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City of Death by James Goss was a novelisation of the TV story of the same name written under the pen name David Agnew by Douglas Adams and David Fisher during a last minute rewrite of the script A Gamble With Time. It was the first novelisation since Shada.
Gareth Roberts, who wrote the Shada novelisation, was originally meant to write that of City of Death, but dropped out during writing.
Publisher's summary
Hardback
"You're tinkering with time. That's always a bad idea unless you know what you're doing."
The Doctor takes Romana for a holiday in Paris – a city which, like a fine wine, has a bouquet all its own. Especially if you visit during one of the vintage years. But the TARDIS takes them to 1979, a table-wine year, a year whose vintage is soured by cracks – not in their wine glasses but in the very fabric of time itself.
Soon the Time Lords are embroiled in an audacious alien scheme which encompasses home-made time machines, the theft of the Mona Lisa, the resurrection of the much-feared Jagaroth race, and the beginning (and quite possibly the end) of all life on Earth.
Aided by British private detective Duggan, whose speciality is thumping people, the Doctor and Romana must thwart the machinations of the suave, mysterious Count Scarlioni – all twelve of him – if the human race has any chance of survival.
But then, the Doctor’s holidays tend to turn out a bit like this.
Characters
References
- It is mentioned that the Jagaroth came to earth tracking a Racnoss energy signal, in reference to the events of The Runaway Bride.
- Romana notes that she prefers Count Scarlioni as a villain over Davros
Notes
- This is the second of Douglas Adams' Doctor Who stories to be released in book form, 14 years after Adams' death in 2001. None of Douglas Adams's three Doctor Who stories have previously appeared in book form for a variety of legal reasons.
- This is the first official novelisation of City of Death.
- The title page includes the following info:
- THE CHANGING FACE OF DOCTOR WHO This book portrays the fourth incarnation of Doctor Who, whose physical appearance later changed when he lost an argument with gravity.
- THE CHANGING FACE OF SCAROTH This book portrays the twelfth and final incarnation of Scaroth, last of the Jagaroth.
- This story was also released as an ebook available from the Amazon Kindle store.
Continuity
to be added
Deviations from the televised story
- An original scene features Romana and Duggan going on a night out together.
- The background of the art critics is expanded upon.
- Scarlioni does not know he is Scaroth until the scene where he removes his face.
- The character of Countess Scarlioni is greatly expanded upon, given a backstory and a first name, Heidi. She is also shown to have a closer relationship with the Count, with him regretting having to kill her greatly.
- K9 features briefly in the novel; he did not appear at all in the televised version.
- Duggan's backstory as to how he ended up in Paris is explored in great detail, with a scene depicting his last case before the events of the story being depicted.
- There are several other minor changes, for instance the length of time that Scaroth can travel back in time is changed, he can travel back for three minutes as opposed to the two he had in the televised version, and the words the Doctor writes on the Mona Lisa read 'These are Fakes' as opposed to 'This is a Fake'.
Audiobook
This novel was released complete and unabridged by BBC Audio and read by Lalla Ward.
The audio set of eight CDs was released 21 May 2015 priced £25 (UK)