The Bodysnatchers (novel)

The Bodysnatchers
Doctor:	Eighth Doctor
Companion(s):	Sam
Featuring:	Litefoot
Main enemy:	Zygons
Main setting:	London, 11–13 January 1894
Key crew
Publisher:	BBC Books
Writer:	Mark Morris
Cover by:	Black Sheep
Release details
Release number:	3
Release date:	18 August 1997
Format:	Paperback Book; 11 Chapters, 280 Pages
ISBN:	ISBN 0-563-40568-6
BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures
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The Bodysnatchers was the third novel in the BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures series. It was written by Mark Morris, released 18 August 1997 and featured the Eighth Doctor and Sam Jones.

It was the first novel to feature the Zygons, who had previously appeared in the 1975 Doctor Who television story Terror of the Zygons. It also featured an appearance of Professor George Litefoot, whom the Doctor had first met in the 1977 TV story The Talons of Weng-Chiang.

Publisher's summary

It is London, 1894. Amid the fog, cold and degradation, a gruesome business is being conducted. The bodies of the dead are being stolen from their graves — men, women and children alike — for the sinister purpose of a very mysterious gentleman.

When the Eighth Doctor and Sam arrive, they are witness to a horrifying scene in the evil-smelling fog: something rises up from the filthy waters of the Thames and devours a man — a man terrified for his life and on the run from the devil himself...

Teaming up with an old friend, pathologist Professor George Litefoot, the Doctor is determined to get to the bottom of the mystery. Together with Sam, they discover there is a far graver threat facing London then just earthly grave robbers. Deadly alien beings the Doctor has encountered before are at work, and they bring a whole new twist to the word bodysnatchers...

Plot

to be added

Characters

• Eighth Doctor
• Sam Jones
• Professor George Litefoot
• Albert Rudge
• Jack Howe
• Harry Fish
• Emmeline Seers
• Nathaniel Seers
• Florence Seers
• Tom Donahue
• Butler
• Abigail Butler
• Tompkins
• Mary Dobbs
• Lottie
• Mrs Hudson
• Whitney
• Beech
• Stoker
• Hetherington
• Ned Cockles
• Tuval
• Balaak
• Veidra
• Zorva
• Schivaal
• Chumaak
• Mowgra
• Henry Peterson
• Harry Bowman
• Hollis
• Daisy
• Daisy's mother

Worldbuilding

The Doctor's items

• The Zygons destroy the Doctor's sonic screwdriver.

Fashion and clothing

• Emmeline wears one of Leela's outfits that Litefoot kept from her visit.

Foods and beverages

• The Doctor eats some gumblejack fish fritters.
• The Doctor and Litefoot eat kedgeree, grilled sheep's kidneys, toast, marmalade and tea for breakfast.

Individuals

• Professor George Litefoot is almost sixty years old. He's still good friends with Henry Gordon Jago. He still lives at 4 Ranskill Gardens.
• Sam thinks her room looks like a Pride and Prejudice set.

Objects

• The Doctor and Sam use Daxmoil suits to protect themselves in the Thames as they escape from the Zygon ship.

Species

• The Xaranti are the enemies that wiped out the Zygons.
• Zygons are from the planet Zygor.
• Skarasens provide milk for the Zygons; baby Skarasens are thirty or forty feet long.

TARDIS

• Sam's room in the TARDIS used to be Nyssa's.
• The HADS is mentioned, and is used to prevent some Zygons from stealing the TARDIS.

Notes

• To date, this is the only appearance of Litefoot without Henry Gordon Jago.

Continuity

• Litefoot first appeared in TV: The Talons of Weng-Chiang.
• The Zygons first appeared in TV: Terror of the Zygons.
• Zygor, the Zygon homeworld, is said to have been destroyed in their war with the Xaranti. Later accounts cite the destruction as collateral of the "first days" of the Last Great Time War. (TV: The Day of the Doctor)
• The Xaranti appear in PROSE: Deep Blue.
• The Doctor tells Litefoot that Leela is married with children. (PROSE: Lungbarrow)
• At the beginning of the story, the Doctor morosely evades Sam's enquiry into Jack the Ripper's true identity. (PROSE: Matrix)
• The Doctor remembers being romantically involved with Grace Holloway. (TV: Doctor Who)
• The Doctor uses a Venusian lullaby. (TV: The Curse of Peladon)
• The Doctor mentions his encounter with his fourth incarnation. (PROSE: The Eight Doctors)
• The Doctor visits Litefoot several hours after the events of this story, noting that a great deal of time has passed and looking sombre when asked about Sam, most likely setting this during the period when the Doctor lost her. (PROSE: Longest Day, Legacy of the Daleks, Dreamstone Moon, Seeing I)
• Litefoot dreams about his father, a Brigadier General. (TV: The Talons of Weng-Chiang)

External links

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