John Cleavis

John Cleavis was a writer who was good friends with Reginald Tyler. He was the unofficial leader of the Smudgelings.

History
Starting in 1928, Cleavis and Tyler began to have lunch at the Book and Candle every Monday to share their writing. On Monday evenings, Cleavis and Tyler would meet up with a larger group of writers - the Smudgelings - to get further advice on their work.

In early 1942, Cleavis was working on a childrens' 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 Dog World. 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)