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Ben Aaronovitch

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Ben Aaronovitch
Born (1964-02-22) February 22, 1964 (age 62)
Camden, London, England
Occupation(s)Novelist, screenwriter
Years active1980s–present
Known forRivers of London series, Doctor Who television serials

Ben Dylan Aaronovitch (born 22 February 1964) is a British novelist and screenwriter, renowned primarily for the Rivers of London books. In addition, he authored two Doctor Who television serials in the late 1980s and contributed to spin-off novels related to both Doctor Who and Blake's 7.

Biography

Aaronovitch was born in Camden, the son of economist Sam Aaronovitch, and is the younger sibling of actor Owen Aaronovitch and journalist David Aaronovitch. His education took place at Holloway School.

Following his departure from school without a definite career direction, Aaronovitch undertook various unskilled roles, including working as a security guard for Securitas, an experience he credits with providing practical knowledge that later informed his writing. During this period of temporary employment, he submitted scripts to the BBC, which eventually led to his involvement with Doctor Who. His debut novel in the Rivers of London series was published while he was employed at Waterstones, achieving rapid success that allowed him to pursue writing professionally on a full-time basis.

Demonstrating a commitment to promoting inclusivity within literature, Aaronovitch established the Future Worlds Prize in 2020 (initially known as the Gollancz and Rivers of London BAME SFF Award) to encourage writers from underrepresented backgrounds in science fiction and fantasy genres.

In 2023, plans were revealed for a television adaptation of Rivers of London, produced collaboratively by Pure Fiction Television, See-Saw Films, and Aaronovitch’s own production company, Unnecessary Logo.

He currently lives in Wimbledon, London.

Doctor Who and television work

Aaronovitch scripted two serials for BBC’s Doctor Who: Remembrance of the Daleks (1988) and Battlefield (1989), also authoring the novelization of the former.

His television contributions include writing an episode for Casualty (1990) and serving as a frequent writer on the science fiction series Jupiter Moon. He penned or co-penned three spin-off novels within Virgin Publishing's New Adventures line for Doctor Who, introducing the character Kadiatu Lethbridge-Stewart, who appeared regularly thereafter. Furthermore, Aaronovitch authored a novel plus several short stories featuring Bernice Summerfield for Big Finish Productions, a character originally developed in the New Adventures. He also collaborated on a Doctor Who audio drama for Big Finish and wrote multiple spin-off audio dramas based on Blake's 7.

Proposed serials

In May 1987, Aaronovitch pitched Knight Fall for season 25, a narrative exploring themes around privatization. Script editor Andrew Cartmel appreciated the idea but deemed the script overly complicated with too many characters to be viable.

Subsequently, in June 1987, he proposed Transit, which involved the Doctor and Ace uncovering transportation gateways scattered throughout the Solar System, including one leading to hell. Although this story was never produced as a script, Aaronovitch later transformed it into a novel released in December 1992 as part of the Virgin New Adventures series.

In 1988, he submitted a three-part story titled Bad Destination intended for season 27. This plot featured Ace commanding a hospital spaceship under siege by the Metatraxi. However, with the BBC's cancellation of Doctor Who in 1989, production did not proceed. The story was eventually adapted into an audio drama named Earth Aid by Big Finish Productions in July 2011, co-written by Aaronovitch alongside Cartmel.

Doctor Who

Casualty

  • Results (1990)

Jupiter Moon

  • Episodes 69, 70, 80, 81, 95 (1990)
  • Episodes 119, 120, 131, 132, 148 (1996)

Dark Knight

  • Stonegod (2001)

Blake's 7

  • Rebel (2007)
  • When Vila Met Gan (2008)
  • Eye of the Machine (2008)
  • Blood and Earth (2009)

Doctor Who

Doctor Who

Novelizations:

Virgin New Adventures:

Rivers of London

  • Rivers of London (released as Midnight Riot in the US) (2011)
  • Moon Over Soho (2011)
  • Whispers Under Ground (2012)
  • Broken Homes (2013)
  • Foxglove Summer (2014)
  • The Hanging Tree (2016)
  • The Furthest Station (2017) – novella bridging between Foxglove Summer and The Hanging Tree
  • Lies Sleeping (2018)
  • The October Man (2019) – novella set after Lies Sleeping, featuring Tobias Winter
  • False Value (2020)
  • Tales from the Folly (2020) – collection of short stories
  • What Abigail Did That Summer (2021) – novella
  • Amongst Our Weapons (2022)
  • Winter's Gifts (2023) – novella
  • The Masquerades of Spring (2024) – novella
  • Stone and Sky (2025)

Others

Short stories

Rivers of London series

Short stories appearing in the collection Tales from the Folly include:

Additional short stories are: A Dedicated Follower of Fashion, Vanessa Sommer's Other Christmas List, and Three Rivers, Two Husbands and a Baby Three "Moments" narratives published on Aaronovitch’s website:

    •  Moment One: London September 1966
    •  Moment Two: Reynolds-Florence, Az. 2014
    •  Moment Three: Tobias Winter - Meckenheim 2012

Rivers of London – Body Work

  • Issues #1 through #5 published between July and November 2015
  • Graphic novel compilation released in March 2016

Rivers of London – Night Witch

  • Issues #1 to #3 issued from March to May 2016
  • Collected edition published November 2016

Rivers of London – Black Mould

  • Issues #1–5 available from October 2016 until March 2017
  • Compilation graphic novel released July 2017

Rivers of London – Detective Stories

  • Four issues (#1–4) released between June and September 2017
  • Graphic novel collection published December 2017

Rivers of London – Cry Fox

  • Issues #1 through #4 issued from November 2017 to April 2018
  • Collected graphic novel published June 2018

Rivers of London – Water Weed

  • Issue #1 released 20 June 2018
  • Issue #2 released 18 July 2018
  • Issue #3 released 15 August 2018
  • Issue #4 released 19 September 2018
  • Complete collection/graphic novel published 30 November 2018

Rivers of London – Action at a Distance

  • Issue #1 released on 17 October 2018
  • Issue #2 on 21 November 2018
  • Issue #3 on 19 December 2018
  • Issue #4 on 20 January 2019
  • Graphic novel compilation published on 1 November 2019

Rivers of London – The Fey & The Furious

  • Issue #1 came out on 6 November 2019
  • Issue #2 on 11 December 2019
  • Issue #3 on 8 January 2020
  • Issue #4 on 5 February 2020
  • Collection/graphic novel edition released on 1 November 2020

Rivers of London – Monday, Monday

  • Issue #1 published on 7 July 2021
  • Issue #2 on 18 August 2021
  • Issue #3 on 1 September 2021
  • Issue #4 on 6 October 2021
  • Complete graphic novel issued on 5 January 2022

Rivers of London – Deadly Ever After

  • Issue #1 appeared on 18 May 2022
  • Issue #2 on 22 June 2022
  • Issue #3 on 10 August 2022
  • Issue #4 on 21 September 2022
  • Collected edition released on 25 January 2023

Rivers of London – Here Be Dragons

  • Issue #1 launched on 12 July 2023
  • Issue #2 followed on 23 August 2023
  • Issue #3 arrived on 6 September 2023
  • Issue #4 issued on 28 October 2023
  • Graphic novel collection published on 30 January 2024
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