The Sands of Time (novel)

The Sands of Time
Doctor:	Fifth Doctor
Companion(s):	Nyssa, Tegan
Featuring:	Ann Talbot
Main enemy:	Nephthys
Main setting:	Egypt in c.5000 BC, c.2000 BC, hundreds of years after 2000 BC, and September 1896. Cranleigh Hall, Oxfordshire, 1926. Kenilworth Hall, 1926, 1965. London 1880, 9th-10th November 1896, 1975, 1996. The Great Pyramid, 1798. St Helena, 1821.
Key crew
Publisher:	Virgin Books
Writer:	Justin Richards
Release details
Release number:	22
Release date:	16 May, 1996
Format:	Paperback Book; 19 Chapters, 256 Pages
ISBN:	ISBN 0-426-20472-7
Virgin Missing Adventures
← Previous	The Eye of the Giant
Next →	Killing Ground

The Sands of Time was the twenty-second novel in the Virgin Missing Adventures series. It was written by Justin Richards. It featured the Fifth Doctor, Nyssa and Tegan Jovanka.

Publisher's summary

1996 Virgin Books edition

"If Sutekh had escaped, no power in the universe could have stopped him wreaking havoc and destruction. This time, it's worse."

Arriving in Victorian London, the Fifth Doctor, Nyssa and Tegan run straight into trouble: Nyssa is kidnapped in the British Museum by Egyptian religious fanatics; the Doctor and Tegan are greeted by a stranger who knows more about them than he should and invited to a very strange party.

Why are rooms already booked for the Doctor at the Savoy? How can Lord Kenilworth's butler Atkins be in Egypt and London at the same time? What is the history of the ancient mummy to be unwrapped at Kenilworth's house? And what has all this got to do with Nyssa?

The Doctor's quest for answers leads him across continents and time as an ancient Egyptian prophecy threatens 1990s England. While the Doctor attempts to unravel the plans of the mysterious Sadan Rassul, mummies stalk the night and an ancient terror stirs in its tomb.

2014 BBC Books edition

The Doctor is in Victorian London with Nyssa and Tegan — a city shrouded in mystery. When Nyssa is kidnapped in the British Museum, the Doctor and Tegan have to unlock the answers to a series of ancient questions.

Their quest leads them across continents and time as an ancient Egyptian prophecy threatens future England. To save Nyssa, the Doctor must foil the plans of the mysterious Sadan Rassul. But as mummies stalk the night, an ancient terror stirs in its tomb.

Plot

to be added

Characters

• Fifth Doctor
• Tegan Jovanka
• Nyssa
• Lady Ann Cranleigh
• Lord Kenilworth
• Atkins
• Sadan Rassul
• Nephthys
• Aubrey Prior
• James Norris
• Vanessa Prior
• Nicholas Simons
• Shabti

References

Individuals

• Nyssa is chosen as the host for Nephthys.
• Nephthys is released when the canopic jar containing her reasoning is broken while robbers are plundering her pyramid.
• Marcus Scarman arrives for dinner at Lord Kenilworth's in 1896.

Notes

• This novel continues many of the themes in the television story Pyramids of Mars and functions as a prequel and a sequel.
• The story was released as an e-book on the BBC website in 2004, with the book remaining on the website until 2010. It contained illustrations by Peter McKinstry and added an alternate ending to the story. The alternate ending was added into the story by having a character called the Chronicler run a simulation of the events of the ending of the novel "if things had gone differently".
• This novel was reprinted and released as an ebook by BBC Books on 6 March 2014 as The Monster Collection Edition.
• The phenomenon of the Web of Time and the Doctor's inability to change history despite his limitless ability to travel in time is central to the novel. It is discussed several times by the Doctor and Tegan. The Doctor does mention that he has seen history changed, but that it requires "fantastic power" and is often disastrous.
• Despite this, Tegan attempts to change history in a minor way. However, events end up not being changed at all — something that doesn't surprise the Doctor.
• Further history of the Osirans is detailed in this story.

Continuity

• The Doctor, Nyssa and Tegan first met Lady Ann Cranleigh (neé Talbot) in Cranleigh Hall in Oxfordshire on 11 June 1925. (TV: Black Orchid)
• Tegan mentions that she lost her sense of adventure in Amsterdam. (TV: Arc of Infinity)
• The Doctor refers to Scaroth having been manipulated by the Osirans. (TV: City of Death)
• He also mentions the Zero Room (TV: Castrovalva).
• Tegan sketches the dig site in Egypt. (TV: Four to Doomsday)
• The death of Adric is discussed several times by Tegan and the Doctor, specifically why the Doctor cannot use the TARDIS to save him and the emotional impact it has had on them. (TV: Earthshock)

Additional cover images

• 

  The Monster Collection cover

External links

• The Sands of Time at the Doctor Who Reference Guide
• The Discontinuity Guide to: The Sands of Time at The Whoniverse
• The Cloister Library: The Sands of Time