Keith Topping | |
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 Keith Topping at aDoctor Whofan convention | |
| Born | Keith Andrew Topping (1963-10-26)26 October 1963 (age 61) |
| Nationality | British |
| Occupation(s) | Author, journalist and broadcaster |
Keith Andrew Topping (born 26 October 1963 inWalker,Tyneside) is an author, journalist and broadcaster.[1] He is most well known for his work relating to theBBC Television seriesDoctor Who and for writing numerous official and unofficial guide books to a wide variety oftelevision andfilm series, particularlyBuffy the Vampire Slayer.
He is also the author of two books ofrock music critique. To date, Topping has published more than 40 books.
Keith Topping's parents were Thomas Topping (1918–1991) and Lily Lamb (b. 1920) and he has two much older brothers, Terrence John (b. 1944) and Thomas Colin (b. 1948)[citation needed]. Topping's family have Irish, Scottish, East Anglian (Snape, Suffolk,Great Yarmouth) andCumbrian (Crosby-on-Eden) roots as well as North Eastern[citation needed]. He is a distant relative of the Morpeth landscape artist Thomas Bowman Garvie (1859–1944)[citation needed]. Topping's great-great-uncle was the Tyneside journalist and columnist Albert Elliott.[citation needed]
He worked for theCivil Service as an Administrative Officer in the, then, Department of Employment between 1983 and 2001 when he left to pursue a full-time freelance writing career.[citation needed]
Topping's first published fiction was theBBC Books "Past Doctor Adventure"The Devil Goblins from Neptune in 1997. The novel was co-written with his friend and frequent collaboratorMartin Day.[2]
The pair quickly followed this up with the acclaimed novelThe Hollow Men in 1998.[3]
Following Day's move into TV scripting, Topping wrote the novelsThe King of Terror (2000)[4] andByzantium! (2001)[5] solo. The latter novel is the only BBC BooksPast Doctor Adventure to be set entirely within one episode of the television seriesDoctor Who — 1965'sThe Romans byDennis Spooner.[citation needed]
Topping also wrote theTelos Doctor Who novellaGhost Ship which was published in 2002[6] and reissued as a paperback in 2003.
As well as writing fiction, Topping has also authored numerous programme guides to television series. These were all published byVirgin Books, and co-written withMartin Day andPaul Cornell.[citation needed]
Cornell, Day and Topping also collaborated on theDoctor Who Discontinuity Guide, published byVirgin Books in 1995 and re-issued, in the US, byMonkeyBrain Books in 2004, a lighthearted guide to the mistakes and incongruities of the television series.[7]
Subsequently, Topping wroteThe Complete Slayer: An Unofficial and Unauthorised Guide to Every Episode ofBuffy the Vampire Slayer, amongst others.
On radio, Topping was the Producer/Presenter of the monthlyBook Club[8] (2005–2007) and co-presented a daily television review slot,Keith Telly Topping's Top TV Tips, Monday to Friday, onThe Simon Logan Show forBBC Newcastle (2006-2012).[citation needed]
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