The Wages of Sin (novel)

The Wages of Sin
Doctor:	Third Doctor
Companion(s):	Liz, Jo
Main enemy:	The Ochrana
Main setting:	Tunguska, 30 June 1908 St Petersburg, December 1916
Key crew
Publisher:	BBC Books
Writer:	David A. McIntee
Release details
Release number:	18
Release date:	1 February 1999
Format:	Paperback Book; 22 Chapters, 250 Pages
ISBN:	ISBN 0-563-55567-X
BBC Past Doctor Adventures
← Previous	Salvation
Next →	Deep Blue

The Wages of Sin was the nineteenth novel in the BBC Past Doctor Adventures series. It was written by David A. McIntee, released 1 February 1999 and featured the Third Doctor, Jo Grant and Liz Shaw.

This novel featured Liz Shaw's first journey in the TARDIS and was set after Liz had departed from UNIT and following the Doctor's exile on Earth (after the television story The Three Doctors).

Publisher's summary

The Doctor has always been wary of meddling with established history. But what happens when the history books lie?

With the secrets of time-travel restored to him after his long exile on Earth, the Doctor decides to test out the TARDIS with a trip into the past. Accompanying him are his assistant, Jo, and an old friend, scientist Liz Shaw. Soon after landing, the travellers realise they have landed at one of the most significant periods of Earth's history — and one of the most dangerous...

It is Russia, 1916, and Europe is in the grip of the Great War. With the TARDIS confiscated by Imperial guards, its crew find themselves trapped in a country on the brink of revolution.

The Doctor and Liz are soon caught up in the deadly machinations of Tsar Nicholas' court, while Jo appears to fall under the sinister spell of the infamous Mad Monk, Rasputin...

Plot

to be added

Characters

• Third Doctor
• Jo Grant
• Liz Shaw
• Grigori Rasputin
• Tsar Nicholas
• Tsaritsa Alexandra
• Anya Vyrubova
• Arkady Morovich
• Christopher "Kit" Powell
• Academician Kuznetzov
• Prince Felix Yusupov
• Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich
• Vladimir Purishkevich
• Sukhotin
• Mischa
• Viktor Vasiliyev
• Officer Vlasyuk
• Officer Krylov

Worldbuilding

Culture

• Jo has seen a film about Rasputin and is aware of the Boney M song about him.
• French is still the main international language in Russia in the 1910s.

Foods and beverages

• Liz Shaw drinks several alcoholic drinks whilst in Russia.

Individuals

• Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart's paternal grandfather, who was also named Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart, worked with the British ambassador to Russia, Bertie Stopford, in Military Intelligence before and during the First World War until the Russian Revolution of 1917. At that time his brother served as a captain in the Royal Artillery, and had two sons.

Notes

• The front cover of the novel features a photograph of the actual Rasputin.
• This story is set between The Three Doctors and Carnival of Monsters.
• The Big Finish audio story Primord offers another account to the first meeting between Liz Shaw and Jo Grant.

Continuity

• Jo tells Liz that she failed General Science at "O" level. (TV: Terror of the Autons)
• Jo recalls being hypnotised by the Master (TV: Terror of the Autons) and the 22nd century Dalek invasion of Earth in an alternative timeline. (TV: Day of the Daleks)
• The First Doctor previously encountered Rasputin in Siberia in 1903 in the company of Ian Chesterton, Barbara Wright and Susan Foreman. However, Rasputin's memory of that incident was erased. (AUDIO: The Wanderer)
• The Doctor mentions being a student of Wong Fei-Hung. (PROSE: The Eleventh Tiger)

External links

• The Wages of Sin at the Doctor Who Reference Guide
• The Discontinuity Guide to: The Wages of Sin at The Whoniverse
• The Cloister Library: The Wages of Sin