The Sands of Time (novel)

The Sands of Time
Doctor:	[[doctor::Fifth Doctor]]
Companion(s):	Nyssa, Tegan
Main enemy:	Nephthys
Main setting:	Nepthys' Pyramid, 2000 BC Nepthys' Pyramid, September 1896Nepthys' Pyramid, 1996Cranleigh Hall, Oxfordshire, 1926The British Museum, London, 1896The British Museum, London, 1996The Great Pyramid, Egypt, 1996James Norris's House, 1996Kenilworth House, 9 to 10 November 1896Kenilworth House, 1996The Great Pyramid, 1798St. Helena, 1821
Key crew
Publisher:	[[publisher::Virgin Books]]
Writer:	Justin Richards
Release details
Release number:	22
Release date:	May, 1996
Format:	Paperback Book, ? 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.

Publisher's summary

'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.

Plot

to be added

Characters

• The Doctor
• Tegan Jovanka
• Nyssa

• Chosen as the host for Nepthys

• Lady Ann Cranleigh
• Lord Kenilworth
• Atkins
• Nephthys

• Released when the canopic jar containing her reasoning was broken while robbers were plundering her pyramid.

References

• Further history of the Osirians, first encountered in Pyramids of Mars, is provided.
• The Doctor makes a passing reference to Scaroth, the antagonist of City of Death, and his involvement in the construction of the Pyramids of Giza.
• Adric's death is discussed several times by Tegan and the Doctor, specifically why the Doctor can't use the TARDIS to save him and the emotional impact it has had on them.
• The final passage of the book has Marcus Scarman arriving for dinner at Lord Kenilworth's in 1896.

Notes

• 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.

Continuity

• This is a sequel to DW: Pyramids of Mars.
• Tegan tells the Doctor that her sense of adventure died in Amsterdam. (DW: Arc of Infinity)
• The Doctor, Nyssa and Tegan first met Ann Cranleigh (neé Talbot) in DW: Black Orchid.

Timeline

• The Sands of Time occurs after: PDA: Zeta Major
• The Sands of Time occurs before: DWA: Danger Down Below

External links

• The Sands of Time at the Doctor Who Reference Guide
• The Discontinuity Guide to: The Sands of Time at The Whoniverse
• Official BBC eBook of The Sands of Time