Manchester-based, independent publisher Cutaway Comics has had a fantastic few years since its inception during the pandemic. It’s worked with numerous established and fledgling creators from the world of film, television, theatre and comics to produce a range of audio plays and comics with the unique selling point that they feature properties from the Doctor Who universe but, crucially, do not include the Doctors themselves.
Marking the launch of their latest project, Inferno – The World Dies Screaming! by Gary Russell and John Ridgway, publisher Gareth Kavanagh and one of the company’s writers, Ian Winterton talked downthetubes contributor Matt Badham about the fantastic journey the company has been on so far...
When did Cutaway begin?
Gareth Kavanagh: Like a lot of things, it began with incredibly talented likeminded souls and fans gathered at my old Manchester pub, The Lass O’Gowrie, which I ran between 2005 and 2014. Over that time, I gradually made it a mecca for Doctor Who fans. We had Skinn’s Snug, full of books and Doctor Who comic art on the walls. We had the Salmon Room, a little theatre we developed above the pub and in time, I began to put on small Doctor Who conventions and produce all manner of genre theatre, including The Ballad of Halo Jones, and Russell T Davies’ Midnight. And through all this work I began to meet extraordinarily talented people that would become the core of Cutaway Comics. People like Matt Charlton, Mark Griffiths, Sean Mason and Ian Winterton. Great talents who, by working in theatre, had oodles of imagination and trusted audiences to work as hard as they did to bring a piece to life.
[Matt Badham: I remember attending a fair few of these productions and being amazed at what Gareth’s team managed to pull off considering that they were operating in the micro budget realm of pub theatre.]
GK: It was while we were working on Halo Jones, that I remember making a note to look at Doctor Who spin-off comics. I had a long list that included Leela of the Sevateam (sadly, Chris Boucher had sold her to the BBC in the 1970s, it transpired), an Iron Legion sequel (which I did discuss with Pat Mills, but his enthusiasm was, to be fair, never more than lukewarm). Also Lytton, Paradise Towers and Happiness Patrol comics. The latter two always felt ripe with potential, as is all of that Andrew Cartmel era. So it was an idea with a long burn.
The other thing that undeniably helped was my position as co-editor and latterly, publisher for VWORP VWORP!, the [highly lauded] fanzine about Doctor Who art and comics, which we first released in 2008. Through this labour of love, I was able to meet so many artists and creators and build up my contact book as I went along. It also helped that I had something of quality to show prospective collaborators, designed with so much flair by Colin Brockhurst.
Lytton emerged as a first title solely through a chance meeting with Eric Saward in a green room at a convention, while I was there to meet Philip Hinchcliffe to discuss a theatre project we had in the works. Eric was keen to give comics a go and he developed a good rapport with Barry Renshaw as artist. But the progress was slow, because until you work on comics you don’t always appreciate how slow a medium it really is. Script, art, inks, colour, lettering, design, extra features, editorial and so on. And let’s be honest, finance. One of the biggest issues in this industry is how much you have to front to make a project happen. This is where Kickstarter comes in, I guess, although that, as a process, is not without challenges either.
The final ingredient was undoubtedly lockdown. Suddenly, I had time and so many talented pals that were out of work. We got Lytton and Omega ready, put together a very last minute Kickstarter and pressed the button.
The response was breathtaking and more than a little of a relief. When you work on something for so long, it’s inevitable that anxiety and worry can creep in (even for a stoical and confident old lump like me). So we were real at last. The adventure had begun.
What do Doctorless comics do well?
Ian Winterton: Gareth has a line he uses a lot which is spot on, that each episode of Doctor Who is like a pilot for a totally unique alien world, some with enough potential that they could power countless other stories, with or without the Doctor. I guess Big Finish does this with audio and prose, too, but it’s just great to use places and times the Doctor has visited as a springboard for new stories. And, without the Doctor specifically, the stories can take on a different shape and tone – we don’t need happy endings, or protagonists who are “good” (Daleks or Cybermen as central characters!) so it can lead to more interesting tales.
Ian, what are the advantages for you, as a writer, getting to work in the shared universe settings of the Cutaway universe?
IW: I mean, for a start it’s just a thrill to get to play with characters I’ve known my entire life. And what it’s brought to light is that my head has been full – and I mean full – of Doctor Who-style stories all these years and they haven’t exactly had much chance to emerge. I’ve been a journalist or working on more straight drama for stage, audio and screen, and so there’s not been much of an outlet for specific Doctor Who-y ideas. Some of these ideas have been bubbling away since I was a student, when I went through a phase of submitting to Virgin for the New Adventures range. Never happened back then, though I did get a Judge Dredd novel accepted, just as Fleetway pulled the licence from Virgin. Anyway… I’m not bitter… It’s also coming in useful as I’m now writing for Big Finish too – the idea for what will be my first script I can remember having back in my student halls of residence in 1991!
What’s it like working with your heroes? Any fan boy moments?
GK: Oh there are undoubtedly those. That exciting initial pitch meeting with a rights holder, fraught with danger and sizzling with excitement. The first John Ridgway black and white pages to arrive for Omega. Pure magic. A script from Eric Saward. Notes and a script from Bob Baker. Listening in to brand new commentary tracks we’ve recorded for the VAM discs we include with every issue like a servant at the keyhole. Planning a series of new cover mounted transfers with Dez Skinn and Martin Geraghty. A trip to LA for Gallifrey One, which included a brilliant guided tour from former Angelino, author Stephen Gallagher.
The fanboy moments inevitably diminish the longer we do this, I guess but they’re still there and sometimes crop up in the most unexpected of places. And the day it no longer thrills is perhaps the time to hang up my hat and do something else.
IW: On the writing front it was a great honour getting notes from Bob Baker – he was involved completely in signing off on my storylines for Demon Of Eden and Drax, and then into Gods And Monsters. He seemed mostly happy with my work but, if something didn’t sit right, he let me know. Like, I had an idea for an earlier Omega incarnation being female and he was very much against that, judging – quite rightly – that it was just me jumping on the gender-swap bandwagon with Jodie Whittaker being the Doctor. It was such a shock that Bob died so suddenly, and weird to think that I’m still writing scripts on storylines he signed off on.
It’s also been a great pleasure working with Stephen Gallagher – and getting to know him socially too (he doesn’t live too far away from Manchester, in the Lancashire countryside). When we took him to Gallifrey One in LA in February 2022 he, as he’d worked there for a few years on his TV shows, he gave us an unforgettable guided tour of Los Angeles. The Bladerunner building, the Laurel and Hardy stars, the Batcave…
Tell me about Gods and Monsters.
GK: Gods and Monsters is an epic, brilliant run of at least seven prestige 48-page issues that launch our big multi-IP series that will feature Omega, Sutekh, Faustine and the Tharils, Drax, Eldrad, Iris Wildthyme, Losko and the doomed crew of the Straship Eltralla. It’s our take on the big Marvel movies that start as one shots with light linkages, introducing new and beloved characters and building towards something huge, all Gods squaring up and a host of heroes and anti-heroes fighting to survive, many of which have quite distinct perspectives on time travel that informs their actions.
The first prestige one-shots are available now: Faustine by Stephen Gallagher and Martin Geraghty kicks off Gods and Monsters, together with Omega and Sutekh by Mark Griffiths and John Ridgway and Ian Winterton and Adrian Salmon.
Faustine is Stephen’s first comic, the final medium he’s yet to conquer and has been a joy to work with, alongside the peerless Martin Geraghty. It’s simultaneously a huge galaxy-spanning tale telling the story of the human revolt against the Tharils, hinted at in Warriors’ Gate, as well as being a buddy movie set in contemporary Manchester.
Omega and Sutekh are standalone one-shots, which set the scene for our two gods of Gods and Monsters. An image of both of these characters duelling it out, like the famous Neutron Knights Dave Gibbons cover, was very much the genesis of my idea for Gods and Monsters. So much so that I’ve told series writer and editor Ian Winterton that I need to see this scene at some point come real. I guess it’s my [Superman Lives Producer] Jon Peters giant spider demand!
As well as writers, you’ve mentioned some great artists that are working with you, too.
IW: Yes, people whose work I’ve loved for decades: Adrian Salmon, Martin Geraghty and, of course, the mighty John Ridgway – though I’ve only scripted four pages for him – my rewrite at the end of Mark Griffith’s Omega: Eltralla, to make it fit in with what is to come. And to give Omega’s battle suit wings, which I can’t go into great detail about, lest I get into spoilers, but the idea came from Brian bloody Blessed himself during our discussions about Omega, when we recorded him playing the character in our audio drama.
And, just on a social level, Stephen Wyatt – the writer behind Paradise Towers and The Greatest Show In The Galaxy – has been a joy to get to know. Possibly the loveliest man in the business – and his love for radio drama is something we’ve bonded over.
Then, of course, there’ve been numerous pinch-me moments in audio-visual projects for Cutaway. I’ve found myself directing Gabriel ‘Sutekh’ Woolf in a piece I’ve written; or hosted many of the Cutaway commentaries for the VAM discs over Zoom: Philip Hinchcliffe, Graham Harper, Matthew Waterhouse, Patricia Quinn, Paul Joyce and Brian Blessed.
And Gary Russell – mustn’t forget him! I’ve known him through Gareth for a number of years, but it’s only since Cutaway started up that I’ve got to know him a lot more. Technically, with him writing an Inferno spin-off for us, I’m his editor (though he doesn’t need any editing!). He’s also mine, as I’m one of the contributors to Cutaway’s forthcoming Philip Hinchcliffe book.
It’s all very strange when I look back because my first ever payment for writing came from my submission to Doctor Who Magazine in 1992. A “Brief Encounter”, it had the Seventh Doctor and Ace go to a time when the Brigadier had recently died and I referenced that Ace didn’t know who the Brig was (which, of course, was crap, as they met in Battlefield, but I’d forgotten this salient point and we didn’t have the Internet then). Anyway, the story never got published but it did get accepted – by then editor Gary Russell. And, weirdly, on the day my acceptance letter came in the post, Paul Cornell gave a talk at my uni (he’d gone to the same place and had graduated a few years before) about writing and afterwards I showed him the letter and asked him how one went about getting paid. “Send Gary an invoice,” Paul said. To which I replied, “What’s an invoice?”
So, thanks to Paul, I sent my first invoice off to DWM and got my first professional fee – £40, from Marvel UK with the Hulk and Spider-man on the cheque – signed by Gary. Life is weird.
Perhaps you could talk about the opportunities you’re offering early stage and fledgling creators, Gareth?
GK: With artists, I’m always keen to give people a way into comics or our market. As a start-up ourselves, I know only too well what it is to have your nose pushed against the restaurant window longing to be let into the party.
One of the best things we did with Paradise Towers was to run an open artist submission for the main artist on that strip. We got a fantastic response to that, artists at all stages of their careers and a stunning array of art. The eventual winner, Silvano Beltramo, was a joy to work with and seeing his career go from strength to strength since has been so satisfying. We also found work on backup strips for Martin Baines and Faiz Rehman, his first published work. Similarly, Libby Reed was such a find for Iris. So perfect for the script with all the right feels.
Iris is written by Sean Mason, who has been winning plaudits for our Paradise Towers series. Cutaway newcomer, Libby Reed wowed us with her art at Thought Bubble. Iris Wildthyme is a brilliant character with a real following who, amazingly, has never appeared in a comic to date. We’re firmly in the Katy Manning incarnation, and Katy herself has given sign off to the character art and wardrobe (more bling was the main note!). Sean’s script is a glorious heist romp across the galaxy, with Iris using every inch of her nouse, intuition and eclectic relationship with time to win the day.
It can be tricky marrying up art talent with the right script. And it’s hard when you have people gagging to work with you who are brilliant but the wrong fit for the strip you’re looking to publish. Their time always comes, I like to think.
With writers, it’s a lot harder to find people in the slush pile, sadly. Working as we do in licensed, creator-owned comics the first option always goes to the original writer, which they often exercise. Beyond that, we need to pitch ideas to them which means our scripter quite often come from our established circle of writers who understand our constraints. A lot of people also understandably pitch their favourite monsters that mean a lot to them but are completely unobtainable.
There are also the jokey pitches too, which used to mildly depress me but I now quite like. Much like being a vicar and hearing that hilarious vicar joke variant over and over. It’s amazing how so many people pitch a Pigbin Josh comic to me as if it’s the first time I’ve ever heard it.
That said, I began to think there might be something in it and after one particularly ingenious idea actually chatted to Bob Baker about it, and it wasn’t a no, just a maybe!
Check out this prequel to the greatest Third Doctor story, as voted for by readers of Doctor Who Magazine in 2023
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Matt Badham is a freelance writer. His work has appeared in the Judge Dredd Megazine, 2000AD and Big Issue in the North.
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