The Murder Game (novel)

The Murder Game
Doctor:	Second Doctor
Companion(s):	Polly, Ben
Main enemy:	Selachians
Main setting:	Hotel Galaxian, Selachian warcraft, 2136
Key crew
Publisher:	BBC Books
Writer:	Steve Lyons
Release details
Release number:	2
Release date:	7 July 1997
Format:	Paperback Book; 15 Chapters, 284 Pages
ISBN:	ISBN 0-563-40565-1
BBC Past Doctor Adventures
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The Murder Game was the second novel in the BBC Past Doctor Adventures series. It was written by Steve Lyons, released 7 July 1997 and featured the Second Doctor, Ben Jackson and Polly Wright.

The novel was written by Lyons, who had previously written a number of Doctor Who books. It was published on 7 July 1997 as a paperback book. It saw the first appearance of the Selachians, a race which was first mentioned in Lyons' Virgin Missing Adventures novel Killing Ground.

Publisher's summary

The faded glamour of a hotel in space, spinning in an all-but-forgotten orbit round the Earth, is host to some unusual visitors this weekend — including a party that claim to travel in a battered blue police box...

It is the year 2136. Answering a distress call from the dilapidated Hotel Galaxian, the TARDIS crew discover a games enthusiast is using the hotel to host a murder-mystery weekend. But it seems someone from his motley group of guests is taking things a little too seriously.

While the Doctor, Ben and Polly find themselves joining in the shadowplay, it becomes clear that a real-life murderer is stalking the dark, disused corridors of the Galaxian. But worse than this: there's a sinister force waiting silently in space for events to unfold. A terrible secret is hidden on board the Galaxian, and if it is discovered nothing — least of all murder — will ever be the same again. If this is a game, the stakes just got higher.

Plot

to be added

Characters

• Second Doctor
• Ben Jackson
• Polly
• Alison Hayes
• Bryan Melrose
• Daphne McAllister
• Dorothy Adler
• Henry Mace
• Geoff Hornby
• Neville Adler
• Ted Matlock
• Terri Willis
• Thomas

Worldbuilding

The Doctor

• In the Doctor's pockets are (amongst other things) a bag of jelly babies and a yo-yo.

Objects

• Clockwork frogs are used as currency in the Alpha Mardis systems.

Species

• The Doctor, Ben and Polly encountered Venusians, Draconians and Alpha Centaurans at a spaceport bar in an adventure preceding this one.
• The Doctor offers a silent prayer to "the gods of his own people".

Other

• Ben's bedroom has a cabinet and a dressing table, upon which he kept a bottle of aftershave before it smashed.
• Thomas refers to six colony worlds which don't maintain computerised links to Earth.
• Hayes and Matlock work for an agency with ties to the European government.
• The TSF mention the First Galactic Treaty.

Notes

• The cover image depicting the Doctor seems to actually be of Salamander, even though they were both portrayed by Patrick Troughton.
• The back cover blurb incorrectly states that the story is set in 2146.
• This story is set between The Power of the Daleks and The Highlanders.

Continuity

• T-Mat equipment is mentioned. (TV: The Seeds of Death)
• Henry Mace sings a song "about business being business and always aiming to please". (STAGE: The Ultimate Adventure)
• UNIT — and mentions of the Doctor in the organisation's files — are mentioned; however, the Doctor says he knows nothing of such an organisation. (TV: The Invasion, Spearhead from Space, et al.)
• The Doctor refers to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle as an "old friend"; the Fourth Doctor suspects they may have met before. (PROSE: Evolution)
• The Doctor can feel the space station moving, even though no one else can. (TV: Rose)
• Among the alien menaces the Doctor has fought, Ben mentions the War Machines, (TV: The War Machines) the Daleks, (TV: The Power of the Daleks) and the Cybermen, (TV: The Tenth Planet) and is about to mention more (but is interrupted).
• Polly recalls Professor X. (PROSE: No Future)
• The Doctor creates a temporary sonic device, used to unlock a door, and resolves to begin work on a permanent version when he gets back to the TARDIS. (PROSE: Dreams of Empire, TV: Fury from the Deep)
• Ben states that in his experience, computers do as they please. (TV: The War Machines)
• When seeing an outfit found in the TARDIS wardrobe consisting of a colourful patchwork shirt clashing with yellow trousers, the Doctor thinks to himself that he would never wear such a thing. (TV: The Twin Dilemma)
• Ben and Polly both refer to the attempted Cyberman invasion of Earth in December 1986. (TV: The Tenth Planet)
• Terri mentions the green men of Mars to Ben. (TV: The Ice Warriors, The Seeds of Death, et al.)
• Terri also tells Ben about an encounter between the Selachians and the colonists of Terra Alpha. Terra Alpha was the setting of TV: The Happiness Patrol.
• The Cybermen stole a Selachian spaceship in 2191. (PROSE: Killing Ground)
• Ben remembers hiding under a tarpaulin as a 14-year-old stowaway. (PROSE: Invasion of the Cat-People)
• The Selachians are challenged by the Terran Security Forces. (PROSE: Time of Your Life)

External links

• The Murder Game at the Doctor Who Reference Guide
• The Discontinuity Guide to: The Murder Game at The Whoniverse
• The Cloister Library: The Murder Game