Publisher's summary
Hamlet, thou hast thy father much offended.
Ace stared at the Doctor. He nodded. 'Yes, Ace. We’re in Elsinore. And I don’t like it either.'
Five years ago, an archeological expedition came to Menaxus to explore the ruins of an ancient theatre. All but one of the visitors died horribly, and the planet was abandoned, bathed in lethal radiation.
Now the only survivor has returned, determined to uncover the theatre’s secrets whatever the cost. Among her archaeological team is a certain Professor Bernice Summerfield.
Soon the deaths begin again, while the front line of an interstellar war moves ever closer. Desperate for help, Bernice tries to summon her companions. But when the TARDIS lands on the planet, the Doctor finds himself participating in a frighteningly real performance of Shakespeare's greatest tragedy. And he begins to realize that the truth about Menaxus may be far stranger than anyone imagines.
Characters
- The Doctor
- Has some tea bags and some powdered milk in his pockets.
- Ace
- Can pilot shuttles.
- Bernice Summerfield
- The Doctor gives her a research ticket for the Braxiatel Collection with the number 0001.
- Irving Braxiatel
References
- The Good Soldiers by Stanoff Osterling, considered to be in Shakespeare's league.
- This is the first appearance of the Braxiatel Collection and the first meeting of Irving Braxiatel, for Bernice that is.
- Benny is given Craxiatanian Chardonnay during her stay at the Braxiatel Collection.
Notes
- A prelude to this novel was published in DWM Issue 212.
Continuity
- The Braxiatel Collection was first mentioned in DW: City of Death.
- Irving Braxiatel meets Benny for the first time in BNA: Dragons' Wrath, as when she meets him in this novel is is in her (and his) future.
- In BNA: Tears of the Oracle more detail is revealed concerning Irving Braxiatel's link to the Doctor.