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Josephine and the Argonauts was the fourth novel to be released in the Puffin Classics crossovers range. It was released on the 24 August 2023[1] by BBC Children's Books. Written Paul Magrs, the novel featured the Third Doctor and Jo Grant and was loosely based on the myth of Jason and the Argonauts, along with other Greek myths.
Publisher's summary
It was a kind of portal - a portal into the myths of the ancient world...
Everyone knows the Doctor loves museums (it's his way of keeping score).
But when Jo Grant and the Doctor visit the British Museum in London, they might have got more than they bargained for.
A mysterious object is revealed, which grants those who touch it strange visions of Greek Myths. Gods, warriors and monsters are contained within this object - the MythoScope.
But there is something sinister at play. A powerful influence seems to be controlling the mythoscope...mastering it.
Jo and the Doctor must bargain with Zeus, battle the undead and journey to the ends of the Earth, where only an object of wondrous power can save the MythoScope from total destruction.
Plot
The Third Doctor and Jo Grant arrive at the British Museum to attend a talk by Professor Green, at his invitation. He believes that the Doctor will be interested in his talk. They are interrupted on their mission by Mann, a police officer, who isn't happy about them parking Bessie on the road. They brush on past him.
In the museum, they meet Professor Wanda Barton, who has written a book on Greek mythology that theorises that the myths really happened in an alternate reality. They hurry into the talk, and listen. The talk is about Green's discovery, a strange machine called the MythoScope that he found in Greece. He claims it has strange properties, and asks for a volunteer. The MythoScope is almost hypnotic. Many people are exceedingly eager to volunteer, but Green eventually picks Barton. She comes up to the MythoScope, and places her hands on it. The MythoScope is turned on, and Wanda looks into it and can see ancient Greece. She is the sorceress Medea, doing evil witch deeds across lands that the audience cannot see. She is drawn into the MythoScope in a magical flash of light.
The various academic individuals panic and attempt to leave, while Jo calls Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart. Mann enters, and demands to know what is going on. Jo and the Doctor tell him that Professor Barton has disappeared. Just after the Brigadier and John Benton arrive, Green convinces Mann to touch the MythoScope, and he too is drawn into it. Green reveals that this has happened once before, with his assistant also having been sucked into the machine, and that the purpose of the talk was to see if it would happen again. They get the MythoScope to work again, and the Doctor looks through it and sees his old enemy the Master as the king of Colchis. He is married to Wanda, who is, within the MythoScope, the sorceress Medea. It is revealed that Green's assistant Malcolm was actually the Master. The Master plans to harvest the power of the MythoScope, which is very great. The Doctor gets angry, and grabs the MythoScope. Jo tries to stop him, but it is too late, and they are both drawn into the MythoScope.
They land on a sunny hill, where they see an eagle about to rip out the liver of an individual chained to a rock. Jo hits the eagle over the head with a rock, and they learn that the individual is Prometheus (mythology), bringer of fire to mortal beings. He declines their offer to rescue him from his chains, as he can see into the future, and worries that they might anger Zeus. He introduces them to Silenus, a satyr, who invites them to the valley of Arcadia. There they eat and drink with the satyrs, and decide that they have to visit Mount Olympus and speak to Zeus.
Silenus shows them a shortcut, which is a long and treacherous route full of monsters that appears to go through the very fabric of the MythoScope. Silenus wishes Zeus to know that there is something wrong with the world, and the Doctor and Jo agree to pass the message on to him.
During their trek, they discuss the nature of the MythoScope and the people inside. However, their chatter soon ceases, because the Doctor hears Medusa, who is lost in the labyrinth, going past. Luckily, Medusa does not notice them, and moves on. They continue upwards, still discussing the nature of the MythoScope and those inside. Jo believes that they are all from a parallel universe, and that they have influenced the myths of their universe, while the Doctor believes that they are illusions created by the MythoScope.
They arrive at the gates of Mount Olympus, picking up a parcel for Zeus from Hermes on the way. They meet Zeus, whose power is waning. He can only manifest on a television screen. He decides that they must travel to Colchis, as they have fought the Master before, and he is the cause of all that is wrong inside the MythoScope. He decrees that they shall travel on the ship Argo, with fifty great heroes aboard to sail it. The Doctor reluctantly accepts, but Zeus says that it is not he who is to be the captain of the ship, it is Jo.
more to be added
Characters
- Third Doctor
- Jo Grant
- Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart
- John Benton
- The Master
- PC Mann/Argus
- Prof. Green
- Prof. Wanda Barton/Medea
- Eagle
- Prometheus
- Silenus
- Hermes
- Athena
- Aphrodite
- Hera
- Zeus
- Hercules
- Laertes
- Talamon
- Meleager
- Perceus
- Atalanta
- Theseus
- Phineus
- Orpheus
- Calis
- Zetus
- Dragon
- Circe
Referenced only
Worldbuilding
- Mount Olympus reminds the Third Doctor of Gallifrey.
more to be added
Notes
- Author Paul Magrs confirmed his intended placement of the story in continuity by posting a picture of his bookshelf with the book placed between Doctor Who and the Planet of the Daleks and Doctor Who and the Green Death.[2]
- Magrs has noted that this story was, picking up on the threads of Doctor Who and the Doomsday Weapon, designed to give "that First Master a final outing".[3]
- Unusually for a 21st century Doctor Who novel, the Doctor is occasionally referred to as Doctor Who, with him even proclaiming at one point "I - Doctor Who - command you". Author Paul Magrs revealed on Twitter that this was a callback to the 70s Doctor Who books and "just [his] thing". [4]
Continuity
- The Doctor is referred to as Doctor Who. This name has been used in various media since the beginning of the show.
- Jo recalls that the Brigadier served in Greece during World War II. By some accounts, he fought with distinction as an officer in Crete. (PROSE: Deadly Reunion, Island of Death) By other accounts, he was only 16 when the war ended (PROSE: The Forgotten Son) and saw no military service until his national service and the Korean War in the 1950s, as a private. (PROSE: The Ambush!)
External links
- Official Josephine and the Argonauts page at Penguin Books