Ghosts of India (novel)

Ghosts of India
Doctor:	Tenth Doctor
Companion(s):	Donna
Featuring:	Mohandas Gandhi
Main enemy:	Darac-Poul-Caparrel-Jal-7, Gelem warriors
Main setting:	Calcutta, 1947
Key crew
Publisher:	BBC Books
Writer:	Mark Morris
Read by:	David Troughton
Cover by:	Lee Binding
Release details
Release number:	25
Release date:	4 September 2008
Format:	Hardcover, 248 Pages
ISBN:	ISBN 978-1-84607-559-9
BBC New Series Adventures
← Previous	The Many Hands
Next →	The Doctor Trap

Ghosts of India was the twenty-fifth novel in the BBC New Series Adventures series. It was written by Mark Morris and featured the Tenth Doctor and Donna Noble.

Publisher's summary

India in 1947 is a country in the grip of chaos — a country torn apart by internal strife. When the Doctor and Donna arrive in Calcutta, they are instantly swept up in violent events.

Barely escaping with their lives, they discover that the city is rife with tales of "half-made men" who roam the streets at night and steal people away. These creatures, it is said, are as white as salt and have only shadows where their eyes should be. With help from India's great spiritual leader, Mohandas "Mahatma" Gandhi, the Doctor and Donna set out to investigate these rumours.

What is the real truth behind the "half-made men"? Why is Gandhi's role in history under threat? And has an ancient, all-powerful god of destruction really come back to wreak his vengeance upon the Earth?

Plot

to be added

Characters

• Tenth Doctor
• Donna Noble
• Mohandas Gandhi
• Veec-Ellic-Savareen-Jal-9
• Darac-Poul-Caparrel-Jal-7
• Edward Morgan
• Ranjit
• Cameron Campbell
• Adelaide Campbell
• Ronny Campbell
• Sir Edgar Campbell
• Mary Campbell
• Major Daker
• Captain McMahon
• Private Wilkins
• Gelem warriors

Worldbuilding

• The ears of a Fostarone turn blue when they lie.
• The Doctor initially believes that he and Donna have arrived in 1937.
• Zytron energy was discovered on Earth in 4947.
• Veec-9 has a Mezon disintegrator 7.5.
• The Doctor uses the alias John Smith and the phrase allons-y.
• The Doctor uses his psychic paper and sonic screwdriver.

Food and Beverages

• The Doctor takes two sugars in his tea.
• Donna drinks home-made lemonade with the Campbells.

Notes

• This story was also released as an ebook available from the Amazon Kindle store.

Continuity

• During his fifth incarnation, the Doctor previously visited Calcutta on 31 December 1926 in the company of Nyssa, Tegan Jovanka and Turlough. (AUDIO: The Emerald Tiger)
• The Doctor mentions having had a relationship with Cleopatra, confirming Mickey Smith's suspicions to that effect. (TV: The Girl in the Fireplace)
• Donna calls the Doctor a Martian. (TV: The Runaway Bride)
• The Doctor has a satsuma in his pocket. (TV: The Christmas Invasion)
• The Doctor says "once you've faced one god of destruction, you've faced them all". He has faced many such gods in his life. He met Dæmons including Azal in his third incarnation, (TV: The Dæmons and Bonjaxx during his seventh. (COMIC: Party Animals) He previously met Fenric in his seventh incarnation, The Curse of Fenric, AUDIO: Black and White|Gods and Monsters, and is yet to meet him again in his twelfth. (COMIC: The Wolves of Winter) He also faced the Gods of Ragnarok in his seventh incarnation. (TV: The Greatest Show in the Galaxy; AUDIO: The Psychic Circus) Earlier in his tenth incarnation, he met the Beast of Krop Tor. The Impossible Planet|The Satan Pit) He also met the Toymaker in his first incarnation, (TV: The Celestial Toymaker) and is yet to meet him in his fourteenth and fifteenth incarnations. (TV: The Giggle) He also met the Mara in his fifth incarnation, (TV: Kinda) and also his eleventh. (PROSE: The Dreaming) He also met Sutekh in his fourth, (TV: Pyramids of Mars) and seventh incarnations; (AUDIO: The Pyramid of Sutekh) and is yet to meet him in his tenth, (COMIC: Old Girl) and fifteenth incarnations. (TV: The Legend of Ruby Sunday) He will also meet Maestro, the Toymaker's daughter, in his fifteenth incarnation. (TV: The Devil's Chord
• The Doctor refers to his teaching days. (TV: School Reunion, Human Nature / The Family of Blood)
• Donna recalls the first time that she met the Doctor. (TV: The Runaway Bride)
• Donna sees an image of the Empress of the Racnoss, this being one of the things that scares her most. (TV: The Runaway Bride)
• The Doctor has a yo-yo in his pocket. (TV: The Ark in Space, Kill the Moon)
• Donna worked at H. C. Clements. (TV: The Runaway Bride)
• The timey-wimey detector is destroyed. (TV: Blink) The Doctor either repairs it or builds a new one. (TV: The Day of the Doctor)
• The Doctor considers singing a Venusian lullaby. (TV: The Curse of Peladon, The Monster of Peladon)
• The Doctor says he has never been friends with a fly, but he knew some butterflies once. (TV: The Web Planet) He would later befriend some flies in TV: Planet of the Dead.
• The Doctor says the Daleks, Cybermen and Sontarans have never made him tea. In his next incarnation, he would be offered tea by a Dalek. (TV: Victory of the Daleks)
• Donna remembers the way the Ood had been treated on the Ood-Sphere. (TV: Planet of the Ood)
• The Doctor mentions being the only survivor of the Last Great Time War. (TV: The End of the World, Dalek) but is yet to be proved wrong. (TV: The Day of the Doctor)
• The Draconians are mentioned. (TV: Frontier in Space)
• The Thirteenth Doctor would later revisit the Partition of India, this time in the Punjab. (TV: Demons of the Punjab)

Audiobook

• This novel was released as an audiobook on 12 March 2009 by BBC Audio and read by David Troughton.

• 

  Audiobook cover

External links

• Official Ghosts of India page at Penguin Books
• Ghosts of India at the Doctor Who Reference Guide
• The Discontinuity Guide to: Ghosts of India at The Whoniverse
• The Cloister Library: Ghosts of India