Neil Gaiman reveals power of writing Doctor Who

Neil Gaiman has said his episode was originally titled The House of Nothing

The fantasy author Neil Gaiman has spoken of the divine power he felt while writing his TV episode of Doctor Who.

The author of Stardust and Coraline has already submitted his story, which is due to air in 2011.

"I don't know what it's like to be God - obviously," Gaiman told the BBC.

"Until that very first moment when you get to sit down and type the words in your script: INTERIOR. TARDIS."

He said: "Suddenly I got a very good idea of what it must feel like. I went: 'I'm writing it now this scene in the Tardis. I'm writing it!' And that was amazing, it was wonderful."

'Bit flabby'

Gaiman met Doctor Who show-runner Steven Moffat for a script read-through last week.

He posted a picture of himself on Twitter - with Moffat and writer Richard Curtis - holding up a copy of the script. His fingers obscured the episode title.

Gaiman said: "It's going to be shooting in August and we were going through it and figuring out ways that money could be saved and ways we could have some things happen faster.

"It was a little bit flabby."

The author also commented on Terry Pratchett's recent comments in SFX Magazine that Doctor Who shouldn't be "classified as science fiction".

"Doctor Who has never pretended to be hard science fiction," Gaiman said.

"At best Doctor Who is a fairytale, with fairytale logic about this wonderful man in this big blue box who at the beginning of every story lands somewhere where there is a problem..."

Gaiman, whose Neverwhere TV series was shown on the BBC in 1996, said he'd had to spend a long time "being coy" before it was revealed he was writing a Doctor Who story.

"Now I know what I can tell people: It will be on television - and it's in colour!"