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{{Infobox Story SMW
{{Infobox Story
|name= Set Piece
|image= NA035 setpiece.jpg
|image= NA035 setpiece.jpg
|series=[[Virgin New Adventures]]  
|series = [[Virgin New Adventures]]
|number= 35  
|range = Virgin New Adventures
|doctor=Seventh Doctor  
|number in range = 35
|companions= [[Ace]], [[Bernice Summerfield|Benny]]  
|number= 35
|enemy= [[Robot Ant]]s, [[Ship (Set Piece)|Ship]]  
|doctor = Seventh Doctor
|setting= {{il|[[Sydney]], [[1995]]|[[Bellatrix City]], [[25th century]]|[[Argolis]]|''[[Cortese]]'', [[1815]]|[[Egypt]], [[BC|1366 BC]]|[[Cairo]], [[1798]]|[[Paris]], [[1871]]}}
|companions= [[Ace]], [[Bernice Summerfield|Benny]]
|writer= [[Kate Orman]]  
|featuring = [[Kadiatu Lethbridge-Stewart|Kadiatu]]
|publisher= Virgin Books  
|enemy= [[Robot Ant]]s, [[Ship (Set Piece)|Ship]]
|release date= [[16 February (releases)|16 February]] [[1995 (releases)|1995]]
|setting= {{il|[[Sydney]], [[1995]]|[[Bellatrix City]], [[25th century]]|[[Argolis]]|''[[Cortese]]'', [[1815]]|[[Egypt]], [[BC|1366 BC]]|[[Cairo]], [[1798]]|[[Paris]], [[1871]]}}
|format= Paperback Book, 241 Pages  
|writer= Kate Orman
|isbn= ISBN 0-426-20436-0  
|cover= [[Tony Masero]]
|prev= Warlock (novel)
|publisher= Virgin Books
|next= Infinite Requiem (novel) }}
|release date= 16 February 1995
'''''{{StoryTitle}}''''' is the thirty-fifth [[Virgin New Adventures|New Adventures]] novel. It features the [[Seventh Doctor]], [[Ace]] and [[Bernice Summerfield]]. This is the last novel to feature Ace as an ongoing companion in the [[Virgin New Adventures]] novel range. She reappears as a "guest character" in ''[[Happy Endings]]'' and ''[[Lungbarrow]]''.
|format= Paperback Book; 19 Chapters, 241 Pages
|isbn= ISBN 0-426-20436-0
|prev= Warlock (novel)
|next= Infinite Requiem (novel)
}}{{prose stub}}
'''''{{StoryTitle}}''''' is the thirty-fifth [[Virgin New Adventures|New Adventures]] novel. It features the [[Seventh Doctor]], [[Ace]] and [[Bernice Summerfield]]. This is the last novel to feature Ace as an ongoing companion in the [[Virgin New Adventures]] novel range. She reappears as a "guest character" in ''[[Head Games (novel)|Head Games]]'', ''[[Happy Endings (novel)|Happy Endings]]'' and ''[[Lungbarrow (novel)|Lungbarrow]]''.
 
Although he is the "Set" of the title, and his worshippers play an important part in the plot, [[Sutekh]] does not actually appear in the story.


== Publisher's summary ==
== Publisher's summary ==
Line 24: Line 30:
There's a rip in the fabric of space and time. Passenger ships are disappearing from the interstellar traffic lanes. In an attempt to find out who's behind the disappearances, [[Seventh Doctor|the Doctor]] and [[Ace]] allow themselves to be captured. But when [[Bernice Summerfield|Bernice]]'s rescue attempt goes terribly wrong, the time travellers find themselves scattered throughout history.
There's a rip in the fabric of space and time. Passenger ships are disappearing from the interstellar traffic lanes. In an attempt to find out who's behind the disappearances, [[Seventh Doctor|the Doctor]] and [[Ace]] allow themselves to be captured. But when [[Bernice Summerfield|Bernice]]'s rescue attempt goes terribly wrong, the time travellers find themselves scattered throughout history.


Ace, stranded in Ancient [[Egypt]], struggles to survive in an environment as alien as a distant planet: the [[Earth]] 3,000 years before she was born. She manages to find employment as a nobleman's bodyguard. And then she comes face to face with the metal horrors which have pursued her through time - the creatures she saw kill the Doctor.
Ace, stranded in Ancient [[Egypt]], struggles to survive in an environment as alien as a distant planet: the [[Earth]] 3,000 years before she was born. She manages to find employment as a nobleman's [[bodyguard]]. And then she comes face to face with the metal horrors which have pursued her through time — the creatures she saw kill the Doctor.


== Plot ==
== Plot ==
Line 36: Line 42:
* [[Sedjet]]
* [[Sedjet]]
* [[Vivant Denon]]
* [[Vivant Denon]]
* [[Sesehaten]] / [[Sesehset]]
* [[Sesehset]] / Sesehaten
* Pharaoh [[Akhenaten]]
* Pharaoh [[Akhenaten]]
* [[Ship (Set Piece)|Ship]]
* [[Ship (Set Piece)|Ship]]
* [[Thierry]]
* [[Thierry]]


== References ==
== Worldbuilding ==
=== The Doctor ===
=== The Doctor ===
* The Doctor has his thousandth birthday.
* The Doctor knows how to speak [[French language|French]] (separate from [[The Doctor's TARDIS|the TARDIS]]).
* The Doctor knows how to speak [[French language|French]] (separate from the [[The Doctor's TARDIS|TARDIS]]).
 
* The Doctor suffers a double cardiac arrest.
=== Ace ===
* Ace ends up in a relationship with one of Captain [[Sorin]]'s ancestors, Count [[Nikolai Sorin]], at one point.
* Ace tells Sesehset about the [[butterfly effect]].


=== Foods and beverages ===
=== Foods and beverages ===
* Bernice drinks [[absinthe]] and eats [[grape]]s in Cairo.
* The Doctor drinks [[wine]] for [[breakfast]] with Kadiatu and Thierry.
* Bernice drinks [[absinthe]] and eats [[grape]]s in Cairo. She drinks [[beer]] in a seedy bar and wins a drinking competition in order to gain information.
* Benny's travelling bag holds [[gold]], [[vodka]], [[antibiotics]] and camping equipment.
* Benny's travelling bag holds [[gold]], [[vodka]], [[antibiotics]] and camping equipment.


=== Individuals ===
=== Individuals ===
* [[Time (Set Piece)|Time]] calls the Doctor her champion.
* [[Time (mythology)|Time]] calls the Doctor her champion.
* The Doctor first met [[Death (Timewyrm: Revelation)|Death]] on a Gallifreyan hill side.
* The Doctor first met [[Death (mythology)|Death]] on a Gallifreyan hill side.
* Ace's name is revealed as [[Dorothy McShane]].
* Ace becomes one of Sejet's bodyguards. She's called Tepy, which means "First One".
* Ace leaves the Doctor; she is twenty-six.
* Ace ends up in a relationship with one of Captain [[Sorin]]'s ancestors, Count [[Nikolai Sorin]], at one point.
* [[Vivant Denon]] harbours Kadiatu.
* [[Vivant Denon]] harbours Kadiatu.
* Ace tells Sesehset about the [[butterfly effect]].


=== Languages ===
=== Languages ===
* Ace speaks [[Egyptian language|Egyptian]] when stuck in [[Egypt]], but doesn't realise it's because of the [[The Doctor's TARDIS (Blood Heat)|TARDIS]] until she's been there for several months.
* Ace speaks [[Egyptian language|Egyptian]] when stuck in [[Egypt]], but doesn't realise it's because of the [[The Doctor's TARDIS (Silurian Earth)|TARDIS]] until she's been there for several months.


=== Locations ===
=== Locations ===
Line 70: Line 72:


=== Theories and concepts ===
=== Theories and concepts ===
* Some of [[Death (Timewyrm: Revelation)|Death]]'s "siblings" appear, including [[Pain]] and [[Time (Set Piece)|Time]]. All the Eternals (Time, Death, Pain) appear to be female.
* [[Net (goddess)|Net]], [[Isis]], [[Kephri|Khepri]], [[Khnum]], [[Sutekh|Set]], and [[Ra|Re]] were among the gods replaced with [[Aten]] by [[Pharaoh]] [[Akhenaten]].
:* [[Pain]] is older than [[Death (Timewyrm: Revelation)|Death]].
* Some of Death's "siblings" appear, including [[Pain (mythology)|Pain]] and [[Time (mythology)|Time]]. All the Eternals (Time, Death, Pain) appear to be female.
* [[Pain]] visits Benny in a dream, telling her of the vulnerable nerve cluster in a [[Time Lord]]'s shoulder.
* Pain clarifies for Benny that her mother ([[Claire Summerfield]]) was killed by the first [[Dalek]] beams during the attack on their colony.
* [[Pain]] clarifies for Benny that her mother ([[Claire Summerfield]]) was killed by the first [[Dalek]] beams during the attack on their colony.
* The Doctor notes there are places in time where [[Fixed point in time|history can change]], and he calls these "disequilibrium points."


=== Time Lords ===
=== Time Lords ===
* The Doctor showed [[the Brigadier]] how to disable a [[Time Lord]] (in case [[the Master]] ever returns to Earth); a blow to the left shoulder on a Time Lord hits a vital nerve cluster.
* The Doctor showed [[Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart|the Brigadier]] how to disable a [[Time Lord]] (in case [[the Master]] ever returns to Earth); a blow to the left shoulder on a Time Lord hits a vital nerve cluster.


=== Timeline ===
=== Timeline ===
* Ace visits Denon in [[1815]], aged twenty-eight.
* Ace visits Denon in [[1815]], aged twenty-eight.
=== Time travel ===
* [[Kadiatu Lethbridge-Stewart]]'s time machine has been knocking holes in space time.


=== Weapons ===
=== Weapons ===
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* [[Sophie Aldred]] wrote the afterword for this novel.
* [[Sophie Aldred]] wrote the afterword for this novel.
* A [[Prelude Set Piece (short story)|prelude]] to this novel appeared in [[DWM 222]].
* A [[Prelude Set Piece (short story)|prelude]] to this novel appeared in [[DWM 222]].
* The working title for this novel was ''Butterfly Wings''. <ref>[[DWM 252]] (Licence to Kill p.30)</ref>
* The working title for this novel was ''Butterfly Wings''.<ref>[[DWM 252]] (Licence to Kill p.30)</ref>
* Since joining the Doctor at 16, this story establishes that Ace spent seven years in the TARDIS, separate from her three years in [[Spacefleet]], and leaves at 26.


== Continuity ==
== Continuity ==
* It's claimed here that Time Lord [[nanite]]s can regrow limbs. The Doctor re-grows a hand in [[TV]]: ''[[The Christmas Invasion]]''.
* The Doctor states that several months passed between repairing the TARDIS with protoplasm ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Cat's Cradle: Witch Mark (novel)|Cat's Cradle: Witch Mark]]'') and ridding himself of the infection because of it. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Deceit (novel)|Deceit]]'')
* Whilst reading records of history of Egypt, Ace finds references to Daleks in the pyramids as seen in [[TV]]: ''[[The Daleks' Master Plan]]''.
* Time Lord [[nanite]]s can regrow [[limb]]s. The [[Tenth Doctor]] would later re-grow a [[hand]] shortly after his [[regeneration]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Christmas Invasion (TV story)|The Christmas Invasion]]'')
* Kadiatu next appears in [[PROSE]]: ''[[The Also People]]''.
* Kadiatu recalls the [[Sol Transit System]], the [[Thousand Day War]], the Angel [[Francine (Transit)|Francine]], and the nuclear explosion she used to power her timeship. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Transit (novel)|Transit]]'')
* Ace makes a cameo appearance in [[PROSE]]: ''[[Head Games]]'' and attends Benny's wedding in ''[[Happy Endings]]''.
* The Doctor, Ace, and Benny visit a cafe on Argolis while tracking the temporal fractures. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Leisure Hive (TV story)|The Leisure Hive]]'')
* Whilst reading records of the [[history]] of Egypt, Ace finds references to Daleks in the pyramids. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Daleks' Master Plan (TV story)|The Daleks' Master Plan]]'')
* Upon first seeing her, the Doctor mistakes Kadiatu for [[Ruby Duvall]]. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Iceberg (novel)|Iceberg]]'')
* Kadiatu will appear again, ([[PROSE]]: ''[[The Also People (novel)|The Also People]]'') as will Ace ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Head Games (novel)|Head Games]]'') both who attend Benny's wedding. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Happy Endings (novel)|Happy Endings]]'')
* The Doctor compares his Ship infection to the protoplasm of [[Goibhnie]]. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Cat's Cradle: Witch Mark (novel)|Cat's Cradle: Witch Mark]]'')
* He has a conversation with an imaginary Benny and Ace. He previously spoke with an imaginary Benny when he thought she'd died. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Falls the Shadow (novel)|Falls the Shadow]]'')
* Benny recalls the [[Hoothi]]. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Love and War (novel)|Love and War]]'')
* Ace recalls [[Jan Rydd]] ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Love and War (novel)|Love and War]]'') and [[Alan Tomson|Alan]]; ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Blood Heat (novel)|Blood Heat]]'') the Doctor destroying [[Skaro]] ([[TV]]: ''[[Remembrance of the Daleks (TV story)|Remembrance of the Daleks]]'') and trapping the [[Timewyrm]]; ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Timewyrm: Revelation (novel)|Timewyrm Revelation]]'') and surviving [[Olleril]], ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Tragedy Day (novel)|Tragedy Day]]'') [[Peladon]], ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Legacy (novel)|Legacy]]'') [[Belial (moon)|Belial]], ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Lucifer Rising (novel)|Lucifer Rising]]'') and [[Earth|Antykhon]]. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Birthright (novel)|Birthright]]'')
* Benny and Ace encounter Setites, followers of [[Sutekh]], whom the Doctor explains he defeated. ([[TV]]: ''[[Pyramids of Mars (TV story)|Pyramids of Mars]]'') The three travellers will later reunite and battle a returned Sutekh. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Triumph of Sutekh (audio anthology)|The Triumph of Sutekh]]'')
* Denon has seen Ace's portait. ([[TV]]: ''[[Silver Nemesis (TV story)|Silver Nemesis]]'')
* Benny notes Ace's graffiti is older than the [[Exxilon (species)|Exxilons]] visiting Earth ([[PROSE]]: ''[[The Left-Handed Hummingbird (novel)|The Left-Handed Hummingbird]]'') and the Doctor challenging [[Fenric]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Curse of Fenric (TV story)|The Curse of Fenric]]'')
* The Doctor still has [[Cameca's brooch]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Aztecs (TV story)|The Aztecs]]'', [[PROSE]]: ''[[White Darkness (novel)|White Darkness]]'')
* Ace tells the Egyptians the story of [[Mike Smith|the traitor]] and the [[Judith Winters|girl with magic powers]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[Remembrance of the Daleks (TV story)|Remembrance of the Daleks]]'')
* The [[Eternal]]s Pain, Death, and Time appear in dreams, and the Doctor makes a deal with one again. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Love and War (novel)|Love and War]]'')
* Ace was transported in the [[time storm]] two millions years into the future to [[Iceworld]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[Dragonfire (TV story)|Dragonfire]]'')
* She uses the [[Sisterhood of Karn]]'s salve in the TARDIS. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Timewyrm: Exodus (novel)|Timewyrm: Exodus]]'')
* Pain shows Benny scenes of Ace and the Doctor with the Timewyrm ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Timewyrm: Genesys (novel)|Timewyrm: Genesys]]'') and Ace, [[Robin Yeadon]] and the Doctor. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Nightshade (novel)|Nightshade]]'')
* Ship's [[Gatekeeper (Set Piece)|gatekeepers]] give Ace the same feeling she got from the [[Garvond]]'s [[Time Soldier]]s. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[The Dimension Riders (novel)|The Dimension Riders]]'')
* Pain tells Benny her mother was killed in the first Dalek blasts, and not stunned like she thought. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Lucifer Rising (novel)|Lucifer Rising]]'')
* "[[Cruk]]" is a common swearword of Benny's time, which Ace also uses frequently. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Love and War (novel)|Love and War]]'')
* The Doctor tells Kadiatau about [[dimensional transference]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Mysterious Planet (TV story)|The Mysterious Planet]]'')
* Ace remembers the Doctor's three rules, ([[TV]]: ''[[Dragonfire (TV story)|Dragonfire]]'') him telling Fenric to kill her, ([[TV]]: ''[[The Curse of Fenric (TV story)|The Curse of Fenric]]'') being influenced on the [[Cheetah World]], ([[TV]]: ''[[Survival (TV story)|Survival]]'') falling out with the Doctor, ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Love and War (novel)|Love and War]]'') being controlled by the [[Blue]], ([[PROSE]]: ''[[The Left-Handed Hummingbird (novel)|The Left-Handed Hummingbird]]'') and pretending to stab the Doctor. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[No Future (novel)|No Future]]'')
* Ace visits [[Cristián Alvarez|Cristián]] and [[Benjamin Alvarez|Ben Alvarez]] in [[2002]]. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[The Left-Handed Hummingbird (novel)|The Left-Handed Hummingbird]]'')


== External links ==
== External links ==
* {{Dwrefguide|who_na35.htm|Set Piece}}
{{dwrefguide|who_na35.htm|Set Piece}}
* {{whoniverse|NA35.php|Set Piece}}
* {{whoniverse|na35|Set Piece}}
* [http://www.magnetopia.org/cloisterlibrary/setp.htm The Cloister Library: '''Set Piece''']
* [http://mysite.science.uottawa.ca/rsmith43/cloister/setp.htm The Cloister Library: '''Set Piece''']
* [http://www.drwhoguide.com/whona35p.htm Prelude to '''Set Piece''' as published in DWM#222]
* [https://doctorwho.guide/whona35p.htm Prelude to '''Set Piece''' as published in DWM#222]
* [http://doctorwho.org.nz/archive/tsv45/setpiece.html But the Details Aren't Important - Writing Set Piece by Kate Orman (Article) - TSV 45]
* [http://www.sorddin.com/broadsword-old/issue2/interview2.html Interview with Kate Orman, in issue 2 of ''Broadsword'']


== Footnotes ==
== Footnotes ==
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{{NA}}
{{NA}}
{{TitleSort}}
{{TitleSort}}
[[Category:Bernice Summerfield stories]]
 
[[Category:Bernice Summerfield sources]]
[[Category:Seventh Doctor novels]]
[[Category:Seventh Doctor novels]]
[[Category:NA novels with Bernice Summerfield]]
[[Category:NA novels with Bernice Summerfield]]
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[[Category:1995 novels]]
[[Category:1995 novels]]
[[Category:Stories set in Paris]]
[[Category:Stories set in Paris]]
[[Category:Stories set in Egypt]]
[[Category:Novels set in Egypt]]
[[Category:Stories set in 1995]]
[[Category:Stories set in 1995]]
[[Category:Stories set in 1815]]
[[Category:Stories set in 1815]]
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[[Category:Stories set in 1871]]
[[Category:Stories set in 1871]]
[[Category:Stories set in the 25th century]]
[[Category:Stories set in the 25th century]]
[[Category:Stories set in the 14th century]]
[[Category:Stories set in Sydney]]
[[Category:Stories set in Sydney]]
[[Category:Stories set in the distant past]]
[[Category:Novels set in dreams]]
[[Category:Stories set in 1366 BC]]

Latest revision as of 20:53, 30 July 2024

RealWorld.png

prose stub

Set Piece is the thirty-fifth New Adventures novel. It features the Seventh Doctor, Ace and Bernice Summerfield. This is the last novel to feature Ace as an ongoing companion in the Virgin New Adventures novel range. She reappears as a "guest character" in Head Games, Happy Endings and Lungbarrow.

Although he is the "Set" of the title, and his worshippers play an important part in the plot, Sutekh does not actually appear in the story.

Publisher's summary[[edit] | [edit source]]

Dead. He was dead. How the hell was she supposed to do CPR on a man with two hearts?

There's a rip in the fabric of space and time. Passenger ships are disappearing from the interstellar traffic lanes. In an attempt to find out who's behind the disappearances, the Doctor and Ace allow themselves to be captured. But when Bernice's rescue attempt goes terribly wrong, the time travellers find themselves scattered throughout history.

Ace, stranded in Ancient Egypt, struggles to survive in an environment as alien as a distant planet: the Earth 3,000 years before she was born. She manages to find employment as a nobleman's bodyguard. And then she comes face to face with the metal horrors which have pursued her through time — the creatures she saw kill the Doctor.

Plot[[edit] | [edit source]]

to be added

Characters[[edit] | [edit source]]

Worldbuilding[[edit] | [edit source]]

The Doctor[[edit] | [edit source]]

Ace[[edit] | [edit source]]

Foods and beverages[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • The Doctor drinks wine for breakfast with Kadiatu and Thierry.
  • Bernice drinks absinthe and eats grapes in Cairo. She drinks beer in a seedy bar and wins a drinking competition in order to gain information.
  • Benny's travelling bag holds gold, vodka, antibiotics and camping equipment.

Individuals[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • Time calls the Doctor her champion.
  • The Doctor first met Death on a Gallifreyan hill side.
  • Vivant Denon harbours Kadiatu.

Languages[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • Ace speaks Egyptian when stuck in Egypt, but doesn't realise it's because of the TARDIS until she's been there for several months.

Locations[[edit] | [edit source]]

Theories and concepts[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • Net, Isis, Khepri, Khnum, Set, and Re were among the gods replaced with Aten by Pharaoh Akhenaten.
  • Some of Death's "siblings" appear, including Pain and Time. All the Eternals (Time, Death, Pain) appear to be female.
  • Pain clarifies for Benny that her mother (Claire Summerfield) was killed by the first Dalek beams during the attack on their colony.
  • The Doctor notes there are places in time where history can change, and he calls these "disequilibrium points."

Time Lords[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • The Doctor showed the Brigadier how to disable a Time Lord (in case the Master ever returns to Earth); a blow to the left shoulder on a Time Lord hits a vital nerve cluster.

Timeline[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • Ace visits Denon in 1815, aged twenty-eight.

Weapons[[edit] | [edit source]]

Notes[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • Sophie Aldred wrote the afterword for this novel.
  • A prelude to this novel appeared in DWM 222.
  • The working title for this novel was Butterfly Wings.[1]
  • Since joining the Doctor at 16, this story establishes that Ace spent seven years in the TARDIS, separate from her three years in Spacefleet, and leaves at 26.

Continuity[[edit] | [edit source]]

External links[[edit] | [edit source]]

Footnotes[[edit] | [edit source]]

  1. ↑ DWM 252 (Licence to Kill p.30)
v • e
Virgin Books New Adventures
Seventh
Doctor
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
Bernice
Summerfield
1997
1998
1999
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