Keith Andrew Topping (born 26 October 1963 in Walker, Tyneside) is an author, journalist and broadcaster.[1] He is most well known for his work relating to the BBC Television series Doctor Who and for writing numerous official and unofficial guide books to a wide variety of television and film series, particularly Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
He is also the author of two books of rock music critique. To date, Topping has published more than 40 books.
Early life and backgroundedit
Keith Topping's parents were Thomas Topping (1918–1991) and Lily Lamb (b. 1920) and he has two much older brothers, Terrence John (b. 1944) and Thomas Colin (b. 1948)[citation needed]. Topping's family have Irish, Scottish, East Anglian (Snape, Suffolk, Great Yarmouth) and Cumbrian (Crosby-on-Eden) roots as well as North Eastern[citation needed]. He is a distant relative of the Morpeth landscape artist Thomas Bowman Garvie (1859–1944)[citation needed]. Topping's great-great-uncle was the Tyneside journalist and columnist Albert Elliott.[citation needed]
He worked for the Civil Service as an Administrative Officer in the, then, Department of Employment between 1983 and 2001 when he left to pursue a full-time freelance writing career.[citation needed]
As well as writing fiction, Topping has also authored numerous programme guides to television series. These were all published by Virgin Books, and co-written with Martin Day and Paul Cornell.[citation needed]
Cornell, Day and Topping also collaborated on the Doctor Who Discontinuity Guide, published by Virgin Books in 1995 and re-issued, in the US, by MonkeyBrain Books in 2004, a lighthearted guide to the mistakes and incongruities of the television series.[7]
Subsequently, Topping wrote The Complete Slayer: An Unofficial and Unauthorised Guide to Every Episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, amongst others.
On radio, Topping was the Producer/Presenter of the monthly Book Club[8] (2005–2007) and co-presented a daily television review slot, Keith Telly Topping's Top TV Tips, Monday to Friday, on The Simon Logan Show for BBC Newcastle (2006-2012).[citation needed]
Bibliographyedit
The Guinness Book of Classic British TV (1993: Guinness Publishing) cowritten with Paul Cornell and Martin DayISBN 0-85112-543-3
The Avengers Programme Guide (1994: Virgin Books) cowritten with Paul Cornell and Martin DayISBN 0-86369-754-2
Doctor Who: The Hollow Men (1998: BBC Books) cowritten with Martin DayISBN 0-563-40582-1
X-Treme Possibilities - A Comprehensively Expanded Rummage Through Five Years of The X-Files (1998: Virgin Books) cowritten with Paul Cornell and Martin DayISBN 0-7535-0228-3
Shut It! A Fan’s Guide to 70s Cops on the Box (1999: Virgin Books) cowritten with Martin DayISBN 0-7535-0355-7.
Slayer: The Totally Cool Unofficial Guide to Buffy (2000: Virgin Books) ISBN 0-7535-0475-8
(Also published in France as Tueuse de Vampires: Le guide non officiel de Buffy by Editions Hors Collection, ISBN 2-258-05445-1 (2000))
Hollywood Vampire: The Unofficial Guide to Angel (Nov 2000: Virgin Books) ISBN 0-7535-0531-2
(Also published in France as Le Vampire D’Hollywood: Le guide non officiel de La Serie Angel by Editions Hors Collection, ISBN 2-258-05649-7 (2001))
Doctor Who: The King of Terror (Nov 2000: BBC Books) ISBN 0-563-53802-3
Slayer: The Revised and Updated Unofficial Guide to Buffy The Vampire Slayer (Mar 2001: Virgin Books) ISBN 0-7535-0553-3
Doctor Who: Byzantium! (Jul 2001: BBC Books) ISBN 0-563-53836-8
High Times: An Unofficial and Unauthorised Guide to Roswell (Oct 2001: Virgin Books) ISBN 978-0-7535-0630-1
(Also published in France as Roswell: Le Guide non officiel les 2 premières saisons by Editions Hors Collection, ISBN 2-258-05942-9 (2002))
Hollywood Vampire: A Revised and Updated Unofficial and Unauthorised Guide to Angel (Dec 2001: Virgin Books) ISBN 0-7535-0601-7
Slayer: An Expanded and Updated Unofficial and Unauthorised Guide to Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Feb 2002: Virgin Books) ISBN 0-7535-0631-9
Inside Bartlet’s White House: An Unofficial and Unauthorised Guide to The West Wing (April 2002: Virgin Books) ISBN 0-7535-0612-2.
Doctor Who: Ghost Ship (August 2002: Telos Publishing), ISBN Standard Hardback 1-903889-08-1. ISBN Deluxe Hardback 1-903889-09-X. ISBN Paperback 1-90-3889-32-4.
Beyond the Gåte: An Unofficial and Unauthorised Guide to Stargate SG-1 (October 2002: Telos Publishing). ISBN 1-903889-50-2.
Slayer The Next Generation: An Unofficial and Unauthorised Guide to Season Six of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (January 2003: Virgin Books) ISBN 0-7535-0738-2
A Day in the Life: The Unofficial & Unauthorised Guide to 24 (April 2003: Telos Publishing) ISBN 1-903889-53-7
The Complete Clash (September 2003: Reynolds & Hearn Publishing) ISBN 1-903111-70-6
Hollywood Vampire: A Revised and Updated Unofficial and Unauthorised Guide to Angel (Jan 2004: Virgin Books) ISBN 0-7535-0807-9
Inside Bartlet’s White House: An Unofficial and Unauthorised Guide to The West Wing – Revised and Updated (April 2004: Virgin Books) ISBN 0-7535-0828-1.
Slayer: The Last Days of Sunnydale: An Unofficial and Unauthorised Guide to the Final Season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (June 2004: Virgin Books) ISBN 0-7535-0844-3
Slayer: A totally awesome collection of Buffy trivia (August 2004: Virgin Books) ISBN 0-7535-0985-7
The Complete Slayer: An Unofficial; and Unauthorised Guide to Every Episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (November 2004: Virgin Books) ISBN 0-7535-0931-8
A Vault of Horror: A Book of 80 Great (and not-so-great) British Horror Movies 1956-1974 (Telos Publishing: October 2004) ISBN 1-903889-58-8