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{{Infobox Story SMW | |||
|novelisation of = City of Death (TV story) | |||
|image = <gallery> | |||
City of Death novel.jpg|2015 edition | |||
City of Death (Target Books).jpg|2018 edition | |||
</gallery> | |||
|series = [[BBC Books novelisation]]s | |||
|number = 3 | |||
|doctor = Fourth Doctor | |||
|companions = [[Romana II]] | |||
|featuring = K9 Mark II | |||
|featuring2 = Duggan | |||
|enemy = [[Scaroth]], [[Hermann]] | |||
|setting = {{il|[[Paris]], [[1979]]|[[Florence]], [[1505]]|[[Earth]], the distant past}} | |||
|writer = James Goss | |||
|read by = [[Lalla Ward]] | |||
|publisher = BBC Books | |||
|publisher2 = Target Books | |||
|release date = 21 May 2015 | |||
|cover = | |||
|format = Print, 320 pages | |||
|isbn = ISBN 978-0-425-28391-2 | |||
|prev = Shada (novelisation) | |||
|next = The Pirate Planet (novelisation) | |||
|series2 = [[Target Books|Target novelisations]] | |||
|prev2 = The Paradise of Death (novelisation) | |||
|next2 = Rose (novelisation) | |||
|series3 = [[List of Doctor Who television stories|TV series order]] | |||
|prev3 = Doctor Who and the Destiny of the Daleks (novelisation) | |||
|next3 = Doctor Who and the Creature from the Pit (novelisation) | |||
}} | |||
'''''City of Death''''' by [[James Goss]] was a novelisation of the [[City of Death (TV story)|TV story of the same name]] written under the pen name [[David Agnew (writer)|David Agnew]] by [[Douglas Adams]] and [[Graham Williams]] during a last minute rewrite of the script ''A Gamble With Time'' written by [[David Fisher (writer)|David Fisher]]. It was the first novelisation since ''[[Shada (novelisation)|Shada]]''. | |||
[[Gareth Roberts]], who wrote the ''Shada'' novelisation, was originally meant to write that of ''City of Death'', but dropped out during writing. | |||
== Publisher's summary == | == Publisher's summary == | ||
=== Hardback === | === Hardback === | ||
''"You're tinkering with time. That's always a bad idea unless you know what you're doing."'' | |||
The Doctor takes Romana for a holiday in Paris – a city which, like a fine wine, has a bouquet all its own. Especially if you visit during one of the vintage years. But the TARDIS takes them to 1979, a table-wine year, a year whose vintage is soured by cracks – not in their wine glasses but in the very fabric of time itself. | The Doctor takes Romana for a holiday in Paris – a city which, like a fine wine, has a bouquet all its own. Especially if you visit during one of the vintage years. But the TARDIS takes them to 1979, a table-wine year, a year whose vintage is soured by cracks – not in their wine glasses but in the very fabric of time itself. | ||
| Line 32: | Line 46: | ||
Aided by British private detective Duggan, whose speciality is thumping people, the Doctor and Romana must thwart the machinations of the suave, mysterious Count Scarlioni – all twelve of him – if the human race has any chance of survival. | Aided by British private detective Duggan, whose speciality is thumping people, the Doctor and Romana must thwart the machinations of the suave, mysterious Count Scarlioni – all twelve of him – if the human race has any chance of survival. | ||
But then, the | But then, the Doctor's holidays tend to turn out a bit like this. | ||
== Chapter titles == | |||
* Part One | |||
** All Roads Lead to Paris | |||
** Isn't it Nice? | |||
** A Painting Like... | |||
** Look to the Lady | |||
** Mixed Doubles | |||
* Part Two | |||
** Paris in a Day | |||
** Lies Beneath | |||
** Unique Plurals | |||
** Count Down | |||
* Part Three | |||
** Renaissance Man | |||
** Follies | |||
** Déjà Vu | |||
** The Father of Invention | |||
** Material Witness | |||
* Part Four | |||
** The Discrete Charm of the Bourgeoisise | |||
** Goodbye, Not Au Revoir | |||
** We'll Never Have Paris | |||
** À la Recherche du Temps Perdu | |||
** French without Tears in the Fabric of Space-Time | |||
== Characters == | == Characters == | ||
| Line 41: | Line 78: | ||
* [[Duggan]] | * [[Duggan]] | ||
* [[Scaroth]] | * [[Scaroth]] | ||
* [[Heidi Scarlioni|Countess Heidi Scarlioni]] | |||
* [[Hermann]] | |||
* [[Fyodor Nikolai Kerensky]] | |||
* [[Leonardo da Vinci]] | |||
== | == Worldbuilding == | ||
to | * It is mentioned that the Jagaroth came to earth tracking a [[Racnoss]] energy signal, in reference to the events of ''[[The Runaway Bride (TV story)|The Runaway Bride]]''. | ||
* Romana notes that she prefers Count Scarlioni as a villain over [[Davros]]. | |||
* Romana lists a number of art galleries across the universe better than the [[Louvre]], including the [[Braxiatel Collection]]. | |||
* Romana began travelling with the Doctor at the age of 125, and has been travelling with him for somewhere between a few weeks and a few years. Duggan believes she is 25. | |||
* The Doctor looks at an [[Ernest Hemingway]] book. | |||
* The Doctor and Romana have previously visited the [[Medusa Cascade]]. | |||
* The Doctor returns to Paris from Florence using the [[fast return switch]]. | |||
* The Doctor once showed Romana an episode of ''[[Blue Peter]]''. | |||
* Romana improves upon Kerensky's computer, increasing the memory to 1 MB and adding 7 computer languages and 5 protocols. She describes it as a "clever prime", in reference to a series of BBC-licensed [[television]] [[Prime Computer advertisement|adverts]] for Prime Computers in [[Australia]] featuring the Doctor and Romana, which were released in [[1979]], but never shown in the [[UK]]. | |||
== Notes == | == Notes == | ||
* This is the second of [[Douglas Adams]]' ''Doctor Who'' stories to be released in book form, | * This novel was released complete and unabridged by [[BBC Audio]] and read by [[Lalla Ward]]. | ||
* This is the first official novelisation of ''City of Death''. | * The audio set of eight CDs was released [[21 May (releases)|21 May]] [[2015 (releases)|2015]] priced £25 (UK) | ||
* This is the second of [[Douglas Adams]]'s ''Doctor Who'' stories to be released in book form, fourteen years after Adams's death in 2001. None of his three ''Doctor Who'' stories had previously appeared in book form for a variety of legal reasons. | |||
* This is the first official novelisation of ''City of Death''. It is also the first novelisation of a story broadcast on television since [[PROSE]]: ''[[The Novel of the Film (novelisation)|The Novel of the Film]]''. | |||
* The four-part structure of the novel mirrors the four-part structure of the televised story. | |||
* The title page includes the following info, in homage to the original Target novels: | |||
** THE CHANGING FACE OF DOCTOR WHO This book portrays the fourth incarnation of Doctor Who, whose physical appearance later changed when he [[Logopolis (TV story)|lost an argument with gravity]]. | |||
** THE CHANGING FACE OF SCAROTH This book portrays the twelfth and final incarnation of Scaroth, last of the Jagaroth. | |||
* In [[2018 (releases)|2018]], [[Target Books]] printed an abridged version of the novelisation. | |||
* This story was also released as an ebook available from the Amazon Kindle store. | * This story was also released as an ebook available from the Amazon Kindle store. | ||
* The book was released in Brazil by Suma de Letras as Cidade da Morte. | |||
== Continuity == | == Continuity == | ||
to be | * The Doctor recently defeated the Black Guardian. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Armageddon Factor (TV story)|The Armageddon Factor]]'') | ||
* Many previous companions left because they were no longer enjoying the experience of travelling with the Doctor; some got married, such as [[Jo Grant|Jo]] ([[TV]]: ''[[The Green Death (TV story)|The Green Death]]'') and [[Leela]], ([[TV]]: ''[[The Invasion of Time (TV story)|The Invasion of Time]]'') whilst [[Dodo Chaplet|one]] wandered off halfway through a battle with [[WOTAN|a supercomputer]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[The War Machines (TV story)|The War Machines]]'') | |||
* Romana regenerated for the fun of it, and suffered few ill-effects from it, before then defeating the Daleks. Various other explanations have previously been given. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Lies (audio story)|Lies]], ''[[PROSE]]: ''[[The Lying Old Witch in the Wardrobe (short story)|The Lying Old Witch in the Wardrobe]], ''[[TV]]: ''[[Destiny of the Daleks (TV story)|Destiny of the Daleks]]'') | |||
* The Doctor compares Paris to the rooms of the TARDIS, where its rooms always seems to rearrange itself. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[No Place Like Home (audio story)|No Place Like Home]], ''[[TV]]: ''[[The Doctor's Wife (TV story)|The Doctor's Wife]]'') | |||
* [[Genghis Khan]] threw an army at the TARDIS to little success, and was won in a game of [[backgammon]] by his [[Kublai Khan|grandson]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[Marco Polo (TV story)|Marco Polo]], [[Rose (TV story)|Rose]]'') | |||
* Romana has a sonic screwdriver. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Horns of Nimon (TV story)|The Horns of Nimon]]'') | |||
== Deviations from the televised story == | |||
* An original scene features Romana and Duggan going on a night out together, with Romana getting drunk on wine in the process. | |||
* The background of the art critics is expanded upon. | |||
* Scarlioni does not know he is Scaroth until the scene where he removes his face. | |||
* The character of [[Heidi Scarlioni|Countess Scarlioni]] is greatly expanded upon, given a backstory and a first name, Heidi. She is also shown to have a closer relationship with the Count, with him regretting having to kill her greatly. | |||
* K9 features briefly in the novel; he did not appear at all in the televised version. | |||
* Duggan's backstory as to how he ended up in Paris is explored in great detail, with a scene depicting his last case before the events of this story. | |||
* There are several other minor changes: for instance, Scaroth can travel three minutes back in time as opposed to two, and the Doctor's words on the ''[[Mona Lisa]]'' are "These are Fakes" rather than "This is a Fake". | |||
* Kerensky's death is presented from his perspective, showing him living out decades within the time bubble musing over his past. | |||
* [[Hermann]] is given a back story as a German soldier who provided Scarlioni with art treasures after World War II. | |||
* The sketcher from the café is named as [[Bourget]], as per an early storyline, and makes several more appearances, repeatedly compelled to draw people with clock faces. | |||
* The tour guide is named Madame [[Henriette]] and given a collection of cats. | |||
* Scaroth is not killed in the chateau explosion but left trapped in the time bubble. | |||
* There is an extra sequence of [[Duggan]] fighting a group of Scarlioni's men while escaping from the chateau. It is Romana, rather than Duggan, who knocks the Countess unconscious. The Countess is armed with a gatling gun rather than a hand gun. | |||
* The Doctor does not realise the explosion of [[Sephiroth|the Jagaroth ship]] started life on Earth until he travels back in time, instead worrying history will be changed drastically if Scaroth's splinters are removed from history. | |||
* The Doctor displays more anger towards Romana for building Scarlioni a time machine. | |||
* The Doctor states Shakespeare sprained his wrist playing croquet rather than writing sonnets. | |||
* The Jagaroth ship is named the ''Sephiroth'', the name of the species in early storylines. | |||
* Some characters are switched around: for instance, when the Doctor returns to the show on television he is escorted in by a thug and sends a maid to inform Scarlioni. In the novelisation, he gets the maid to take him inside and sends Hermann to get Scarlioni. | |||
* The Countess' bracelet is said to be isomorphic, meaning in theory only Scarlioni can remove it, and allows him a degree of control over her. | |||
* The Doctor gives the remaining ''Mona Lisa'' to Duggan at the end; the televised version is vague as to what happened to it. | |||
* Duggan sees the Doctor and Romana leaving in [[the Doctor's TARDIS]] from the bottle of the Eiffel Tower. | |||
* Count Scarlioni is said to possess a fireplace previously owned by [[Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson|Madame du Pompadour]]. | |||
== Additional cover images == | |||
<gallery position=center captionalign=center hideaddbutton="true" > | |||
PaperbackCityOfDeath.jpg|2016 BBC Books paperback edition | |||
City of Death (Target Books).jpg|2018 Target Books edition.<br />Cover by [[Anthony Dry]] | |||
</gallery> | |||
== Editions published outside Britain == | |||
* Published in the USA by Ace Books in 2015 as a hardback edition and 2016 as a paperback edition, it was one of three books published by them in the 2010's. | |||
* Published in Italy by Mondadori in 2015 as a paperback edition, translated by Alessandro Vezzoli and published as ''La Citta della Morte'', it was one of three books published by them in the 2010's. | |||
* Published in Brazil by Suma de Letras in 2015 as a paperback edition, translated by Regina Winarski and published as ''Cidade da Morte'', it was one of two novelisations published in the 2010's. | |||
* Published in Germany by Cross Cult in 2015 as a paperback edition, translated by Claudia Kern and published as ''Die Stadt des Todes'', it was one of five books published by them in the 2010's; this edition uses the same cover design as the UK paperback edition. | |||
* Published in Hungary by Gabo in 2015 as a paperback edition, translated by Zsolt Beke and published as ''A Halal Varosa'', it was one of two novelisations published in the 2010's. | |||
* Published in the Czech Republic by Argo in 2016 as a hardback edition, translated by Pavel Cernovsky and published as ''Mesto Smrti'', it was one of three novelisations published in the 2010's. | |||
* Published in Turkey by Ithaki Yayinlari in 2016 as a paperback edition, translated by Ayda Sungur and published as ''Olum Sehri'', it was one of three books published in the 2010's. | |||
* Published in China by the Shanghai Translation Publishing House in 2017 as a paperback edition, translated by Yao Xiang Hui, it was one of two novelisations published by them in the 2010's. | |||
* Published in Russia by AST in 2018 as a hardback edition, translated by Alexey Osipov, it was one of eight books published in the 2010's; this was the only foreign edition to create its own version of the cover design. | |||
<gallery position=center captionalign=center hideaddbutton="true" > | |||
File:1stAmericanCityOfDeath.jpg|US Hardback edition | |||
File:AmericanCityOfDeath.jpg|US Paperback edition | |||
File:ItalianCityOfDeath.jpg|Italian edition | |||
File:BrazilianCityOfDeath.jpg|Brazilian edition | |||
File:GermanCityOfDeath.jpg|German edition | |||
File:HungarianCityOfDeath.jpg|Hungarian edition | |||
File:CzechCityOfDeath.jpg|Czech edition | |||
File:TurkishCityOfDeath.jpg|Turkish edition | |||
File:ChineseCityOfDeath.jpg|Chinese edition | |||
File:RussianCityOfDeath.jpg|Russian edition | |||
</gallery> | |||
== Audiobook == | |||
This novel was released as an audiobook on [[21 May (releases)|21 May]] [[2015 (releases)|2015]] complete and unabridged by [[BBC Audio]] and read by [[Lalla Ward]]. | |||
The cover blurb and thumbnail illustrations were retained in the accompanying booklet with sleevenotes by [[David J. Howe]]. Music and sound effects by [[Simon Power]]. | |||
The audiobook was re-released on [[4 November (releases)|4 November]] [[2021 (releases)|2021]] as part of the anthology ''[[The Time Travel Collection]]''. | |||
<gallery position="center" captionalign="center" hideaddbutton="true"> | <gallery position="center" captionalign="center" hideaddbutton="true"> | ||
City of Death cd.jpg|Audiobook cover. | |||
</gallery> | </gallery> | ||
== External links == | |||
* {{Penguin|1115907/doctor-who-city-of-death-target-collection/}} | |||
{{DWN}} | |||
{{TitleSort}} | {{TitleSort}} | ||
[[cs:Město smrti (novelizace)]] | |||
[[fr:City of Death (novélisation)]] | |||
[[Category:BBC Books novelisations of television stories]] | |||
[[Category:Stories set in 1979]] | |||
[[Category:Stories set in 1505]] | |||
[[Category:Stories set in the distant past]] | |||
[[Category:Fourth Doctor novelisations]] | |||
[[Category:2015 novels]] | |||
[[Category:Stories set in Paris]] | |||
[[Category:Novels set on Earth]] | |||
[[Category:Romana II novels]] | |||
[[Category:Stories set in Florence]] | |||
[[Category:Target novelisations]] | |||
[[Category:BBC Books novelisations with audiobook readings]] | |||