘Green Man’, so called as his entire body is covered in mould - an effect which took nearly a full day in make-up.

‘The Enemy’ series is set in a post-apocalyptic London after a mystery illness attacks everyone over the age of fourteen. Some survive, but those that do face a more terrifying fate – they turn into hideous zombies with an insatiable appetite for human flesh. Children form gangs and attempt to survive in an unrecognisable world where there are dangers around every corner.

Previous trailers for the series have had more than 100,000 combined viewings on YouTube and have seen Charlie Higson transforming into a decaying zombie; chilling footage of a terrified boy posting a clip online of himself being attacked by diseased adults; and, last year, a rotting zombie (with an uncanny resemblance to Charlie Higson) breaking into a room full of terrified children.

Filming for The Sacrifice trailer, Puffin’s most ambitious trailer to date, saw:

 

100 cups of tea and coffee drunk per day

90 hours of pre-production preparation

80 children auditioning for the cast

70 sandwiches consumed

60 members of cast and crew on set

50 litres of orange juice drunk

40 wardrobe items carefully damaged for zombie effect

30 hours of footage

20 litres of fake blood

10 hours in make-up for the Green Man

a 5am call time on the Millennium Bridge

2 days of filming

1 epic trailer!

Emily Cox, Head of Penguin Children's Marketing, said, 'This is our most ambitious trailer to date. Capitalising on Charlie's background and experience in TV, we have gone all out to create something gripping and entertaining that we believe will capture the (sick) imaginations of fans and new readers alike.'

Charlie Higson is a successful author, actor, comedian and writer for television and radio. He wrote the phenomenally successful 'Young Bond' series which has sold over a million copies in the UK alone and been translated into over 24 languages. The series comprises five novels, all of which entered the children’s bestseller charts in the top five. The first novel in his bestselling zombie-adventure series for teenagers, The Enemy, was published to critical acclaim in 2009. It was followed by The Dead (2010) and The Fear (2011). Charlie is a huge fan of horror films and books and even studied gothic literature at university.

After leaving university, Charlie formed a band, The Higsons. He then became a decorator before turning to the world of television and going into partnership Paul Whitehouse. His television successes have included Saturday Live, the Harry Enfield Television Programme, The Smell of Reeves and Mortimer, Shooting Stars, Randall and Hopkirk Deceased, the film Suite 16, Swiss Toni and of course, the Fast Show. They recently produced the award-winning spoof radio series Down the Line (BBC Radio 4), in which they both performed and which became the television comedy series Bellamy’s People (BBC 2). 

Charlie is also a successful adult novelist and has written four thrillers, King of the Ants (1992), Happy Now (1993), Full Whack (1995) and Getting Rid of Mr Kitchen (1996).

Charlie lives in North London.

Source: Press Release