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{{Infobox Story SMW
{{Infobox Novel
|image        = Image Night of the Humans.jpg
|series      = [[BBC New Series Adventures]]
|number      = 38
|doctor      = Eleventh Doctor
|companions  = [[Amy Pond|Amy]]
|enemy        = [[Dirk Slipstream]], [[Sollog]]s, [[Django]]
|setting      = [[Gyre]], [[14 March]] [[250339]]
|writer      = David Llewellyn
|read by      = [[Arthur Darvill]]
|cover        = [[Lee Binding]]
|publisher    = BBC Books
|release date = 22 April 2010
|format      = Hardcover, 246 Pages
|isbn        = ISBN 978-1-84607-969-6
|prev        = Apollo 23 (novel)
|next        = The Forgotten Army (novel)
}}
'''''Night of the Humans''''' was the thirty-eighth novel in the [[BBC New Series Adventures]] series. It was written by [[David Llewellyn]] and featured the [[Eleventh Doctor]] and [[Amy Pond]].


== Publisher's summary ==
"This is the [[Gyre]] – the most hostile environment in the [[galaxy]]."


|image = [[file: Image_Night_of_the_Humans.jpg|250px]]
250,000 years' worth of junk floating in deep space, home to the shipwrecked [[Sittuun]], the carnivorous [[Sollog]]s, and worst of all – the [[human]]s.
|novel name = Night of the Humans
|series = [[BBC New Series Adventures]]
|number = 32
|doctor = [[Eleventh Doctor]]
|companions = [[Amy Pond]]
|enemy = <ul><li>[[Dirk Slipstream]]</li><li>[[Sollogs]]</li><li>[[Django]]</li></ul>
|year = [[Gyre]]
|writer = [[David Llewellyn]]
|publisher = [[BBC Books]]
|release date = [[April]] 22, [[2010]]
|format = Hardcover Book, 241 Pages
|previous story = [[Apollo 23 (novel)|Apollo 23]]
|next story = [[The Forgotten Army]]
}}{{prose stub}}


'''Night of the Humans''' was one of three novels featuring the [[Eleventh Doctor]] released on [[22nd April]], [[2010]].
The [[Eleventh Doctor|Doctor]] and [[Amy Pond|Amy]] arrive on this terrifying world in the middle of an all-out frontier war between Sittuun and Humans, and the clock is already ticking. There's a [[comet]] in the sky, and it's on a collision course with the [[Gyre]]...


==Publisher's summary==
When the Doctor is kidnapped, it's up to Amy and "galaxy-famous swashbuckler" [[Dirk Slipstream]] to save the day.
''"This is the Gyre – the most hostile environment in the galaxy."''


250,000 years’ worth of junk floating in deep space, home to the shipwrecked [[Sittuun]], the carnivorous [[Sollogs]], and worst of all – the Humans. The Doctor and Amy arrive on this terrifying world in the middle of an all-out frontier war between Sittuun and [[Human]]s, and the clock is already ticking. There’s a comet in the sky, and it’s on a collision course with the [[Gyre]]...When the Doctor is kidnapped, it’s up to Amy and “galaxy-famous swashbuckler” [[Dirk Slipstream]] to save the day. But who is Slipstream, exactly? And what is he really doing here?
But who is Slipstream, exactly? And what is he really doing here?


==Characters==
== Plot ==
*[[Eleventh Doctor|The Doctor]]
When [[The Doctor's TARDIS|the TARDIS]] is pulled off-course, the Doctor and Amy make an unexpected trip to the [[Gyre]]. It is made of junk from all time and space, even a satellite [[Earth]] sent out thousands of years ago. They encounter aliens known as the [[Sittuun]], who kidnap them. In mid-kidnapping, the Doctor falls out of their vehicle and is kidnapped by primitive humans.
*[[Amy Pond]]
*[[Dirk Slipstream]]
*[[Charlie (Night of the Humans)|Charlie]]
*[[Ahmed]]
*[[Heeva|Dr Heeva]]
*[[Jamal|Captain Jamal]]
*[[Tuco]]
*[[Django]]
*[[Sancho]]
*[[Manco]]


==References==
Amy explains how she and the Doctor got to the Gyre to the Sittuun, confusing them for the "locals". She learns they came to plant a bomb to destroy the Gyre before a [[comet]] strikes and endangers other worlds with its debris. Meanwhile, the Doctor is taken to the human camp. He learns they are descendants of a crashed cargo ship who believe they are on Earth. When the Doctor tries to tell them the truth, they call him a blasphemer and order him put to death.
*Charlie and Slipstream mention the planet of Gold, [[Voga]], which previously appeared in ''[[Revenge of the Cybermen]]''. They also mention that, because of the discovery of these Golden planets, Gold was now much less valuable.
*[[Dirk Slipstream]] was once a prisoner on Prison planet [[Volag-Noc]], a planet the [[Tenth Doctor]] has been to twice. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Infinite Quest]]'')
*Amy refers to [[Star Whale|Star-Whales]] from ''[[The Beast Below]]'', and 'intergalactic felons' - possibly a reference to the [[Talerian]]s from ''[[Apollo 23]]''.
*[[Eleventh Doctor|The Doctor]] says that [[Amy Pond|Amy]] is 'the girl with [[Prisoner Zero|a monster]] in her wall'.
*The shipwrecked ''Herald Of Nanking'' featured as a working spaceship in Llewellyn's ''[[The Taking of Chelsea 426]]''.
*One of the crashed spaceships is made from Proamonium, found only on [[Proamon]].
*The Doctor recalls surviving after falling from great hights ([[DW]]: ''[[Logopolis  (TV story)|Logopolis ]]'', ''[[The End of Time (TV story)|The End of Time]]''), being shot ([[DW]]: ''[[Doctor Who (1996)|Doctor Who]]''), losing a hand and growing it back ([[DW]]: ''[[The Christmas Invasion]]'') and seeing the end of the universe ([[DW]]: ''[[Utopia (TV story)|Utopia]]'').
*[[Regeneration]] is impossible after being killed by acid.
*The Doctor says that the TARDIS can hear every word he says to her.
*Amy recalls running around a spaceship in her nightie. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Beast Below]]'')
*The Doctor says he once jammed with [[Ella Fitzgerald]], playing a [[recorder]] (likely a reference to his [[Second Doctor|second incarnation]]).
*Charlie's father mentions him going to the [[Lux Academy]], an institution presumably owned by the [[Lux]] family, two of whom featured in ''[[Silence in the Library]]''/''[[Forest of the Dead]]''.
*Dirk Slipstream claims to have earned a medal for bravery during the battle of [[Krontep]]. Krontep was the home planet of King [[Yrcanos]], who featured in ''[[Mindwarp]]''.


==Notes==
Elsewhere, Amy has bonded with [[Charlie (Night of the Humans)|Charlie]] and met [[Dirk Slipstream]], a man who has answered the distress call the Sittuun sent when they crashed. She persuades him to rescue the Doctor. However, he double-crosses them and leaves to find something the humans have in their camp. As it turns out, Slipstream is an escaped criminal who had encountered the Doctor prior when he foiled a diamond robbery. He persuades them to spare the Doctor and uses him to find the Mymon Key, an object that can harness the forces of the universe.
*Amy had been expecting the 'planet' to look a more like the moon, suggesting this adventure takes place after [[Apollo 23]] but before subsequent visits to alien planets.
*Amy recalls her wedding dress that 'she might never wear', and later says that she has 'a big day tomorrow' 250,000 years ago, placing this adventure before ''[[The Time of Angels]]''.
*The NASA deep space probe [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pioneer_10 Pioneer 10]'' ''appears as part of the Gyre's Landscape.
*The Gyre humans' names are all taken from so-called [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spaghetti_westerns "Spaghetti Westerns]". The human leader Django shares his name with the eponymous hero of the 1966 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Django_(film) film ]; Tuco is a character (played by Eli Wallach) appearing in ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Good,_the_Bad_and_the_Ugly The Good, the Bad and the Ugly] ''(also 1966); while Manco is the name given to Clint Eastwood's "Man With No Name" in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/For_a_Few_Dollars_More For a Few Dollars More].


*Lake Mono, the lake of acid the humans use to execute their prisoners, may be named after [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mono_Lake Mono Lake], California, a location used in the Western ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Plains_Drifter High Plains Drifter].''
The comet draws closer, forcing them to flee. They attempt to use Charlie's helipod to get to the TARDIS, but, an attack from a creature called a Sollog damages an engine and causes them to crash. Dirk is knocked out and the Doctor makes sure the Key, which is pulling the comet to them, is left behind. They land the TARDIS in Dirk's ship, commandeered by the Sittuun, and take off. However, it turns out that the Key that was left behind was a fake, and the ship can't leave. The Doctor takes the real Key back to the Gyre and throws it in a swamp. Dirk regains [[consciousness]] and takes Amy hostage before fleeing to an escape pod. He threatens Amy to make the Doctor give him the Key, but the Doctor only tells him where he threw. it. Dirk enters the swamp to search, but is eaten by the Sollogs. The Doctor and Amy return to the TARDIS and Dirk's ship, and before the comet hits, the Sittuun bomb goes off, destroying the Gyre.


*Dirk Slipstream's ship, The Golden Bough, takes its name from the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Golden_Bough book] by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Frazer Sir James George Frazer].
== Characters ==
* [[Eleventh Doctor]]
* [[Amy Pond]]
* [[Ahmed (Night of the Humans)|Ahmed]]
* [[Charlie (Night of the Humans)|Charlie]]
* [[Captain]] [[Jamal al-Jehedeh]]
* Doctor [[Heeva]]
* [[Sancho]]
* [[Tuco]]
* [[Dirk Slipstream]]
* [[Guard (Night of the Humans)|Guard]]
* [[Manco]]
* [[Django]]
* [[Captain]] [[Zachary Velasquez]]


*Similarly, the Sittuun ship, the Beagle XXI, is probably named after the ship which took [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Darwin Charles Darwin] to the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gal%C3%A1pagos_Islands Galapagos Islands], a journey that would inspire his later works ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Origin_of_Species On The Origin of Species]'' and ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Voyage_of_the_Beagle The Voyage of the Beagle].''
== Worldbuilding ==
=== Anatomy and physiology ===
* [[Regeneration]] is impossible if the ''entire'' body has been immersed in [[acid]], such as being submerged in [[Lake Mono]].


*The smaller craft used by the Sittuun take their names from 20th Century jazz musicians. The buggy, Ella, is named after the singer [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ella_Fitzgerald Ella Fitzgerald], while the "helipod", Bird, takes its name from saxophonist [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Parker Charlie Parker], whose nickname was "Bird".
=== Colleges and universities ===
*The [[Gyre]] is located in the Battani 045 system. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad_ibn_J%C4%81bir_al-Harr%C4%81n%C4%AB_al-Batt%C4%81n%C4%AB Muhammad ibn Jābir al-Harrānī al-Battānī] (c. 858CE - 929CE) was an Arab astronomer and mathematician.
* Charlie's father mentions him going to the [[Lux Academy]].
*[[The Doctor's TARDIS|The TARDIS]] is unable to translate the Sittuun language, despite the Doctor claiming it can translate any language, a fact also proved wrong in [[The Impossible Planet|''The Impossible Planet'']].
 
=== Music ===
* The Doctor says he once jammed with [[Ella Fitzgerald]], playing a [[recorder]].
 
=== Planets ===
* Charlie and Slipstream mention the planet of gold, [[Voga]], along with another gold planet, [[Midas Superior]].
* Amy refers to [[star whale]]s and "[[Prisoner Zero|intergalactic felons]]".
* Dirk Slipstream claims to have earned a medal for bravery during the battle of [[Krontep]].
 
=== Spacecraft ===
* One of the crashed spaceships is made from Proamonium, found only on [[Proamon]].
* The NASA deep space probe [[Pioneer 10]] appears as part of the Gyre's Landscape.
* Dirk Slipstream's ship is named the ''[[Golden Bough]]''.
 
== Notes ==
* The smaller craft used by the Sittuun take their names from 20th Century jazz musicians. The buggy, Ella, is named after the singer {{w|Ella Fitzgerald}}, while the "helipod", Bird, takes its name from saxophonist {{w|Charlie Parker}}, whose nickname was "Bird".
* The [[Gyre]] is located in the [[Battani 045 system]]. {{w|Muhammad ibn Jābir al-Harrānī al-Battānī}} (c. 858CE - 929CE) was an [[Arab]] [[astronomer]] and [[mathematician]].
* This story was also released as an ebook available from the Amazon Kindle store.


== Continuity ==
== Continuity ==
''to be added''
* [[Volag-Noc]] is mentioned. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Infinite Quest (TV story)|The Infinite Quest]]'')
* [[Voga]] was a planet made of [[gold]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[Revenge of the Cybermen (TV story)|Revenge of the Cybermen]]'')
* The shipwrecked ''[[Herald Of Nanking]]'' featured as a working spaceship in [[PROSE]]: ''[[The Taking of Chelsea 426]]''.
* The Doctor recalls surviving after falling from great heights, ([[TV]]: ''[[Logopolis (TV story)|Logopolis]]'', ''[[The End of Time (TV story)|The End of Time]]'') being shot, ([[TV]]: ''[[Doctor Who (TV story)|Doctor Who]]'') losing a hand and growing it back ([[TV]]: ''[[The Christmas Invasion (TV story)|The Christmas Invasion]]'') and seeing the end of the universe. ([[TV]]: ''[[Utopia (TV story)|Utopia]]'')
* The Doctor refers to the [[Prisoner Zero|monster]] in Amy's wall. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Eleventh Hour (TV story)|The Eleventh Hour]]'')
* Amy recalls running around a spaceship in her nightie. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Beast Below (TV story)|The Beast Below]]'')
* Amy recalls her wedding dress that 'she might never wear', and later says that she has 'a big day tomorrow' 250,000 years ago, placing this adventure before [[TV]]: ''[[The Time of Angels (TV story)|The Time of Angels]]''.
* The Sittuun ship is named [[Beagle XXI]]. The Doctor previously encountered a similarly named ship, the [[HMS Beagle|HMS ''Beagle'']], commanded by [[Charles Darwin]]. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Bloodtide (audio story)|Bloodtide]]'')


==Timeline==
== Editions published outside Britain ==
Night of the Humans occurs after: [[NSA]]: ''[[Apollo 23]]''
* Published in France by Milady in 2012 as a paperback edition.
* Published in Italy by Asengard Edizioni in 2013 as a paperback edition.
* Published again in Italy by Armenia in 2018 as a paperback edition. It used the same cover as the previous edition.


<gallery position=center captionalign=center hideaddbutton="true" >
Night_of_the_Humans_French.jpg|French edition
ItalianNightOfTheHumans.jpg|Italian edition
</gallery>


Night of the Humans occurs before: ''[[Claws of the Macra]]''
== Audiobook ==
* This novel was released as an audiobook in [[November (releases)|November]] [[2010 (releases)|2010]] complete and unabridged by [[BBC Audio]] and read by [[Arthur Darvill]].
* The audiobook was offered as a free download with ''[[The Brilliant Book 2012]]''.


==External links==
<gallery position="center" captionalign="center" hideaddbutton="true">
[http://www.bbcshop.com/Doctor-Who-Books/Doctor-Who-Night-Of-The-Humans/invt/9781846079696 BBC Shop - Night of the Humans]
Night_of_the_Humans_Audiobook.jpg|Audiobook cover
</gallery>


{{ELDA}}
== External links ==
* [http://www.bbcshop.com/Doctor-Who-Books/Doctor-Who-Night-Of-The-Humans/invt/9781846079696 BBC Shop - Night of the Humans]
{{dwrefguide|whobb938.htm|Night of the Humans}}
* {{whoniverse|ns38|Night of the Humans}}
* [http://mysite.science.uottawa.ca/rsmith43/cloister/nighthumans.htm The Cloister Library: '''Night of the Humans''']
{{NSA}}
{{TitleSort}}
{{TitleSort}}
[[Category:BBC Eleventh Doctor Adventures]]
 
[[Category:Eleventh Doctor NSA novels]]
[[Category:2010 novels]]
[[Category:2010 novels]]
[[Category:Eleventh Doctor novels]]
[[Category:Stories set in 250339]]
[[Category:E-books]]
 
[[fr:Night of the Humans]]
[[ru:Ночь людей]]

Latest revision as of 21:13, 15 February 2024

RealWorld.png

Night of the Humans was the thirty-eighth novel in the BBC New Series Adventures series. It was written by David Llewellyn and featured the Eleventh Doctor and Amy Pond.

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

"This is the Gyre – the most hostile environment in the galaxy."

250,000 years' worth of junk floating in deep space, home to the shipwrecked Sittuun, the carnivorous Sollogs, and worst of all – the humans.

The Doctor and Amy arrive on this terrifying world in the middle of an all-out frontier war between Sittuun and Humans, and the clock is already ticking. There's a comet in the sky, and it's on a collision course with the Gyre...

When the Doctor is kidnapped, it's up to Amy and "galaxy-famous swashbuckler" Dirk Slipstream to save the day.

But who is Slipstream, exactly? And what is he really doing here?

Plot[[edit] | [edit source]]

When the TARDIS is pulled off-course, the Doctor and Amy make an unexpected trip to the Gyre. It is made of junk from all time and space, even a satellite Earth sent out thousands of years ago. They encounter aliens known as the Sittuun, who kidnap them. In mid-kidnapping, the Doctor falls out of their vehicle and is kidnapped by primitive humans.

Amy explains how she and the Doctor got to the Gyre to the Sittuun, confusing them for the "locals". She learns they came to plant a bomb to destroy the Gyre before a comet strikes and endangers other worlds with its debris. Meanwhile, the Doctor is taken to the human camp. He learns they are descendants of a crashed cargo ship who believe they are on Earth. When the Doctor tries to tell them the truth, they call him a blasphemer and order him put to death.

Elsewhere, Amy has bonded with Charlie and met Dirk Slipstream, a man who has answered the distress call the Sittuun sent when they crashed. She persuades him to rescue the Doctor. However, he double-crosses them and leaves to find something the humans have in their camp. As it turns out, Slipstream is an escaped criminal who had encountered the Doctor prior when he foiled a diamond robbery. He persuades them to spare the Doctor and uses him to find the Mymon Key, an object that can harness the forces of the universe.

The comet draws closer, forcing them to flee. They attempt to use Charlie's helipod to get to the TARDIS, but, an attack from a creature called a Sollog damages an engine and causes them to crash. Dirk is knocked out and the Doctor makes sure the Key, which is pulling the comet to them, is left behind. They land the TARDIS in Dirk's ship, commandeered by the Sittuun, and take off. However, it turns out that the Key that was left behind was a fake, and the ship can't leave. The Doctor takes the real Key back to the Gyre and throws it in a swamp. Dirk regains consciousness and takes Amy hostage before fleeing to an escape pod. He threatens Amy to make the Doctor give him the Key, but the Doctor only tells him where he threw. it. Dirk enters the swamp to search, but is eaten by the Sollogs. The Doctor and Amy return to the TARDIS and Dirk's ship, and before the comet hits, the Sittuun bomb goes off, destroying the Gyre.

Characters[[edit] | [edit source]]

Worldbuilding[[edit] | [edit source]]

Anatomy and physiology[[edit] | [edit source]]

Colleges and universities[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • Charlie's father mentions him going to the Lux Academy.

Music[[edit] | [edit source]]

Planets[[edit] | [edit source]]

Spacecraft[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • One of the crashed spaceships is made from Proamonium, found only on Proamon.
  • The NASA deep space probe Pioneer 10 appears as part of the Gyre's Landscape.
  • Dirk Slipstream's ship is named the Golden Bough.

Notes[[edit] | [edit source]]

Continuity[[edit] | [edit source]]

Editions published outside Britain[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • Published in France by Milady in 2012 as a paperback edition.
  • Published in Italy by Asengard Edizioni in 2013 as a paperback edition.
  • Published again in Italy by Armenia in 2018 as a paperback edition. It used the same cover as the previous edition.

Audiobook[[edit] | [edit source]]

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