Puffin’s 50th anniversary e-book series continues this month as the Eighth Doctor steps into the spotlight.

In the new adventure, Spore, our beloved Time Lord faces a flesh-liquefying virus, and WhovianNet.co.uk recently caught up with the author to find out more about the story, which is available to download from tomorrow (Friday).

Alex Scarrow is the writer behind novels including Last Light, The Candleman and the popular sci-fi series TimeRiders.

Thanks to Alex for his time. Visit his site here and follow him on Twitter @AlexScarrow.

Q) Hi Alex. How did you get involved in the Doctor Who e-book series?
A) I was approached by Puffin, my publishers for the TimeRiders series. They thought with that being a time travel series that this Doctor Who anthology would be a good match-up for me.

Q) Are you a long term fan of the series?
A) It has been an on-off love affair since childhood. I’m a fan of the classic Pertwee era, partly because those episodes were far more terrifying than the later Baker/Davidson/McCoy era. They felt more like Quatermass. Of the reboot stuff, my favourite season was the first one with Christopher Ecclestone playing the Doctor.

Q) And when did you first realise you were interested in writing?
A) When I was 9! I used to hand-write exercise books full of short stories.

Q) Drawing from your own personal experiences, what advice would you give to any aspiring writers reading this?
A) First of all, if you’re going to go for writing a full length novel, make sure you have your ending clear in your mind. Most important thing, that. If you have a clear ending, then your book will have a direction of travel and you’ll be far more likely to finish it. Secondly, I think it’s originality that is the trump suit. I’ll say that again so that it’s nice n’ clear. ORIGINALITY IS THE TRUMP SUIT. Ideas… original, fresh, ideas. That’s what commissioning editors are looking for more than anything else. Writing style/technique can be worked on, polished, improved, but a dull, samey, me-too idea is just that and will languish in the slush pile along with all the other dull, samey, me-too ideas.

Q) What was the inspiration behind featuring a flesh-liquefying virus?
A) I love plague stories. So what’s cooler than a virus that can ‘think’? I love gory gooey stuff!

Q) If you hadn’t written for the Eighth Doctor, which other incarnation would you have liked to have explored?
A) I’d LOVE to have blagged writing a story for the new Doctor! I love Peter Capaldi. I think he’s the perfect choice. I think it signals that Doctor Who is going to start ‘growing up’ again and becoming darker and slightly more cerebral. I do hope so.

Q) How did you approach the story in terms of the the research aspect?
A) I have a micro-biologist friend who helped me with some of the sceincey-wiencey stuff. But to be honest the Von Neumann idea has been a classic sci-fi trope for decades.

Q) What did you set out to achieve with Spore?
A) I wanted to write a dark and creepy story that felt like it really could happen in this world. Something that felt grounded and real. With an imminent Bird-Flue epidemic heading our way within the next decade, sheeesh… Spore might feel like it’s a bit too much like real life.

Q) Finally, have you got any other projects you can tell us about?
A) Yes. I’d love your readers to give my other series ELLIE QUIN a look on their kindles. Best way of describing it is… it’s like ‘Hitchhikers Guide meets Bridget Jones’. Or maybe ‘Thelma and Louise’ in space. It’s a thriller set in a colourful universe. I think they’d enjoy it. And of course, TIMERIDERS. I’m sure some Whovians may have heard of that by now!

Share your 50th anniversary hopes and dreams in our dedicated discussion…