Bay of the Dead (novel)
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Bay of the Dead was the eleventh release in the BBC Torchwood Novels series.
Publisher's summary
When the city sleeps, the dead start to walk…
Something has sealed off Cardiff, and living corpses are stalking the streets, leaving a trail of half-eaten bodies. Animals are butchered. A young couple in their car never reach home. A stolen yacht is brought back to shore, carrying only human remains. And a couple of girls heading back from the pub watch the mysterious drivers of a big black SUV take over a crime scene.
Torchwood have to deal with the intangible barrier surrounding Cardiff, and some unidentified space debris that seems to be regenerating itself. Plus, of course, the all-night zombie horror show.
Not that they really believe in zombies.
Plot
to be added
Characters
- Captain Jack Harkness
- Gwen Cooper
- Ianto Jones
- Rhys Williams
- PC Andy Davidson
- Jackie Hargreaves
- Joe Hargreaves
- Toby
- Steffan
- Curtis
- Stan
- Greg
- Sophie Gould
- Kirsty Lane
- Terry
- DS Kathy Swanson
- SOCO Guy Baker
- PC Dawn Stratton
- Hayley
- Martin
- Jace
- Trystan Thomas
- Sarah Thomas
- Rianne Kilkenny
- Nina Rogers
- Sister Felicity Andrews
- Mildred
- Winston
- Old man
- Sarah and Trystan Thomas' son
- Keith Samuels
- Naomi Samuels
- Jasmine Samuels
- Oscar Phillips
- Clare Phillips
- Nobby
- Alexander Martin
- Slug-Face
- Leet
Worldbuilding
Individuals
- Joe and Jackie have been visiting Mike and Sue Roach.
- Toby has a sister called Jess and a girlfriend called Lauren.
- Curtis' friends call him Audley, after Audley Harrison.
- Steffan has an uncle.
- Gwen has nightmares following the deaths of Owen Harper and Toshiko Sato.
- Betty Prudom lives in the flat below Gwen and Rhys.
- Kathy thinks Myers is a nuisance.
- Sophie has a lodger called Kate.
- Emily Holroyd ran Torchwood in the 1890s.
- Ianto places Mildred in the cell next to Janet.
- Jasmine has a toy rabbit called Sunny.
- Gwen mentions her gran, who bought her a toy monkey called Bonzo.
- Alexander's nurse is called Ben.
Species
- Leet is a "child of the Dellacoi".
- Rhys at first believes the zombie outside his flat to be a Weevil.
- Leet uses search units based on stereotypical zombies.
Geography
- Roads and streets in Cardiff include Gabalfa Road, James Street, Greyfriars Road, Bradford Street, Corporation Road, Harrowby Street, Penarth Road, North Road, Bute Street, Railway Street and Madoc Road.
- Districts in Cardiff include Llandaff, Grangetown, Trowbridge, Butetown, Canton and Splott.
- Places in Wales include Cowbridge, Bonvilston, Merthyr and Penarth.
- Students attending Cardiff University come from Leicester, London, Newport, Liverpool and Southport among other places.
Businesses
- Rhys crashes his Saab.
- Gwen and Rhys take cover behind a Citroën.
- Gwen sarcastically asks Rhys if he is trying to call Rentokil.
Sport
- Audley Harrison is a boxer.
- Stan has had football trials with QPR and Southport.
Popular culture
- Steffan mentions Pirates of the Caribbean.
- Rhys compares a man to Jacob Marley.
- Rhys mentions Night of the Living Dead.
- Gwen compares Oscar's falling body to the flying Darling children from Peter Pan.
- Nobby refers to Naomi as Cruella De Vil's more obnoxious sister.
- Nobby's mobile ringtone is the theme tune from The A-Team.
Music
- Jackie and Joe listen to Elbow on the car radio.
- Andy owns the Only by the Night CD by Kings of Leon.
- Mildred wears a gore-spattered Girls Aloud T-shirt.
- Oscar is played Queen, Bon Jovi and Bruce Springsteen in his hospital bed.
Miscellaneous
- Gwen suggest calling UNIT for help.
- Staff and visitors to St Helen's Hospital show a touch of Dunkirk spirit.
Notes
- The title appears to be a reference to Romero's Living Dead movies, most notably Day of the Dead.
- The dense fog which foreshadows the appearances of zombies in the novel appears to reference the cult horror film The Fog, in which a glowing fog sweeps over a Californian town, bringing with it the vengeful ghosts of mariners killed in a shipwreck 100 years prior.
- Although it remains unnamed in the book, a reference is made to the film The Incredible Shrinking Man. Reference is also made to The Addams Family.
- This book is also available as an ebook from the Amazon Kindle store.
Continuity
- The team is still affected by the deaths of Toshiko Sato and Owen Harper. (TV: Exit Wounds)
- Kathy Swanson appears. (TV: They Keep Killing Suzie, PROSE: Virus)
- Ianto remembers the cannibals from the Brecon Beacons. (TV: Countrycide)
- St Helen's Hospital appears. (TV: Dead Man Walking, TV: Exit Wounds)
- Nina Rogers appears. (PROSE: Into the Silence)
- Gwen and Rhys own a Saab. (PROSE: Border Princes)
- Jack remains distrustful of UNIT. (TV: Dead Man Walking, TV: Journey's End)
- Jack and Ianto use the Bekaran deep-tissue scanner. (PROSE: Another Life, Border Princes, Slow Decay)
- Jack vows to soon pay Alexander Martin a proper visit. (PROSE: The House That Jack Built)
External links
- Official Bay of the Dead page at Penguin Books
- Bay of the Dead at the Doctor Who Reference Guide
