In "Deadline", Sir Derek Jacobi plays a retired writer who rues the day he failed to get his show, Doctor Who, commissioned back in the early 1960s; there is a very intricate exploration of inner space, families, failure, fandom, and so on, but I found the tone decidedly downbeat. Yet it makes an interesting pairing with "Auld Mortality", as both have the same point of departure, if from different directions, and both feature the Doctor as to a certain extent the narrator of his own story. It is by Robert Shearman who wrote the Ninth Doctor story "Dalek". I must say that if you are thinking of trying out the series, "Auld Mortality" and "Deadline" are the ones to get to see if the concept is to your taste. ( )