When I began writing fiction as a child, it seemed natural to write about the characters I knew and loved. My first stories featured William Brown from the Just William series. Later, I graduated to writing Doctor Who fan fiction. Using familiar characters got me past the ‘blank page’ moment and allowed me to explore other aspects of writing, and it was a joy to push these characters into new adventures.

Understandably, authors writing their first novels are usually dissuaded from working with established characters, as copyright may prevent the publication of the completed work. After putting in all that work, wouldn’t it be a shame for legality to prevent your masterpiece from being released?

Of course, there are characters that are fair game. In the UK, the general rule is that copyright covering a fictional character expires 70 years after the death of its creator. That means that a great deal of characters from literature from the Victorian era and beyond