The Shadow of Weng-Chiang (novel)
The Shadow of Weng-Chiang was the twenty-fifth novel in the Virgin Missing Adventures series. It was written by David A. McIntee. It featured the Fourth Doctor and Romana I and was set during their quest for the Key to Time, in between the TV stories The Stones of Blood and The Androids of Tara.
As its title implies, it serves as a sequel to The Talons of Weng-Chiang, if an indirect one. In his introductory notes to the novel, McIntee explains that he opted against revisiting old concepts and character such as Magnus Greel, Henry Gordon Jago and George Litefoot and instead took the sequel in a very different direction. Excluding the Fourth Doctor, the only returning character from Talons is Mr Sin.
Despite all this, it served as something of a bookend to that earlier television serial. Whereas Talons had featured expatriate Chinese in London, Shadow was set mostly in Shanghai.
Shadow is one of the few Doctor Who stories in any media to deal with the run-up to World War II in Asia. It details much about the origins of the Second Sino-Japanese War, the precursor to the Pacific War, with the story ending on the eve of the Battle of Shanghai during the first month of the conflict. The only other story to deal with this particular theatre in any great detail is Log 384, which explores Manchuria under Japanese occupation.
Publisher's summary
- "They say a journey of a thousand miles begins with but a single step. If I'm right, then a journey of a thousand miles will take but a single step."
The search for the fourth segment of the Key to Time brings the TARDIS to 1930s Shanghai: a dark and shadowy world, riven by conflict and threatened by the expansion of the Japanese Empire. Meanwhile, the savage Tongs pursue their own mysterious agenda in the city's illegal clubs and opium dens.
Manipulated by an elusive foe, the Fourth Doctor is obliged to follow the Dragon Path — the side-effect of a disastrous experiment in the far future.
But would two segments of the Key be on the same planet? Is the Black Guardian behind the dark schemes of the beautiful Hsien-Ko? And who is the small child who always accompanies her?
Plot
to be added
Characters
- Fourth Doctor
- Romana I
- K9 Mark II
- Hsien-Ko
- Mr Sin
- Lucas Seyton
- Sung-Chi Li
- Woo
- Kwok
- Vogler
- Major Ryuji Matsu
- Rondo
- Monk
References
The Doctor
- In Shanghai in 1941, the Doctor assisted a group of stranded Alpha Centaurans return home.
- Jesse James taught the Doctor how to slip out of handcuffs.
Individuals
- The Doctor refers to Professor Marius, the creator of K9 Mark I.
- K9 Mark II can climb stairs, unlike K9 Mark I.
- Romana mentions zero-point energy as described by Nikola Tesla.
- Romana won the Time Lord Academy marksmanship trophy.
- The Doctor quotes The Art of War by Sun Tzu and reveals that he met Sun Tzu at the time he was writing it.
- The Doctor also quotes Bruce Lee, who hasn't been born yet.
Locations
- Henry Gordon Jago sold the Palace Theatre as a result of the scandal following the Weng-Chiang incident in 1889.
- Woo owns the Club Do-San.
Weapons
- K9's laser sets Mr Sin's wooden parts on fire.
- The Doctor again claims that the head of Cleopatra's guard taught him how to fight with a sword.
Notes
- This story includes a glossary of Chinese and Japanese terms, as well as a few German ones, that are used in the book.
- While clarifying his intention to take his sequel in a different direction to its predecessor, McIntee cites Aliens as a good example of a sequel and "Friday The 13th Part whatever" as a bad example.
- McIntee recommends that readers looking to know more about 1930s Shanghai should consult W. H. Auden's Journey to a War (incorrectly named Journey Into War) or the books and photographs of Henri Carter-Bresson.
- McIntee notes that some phrases used in the novel were outdated, such as Peking (as opposed to Beijing) or "Tong" (instead of "Triad"). Given the novel's setting, he largely opted to retain the older versions in the interests of continuity.
- The quotation "Before setting out for revenge, first dig two graves" in the Prologue actually is not a Chinese proverb.
- This story is set between The Stones of Blood and The Androids of Tara.
Continuity
- The Doctor compares the quarry to ones that he saw on the surface of Skaro (TV: Genesis of the Daleks) and the surface of Gallifrey. (TV: The Invasion of Time)
- Romana refers to Vivien Fay. (TV: The Stones of Blood)
- Romana recalls using a gun on Zanak. (TV: The Pirate Planet)
- The Doctor tells Romana that he once dined with Nero. (TV: The Romans)
- The Doctor mentions that he has not been in China for several centuries. (TV: Marco Polo)
- The TARDIS was en route to Haarlagen III when it was intercepted by the White Guardian. (TV: The Ribos Operation)
- The Doctor remembers Lucas Seyton. (PROSE: Fallen Angel)
- Romana recalls Gallifrey was recently invaded. (TV: The Invasion of Time)
External links
- The Shadow of Weng-Chiang at the Doctor Who Reference Guide
- The Discontinuity Guide to: The Shadow of Weng-Chiang at The Whoniverse
