Craig Hinton | |
|---|---|
 Craig Hinton, Coventry 1989 | |
| Born | (1964-05-07)7 May 1964 |
| Died | 3 December 2006(2006-12-03) (aged 42) |
| Nationality | British |
| Genre | science fiction |
| Notable works | Doctor Who |
Craig Peter Hinton (7 May 1964 – 3 December 2006) was a British writer best known for his work on variousspin-offs from theBBC Television seriesDoctor Who. He also wrote articles for variousscience fiction magazines, and was the Coordinator of theDoctor Who Appreciation Society. He most recently lived inLondon, where he taught mathematics. Hinton was found dead in his home on 3 December 2006. The cause of death was given as heart attack.[1]
Hinton first became known for his articles about various science fiction television programmes, includingDoctor Who andStar Trek. These brought him to the attention of the editor ofMarvel UK'sDoctor Who Magazine, who offered him the role of reviewing merchandise for the magazine'sShelf Life section. It was whilst writing for the magazine that Hinton had his first novel published,The Crystal Bucephalus, as part ofVirgin Publishing'sMissing Adventures range. The book – which Hinton often referred to as "The Crystal Bucket" – was originally submitted for Virgin'sNew Adventures, and 50,000 words of this version were written before the change was made.
This novel was followed by a furtherMissing Adventure,Millennial Rites in 1995, and then by Hinton's onlyNew Adventure in 1996,GodEngine, which features theIce Warriors as well as oblique appearances by theDaleks.
Following Virgin's loss of their licence to produceDoctor Who merchandise, Hinton began submitting proposals toBBC Books and in 2001 they published his novelThe Quantum Archangel as part of theirPast Doctor Adventures range. This was followed in 2004 by the novelSynthespians™, which again had started life as a proposal for the current incumbentDoctor before being altered to feature a previous Doctor.Synthespians™ also came into difficulties when an image of the television showDynasty was used on the cover: the cover's creators had arranged for permission to use the copyrighted image, but had neglected to arrange permission to alter it, and so at the last minute a replacement cover had to be produced. It is this that appears on the cover of the novel.
Hinton'sDoctor Who novels often contain references to or explanations of elements of past continuity. He was the originator of the term "fanwank", which he applied to his own work.[2][3]
Hinton also continued to work with Virgin, writingpseudonymously under the name Paul C. Alexander for their Idol range. He authored three books in the range:Chains of Deceit,The Final Restraint andCode of Submission. These titles were a major departure from his science fiction, and explored aspects of his sexuality that were only suggested in his other works.
Hinton wrote forBig Finish Productions'audio adventures, with the playExcelis Decays being produced in 2002 for theirDoctor Who range andThe Lords of Forever in 2005 for theirTomorrow People range. Hinton also wrote short stories for a variety of their short fiction collections.
Before his death, Hinton had proposed aDoctor Who novel to BBC Books dealing with the final adventure of theSixth Doctor. His proposal was rejected,[4] but Hinton continued to work on the manuscript.[1] After his death, the novel,Time's Champion, was completed by Chris McKeon, and edited and published byDavid J. Howe using the facilities ofTelos Publishing Ltd., as a benefit for theBritish Heart Foundation.[2] In addition to this an anthology,Shelf Life (named after his review column), was edited and published by Jay Eales,David A. McIntee and Adrian Middleton, also for the benefit of theBritish Heart Foundation. A limited edition second printing ofTime's Champion was briefly made available in November 2020.
Outside of the science fiction world Hinton was a noted IT journalist in the UK, editing magazines in the mid-1990s for VNU Business Publications in London and moving on to ITNetwork.com shortly afterwards.
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