The Eight Doctors (novel): Difference between revisions

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{{Infobox Story
{{Infobox Story SMW <!-- Testing infobox: please do not change the infobox or use this infobox on other pages. -->
|image= Eight doctors cover.jpg
|image= Eight doctors cover.jpg
|series= [[BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures]]
|series= [[BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures]]
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|featuring17= Tegan Jovanka
|featuring17= Tegan Jovanka
|featuring18= Vislor Turlough
|featuring18= Vislor Turlough
|enemy= [[Ryoth]], [[Celestial Intervention Agency|CIA]], [[Raston Warrior Robot]], [[Drashig]], [[Three Who Rule]], [[Baz Bailey]]
|featuring19= Matrix Rassilon
|featuring20 = Flavia
|enemy= [[Ryoth]]
|setting= {{il|[[London]], [[1997]]|[[Earth]], [[BC|100000 BC]]|[[Planet (The War Games)|An unnamed planet]]|[[England]], the [[1970s]]|[[Vampire planet]], [[E-Space]]|[[Eye of Orion]]|[[Space Station Zenobia]]|[[Metebelis III]]|[[Gallifrey]]}}
|setting= {{il|[[London]], [[1997]]|[[Earth]], [[BC|100000 BC]]|[[Planet (The War Games)|An unnamed planet]]|[[England]], the [[1970s]]|[[Vampire planet]], [[E-Space]]|[[Eye of Orion]]|[[Space Station Zenobia]]|[[Metebelis III]]|[[Gallifrey]]}}
|writer= [[Terrance Dicks]]
|writer= Terrance Dicks
|publisher= BBC Books
|publisher= BBC Books
|release date= [[2 June (releases)|2 June]] [[1997 (releases)|1997]]
|release date= 2 June 1997
|cover= [[Black Sheep]]
|cover= [[Black Sheep]]
|format= Paperback Book; 25 Chapters, 280 Pages
|format= Paperback Book; 25 Chapters, 280 Pages
Line 38: Line 40:
'''''The Eight Doctors''''' was the first novel in the [[BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures]] series. It was written by [[Terrance Dicks]], released [[2 June (releases)|2 June]] [[1997 (releases)|1997]] and featured the [[Eighth Doctor]] and [[Sam Jones]].
'''''The Eight Doctors''''' was the first novel in the [[BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures]] series. It was written by [[Terrance Dicks]], released [[2 June (releases)|2 June]] [[1997 (releases)|1997]] and featured the [[Eighth Doctor]] and [[Sam Jones]].


It explored the [[amnesia]] theme of the ''[[Doctor Who (TV story)|Doctor Who]]'' TV movie by having the [[Eighth Doctor]] encounter his predecessors.
It explored the [[amnesia]] theme of the ''[[Doctor Who (TV story)|Doctor Who]]'' TV movie by having the [[Eighth Doctor]] encounter his predecessors. Amnesia would later become a frequent affliction for this incarnation, particularly across this novel series.


== Publisher's summary ==
== Publisher's summary ==
Recuperating after the trauma of his recent [[regeneration]], the [[Eighth Doctor]] falls foul of a final booby trap set by his arch-enemy, [[the Master]].
Recuperating after the trauma of his recent [[regeneration]], the [[Eighth Doctor]] falls foul of a final booby trap set by his arch-enemy, [[the Master]].


When he recovers, the disorientated Doctor looks in a mirror and sees the face of a stranger. He knows only that he is called the Doctor - nothing more. But something deep inside tells him to trust [[The Doctor's TARDIS|the TARDIS]], and his hands move over the controls of their own accord.
When he recovers, the disorientated Doctor looks in a mirror and sees the face of a stranger. He knows only that he is called the Doctor - nothing more. But something deep inside tells him to trust [[The Doctor's TARDIS|the TARDIS]], and his hands move over the controls of their own accord.


The TARDIS takes him to a strangely familiar [[76 Totter's Lane|junkyard]] in late-nineties [[London]], where he is flung into a confrontation between local drug-dealers and [[Samantha Jones]], a rebellious teenager from [[Coal Hill School]].
The TARDIS takes him to a strangely familiar [[76 Totter's Lane|junkyard]] in late-nineties [[London]], where he is flung into a confrontation between local drug-dealers and [[Sam Jones|Samantha Jones]], a rebellious teenager from [[Coal Hill School]].


But the Doctor soon finds the TARDIS transporting him to various other places in order to recover all his memories - and that involves seeing seven strangely-familiar faces...
But the Doctor soon finds the TARDIS transporting him to various other places in order to recover all his memories - and that involves seeing seven strangely-familiar faces...


== Plot ==
== Plot ==
After an encounter with {{Roberts}} in [[1999]] [[San Francisco]], the Eighth Doctor finishes reading ''The Time Machine'' (a book written by his old friend [[H. G. Wells]]). After he checks the Eye of Harmony in his TARDIS, he falls prey to a final trap set by his old enemy, the Master, which erases all of his memory. The only fact he knows for certain is that he is called "the Doctor" - but Doctor who? His instincts tell him to "trust the TARDIS", which immediately lands.
After an encounter with {{Roberts}} in [[1999]] [[San Francisco]], the [[Eighth Doctor]] finishes reading ''[[The Time Machine]]'' (a book written by his old friend [[H. G. Wells]]). After he checks the [[Eye of Harmony]] in [[The Doctor's TARDIS|his TARDIS]], he falls prey to a final trap set by his old enemy, the Master, which erases all of his memory. The only fact he knows for certain is that he is called "the Doctor" - but Doctor who? His instincts tell him to "trust the TARDIS", which immediately lands.


He has landed at a scrapyard at [[76 Totter's Lane]], [[London]] in 1997, where he encounters a young lady by the name of Sam Jones, who is being accused by local drug dealers, led by [[Baz Bailey]], of "grassing" them over to the police. Having saved Sam from these insidious characters, who were intending to force Sam into taking drugs to get her addicted, the Doctor falls foul of the local police who promptly charge him with possession and selling the cocaine he has confiscated from the thugs. Sam tells her two teachers, who have noticed her lateness, and takes them back to the junkyard to verify the story. The Doctor escapes in the confusion of Bailey's desperate attack on the local police station. He runs back into the TARDIS and it dematerialises - taking the cocaine with him to dispose of it safely. This leaves Sam alone, defenceless against the knife-wielding druggies...
He has landed at a scrapyard at [[76 Totter's Lane]], [[London]] in 1997, where he encounters a young lady by the name of [[Sam Jones]], who is being accused by local drug dealers, led by [[Baz Bailey]], of "grassing" them over to the police. Having saved Sam from these insidious characters, who were intending to force Sam into taking drugs to get her addicted, the Doctor falls foul of the local police who promptly charge him with possession and selling the cocaine he has confiscated from the thugs. Sam tells her two teachers, who have noticed her lateness, and takes them back to the junkyard to verify the story. The Doctor escapes in the confusion of Bailey's desperate attack on the local police station. He runs back into the TARDIS and it dematerialises - taking the cocaine with him to dispose of it safely. This leaves Sam alone, defenceless against the knife-wielding druggies...


The TARDIS lands in the year 100,000 BC, and he meets his first incarnation in the jungle and they psychically link (giving the Eighth Doctor his memories up to that point in his life). The Eighth Doctor stops his other self from killing a caveman who was slowing their party down. The First Doctor explains that he must get away before the "time bubble" his eighth self is in bursts and starts to damage the timeline. The Eighth Doctor then leaves.
The TARDIS lands in the year 100,000 BC, and he meets his first incarnation in the jungle and they psychically link (giving the Eighth Doctor his memories up to that point in his life). The Eighth Doctor stops [[First Doctor|his other self]] from killing [[Za|a caveman]] who was slowing their party down. The First Doctor explains that he must get away before the "time bubble" his eighth self is in bursts and starts to damage the timeline. The Eighth Doctor then leaves.


The TARDIS then lands during the events of the War Games, where he helps his second incarnation, [[Jamie McCrimmon]] and Zoe Heriot with their important mission to contact the Time Lords. Having regained his second life's memories, he leaves happily.
The TARDIS then lands during the events of the War Games, where he helps his [[Second Doctor|second incarnation]], [[Jamie McCrimmon]] and [[Zoe Heriot]] with their important mission to contact the [[Time Lord]]s. Having regained his second life's memories, he leaves happily.


He next meets the Third Doctor, who himself has just fought the Master and the Sea Devils and has saved humanity by blowing up a Sea Devil base. He, blaming his eighth self for his exile to Earth and for the Master's concurrent escape, threatens him with the Master's Tissue Compression Eliminator. But he tosses the weapon to him instead. The Master has again escaped to fight another day, and the Eighth Doctor leaves.
He next meets the [[Third Doctor]], who himself has just fought the Master and the [[Sea Devil]]s and has saved humanity by blowing up a Sea Devil base. He, blaming his eighth self for his exile to Earth and for the Master's concurrent escape, threatens him with the Master's [[Tissue Compression Eliminator]]. But he tosses the weapon to him instead. The Master has again escaped to fight another day, and the Eighth Doctor leaves.


Having landed on [[Vampire planet|the planet]] of the [[Three Who Rule]], the Eighth Doctor gives the Fourth Doctor an emergency blood transfusion after his younger self is attacked and nearly fatally drained by another group of vampires, and leaves with yet more memories (to the astonishment of companion Romana).
Having landed on [[Vampire planet|the planet]] of the [[Three Who Rule]], the Eighth Doctor gives the [[Fourth Doctor]] an emergency blood transfusion after his younger self is attacked and nearly fatally drained by another group of vampires, and leaves with yet more memories (to the astonishment of companion [[Romana II|Romana]]).


Meanwhile, back on Gallifrey, Lady President Flavia has noticed the Doctor crossing his timelines and demands that he be carefully watched. A Time Lord called Ryoth demands the Doctor be executed: the resulting paradoxes could be irreversible. Flavia denies this. Ryoth alerts the Celestial Intervention Agency to the situation, and the Agency give him access to the fabled Timescoop technology, perfectly preserved since the Death Zone incident. He uses it to send a Raston Warrior Robot to the Fifth Doctor and his companions, Tegan Jovanka and Vislor Turlough. Luckily, the Eighth Doctor then arrives at the aftermath of the incident in the [[Death Zone]], where he saves his fifth incarnation and his companions from the Raston Warrior Robot and a passing platoon of [[Sontaran]]s by tricking the two into fighting each other. The Doctors create a feedback system, so when Ryoth sends a Drashig to kill them, it instead materialises in the same room as Ryoth and eats him and the Timescoop. It is then caught and transmatted to the Death Zone by guards in the Capitol in the hopes that it will take care of the other horrors there.
Meanwhile, back on [[Gallifrey]], Lady President [[Flavia]] has noticed the Doctor crossing his timelines and demands that he be carefully watched. A Time Lord called [[Ryoth]] demands the Doctor be executed: the resulting paradoxes could be irreversible. Flavia denies this. Ryoth alerts the [[Celestial Intervention Agency]] to the situation, and the Agency give him access to the fabled [[Time Scoop|Timescoop]] technology, perfectly preserved since the [[Death Zone]] incident. He uses it to send a [[Raston Warrior Robot]] to the [[Fifth Doctor]] and his companions, [[Tegan Jovanka]] and [[Vislor Turlough]]. Luckily, the Eighth Doctor then arrives at the aftermath of the incident in the [[Death Zone]], where he saves his fifth incarnation and his companions from the Raston Warrior Robot and a passing platoon of [[Sontaran]]s by tricking the two into fighting each other. The Doctors create a feedback system, so when Ryoth sends a [[Drashig]] to kill them, it instead materialises in the same room as Ryoth and eats him and the Timescoop. It is then caught and transmatted to the Death Zone by guards in the [[Capitol]] in the hopes that it will take care of the other horrors there.


Soon he arrives in the middle of his second trial by the Time Lords, which his sixth self seems to be losing (especially as the insidious Valeyard has just accused him of a mass genocide attack against the Vervoids). After giving him advice and encouragement, as well as helping to begin an investigation into his past self's trial on Gallifrey, he leaves, his memories almost completely intact.
Soon he arrives in the middle of his second trial by the Time Lords, which his sixth self seems to be losing (especially as the insidious [[The Valeyard|Valeyard]] has just accused him of a mass genocide attack against the [[Vervoid]]s). After giving him advice and encouragement, as well as helping to begin an investigation into his past self's trial on Gallifrey, he leaves, his memories almost completely intact.


He finally arrives on the planet [[Metebelis III]], where the alone and depressed Seventh Doctor is trapped by a giant spider. After rescuing his former self (by killing the arachnid with the TCE), he remembers leaving Sam, and immediately dashes back into the TARDIS to her rescue.
He finally arrives on the planet [[Metebelis III]], where the alone and depressed [[Seventh Doctor]] is trapped by a [[Eight Legs|giant spider]]. After rescuing his former self (by killing the arachnid with the TCE), he remembers leaving Sam, and immediately dashes back into the TARDIS to her rescue.


Meanwhile, the Master is visiting the [[Morg]]s, and gives them some of his treasure in return for a [[Deathworm Morphant]]. After testing it in his lab, he goes to [[Skaro]], in the hope of being killed and then stealing the Doctor's body.
Meanwhile, the Master is visiting the [[Morg]]s, and gives them some of his treasure in return for a [[Deathworm Morphant]]. After testing it in his lab, he goes to [[Skaro]], in the hope of being killed and then stealing the Doctor's body.
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* [[Tarak]]
* [[Tarak]]
* [[Ivo]]
* [[Ivo]]
* [[Rassilon]]
* [[Matrix Rassilon]]
* [[Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart|Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart]]
* [[Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart|Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart]]
* [[Flavia]]
* [[Flavia]]
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* [[Xan]]
* [[Xan]]
* [[Engin]]
* [[Engin]]
* [[Borusa]]
=== Baz's gang ===
=== Baz's gang ===
* [[Baz Bailey]]
* [[Baz Bailey]]
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* [[Ballard (The Eight Doctors)|Ballard]]
* [[Ballard (The Eight Doctors)|Ballard]]


== References ==
== Worldbuilding ==
=== Foods and beverages ===
=== Foods and beverages ===
* [[Rassilon's Red]] is Gallifrey's finest vintage. The Sixth Doctor and Eighth Doctor drink several goblets of it.
* [[Rassilon's Red]] is Gallifrey's finest vintage. The Sixth Doctor and Eighth Doctor drink several goblets of it.
* [[Best Old Shobogan]] is a beverage drunk by the Outsiders of Gallifrey.
* [[Best Old Shobogan]] is a beverage drunk by the Outsiders of Gallifrey.
* The [[Fourth Doctor]] and [[Romana II|Romana]] drink [[Wine#Red wine|red wine]].
* The [[Fourth Doctor]] and [[Romana II|Romana]] drink [[Wine#Red wine|red wine]].
* The Eighth and Fourth Doctors drink [[wine]] together in E-Space.
* The Eighth Doctor has [[tea]] and [[toast]] whilst recovering from giving blood.
* The Eighth Doctor drinks [[tea]] and eats a [[bacon sandwich]] whilst in Coal Hill police station.
* The Fifth Doctor drinks [[fruit juice]] in the TARDIS.


=== Gallifreyan culture ===
=== Gallifreyan culture ===
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* [[Olive Hawthorne]] may have latent [[Telekinesis|telekinetic]] abilities.
* [[Olive Hawthorne]] may have latent [[Telekinesis|telekinetic]] abilities.
* The Eighth Doctor meets the Brigadier (Although the Brigadier does not realise that he is the same man as the Third Doctor).
* The Eighth Doctor meets the Brigadier (Although the Brigadier does not realise that he is the same man as the Third Doctor).
* [[Romana II|Romana]] has a different blood type from the Doctor.
* [[Romana II]] has a different blood type from the Doctor.
* [[Rassilon]] has been guiding the Eighth Doctor's journeys throughout the novel "to make one or two small improvements in the pattern of history".
* The [[Matrix Rassilon]] has been guiding the Eighth Doctor's journeys throughout the novel "to make one or two small improvements in the pattern of history".


=== Time Lords ===
=== Time Lords ===
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* Time Lords retain the same blood type across all their regenerations, allowing the Eighth Doctor to donate his own blood to save the Fourth.
* Time Lords retain the same blood type across all their regenerations, allowing the Eighth Doctor to donate his own blood to save the Fourth.
* The Time Lords chart the incarnations of their people, and past incarnations are blue while the current incarnation is red.
* The Time Lords chart the incarnations of their people, and past incarnations are blue while the current incarnation is red.
* The [[Celestial Intervention Agency|CIA]] has placed a tracker in [[the Doctor's TARDIS]]. They have also gained possession of the [[Time Scoop]], which was supposed to have been destroyed after Borusa had played the [[Game of Rassilon]].
* The [[Celestial Intervention Agency|CIA]] has placed a tracker in [[the Doctor's TARDIS]]. They have also gained possession of the [[Time Scoop]], which was supposed to have been destroyed after Borusa had played the [[Game of Rassilon (The Five Doctors)|Game of Rassilon]].


=== Temporal Mechanics ===
=== Temporal Mechanics ===
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=== The Doctor ===
=== The Doctor ===
* The Doctor has a brief flashback of "[[flying]] through the air" and "facing a [[Venusian|many-armed, glowing-eyed being]] in a huge, misty cavern" after he uses [[Venusian aikido]].
* The Doctor has a brief flashback of "[[flying]] through the air" and "facing a [[Venusian|many-armed, glowing-eyed being]] in a huge, misty cavern" after he uses [[Venusian aikido]].


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== Notes ==
== Notes ==
* The title of chapter eleven, ''The Vampire Mutation'', was a working title for ''[[State of Decay]]''.
* The title of chapter eleven, ''The Vampire Mutation'', was a working title for ''[[State of Decay (TV story)|State of Decay]]''.
* The Doctor's first line in the ''BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures'' series is; "Dear old H.G., such an optimist. Such an enthusiast... especially for the ladies."
* The Doctor's first line in the ''BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures'' series is; "Dear old H.G., such an optimist. Such an enthusiast... especially for the ladies."
* Flavia is president. However, Dick's earlier novel [[PROSE]]: ''[[Blood Harvest (novel)|Blood Harvest]]'' established that [[Romana II]] was President. This discrepancy was addressed in [[PROSE]]: ''[[Unnatural History (novel)|Unnatural History]]'', where Rassilon's "improvements to the pattern of history" were explained as an attempt to undo the events of [[PROSE]]: ''[[Lungbarrow (novel)|Lungbarrow]]''.
* Flavia is president. However, Dicks' earlier novel [[PROSE]]: ''[[Blood Harvest (novel)|Blood Harvest]]'' established that [[Romana II]] was President. This discrepancy was addressed in [[PROSE]]: ''[[Unnatural History (novel)|Unnatural History]]'', where Rassilon's "improvements to the pattern of history" were explained as an attempt to undo the events of [[PROSE]]: ''[[Lungbarrow (novel)|Lungbarrow]]''.
* By the end of the novel the first eight Doctors have appeared, three versions of [[the Master]] — the {{Delgado|n=Delgado}}, the {{Ainley|n=Ainley}}, and an unknown incarnation — plus [[the War Chief]] have appeared, we meet two versions of the [[Sixth Doctor]], and [[Borusa]] is temporarily released from the [[Dark Tower]], but may have returned to [[Rassilon]] as he still feels as though he should be punished.
* By the end of the novel the first eight Doctors have appeared, three versions of [[the Master]] — the {{Delgado|n=Delgado}}, the {{Ainley|n=Ainley}}, and an unknown incarnation — plus [[the War Chief]] have appeared, we meet two versions of the [[Sixth Doctor]], and [[Borusa]] is temporarily released from the [[Dark Tower]], but may have returned to [[Rassilon]] as he still feels as though he should be punished.
* This novel also makes for one of the more continuity-heavy novels, with Terrance Dicks referencing [[TV]]: ''[[State of Decay]]'' (which he had previous written a sequel to as [[PROSE]]: ''[[Blood Harvest]]''). [[TV]]: ''[[The Five Doctors (TV story)|The Five Doctors]]'' (also by Dicks) is referenced heavily here.
* This novel also makes for one of the more continuity-heavy novels, with Terrance Dicks referencing [[TV]]: ''[[State of Decay (TV story)|State of Decay]]'' (which he had previous written a sequel to as [[PROSE]]: ''[[Blood Harvest (novel)|Blood Harvest]]''). [[TV]]: ''[[The Five Doctors (TV story)|The Five Doctors]]'' (also by Dicks) is referenced heavily here.
* Uniquely for this novel range, the back cover features art derived from a television screenshot (namely, [[Richard Mathews]] as [[Rassilon]] from [[TV]]: ''[[The Five Doctors (TV story)|The Five Doctors]]'')


== Continuity ==
== Continuity ==
* The Master retrieves his TARDIS from where he hid it in [[PROSE]]: ''[[The Face of the Enemy]]''.
* The Master retrieves his TARDIS from where he hid it in [[PROSE]]: ''[[The Face of the Enemy (novel)|The Face of the Enemy]]''.
* While pondering the Doctor's interaction with his other selves, Flavia mentions the events of [[TV]]: ''[[The Three Doctors (TV story)|The Three Doctors]]'', ''[[The Five Doctors (TV story)|The Five Doctors]]'', and ''[[The Two Doctors (TV story)|The Two Doctors]]'' as other events where multiple incarnations were present.
* While pondering the Doctor's interaction with his other selves, Flavia mentions the events of [[TV]]: ''[[The Three Doctors (TV story)|The Three Doctors]]'', ''[[The Five Doctors (TV story)|The Five Doctors]]'', and ''[[The Two Doctors (TV story)|The Two Doctors]]'' as other events where multiple incarnations were present.
* While this story states that the Eighth Doctor persuaded the [[First Doctor]] not to kill a caveman during his adventure in the year 100,000 BC, ([[TV]]: ''[[An Unearthly Child (TV story)|An Unearthly Child]]'') another source given by the First Doctor himself stated that it was Ian who dissuaded him instead. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Sontarans (audio story)|The Sontarans]]'')
* While this story states that the Eighth Doctor persuaded the [[First Doctor]] not to kill a caveman during his adventure in the year 100,000 BC, ([[TV]]: ''[[An Unearthly Child (TV story)|An Unearthly Child]]'') another source given by the First Doctor himself stated that it was Ian who dissuaded him instead. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Sontarans (audio story)|The Sontarans]]'')
* The Eighth Doctor would later meet the Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Doctors again in [[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Four Doctors]]'', has a brief meeting with the [[Third Doctor]] in ''[[Interference - Book One (novel)|Interference]]'', and talks with all seven of his predecessors in ''[[The Light at the End (audio story)|The Light at the End]]''.
* The Eighth Doctor would later meet the Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Doctors again in [[AUDIO]]: ''[[The Four Doctors (audio story)|The Four Doctors]]'', has a brief meeting with the [[Third Doctor]] in ''[[Interference - Book One (novel)|Interference]]'', and talks with all seven of his predecessors in ''[[The Light at the End (audio story)|The Light at the End]]''.
* The Master's last referenced encounter with the Doctor was on the [[Cheetah World]], and he still has the [[Cheetah virus]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[Survival (TV story)|Survival]]'')
* The Master's last referenced encounter with the Doctor was on the [[Cheetah World]], and he still has the [[Cheetah virus]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[Survival (TV story)|Survival]]'')
* [[Ruath]] supposedly destroyed the Timescoop chamber in [[PROSE]]: ''[[Goth Opera (novel)|Goth Opera]]''.
* [[Ruath]] supposedly destroyed the Timescoop chamber in [[PROSE]]: ''[[Goth Opera (novel)|Goth Opera]]''.
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* [http://mysite.science.uottawa.ca/rsmith43/cloister/eigh.htm The Cloister Library: '''The Eight Doctors''']
* [http://mysite.science.uottawa.ca/rsmith43/cloister/eigh.htm The Cloister Library: '''The Eight Doctors''']
{{EDA}}
{{EDA}}
{{Master stories}}
{{The Master (TotA) stories}}
{{Tremas Master stories}}
{{Bruce Master stories}}
{{Rassilon stories}}
{{Rassilon stories}}
{{Valeyard stories}}
{{Valeyard stories}}
{{TitleSort}}
{{TitleSort}}
[[ru:Восемь Докторов]]


[[Category:EDA novels]]
[[Category:EDA novels]]
[[Category:Multi-Doctor novels]]
[[Category:Multi-Doctor novels]]
[[Category:1997 novels]]
[[Category:1997 novels]]
[[Category:The Master novels]]
[[Category:The Master (Terror of the Autons) novels]]
[[Category:Tremas Master novels]]
[[Category:Bruce Master novels]]
[[Category:Stories set in Shoreditch]]
[[Category:Stories set in Shoreditch]]
[[Category:Novels set on Gallifrey]]
[[Category:Novels set on Gallifrey]]
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[[Category:Eight Legs stories]]
[[Category:Eight Legs stories]]
[[Category:Raston Warrior Robot novels]]
[[Category:Raston Warrior Robot novels]]
[[Category:Sontaran novels]]
[[Category:Romana II novels]]
[[Category:Romana II novels]]
[[ru:Восемь Докторов]]

Latest revision as of 20:13, 3 November 2024

RealWorld.png

The Eight Doctors was the first novel in the BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures series. It was written by Terrance Dicks, released 2 June 1997 and featured the Eighth Doctor and Sam Jones.

It explored the amnesia theme of the Doctor Who TV movie by having the Eighth Doctor encounter his predecessors. Amnesia would later become a frequent affliction for this incarnation, particularly across this novel series.

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

Recuperating after the trauma of his recent regeneration, the Eighth Doctor falls foul of a final booby trap set by his arch-enemy, the Master.

When he recovers, the disorientated Doctor looks in a mirror and sees the face of a stranger. He knows only that he is called the Doctor - nothing more. But something deep inside tells him to trust the TARDIS, and his hands move over the controls of their own accord.

The TARDIS takes him to a strangely familiar junkyard in late-nineties London, where he is flung into a confrontation between local drug-dealers and Samantha Jones, a rebellious teenager from Coal Hill School.

But the Doctor soon finds the TARDIS transporting him to various other places in order to recover all his memories - and that involves seeing seven strangely-familiar faces...

Plot[[edit] | [edit source]]

After an encounter with the Bruce Master in 1999 San Francisco, the Eighth Doctor finishes reading The Time Machine (a book written by his old friend H. G. Wells). After he checks the Eye of Harmony in his TARDIS, he falls prey to a final trap set by his old enemy, the Master, which erases all of his memory. The only fact he knows for certain is that he is called "the Doctor" - but Doctor who? His instincts tell him to "trust the TARDIS", which immediately lands.

He has landed at a scrapyard at 76 Totter's Lane, London in 1997, where he encounters a young lady by the name of Sam Jones, who is being accused by local drug dealers, led by Baz Bailey, of "grassing" them over to the police. Having saved Sam from these insidious characters, who were intending to force Sam into taking drugs to get her addicted, the Doctor falls foul of the local police who promptly charge him with possession and selling the cocaine he has confiscated from the thugs. Sam tells her two teachers, who have noticed her lateness, and takes them back to the junkyard to verify the story. The Doctor escapes in the confusion of Bailey's desperate attack on the local police station. He runs back into the TARDIS and it dematerialises - taking the cocaine with him to dispose of it safely. This leaves Sam alone, defenceless against the knife-wielding druggies...

The TARDIS lands in the year 100,000 BC, and he meets his first incarnation in the jungle and they psychically link (giving the Eighth Doctor his memories up to that point in his life). The Eighth Doctor stops his other self from killing a caveman who was slowing their party down. The First Doctor explains that he must get away before the "time bubble" his eighth self is in bursts and starts to damage the timeline. The Eighth Doctor then leaves.

The TARDIS then lands during the events of the War Games, where he helps his second incarnation, Jamie McCrimmon and Zoe Heriot with their important mission to contact the Time Lords. Having regained his second life's memories, he leaves happily.

He next meets the Third Doctor, who himself has just fought the Master and the Sea Devils and has saved humanity by blowing up a Sea Devil base. He, blaming his eighth self for his exile to Earth and for the Master's concurrent escape, threatens him with the Master's Tissue Compression Eliminator. But he tosses the weapon to him instead. The Master has again escaped to fight another day, and the Eighth Doctor leaves.

Having landed on the planet of the Three Who Rule, the Eighth Doctor gives the Fourth Doctor an emergency blood transfusion after his younger self is attacked and nearly fatally drained by another group of vampires, and leaves with yet more memories (to the astonishment of companion Romana).

Meanwhile, back on Gallifrey, Lady President Flavia has noticed the Doctor crossing his timelines and demands that he be carefully watched. A Time Lord called Ryoth demands the Doctor be executed: the resulting paradoxes could be irreversible. Flavia denies this. Ryoth alerts the Celestial Intervention Agency to the situation, and the Agency give him access to the fabled Timescoop technology, perfectly preserved since the Death Zone incident. He uses it to send a Raston Warrior Robot to the Fifth Doctor and his companions, Tegan Jovanka and Vislor Turlough. Luckily, the Eighth Doctor then arrives at the aftermath of the incident in the Death Zone, where he saves his fifth incarnation and his companions from the Raston Warrior Robot and a passing platoon of Sontarans by tricking the two into fighting each other. The Doctors create a feedback system, so when Ryoth sends a Drashig to kill them, it instead materialises in the same room as Ryoth and eats him and the Timescoop. It is then caught and transmatted to the Death Zone by guards in the Capitol in the hopes that it will take care of the other horrors there.

Soon he arrives in the middle of his second trial by the Time Lords, which his sixth self seems to be losing (especially as the insidious Valeyard has just accused him of a mass genocide attack against the Vervoids). After giving him advice and encouragement, as well as helping to begin an investigation into his past self's trial on Gallifrey, he leaves, his memories almost completely intact.

He finally arrives on the planet Metebelis III, where the alone and depressed Seventh Doctor is trapped by a giant spider. After rescuing his former self (by killing the arachnid with the TCE), he remembers leaving Sam, and immediately dashes back into the TARDIS to her rescue.

Meanwhile, the Master is visiting the Morgs, and gives them some of his treasure in return for a Deathworm Morphant. After testing it in his lab, he goes to Skaro, in the hope of being killed and then stealing the Doctor's body.

Once saved by the Doctor, Sam decides to join him on his travels.

Characters[[edit] | [edit source]]

Baz's gang[[edit] | [edit source]]

Coal Hill police[[edit] | [edit source]]

Worldbuilding[[edit] | [edit source]]

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

  • Rassilon's Red is Gallifrey's finest vintage. The Sixth Doctor and Eighth Doctor drink several goblets of it.
  • Best Old Shobogan is a beverage drunk by the Outsiders of Gallifrey.
  • The Fourth Doctor and Romana drink red wine.
  • The Eighth and Fourth Doctors drink wine together in E-Space.
  • The Eighth Doctor has tea and toast whilst recovering from giving blood.
  • The Eighth Doctor drinks tea and eats a bacon sandwich whilst in Coal Hill police station.
  • The Fifth Doctor drinks fruit juice in the TARDIS.

Gallifreyan culture[[edit] | [edit source]]

Individuals[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • Olive Hawthorne may have latent telekinetic abilities.
  • The Eighth Doctor meets the Brigadier (Although the Brigadier does not realise that he is the same man as the Third Doctor).
  • Romana II has a different blood type from the Doctor.
  • The Matrix Rassilon has been guiding the Eighth Doctor's journeys throughout the novel "to make one or two small improvements in the pattern of history".

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

  • Flavia is president. She has regenerated a few times since meeting the Fifth Doctor.
  • Spandrell is Castellan once more.
  • The Eighth Doctor loses his memory from a trap left by the Master, requiring him to visit his past selves and regain his memories via telepathic contact with them.
  • Time Lords retain the same blood type across all their regenerations, allowing the Eighth Doctor to donate his own blood to save the Fourth.
  • The Time Lords chart the incarnations of their people, and past incarnations are blue while the current incarnation is red.
  • The CIA has placed a tracker in the Doctor's TARDIS. They have also gained possession of the Time Scoop, which was supposed to have been destroyed after Borusa had played the Game of Rassilon.

Temporal Mechanics[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • When the Eighth Doctor meets his predecessors, the initial contact triggers a moment of temporal stasis, giving the Doctors a few moments to talk before time restarts.
  • Time Lords share memories when multiple incarnations of the same Time Lord are acting independently in the same time zone, but the memories of the latest incarnation are vague; as a result, the Fifth Doctor remembers the Third Doctor and Sarah confronting the Raston Warrior Robot in the Death Zone, but it takes him a few moments to recall the exact details.
  • Ryoth's skill in Temporal Mechanics allows him to use the Time Scoop.

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

Locations[[edit] | [edit source]]

Species[[edit] | [edit source]]

Technology[[edit] | [edit source]]

Notes[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • The title of chapter eleven, The Vampire Mutation, was a working title for State of Decay.
  • The Doctor's first line in the BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures series is; "Dear old H.G., such an optimist. Such an enthusiast... especially for the ladies."
  • Flavia is president. However, Dicks' earlier novel PROSE: Blood Harvest established that Romana II was President. This discrepancy was addressed in PROSE: Unnatural History, where Rassilon's "improvements to the pattern of history" were explained as an attempt to undo the events of PROSE: Lungbarrow.
  • By the end of the novel the first eight Doctors have appeared, three versions of the Master — the Delgado, the Ainley, and an unknown incarnation — plus the War Chief have appeared, we meet two versions of the Sixth Doctor, and Borusa is temporarily released from the Dark Tower, but may have returned to Rassilon as he still feels as though he should be punished.
  • This novel also makes for one of the more continuity-heavy novels, with Terrance Dicks referencing TV: State of Decay (which he had previous written a sequel to as PROSE: Blood Harvest). TV: The Five Doctors (also by Dicks) is referenced heavily here.
  • Uniquely for this novel range, the back cover features art derived from a television screenshot (namely, Richard Mathews as Rassilon from TV: The Five Doctors)

Continuity[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • The Master retrieves his TARDIS from where he hid it in PROSE: The Face of the Enemy.
  • While pondering the Doctor's interaction with his other selves, Flavia mentions the events of TV: The Three Doctors, The Five Doctors, and The Two Doctors as other events where multiple incarnations were present.
  • While this story states that the Eighth Doctor persuaded the First Doctor not to kill a caveman during his adventure in the year 100,000 BC, (TV: An Unearthly Child) another source given by the First Doctor himself stated that it was Ian who dissuaded him instead. (AUDIO: The Sontarans)
  • The Eighth Doctor would later meet the Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Doctors again in AUDIO: The Four Doctors, has a brief meeting with the Third Doctor in Interference, and talks with all seven of his predecessors in The Light at the End.
  • The Master's last referenced encounter with the Doctor was on the Cheetah World, and he still has the Cheetah virus. (TV: Survival)
  • Ruath supposedly destroyed the Timescoop chamber in PROSE: Goth Opera.
  • In this novel the Seventh Doctor has a "mid life crisis" while trying to deal with his approaching death, which was more or less addressed in PROSE: The Room With No Doors and Lungbarrow.
  • The Master uses the creation of the Morg to become worm-like as he is in TV: Doctor Who.
  • There is an inconsistency to Tegan knowing her Doctors as she mistakenly believed the Eighth Doctor to be the Fourth even though she had met the Fourth when he regenerated into the Fifth in Logopolis.
  • The "small improvements" that Rassilon used the Eighth Doctor to make through this novel are elaborated on in PROSE: Unnatural History.

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

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