THE DWM INTERVIEW
Tales of the Dead
MAXINE ALDERTON, the writer of The Haunting of Villa Diodati, talks to CLAUDIA BOLEYN about her spine-chilling story.
MAXINE ALDERTON
Maxine Alderton, the writer of The Haunting of Villa Diodati (2020).
Maxine Alderton has taken an unlikely path from Emmerdale to Doctor Who. She began as a script editor on the Yorkshire soap before becoming one of the show’s writers in 2013. Along the way she won a Best Writer award from the Royal Television Society and gained an unexpected online following - being lovingly dubbed ‘Queen Maxine’ by fans.
“It seemed so unreachable,” she says of her career. “I knew I could do it - but in terms of actually getting the opportunity? It was an incredible dream come true.”
What does Maxine make of the misgivings some have about soap writers moving to Doctor Who? “Well, [former showrunner] Russell T Davies storylined for Coronation Street, I think. And of course there’s Terrance Dicks.” The renowned writer, script editor and author contributed to Crossroads before he worked on Doctor Who. Indeed, Maxine thinks there’s no better preparation for the mad world of Who. “You’re constantly writing in soap, so you’re constantly using that muscle. We’re used to changes, like characters not being available, having to rewrite a scene with someone else, hitting tight deadlines - we’re very fl exible and pretty much bombproof.”