Dying in the Sun (novel)

Dying in the Sun
Doctor:	Second Doctor
Companion(s):	Polly, Ben
Main enemy:	Leonard De Sande, The Selyoids
Main setting:	Los Angeles, October 1947
Key crew
Publisher:	BBC Books
Writer:	Jon de Burgh Miller
Cover by:	Black Sheep
Release details
Release number:	46
Release date:	1 October 2001
Format:	Paperback Book, 33 Chapters, 281 Pages
ISBN:	ISBN 0-563-53840-6
BBC Past Doctor Adventures
← Previous	Psi-ence Fiction
Next →	Instruments of Darkness

Dying in the Sun was the forty-sixth novel in the BBC Past Doctor Adventures series. It was written by Jon de Burgh Miller, released 1 October 2001 and featured the Second Doctor, Ben Jackson and Polly Wright.

This was the third novel to feature this line up of Doctor and companions. This novel is author Jon de Burgh Miller's only solo novel contribution.

Publisher's summary

It was the city of angels, and the angels were screaming...

Los Angeles, 1947: multi-millionaire movie producer Harold Reitman has been murdered and the LAPD are convinced that drug dealer Robert Chate is the killer. Detective William Fletcher isn't so sure — he believes that the man who calls himself the Doctor has a stronger connection to the crime than he's letting on.

While the Doctor assists the police with their enquiries, Star Light Pictures are preparing to release their most eagerly anticipated movie yet, Dying in the Sun, a film that rumours say will change the motion-picture industry for ever.

Suspecting that the film holds secrets more terrifying then anyone could ever have imagined, the Doctor decides to do everything in his power to stop it from being released. In Hollywood, however, it is the movie studios that hold all the power...

Plot

to be added

Characters

• Second Doctor
• Ben Jackson
• Polly Wright
• William Fletcher
• Robert Chate
• Caleb Rochefort
• Leonard De Sande
• Charles Wallis
• Hannah Wyatt
• James Hensleigh
• Leon Zane
• Maria Coleman
• Martin Revere
• Rachel Revere
• Reinert
• James Hensleigh
• Caleb Rochefort's brother

Worldbuilding

Food and Beverages

• The Doctor drinks (presumably alcoholic) punch.
• Polly drinks several cocktails and a rum and coke.
• The Doctor and Ben eat Danish pastries.

Locations

• The Silent Gold restaurant is located in Beverly Hills.
• After the Silent Gold shooting, the wounded were taken to Queen of Angels Hospital.
• Boulevard Heights is an estate controlled by the up-and-coming racketeer Cohen.
• Maria Coleman's house is in the San Fernando Valley.
• Her old house was in Wilshire.
• Fletcher's ex-girlfriend and son now live in Monterey.
• The Doctor and Ben visit Victory Van Owen Park.
• They later visit Holywood Boulevard.
• Star Light Pictures are based in Culver City, but own a warehouse overlooking Burbank Airport in LA.
• Western Canyon leads to the Hollywood Hills and Griffith Park.

Organisations

• The LAPD investigates the murder of Harold Reitman, an old friend of the Doctor's.

Films

• Dying in the Sun is a film created by de Sande as Selyoid propaganda.
• Chate watches Magic Town, by James Stewart, at the Pantages Theatre.
• De Sande works for Star Light Pictures.
• De Sande's past films include The Cold Blooded and The Sword of Damocles.

Other

• Wallis walks his pet chihuahua.

Notes

• There is a brief flashback scene set three years earlier in Alaska .

Continuity

• The Doctor says that "evil must be fought". (TV: The Moonbase)
• The Doctor tells Ben and Polly that he has not been in the United States of America for some time. (TV: The Gunfighters)

External links

• Dying in the Sun at the Doctor Who Reference Guide
• The Discontinuity Guide to: Dying in the Sun at The Whoniverse
• The Cloister Library: Dying in the Sun
• Outpost Gallifrey - Interview: Jon de Burgh Miller (archived)