Cleavis

Professor Cleavis was a 20th century writer, critic, and noted Christian apologist, (PROSE: Peculiar Lives) who was the unofficial leader of the Smudgelings. He was good friends with Reginald Tyler. (PROSE: Mad Dogs and Englishmen)

According to some accounts, his full name was John Cleavis, (PROSE: Mad Dogs and Englishmen, Peculiar Lives) and other accounts indicated that his name was Henry Cleavis. (PROSE: Fellowship of Ink, Iris Wildthyme and the Polythene Terror)

History

 * Due to the shifting nature of the timelines in Mad Dogs and Englishmen, some details given about Cleavis' life contradict each other. Some of the events did not occur in the original timeline.

Early life
Before meeting Reginald Tyler and joining the Smudgelings, Cleavis was good friends with John.

With the publication of The Other Place, Cleavis became a successful children's author. (PROSE: Fellowship of Ink)

With the Smudgelings
In either 1928 or the 1930s, Cleavis became a professor at either Cambridge (PROSE: Mad Dogs and Englishmen) or Darkholmes. (PROSE: Fellowship of Ink) He became good friends with Reginald Tyler very quickly and was one of the earliest members of the Smudgelings. (PROSE: Fellowship of Ink, Mad Dogs and Englishmen) Cleavis and Tyler had lunch at the Book and Candle before every meeting of the Smudgelings.

In early 1942, Cleavis was working on a children's novel about two evacuee children who discovered a magical land after being sent to live with their relatives in the countryside. In the original draft of the novel, the children were sent to their "strange old aunt" who "happened to own a double-decker bus that [could] travel to the magical world". The Eighth Doctor thought that the story was too close to reality, so he advised Cleavis to change the bus to "some innocuous piece of household furniture". Cleavis hoped to have the book published by Christmas.

When William Freer attempted to join the Smudgelings in order to brainwash Tyler to create Poodle propaganda, Cleavis was initially quite welcoming. After noticing that Freer was having a negative influence on Tyler, Cleavis' opinion quickly changed. The Eighth Doctor and Char approached Cleavis and asked for help in stopping Freer. Cleavis, the Doctor, and Char were unable to stop Freer from creating a direct link between Tyler's mind and dogworld. Tyler's face was melted in the process.

For the next few months, Cleavis helped Tyler recover. In summer 1942, Cleavis received a letter from the Doctor advising him to encourage Tyler to write about fairies and elves and to beware of dogs. (PROSE: Mad Dogs and Englishmen)

Later life
By 1950, Cleavis had said that there was a similarity in the philosophies of Erik Clevedon and Gideon Beech. (PROSE: Peculiar Lives)

Behind the scenes
Cleavis is a fictionalised version of C. S. Lewis.