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{{Infobox Novel|
{{title dab away}}
novel name= Christmas on a Rational Planet|
{{real world}}
image= [[Image:NA052_christmasonarationalplanet.jpg|250px]] |
{{Infobox Story SMW
series=[[Doctor Who]] -<br/>[[Virgin New Adventures]] |
|image       = NA052 christmasonarationalplanet.jpg
number= 52 |
|range = Virgin New Adventures
doctor=[[Seventh Doctor]] |
|number in range = 52
companions= [[Roz Forrester | Roz]], [[Chris Cwej | Chris]] |
|number       = 52
enemy= [[the Carnival Queen]] |
|doctor       = Seventh Doctor
year= Woodwicke, [[New York]], [[1799]]<br> [[Arizona]], [[2012]]|
|companions   = [[Roz Forrester|Roz]], [[Chris Cwej|Chris]]
writer= [[Lawrence Miles]] |
|enemy       = [[Carnival Queen]]
publisher= [[Virgin Books]] |
|setting      = {{il|[[Woodwicke]], [[1799]]|[[Arizona]], [[2012]]}}
release date= July [[1996]] |
|writer      = Lawrence Miles
format= Paperback Book, ? Pages |
|cover = [[Mike Posen]]
isbn= ISBN 042620476X|
|publisher   = Virgin Books
previous story= [[GodEngine]]|
|release date = 18 July 1996
next story= [[Return of the Living Dad]]}}
|format       = Paperback Book; 14 Chapters, 256 Pages
|isbn         = ISBN 0-426-20476-X
|series      = [[Virgin New Adventures]]
|prev        = GodEngine (novel)
|next         = Return of the Living Dad (novel)
}}{{prose stub}}
'''''{{StoryTitle}}''''' was the fifty-second [[Virgin New Adventures]] novel. It featured the [[Seventh Doctor]], [[Chris Cwej]] and [[Roz Forrester]]. ''{{StoryTitle}}'' was author [[Lawrence Miles]]' first novel for ''Doctor Who''. He later wrote two novels for the [[Virgin Books]]'s [[Virgin Bernice Summerfield New Adventures|"Bernice Summerfield" New Adventures]]. He also contributed significant elements to the [[BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures]] novels in his books ''[[Alien Bodies (novel)|Alien Bodies]]'', ''[[Interference - Book One (novel)|Interference - Book One]]'' and ''[[Interference - Book Two (novel)|Interference - Book Two]]''. The beginnings of ideas and elements in those novels can be seen in this novel.


==Publisher's Summary==
== Publisher's summary ==
'''‘An end to history. An end to certainty. Is that too much to ask?’'''
''"An end to history. An end to certainty. Is that too much to ask?"''


December, [[1799]]. [[Europe]] is recovering from the [[Age or Reason]], the [[Vatican]] is learning to live with [[Napoleon]], and [[America]] is celebrating a new era of independence. But in [[New York State]], something is spreading its own brand of madness through the streets. Secret societies are crawling from the woodwork, and there’s a Satanic conspiracy around every corner.
December, [[1799]]. [[Europe]] is recovering from the [[Age of Reason]], the [[Vatican]] is learning to live with [[Napoleon]], and [[America]] is celebrating a new era of independence. But in [[New York state|New York State]], something is spreading its own brand of madness through the streets. Secret societies are crawling from the woodwork, and there's a Satanic conspiracy around every corner.


[[Roz Forrester]] is stranded in a town where festive cheer and random violence go hand-in-hand. [[Chris Cwej]] is trapped on board [[the Doctor's TARDIS|the TARDIS]] with someone who’s been trained to kill him. And when Reason itself breaks down, even [[Seventh Doctor|the Doctor]] can’t be sure who or what he’s fighting for.
[[Roz Forrester]] is stranded in a town where festive cheer and random violence go hand-in-hand. [[Chris Cwej]] is trapped on board [[the Doctor's TARDIS|the TARDIS]] with someone who's been trained to kill him. And when Reason itself breaks down, even [[Seventh Doctor|the Doctor]] can't be sure who or what he's fighting for.


[[Christmas]] is coming to town, and the end of civilization is following close behind...
[[Christmas]] is coming to town, and the end of civilisation is following close behind...


==Characters==
== Plot ==
*[[Seventh Doctor | The Doctor]]
''to be added''
**Possesses an [[Amaranth]].
**It's established that the mysterious tattoo seen on the [[Third Doctor]]'s arm immediately after his regeneration ([[DW]]: ''[[Spearhead from Space]]'') was in fact a [[Time Lord]] mark signifying an exile.


*[[Roz Forrester]]
== Characters ==
**Tries to kill who she thinks is Abraham Lincoln's grandfather, thus creating a paradox and making the Doctor find her.
* [[Seventh Doctor]]
* [[Roz Forrester]]
* [[Chris Cwej]]
* [[Carnival Queen|The Carnival Queen]]
* [[Daniel Tremayne]]
* [[Erskine Morris]]
* [[Isaac Penley]]
* [[Marielle Duquesne]]
* [[Matheson Catcher]]
* [[Raphael (Christmas on a Rational Planet)|Raphael]]
* [[Samuel Lincoln]]
* [[Tourette]]
* [[Jake McCrimmon]]
* Cardinal [[Catilin]]
* Cardinal [[Pontormo]]
* Cardinal [[Roche (Christmas on a Rational Planet)|Roche]]
* Cardinal [[Tuscanini]]


*[[Chris Cwej]]
== Worldbuilding ==
**Spends most of the novel in the TARDIS being terrorised by the Interface.
=== Books ===
* ''[[Genetic Politics Beyond the Third Zone]]'' is a [[book]] by [[Gustous R Thripsted]].
* [[Kadiatu S. Lethbridge-Stewart|K. S. Lethbridge-Stewart]] wrote ''[[The Zen Military - A History of UNIT]]'' in [[2006]]. It was never published.
* [[Miles de Selby]] wrote ''[[Letters from Earth]]'', which was published in [[1993]].


*[[The Carnival Queen]]
=== The Doctor ===
* The Doctor possesses an [[amaranth]].
* The Doctor refers to the [[Eighth Man Bound]].


*[[Grandfather Paradox]]
=== Time Lords ===
**Is mentioned for the first time.
* [[Time Lord]]s physical appearance are a fragment of their vast multi-dimensional form existing in a metaspace realm invisible to [[human]]s.
* Laws of [[probability]] bend around Time Lords, tipping the odds in their favour.


==References==
=== Drugs and medicines ===
* ''[[Genetic Politics Beyond the Third Zone]]'' a book by Gustous Thripsted.
* [[Vraxoin]] is known to Roz. It was discovered on the [[Cygnus Rim]].
* [[Cocaine]], [[caffeine]] and [[marijuana]] are all legal in [[1799]].


* [[Stattenheim]] (of the Stattenheim Remote Control) lived in 16th century Berlin.
=== Individuals ===
* [[Stattenheim]] (of the Stattenheim Remote Control) lived in [[16th century]] [[Berlin]].
* Jake is familiar with the [[Siege of Quebec]].


* On [[Minyos]] they cast out the heliomancers from their society.
=== Laws ===
* The presence of an ID implant in the anatomy of an [[Earth Empire|Imperial]] citizen is mandatory under the [[Sixteenth Criminal Justice Empowerment]], except in those cases outlined in the [[Corporate Faiths Amendment]] of [[2939]].


* [[Eighth Man Bound]] first reference to the Doctor in relation to this.
=== Locations ===
* The [[United States]] fell sometime in the 21st century.
* The [[Catholic Church]] kept items deemed too dangerous for the public to know of in three places: The [[Library of St John the Beheaded]] in [[London]] for texts, the [[Collection of Necessary Secrets]] in [[Vatican City]] for other non-living things, and the [[Crow Gallery]] in [[South Africa]] for living specimens.


=== Planets ===
* On [[Minyos]] they cast out the heliomancers from their society.
* [[Astra]] is a terrible place, like many of Earth's colonies in the 25th century.
* [[Astra]] is a terrible place, like many of Earth's colonies in the 25th century.


* The [[United States]] fell sometime in the 21st century.
=== Theories and concepts ===
* [[Grandfather Paradox]] is mentioned for the first time.
* Roz tries to kill who she thinks is [[Abraham Lincoln]]'s grandfather, thus creating a [[paradox]] and making the Doctor find her.
 
== Notes ==
* This novel is rumoured to contain a reference to every TV story<ref>http://mysite.science.uottawa.ca/rsmith43/cloister/xmasplan.htm</ref>, although some are very obscure (such as Lincoln being a reference to ''[[The Chase (TV story)|The Chase]]'' or the reference to Gallifreyan prisoner tattoos being a reference to either ''[[Spearhead from Space (TV story)|Spearhead from Space]]'' or ''[[Doctor Who and the Silurians (TV story)|Doctor Who and the Silurians]]''). It requires a distinctly critical eye to identify them, should the rumour be correct.
* Lawrence Miles specified his idea for the cover, with a clockwork claw holding a crystal ball reflecting the Doctor. However, the actual cover focused more on the Doctor's nose than the clockwork claw,<ref>[https://sci-fi-london.com/podcast/2013/12/420-lawrence-miles Sci-Fi London Interview]</ref> and it was so unpopular that it was changed before publication.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://nzdwfc.tetrap.com/archive/tsv49/rev-christmasonarationalplanet.html|title=TSV 49: Review: Christmas on a Rational Planet|author=Paul Scoones|date of source=November 1996|website name=NZDWFC|accessdate=8 November 2010}}</ref>
* This was the first ''Doctor Who'' novel that Lawrence Miles pitched, though he had originally planned for it to occur earlier in the New Adventures series; according to Miles, while helping then-range-editor [[Rebecca Levene]], [[Gareth Roberts]] clumsily threw the pitch document behind a cupboard, only to mistakenly recover it from that location a year later whilst searching for chocolate biscuit crumbs. However, he has clarfied he did not witness this incident and is only going by hearsay.<ref>[https://archive.org/details/RealityCheckLawrenceMiles_201312 Sci-Fi London Interview]</ref>


==Notes==
== Continuity ==
*This novel is rumoured to contain a reference to every TV story.
* [[PROSE]]: ''[[Alien Bodies (novel)|Alien Bodies]]'', ''[[Interference - Book One (novel)|Interference - Book One]]'', ''[[Interference - Book Two (novel)|Interference - Book Two]]'' further expand upon the idea of [[paradox]]es and [[Grandfather Paradox]].
* The [[Collection of Necessary Secrets]] reappears in [[PROSE]]: ''[[De Umbris Idearum (short story)|De Umbris Idearum]]''.
* The planet Astra was Vicki and Bennett's destination in [[TV]]: ''[[The Rescue (TV story)|The Rescue]]''.
* It's established that the mysterious tattoo seen on the [[Third Doctor]]'s arm in [[TV]]: ''[[Spearhead from Space (TV story)|Spearhead from Space]]'' immediately after his regeneration was in fact a [[Time Lord]] mark signifying an exile.
* [[Amaranth]]s later reappear in [[PROSE]]: ''[[Against Nature (novel)|Against Nature]]''.
* The Carnival Queen shows Cwej [[Alter-time realm (Cobweb and Ivory)|a pre-universe city carved in the side of gigantic tusks]]. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Cobweb and Ivory (short story)|Cobweb and Ivory]]'')
* Roz mentions [[PROBE]] and [[LONGBOW]] as organisations who have knowledge of the Doctor. ([[HOMEVID]]: ''[[The Zero Imperative (home video)|The Zero Imperative]]'', [[PROSE]]: ''[[Just War (novel)|Just War]]'')
* [[Ramón Salamander]] is still suffering a ghastly existence within the [[Time Vortex]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Enemy of the World (TV story)|The Enemy of the World]]'', ''[[The Web of Fear (TV story)|The Web of Fear]]'')
* The Doctor mentions "[[Rutan|ruthless militant jellyfish]]", ([[TV]]: ''[[Horror of Fang Rock (TV story)|Horror of Fang Rock]]'') "[[Meglos|murderous pot-plants]]", ([[TV]]: ''[[Meglos (TV story)|Meglos]]'') "[[The Nucleus|insane giant prawns]]", ([[TV]]: ''[[The Invisible Enemy (TV story)|The Invisible Enemy]]'') "[[Macra|world-conquering crabs]]", ([[TV]]: ''[[The Macra Terror (TV story)|The Macra Terror]]'') "[[Kandyman|killer confectionery]]" ([[TV]]: ''[[The Happiness Patrol (TV story)|The Happiness Patrol]]'') and "[[Kroll|octopi with delusions of godhead]]” ([[TV]]: ''[[The Power of Kroll (TV story)|The Power of Kroll]]'').
* A computer bank labelled "[[Prime Computer|PRIME]]" appears, referencing [[TV]]: {{cs|Step Into the 80's! (TV story)}} and {{cs|On Through the 80's! (TV story)}}, where a [[Prime Computer]] was installed in [[the Doctor's TARDIS]].


==Continuity==
== Cover gallery ==
*[[EDA]]: ''[[Alien Bodies]]'', ''[[Interference - Book One]]'', ''[[Interference - Book Two]]'' further expand upon the idea of paradoxes and Grandfather Paradox.
<gallery position="center" captionalign="center" hideaddbutton="true">
NA052 christmasonarationalplanet.jpg|Original cover
Christmas on a Rational Planet altcover.jpg|Unused cover
Christmas on a Rational Planet altcover sketch cover.jpg|Unused sketch cover
</gallery>


* The planet Astra was Vicki and Bennett's destination in [[DW]]: ''[[The Rescue]]''.
== External links ==
==External Links==
{{dwrefguide|who_na52.htm|Christmas on a Rational Planet}}
*{{dwrefguide|who_na52.htm|Christmas on a Rational Planet}}
* {{whoniverse|na52|Christmas on a Rational Planet}}
*{{whoniverse|NA52.php|Christmas on a Rational Planet}}
* [http://mysite.science.uottawa.ca/rsmith43/cloister/xmasplan.htm The Cloister Library: '''Christmas on a Rational Planet''']


{{Virgin New Adventure Series Box | before = [[GodEngine]] | after = [[Return of the Living Dad]]}}
== Footnotes ==
{{reflist}}
{{NA}}
{{TitleSort}}


[[Category:Seventh Doctor novels]]
[[Category:Seventh Doctor novels]]
[[Category:Stories set in the United States]]
[[Category:NA novels]]
[[Category:1996 novels]]
[[Category:Stories set in 1799]]
[[Category:Stories set in 1799]]
[[Category:Stories set in 2012]]
[[Category:Stories set in 2012]]
[[Category:Virgin New Adventure Novels]]
[[Category:Stories set in Arizona]]
[[Category:1996 novels]]
[[Category:Stories set at Christmas]]
 
[[Category:Stories set in New York State]]
{{prose stub}}
[[Category:Stories set in New York City]]
[[Category:Romana II novels]]

Latest revision as of 15:35, 19 June 2024

RealWorld.png

prose stub

Christmas on a Rational Planet was the fifty-second Virgin New Adventures novel. It featured the Seventh Doctor, Chris Cwej and Roz Forrester. Christmas on a Rational Planet was author Lawrence Miles' first novel for Doctor Who. He later wrote two novels for the Virgin Books's "Bernice Summerfield" New Adventures. He also contributed significant elements to the BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures novels in his books Alien Bodies, Interference - Book One and Interference - Book Two. The beginnings of ideas and elements in those novels can be seen in this novel.

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

"An end to history. An end to certainty. Is that too much to ask?"

December, 1799. Europe is recovering from the Age of Reason, the Vatican is learning to live with Napoleon, and America is celebrating a new era of independence. But in New York State, something is spreading its own brand of madness through the streets. Secret societies are crawling from the woodwork, and there's a Satanic conspiracy around every corner.

Roz Forrester is stranded in a town where festive cheer and random violence go hand-in-hand. Chris Cwej is trapped on board the TARDIS with someone who's been trained to kill him. And when Reason itself breaks down, even the Doctor can't be sure who or what he's fighting for.

Christmas is coming to town, and the end of civilisation is following close behind...

Plot[[edit] | [edit source]]

to be added

Characters[[edit] | [edit source]]

Worldbuilding[[edit] | [edit source]]

Books[[edit] | [edit source]]

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

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

  • Time Lords physical appearance are a fragment of their vast multi-dimensional form existing in a metaspace realm invisible to humans.
  • Laws of probability bend around Time Lords, tipping the odds in their favour.

Drugs and medicines[[edit] | [edit source]]

Individuals[[edit] | [edit source]]

Laws[[edit] | [edit source]]

Locations[[edit] | [edit source]]

Planets[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • On Minyos they cast out the heliomancers from their society.
  • Astra is a terrible place, like many of Earth's colonies in the 25th century.

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

Notes[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • This novel is rumoured to contain a reference to every TV story[1], although some are very obscure (such as Lincoln being a reference to The Chase or the reference to Gallifreyan prisoner tattoos being a reference to either Spearhead from Space or Doctor Who and the Silurians). It requires a distinctly critical eye to identify them, should the rumour be correct.
  • Lawrence Miles specified his idea for the cover, with a clockwork claw holding a crystal ball reflecting the Doctor. However, the actual cover focused more on the Doctor's nose than the clockwork claw,[2] and it was so unpopular that it was changed before publication.[3]
  • This was the first Doctor Who novel that Lawrence Miles pitched, though he had originally planned for it to occur earlier in the New Adventures series; according to Miles, while helping then-range-editor Rebecca Levene, Gareth Roberts clumsily threw the pitch document behind a cupboard, only to mistakenly recover it from that location a year later whilst searching for chocolate biscuit crumbs. However, he has clarfied he did not witness this incident and is only going by hearsay.[4]

Continuity[[edit] | [edit source]]

Cover gallery[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • Original cover

    Original cover

  • Unused cover

    Unused cover

  • Unused sketch cover

    Unused sketch cover

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

Footnotes[[edit] | [edit source]]

  1. ↑ http://mysite.science.uottawa.ca/rsmith43/cloister/xmasplan.htm
  2. ↑ Sci-Fi London Interview
  3. ↑ Paul Scoones (November 1996). TSV 49: Review: Christmas on a Rational Planet. NZDWFC. Retrieved on 8 November 2010.
  4. ↑ Sci-Fi London Interview
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