MARK Gatiss is very proud to have been made an honourary doctor of letters from Huddersfield University.
Especially as he now gets to call himself Dr Gatiss.
The title lends him an air of mystery, perhaps like the villains of his all-favourite Boys Own stories or, indeed, a particular hero, Dr Who.
"The last time I had to tick a box to say whether I was Mr, Mrs or Miss, I put Dr," he explains.
Before I rang the League Of Gentlemen star, I was warned to give him his proper title.
Plain old Mark, it seemed, wasn't grand enough.
But it turned out my source had mistaken his dry humour.
"You don't have to call me Doctor," he insists.
But you can tell he likes it.
Mark Gatiss and League co-writer Jeremy Dyson are the big names at the Huddersfield Literature Festival, which opens today.
Their appearance tomorrow at 8.45pm, in the Milton Building at Huddersfield University, is purely a question and answer session, with no readings from either author.
Meeting his public is something the 39-year-old particularly likes. Frequently asked questions can include anything from: "What's your favourite poem?" to inquiries about Dr Who - he's co-written an episode for the latest series.
As the festival's about books and not TV or film, it's expected he'll be talking about his second novel, The Devil In Amber, out in December.
It's the second in a trilogy - "When they're all written and released, I'll be able to keep reissuing them in box sets forever" - about wit, dandy and rake Lucifer Box.
The first, The Vesuvious Club, was set in Edwardian London.
This time it's in the 1920s, another of Dr Gatiss' favourite periods.
"It's a detective story with a feel of The 39 Steps. Lucifer's older, he's got a lot of younger competition.
"There are lots of Satanists and Nazis - a perfect combination.
"The third book will be in the 1950s and be like an early Ian Fleming."
But that's a long way off yet, as the second is not yet ready to see the light of day.
"I'm still editing and rewriting," he says. "And that's the part of the process I like best. Working out a story and writing it can be a slog, real donkey work.
"A process of hacking and excavating. Very tough.
"But rewriting is all about refining."
Dr Gatiss writes in a back room of the new home he shares with his partner in Islington.
They've just moved, and the builders are in. I can hear their dog, Bunsen, barking as we talk on the phone.
I tell him I saw his old house pictured in a Sunday supplement a while ago, all red walls and taxidermy.
"Yes," he says. "I always wanted to live in a Victorian laboratory, so I created that room.
"But I found I didn't use it for anything other than showing people, and letting them go: `Wow!' and for photoshoots ...
"So now I've put my odd things all around the house."
Dr Gatiss and, er, Dr Dyson honed their writing when they were at Bretton Hall together.
So they're upset that the site has been closed by Leeds University, and students will now be based on its main campus.
"We've a lot to thank Bretton for," he explains. "It's a shame it's going. We were only able to work together because they left us to our own devices so much.
"When we knew things were changing, all four of us went and bought the official Bretton scarf, which we never actually had when we were there."
The League team also, of course, have an affinity with Huddersfield University, after getting their honorary degrees, and are excited about the festival.
"Some places seem to have the monopoly on literature," he says. "Why should we all go to Hay-On-Wye, just because it's pretty and posh?
"Not, of course, that Huddersfield isn't."
Jeremy Dyson, who left the acting to Dr Gatiss, Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton in the League, has also released a novel, Still.
Did he never get jealous of all the dressing up that the others got to do?
"He was only on screen a couple of times. Once, as Shabby Man in the background, in the Christmas special. He's not an actor, but we took pity on him."
For information about the festival go to www.litfest.org.uk or call 0870 990 5025.
