Role playing on Twitter seems to be an immensely popular pastime. And not just in the fictional world of the Doctor. I created @TheDoctor_XI not out of any desire to play the part, but more as an interesting exercise in writing, to see if I could capture the character in tweet form. I wanted to try and make the tweets sound as if they naturally belonged in the mouth of the Eleventh Doctor. Whether or not I have succeeded in that is for others to judge.
It then occurred to me that I could write and, in a way, perform, a live Doctor Who story on Twitter that would capitalise on the Royal Wedding and the final launch of the Space Shuttle Endeavour. To that end I created @AmyTheLegs @RoryTheNose and @K9mark4. @_Brigadier @TheZygon and @TheWire were created by someone else. And their identity I will not reveal...
Ably assisted by @5th_Dr in a special cameo appearance. I wrote the script for a story I titled The Royal Endeavour. The Wire seemed like a natural choice for an enemy, given its penchant for Royal events. And why not throw in a Zygon for good measure!
I admit, I did underestimate how hectic it would be, playing so many different characters. In the original script I even allowed for ten minute gaps in places. In the end, it quickly became clear that I didn’t even have time for a ten second gap!
Throughout I used the #DWBar hashtag in the hope that the story would attract more followers and WhoBarians. I hope that I have been successful in that. At one point in the story I appealed to followers of @DoctorWhoBar to tweet “Save me Doctor”, stealing the idea completely from Russell T Davies and Martha’s quest in The Last of the Time Lords! In my imagination I had hoped for a flood of “Save me Doctors” sadly, I only got four! One of which was me.
Undeterred, I deemed that these four responses were just enough for what the Doctor needed, so the world and Rory Pond were saved!
It did overrun slightly, I had intended for @5th_Dr to make an appearance at 11.45 and that had to move to 11.50. Also, the original ending would have seen the TARDIS blocking the doors of Westminster Abbey. However since the Wedding was over when I got to the ending, I shifted the materialisation to the Mall instead.
Overall, it was a fun experience, though if I ever do such a thing again I will certainly try to feature fewer characters!
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