Deadly Reunion (novel)

Deadly Reunion
Doctor:	Third Doctor
Companion(s):	The Brigadier, Benton, Yates, Jo
Main enemy:	Hades, the Master
Main setting:	England, 1970s
Key crew
Publisher:	BBC Books
Writers:	Terrance Dicks, Barry Letts
Cover by:	Black Sheep
Release details
Release number:	62
Release date:	3 November 2003
Format:	Paperback Book; 37 Chapters, 285 Pages
ISBN:	ISBN 0-563-48610-4
BBC Past Doctor Adventures
← Previous	Wolfsbane
Next →	Empire of Death

Deadly Reunion was the sixty-second novel in the BBC Past Doctor Adventures series. It was written by Terrance Dicks and Barry Letts, released 3 November 2003 and featured the Third Doctor and Jo Grant.

It also featured all the "UNIT family" characters of Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart, Mike Yates and John Benton. The Master also appeared, setting this story firmly in the early period of the Doctor's exile on Earth. This novel significantly expanded on Lethbridge-Stewart's early life and was written by two writers who worked on Doctor Who during the period in which this novel is set.

Publisher's summary

"With one glance he will destroy your body and wither your soul."

Second Lieutenant Lethbridge-Stewart gets more than he bargained for when he is assigned to map out Greek islands at the end of the Second World War. Even if he lives to tell the tale, will he remember it?

Years later, Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart and his colleagues at UNIT investigate a spate of unexplained deaths and murders. Meanwhile, the Third Doctor and Jo are caught up in strange events in the small English village of Hob's Haven.

As preparations get underway for a massive pop concert, a sinister cult prepares for a day of reckoning — business as usual for UNIT. But can the Brigadier help prevent the end of the world? His friends and colleagues are not so sure, because this time, the Brigadier has fallen in love...

Plot

Part one

Second Lieutenant Lethbridge-Stewart is assigned to map out Greek islands at the end of the Second World War. During his trips, he meets Mrs Demeter and her "grandchildren". After falling madly in love with Persephone, he is caught up in an ancient quarrel. When Persephone is kidnapped, Lethbridge-Stewart must go to places beyond his imagination.

more to be added

Part two

to be added

Characters

• Third Doctor
• Jo Grant
• Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart
• Captain Mike Yates
• Sergeant Benton
• The Master

Immortals

• Charon
• Demeter
• Hades
• Hermes
• Persephone
• Poseidon
• Zeus

Military

• Lieutenant George Spawton
• Corporal Ned Clarke
• Captain Percy Cole
• Joe Snaith
• Admiral Urquhart
• Private Higgins
• Private Rattray
• Colonel Nicolevic

Others

• Bob Slater
• Charles Deacon
• Hadley
• Jenkins
• Josh Bartlett
• Sammy Barker
• Sim Rowley
• Tim Hollings

Worldbuilding

• In Greek mythology, Zeus was the father of Apollo, Athena, Artemis, Castor and Pollux, Dionysius, Hebe, Heracles, Minos, Hermes and Persephone.

Locations

• A music festival was held in the town of Hob's Haven, which was near Little Gittings.

Food and Beverages

• The Master keeps a well stocked drinks cabinet that includes Napoleon brandy, single-malt whiskey, champagne and Krug.
• The Doctor drinks ale, brandy and Earl Grey tea. He has toast and coffee for breakfast.
• The Brigadier prefers coffee to tea and only ever drinks whiskey neat.
• Jo drinks Coca-cola and lemonade.

Notes

• The exact year of the post-World War II first half of the book is not explicitly said, but Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart gives his age as 21. Sources give his year of birth as 1930 (PROSE: Blood Heat, No Future, Island of Death) or 1929, (PROSE: The Forgotten Son) placing this section in 1951 or 1950.
  • 1951 would support a reference to Douglas MacArthur being removed from command, as well as Clement Attlee and President Harry Truman.
• The gods Charon, Demeter, Hades, Hermes, Persephone, Poseidon, and Zeus appear as Immortals.
  • The gods/demigods Apollo, Athena, Artemis, Castor and Pollux, Dionysius, Hebe, Heracles, and Minos are named by the Third Doctor but are not confirmed to also be Immortals.
• Jo appears surprised that The Doctor went bullfighting with Ernest Hemingway in 1930s. Giving that The Doctor's physical appearance resembled a man in his early 50s, it wouldn't be unbelievable that he knew Hemingway during his teen years. Unless the story takes place in 1974 or later.

Continuity

• The Doctor recalls being put on trial by the Time Lords. (TV: The War Games)
• The Doctor tells the Brigadier that "sleep is for tortoises." (TV: The Talons of Weng-Chiang)
• The Doctor mentions that he took boxing lessons from John L. Sullivan. (TV: Carnival of Monsters)
• The Doctor says that "in an authoritarian society, people obey the voice of authority." (PROSE: Timewyrm: Exodus, Blood Harvest and World Game)

External links

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