Reginald Tyler

Professor Reginald Tyler was a 20th century writer. He spent most of his life writing The True History of Planets, a large multi-book fantasy story which made him famous. Tyler was good friends with John Cleavis and a member of the Smudgelings.

He could speak many languages, some of them of his own invention. (PROSE: Mad Dogs and Englishmen)

History

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

Early life
During World War I, Tyler was enlisted as a soldier and stationed in France. In 1917, he was wounded and taken to a hospital in Whitby. While recovering, he began writing the book which would eventually become The True History of Planets and met Enid Tyler, who would eventually become his wife. (PROSE: Mad Dogs and Englishmen)

Professorship
After the war, Tyler became a professor at either Cambridge (PROSE: Mad Dogs and Englishmen) or Darkholmes. His address was 199 Steps Lane. Tyler hired Brenda as a maid. (PROSE: Fellowship of the Ink)

Starting in either 1928 or the 1930s, Tyler established the Smudgelings, a group of Tyler's "most valued colleagues and fellow scribblers" who met once a week at the Book and Candle. One account indicated Tyler had already met Cleavis by the time he founded the Smudgelings, (PROSE: Mad Dogs and Englishmen) while another indicated this was not the case. (PROSE: Fellowship of the Ink) Tyler had lunch with Cleavis before every meeting of the Smudgelings. (PROSE: Mad Dogs and Englishmen)

Shortly after Tyler first met Cleavis, they became involved in the incidents surrounding a series of breaks in the Very Fabric of Time and Space around Darkholmes. (PROSE: Fellowship of the Ink)

In 1942, William Freer infiltrated the Smudgelings, trying to influence Tyler into changing The True History of Planets into a propaganda piece to help Princess Margaret take over dogworld. He cast a spell to supposedly allow the Smudgelings to see into Tyler's imagination. However, it went wrong and erased his face. It took three months for it to grow back. (PROSE: Mad Dogs and Englishmen)

Later life
After he retired from his position at the university, Reginald moved to Bournemouth with Enid. He continued to write The True History of Planets in their bungalow's garage.

In either 1972 or 1974, Reginald slipped into an icy lake while taking a morning hike in the wilderness near his bungalow. In the official version of history, Tyler cracked his hip in the fall and slowly died in the water. However, as part of the paradoxical events involving dogworld, a blue Poodle rescued Tyler from death and took him to dogworld in 2077.

At the palace of the emperor of dogworld, Tyler witnessed the final confrontation between Princess Maragret and William Freer, Noël Coward, the Eighth Doctor, Fitz Kreiner, Anji Kapoor, Fritter, Char, and Mida Slike. With everyone on Earth believing him to be dead, Tyler was offered a place to live on dogworld. The emperor suggested that Tyler use the final years of his life to write an accurate history of dogworld. (PROSE: Mad Dogs and Englishmen)

Behind the scenes
Reginald Tyler is a fictionalised version of J. R. R. Tolkien. The True History of Planets is Tyler's version of The Lord of the Rings, John Cleavis acts as a stand-in for C. S. Lewis - who was a good friend of Tolkien - and the Smudgelings are the novel's equivalent of the Inklings. Tolkien's wife was named Edith. Tolkien moved to Bournemouth in his later later life and died in 1973.