The Man in the Velvet Mask (novel)

The Man in the Velvet Mask (novel)

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The Man in the Velvet Mask
Doctor:	[[doctor::First Doctor]]
Companion(s):	Dodo
Main enemy:	Minski
Main setting:	Alternate Paris: July, 1804
Key crew
Publisher:	[[publisher::Virgin Books]]
Writer:	Daniel O'Mahony
Release details
Release number:	19
Release date:	February, 1996
Format:	Paperback Book, 250 Pages
ISBN:	ISBN 0-426-20488-3

Publisher's summary

'The triumph of virtue. The misfortunes of vice. Who said the play had to be like the book?'

24 Messidor, XXII: the TARDIS has landed in post-revolutionary France, or so it appears. But the futuristic structure of the New Bastille towers over a twisted version of Paris. And First Deputy Minski, adopted son of the infamous Marquis de Sade, presides over a reign of terror that has yet to end.

Revolutionary soldiers arrest an ailing Doctor as a curfew breaker. Dodo is recruited by a band of wandering players whose intentions are less than pure. Deep in the dungeons of the Bastille, Prisoner 6 tries desperately to remember who he is. And outside time and space, a gathering of aliens watch in horror as their greatest experiment goes catastrophically wrong.

Characters

• The Doctor
• Dodo Chaplet
• Minski

References

• The Doctor feels the TARDIS 'calling to him', and recalls her having done so previously when he had lost it in the 'fourth universe' and during the long months he had been seperated from it in China (DW: Marco Polo)
• Earth is referred to as 'Planet D02RL in Mutter's Spiral'.
• According to the novel, Time Lords grow their second heart after their first regeneration (an attempt to rectify the implication in DW: The Edge of Destruction that the First Doctor had only a single heart). This notion has yet to be supported by any televised episode, with two episodes, DW: The Mind of Evil and DW: The Christmas Invasion, suggesting that one of a Time Lord's hearts can stop due to trauma or illness, and another, DW: The Doctor's Daughter, possibly contradicting it by showing that Jenny was born with two hearts. (but this could be due to her being a clone of the Tenth Doctor, not the First.)

Notes

• Throughout this novel, the Doctor is portrayed as being weaker and frailer than usual, and he alludes several times to his inevitable, upcoming Regeneration.

Continuity

• The Doctor mistakenly calls Dodo 'Susan' at one point, and once again mentions how similar they look (DW: The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve)
• The Doctor tells Dodo that his time is near (refering to his approaching regeneration in DW: The Tenth Planet), and that he knew it was coming since his latest meeting with the Toymaker (DW: The Celestial Toymaker). He also mentions that he will need the aid of the TARDIS.
• Steven's recent departure is mentioned twice (DW: The Savages), and Dodo relates the story of his two-year imprisonment (DW: The Chase)
• Dodo tells Dalville she can play the piano a bit, mentioning 'The Ballad of the Last Chance Saloon' as an example of something she can play (DW: The Gunfighters)
• The Doctor recalls having been seperated from the TARDIS in China (DW: Marco Polo)
• When encountering aliens, Dodo compares them to the Monoids and Refusians (DW: The Ark)
• Dodo recalls having seen the Earth explode (DW: The Ark)
• The Doctor is addressed as a 'lord', but denies this title, and even when being confronted with the fact that he was 'noble once but fell from grace' he refuses to aknowledge this.
• Dodo mentions having once almost killed the entire human race (DW: The Ark)
• Dodo predicts she will stop travelling with the Doctor sooner rather than later (DW: The War Machines)

Timeline

• The Man in the Velvet Mask occurs after DW: The Savages
• The Man in the Velvet Mask occurs before VD: Tarnished Image

External links

• The Man in the Velvet Mask at the Doctor Who Reference Guide
• The Discontinuity Guide to: The Man in the Velvet Mask at The Whoniverse