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Author | Lance Parkin |
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Series | Doctor Who book: Virgin New Adventures |
Release number | 61 |
Subject | Featuring: Eighth Doctor Bernice, Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart |
Set in | Period between The television movie and "The Night of the Doctor" |
Publisher | Virgin Books |
Publication date | April 1997 |
ISBN | 0-426-20504-9 |
Preceded by | Doctor Who (broadcast) Lungbarrow (novel) |
Followed by | So Vile a Sin (publication) Oh No It Isn't! (Bernice only NAs) |
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 the New Adventures range to feature the Doctor and the only one of that range to feature Paul McGann's Eighth Doctor. Thereafter the series centred on 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. (In the event, the postponed novel So Vile a Sin was finally published later that month, thus frustrating Collins' claim.)
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. 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, leading to this scarcity. 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, and was available there from 2002 through 2010.
In the year 1997, Bernice Summerfield is recovering from the breakdown of her marriage at the Doctor's house on the fictional Allen Road near Adisham in Kent. To her surprise, when the TARDIS arrives it is the Eighth Doctor that steps out. Before Benny can come to terms with the change, a helicopter crash lands nearby, carrying soil samples from Mars and a prisoner, astronaut Alex Christian, who has been incarcerated since he killed the crew of a British Mars mission. Or so everyone thought. In reality, his crew were killed by Ice Warriors and his imprisonment was part of a deal negotiated between the British government and the Martian authorities. Since then, there have been no further missions to Mars, but now Britain has sent a new mission back to the planet. British astronauts land on Mars where they intrude on the tomb of an Ice Lord. The Ice Warrior Xznaal arrives on Earth with 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…
Professor Bernard Quatermass is a fictional scientist originally created by writer Nigel Kneale for BBC Television. An intelligent and highly moral British scientist, Quatermass is a pioneer of the British space programme, heading the British Experimental Rocket Group. He continually finds himself confronting sinister alien forces that threaten to destroy humanity.
The Virgin New Adventures are a series of novels from Virgin Publishing based on the British science-fiction television series Doctor Who. They continued the story of the Doctor from the point at which the television programme went into hiatus from television in 1989.
Professor Bernice Surprise Summerfield, or simply Benny, is a fictional character created by author Paul Cornell as a new companion of the Seventh Doctor in Virgin Publishing's range of original full-length Doctor Who novels, the New Adventures. The New Adventures were authorised novels carrying on from where the Doctor Who television series had left off, and Summerfield was introduced in Cornell's novel Love and War in 1992.
Lance Parkin is a British author. He is best known for writing fiction and reference books for television series, in particular Doctor Who and as a storyliner on Emmerdale.
The Ice Warriors are a fictional extraterrestrial race of reptilian humanoids in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. They were originally created by Brian Hayles, first appearing in the 1967 serial The Ice Warriors where they encountered the Second Doctor and his companions Jamie and Victoria. In Doctor Who, the Ice Warriors originated on Mars, which within the series narrative is a dying world. Their early appearances depict the Ice Warriors as attempting to conquer the Earth and escape their planet as early as Earth's Ice Age. A frozen group are discovered by an Earth scientific team, one of whom, Walters, dubs them 'Ice Warriors' in their first appearance. Despite this not being the name of their species, an Ice Lord later refers to his soldiers as Ice Warriors in the 1974 serial The Monster of Peladon. Similarly there is a fleeting reference to themselves as such in The Curse of Peladon. Although originally appearing as villains, subsequent appearances have depicted Ice Warriors that have eschewed violence and even ally themselves with the Doctor. They have also been featured in flashback and cameo appearances, in addition to appearing frequently in spin-off media such as novels and audio releases.
Jacqueline Rayner is a British author, best known for her work with the licensed fiction based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who.
Nick Wallace is a novelist and short story writer based in Tunbridge Wells, best known for his work in Doctor Who spin-offs.
Stephen Cole is an English author of children's books and science fiction. He was also in charge of BBC Worldwide's merchandising of the BBC Television series Doctor Who between 1997 and 1999 and as executive producer on the Big Finish Productions range of Doctor Who audio dramas.
Lungbarrow is an original novel written by Marc Platt and based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Published in Virgin Books' New Adventures range, it was the last of that range to feature the Seventh Doctor.
Mark Clapham is a British author, best known for writing fiction and reference books for television series, in particular relating to Doctor Who and Warhammer 40,000.
Oh No It Isn't! is a novel published in 1997 by Paul Cornell from the Virgin New Adventures featuring the fictional archaeologist Bernice Summerfield.
Walking to Babylon is a 1998 novel by Kate Orman. It is set in the Virgin New Adventures series and features the fictional archaeologist Bernice Summerfield.
Just War is a novel by Lance Parkin from the Virgin New Adventures. The New Adventures were based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. The novel featured the characters of the Seventh Doctor, Bernice Summerfield, Chris Cwej and Roz Forrester.
Happy Endings is an original novel written by Paul Cornell and based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It is the fiftieth book in the Virgin New Adventures series. It features the Seventh Doctor, Bernice, Chris, Roz, Jason, Ace, the Brigadier, Romana II, Kadiatu and Irving Braxiatel, as well as characters from almost every previous New Adventures novel. It centres on the wedding of Bernice and Jason.
Beige Planet Mars is a 1998 novel by Lance Parkin and Mark Clapham featuring the fictional archaeologist Bernice Summerfield. The New Adventures were a spin-off from the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who.
Genius Loci is a novel by Ben Aaronovitch, focusing on the early career of Bernice "Benny" Summerfield, a character from the spin-off media based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. This was the first of Big Finish's Bernice Summerfield novels to be released under the New Worlds format.
The Adventures of the Diogenes Damsel is a Big Finish Productions audio drama featuring Lisa Bowerman as Bernice Summerfield, a character from the spin-off media based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who.
The Gallifrey Chronicles is a BBC Books original novel written by Lance Parkin and based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was the last of the Eighth Doctor Adventures range and features the Eighth Doctor, Fitz Kreiner, and Trix MacMillan. This book, along with a few others in the series, was reprinted in 2011 and is available as an e-book.