Ben Dylan Aaronovitch (born 22 February 1964)[2] is an English author and screenwriter. He is the author of the series of novelsRivers of London. He also wrote twoDoctor Who serials in the late 1980s and spin-off novels fromDoctor Who andBlake's 7.
Aaronovitch left school with no particular plan. "Instead of going to university I basically faffed about. I had a series of terrible jobs, the kind you get when you have no qualifications." These included working as a security guard forSecuritas, which he says taught him "to understand shoplifting a lot better... So it did come in quite handy later, for work".[7] During one of the short-term jobs he submitted some scripts to the BBC, which led to him writingDoctor Who stories, and finally, while working atWaterstones, publishing his firstRivers of London novel. The book rapidly became a word-of-mouth success, enabling him to write full-time. He is passionate about diversity in literature,[8] and in 2020 he founded the Future Worlds Prize, then known as the Gollancz and Rivers of London BAME SFF Award, aimed at opening up science fiction and fantasy publishing to more diverse writers.[9][10]
In 2023 it was announced thatRivers of London would be adapted for TV as a co-production between Pure Fiction Television,See-Saw Films and Aaronovitch's own production company, Unnecessary Logo.[11]
He wrote one episode forCasualty (1990) and was then a regular writer on the science fiction seriesJupiter Moon.[14]
He subsequently wrote or co-wrote threeDoctor Who spin-off novels in theVirgin PublishingNew Adventures range; he created the characterKadiatu Lethbridge-Stewart who became a semi-regular in theNew Adventures. He has written a novel and several short stories published byBig Finish Productions featuring the character ofBernice Summerfield, who was originally developed in theNew Adventures. He also co-wrote aDoctor Who audio drama for Big Finish, and has written a number ofBlake's 7 spin-off audio dramas.
In May 1987, Aaronovitch submittedKnight Fall to theDoctor Who production office forseason 25. The story concerned privatization.[15] Script editorAndrew Cartmel liked the story ideas, but felt that the script was inappropriate for the series and had too many supporting characters.[15]
After failing to feature Aaronovitch'sKnight Fall storyline to production, Aaronovitch submitted a story in June 1987, entitledTransit. The story would see the Doctor and Ace in the future, land in a metro station, and discover transportation portals that led throughout the Solar System, but one of the portals is a gateway to hell.[15] Even though Aaronovitch's scripts ofTransit never came to fruition, he would adapt the story as a book forVirgin New Adventures series in December 1992.[15]
In 1988, Aaronovitch submitted a three-part adventure story calledBad Destination for the 27th season ofDoctor Who. The story would feature The Doctor seeing Ace as a captain of a hospital spaceship which is under attack by the Metatraxi.[16] It went unused when declining audiences led the BBC to cancelDoctor Who in September 1989 after its26th season.[15][16] In July 2011,Big Finish Productions released the story asEarth Aid, by Aaronovitch and Cartmel.[15]
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