The Dying Days
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Doctor Who book | |
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| The Dying Days | |
| Series | Virgin New Adventures |
| Release number | 61 |
| Featuring | Eighth Doctor Bernice, Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart |
| Writer | Lance Parkin |
| Publisher | Virgin Books |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-426-20504-9 |
| Set between | The television movie and Rose |
| Release date | April 1997 |
| Preceded by | Doctor Who (broadcast) Lungbarrow (novel) |
| Followed by | So Vile a Sin (publication) Oh No It Isn't! (Bernice only NAs) |
- This page is about the Doctor Who novel. For the urban fantasy novel of the same title written by Shannon Patrick Sullivan, see The Dying Days (urban fantasy).
The Dying Days is an original novel written by Lance Parkin and based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was last of that range to feature the Doctor — and the only one to feature Paul McGann's Eighth Doctor. Thereafter the series centred around the character of Bernice Summerfield. The Dying Days features the classic series monsters, the Ice Warriors and is strongly influenced by The War of the Worlds.
The Conservative MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale, Tim Collins, was reported to have read the book in one sitting on the night of the 1997 General Election so that he could claim to have read the whole New Adventures series whilst the Conservatives were in government.
The Dying Days is one of a number of the New Adventures which is hard to obtain and is often seen on auction websites such as eBay at prices many times the original cover price. This is because when the book was originally published in April 1997, it sold out before its official release date and a reprint was not practical with Virgin losing the Doctor Who license. A new version of The Dying Days with additional material, author's notes and an artwork gallery was presented as an e-book on the BBC website in 2002.
Like all Doctor Who spin-off media, the way the plot fits in to the ongoing story of television series is open to interpretation. See Whoniverse#Inclusion and canonicity
Contents |
[edit] Plot
In the year 1997, British astronauts land on Mars where they intrude on the tomb of an Ice Lord. The Ice Warrior Xznaal arrives on Earth on the pretence of vengeance, but is secretly in league with the British Science Minister, Lord Greyhaven. When the Eighth Doctor interferes with their plans, Xznaal releases a deadly weapon known as the Red Death. This apparently kills the Doctor, leaving Bernice and the Brigadier to deal with the invading Ice Warriors…
[edit] Notes
- The ending of the book implies that Bernice has sex with the Eighth Doctor, marking the first time in licensed Doctor Who fiction that such relations occur between the Doctor and one of his companions. The scene also includes a statement by the Doctor that Bernice is his longest-serving companion.
- Chapter two features a cameo appearance from an elderly character introduced halfway through a sentence as "-ermass", and subsequently referred to as "Professor" and "Bernard" during his brief appearance.[1] Parkin confirmed in his notes accompanying the later e-book release that this was a deliberate cameo from television science-fiction character Professor Bernard Quatermass, specifically the John Mills version from the 1979 serial Quatermass.[2]
[edit] References
- ^ Parkin, Lance. The Dying Days - Chapter Two - Page 16. bbc.co.uk. Retrieved on 2007-05-08.
- ^ Parkin, Lance. The Dying Days - Author Notes - Chapter Two. bbc.co.uk. Retrieved on 2007-05-08.
[edit] External links
- The Dying Days e-book on the BBC Doctor Who website
- The Dying Days at the Doctor Who Reference Guide
[edit] Reviews
- The Dying Days reviews at Outpost Gallifrey
- The Dying Days reviews at The Doctor Who Ratings Guide
- The Whoniverse's review on The Dying Days
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