“Jonny was at times quite manic,” said Baddiel. “He said ‘I’ve looked at the children’s bestselling thrillers, I’ve read the first three or four. They’re all right, but we can do better.’ He had that sort of drive and I said, ‘great, let’s give it a go’.”
The pair mapped out the story together, then started putting words on the page and sending them back and forth to each other as the story started to gather momentum. Writing together was “fun”, says Baddiel, writer and TV scriptwriter who has worked on shows such as The X Factor and The National Television Awards.
Writer friends: Jonny Zucker and Baddiel (top left) and their families at Church Farm Ardeley campsite, near Stevenage, in 2013[Missing Credit]
Previously, they had worked together on five books, including Not the Highway Code: the Unofficial Rules of the Road and Never in a Million Years: A history of Hopeless Predictions.
“The best collaborations are the honest ones. You can have back and forth, you can argue about it and convince each other, but you can’t tiptoe around people. You have an open discussion about something if there’s an issue and then come to an agreement and that was definitely the way with Jonny.”
Baddiel admits it was hard to start working on the book again with his writing partner no longer around. “It had been parked for quite a long time,” he said.
“During the pandemic when we were all stuck at home I had the time to look at it again and I did this for a while. I found some flaws in the plot and changed it a bit, but the fundamental idea is still pretty much the same. I thought of my friend a lot while I did so,” he says.
Having an understanding of how the body’s most complex organ works helped with the writing, says Baddiel, who read psychology at university and who had planned a career in the field before his about-turn into writing.
“I think we’re a long way off from growing a brain but it’s intriguing,” he said. “And for children it’s absolutely fascinating. Is that where one’s consciousness is? Is that where the mind resides? Are we just a robot? Could AI replicate a brain?”
The part of the brain the book’s characters create is broadly good, while the missing half represents evil.“I’ve always loved the idea of challenging notions of good and evil,” says Baddiel. It’s not a spoiler to share that one of the siblings faces a moral dilemma which entails saving a loved one while putting the greater good in danger.
“That’s a real dilemma that I find myself thinking about a lot,” says Baddiel. “What would I do if somebody put a gun to one of my children’s heads? Or even my head? You just don’t know how you would react until you’re in that situation. And if you save your children, or yourself, is it evil?”
At the end of the book the debate continues, with several questions Baddiel poses for his young readers/ “Can there be good without evil?” What does ‘pure evil’ mean?”
If there is a follow-up, even though he’s not around to write it, I will put Jonny’s name on it. It was our idea and it wouldn’t have existed without him
There is also a page at back of the book encouraging readers to donate to a charity called the Children’s Book Project, once they have finished it. The charity sets up pop-up books shops in in schools in underprivileged area. It is the first published book to make the request. “From a business point of view, it’s a bit odd because we want people to buy more books,” he laughs. “But for people who might never otherwise get a chance to read it, it’s a good thing.”
Zucker’s widow, Fiona Starr, has read the book and is a fan. “She’s really chuffed that it’s being published,” he said. “Jonny really did have high hopes for it and I definitely think he would have wanted to see it out there.”
There are no immediate plans for a sequel, but Baddiel says he would “love to write it. And if there a follow-up, “even though he’s not around to write it, I will put Jonny’s name on it. It was our idea and it wouldn’t have existed without him.”
Brainchild is published by Purple Mash Publishing in September
