Birthright (novel)

	[[doctor::Seventh Doctor (mostly absent in this adventure)]]
	Ace, Benny
	the Charrl, Jared Khan
	Earth, London, February, 1909 Antýkhon, 22,000
	[[publisher::Virgin Books]]
	Nigel Robinson
	17
	August 1993
	Paperback Book, ? Pages
	ISBN 0426203933

Publisher's Summary

'I feel like a pawn in a blasted chess game, Ace.' 'I know what you mean. Trouble is, they keep changing the chess-players.'

The TARDIS has died. Stranded in early twentieth-century London, Bernice can only stand and watch as it slowly disintegrates.

In the East End a series of grisly murders has been committed. Is this the work of the ghostly Springheel Jack or, as Bernice suspects something even more sinister?

In a tiny shop in Bloomsbury, the master of a grand order of sorcerers is nearing the end of a seven-hundred year quest for a fabled magic wand.

And on a barren world in the far-distant future the Queen of a dying race pleads for the help of an old hermit named Muldwych, while Ace leads a group of guerrillas in a desperate struggle against their alien oppressors.

These events are related. Perhaps the Doctor knows how. But the Doctor has gone away.

Characters

Ace

• Gets stuck in 22,000.

Bernice Summerfield

• Benny gets stuck in 1909.
• Benny can't read Cyrillic.
• She gets the flu.

the Charrl

Queen Ch'tizz

Muldwych

Jared Khan

• Born 700 years ago.

Margret Waterfield

• Is Edward Waterfield's sister.
• Is murdered by Kahn's thugs.

Muldwych

• Is most likely the 'Merlin' incarnation of the Doctor.
• Got stranded on Ant'kon for 1000 years.

References

• Antýkhon turns out to be a future Earth.
• The Brotherhood of the New Dawn believes man has become decadent and evil.
• Springheel Jack similar to Jack the Ripper, except springheel is a Charrl which has emerged through a time portal.
• The Great Divide a temporal portal from 22,000ish to 1909.
• Time Vector Generator is an ebony bar that links the exterior and interior dimensions of a TARDIS.
• The Migration the Charrl's movement from Anty'kon to Earth.
• Channel Tunnel still survives in 22,000.
• The Charrl created 300 of the 700 Wonders of the Universe.
• New Skaro is mentioned as the new home planet of the Daleks.

Notes

• This is one of several Virgin New Adventures which were adapted by Big Finish for their first season of Bernice Summerfield audio dramas; Birthright (audio drama).

• This novel is pretty much devoid of the Doctor.

Continuity

• This novel runs parallel with the events of NA: Iceberg, with the Doctor being absent for the majority of Birthright.

• The Charrl and Muldwych make an appearance in NA: Happy Endings.

• The Charrl are to said to have created the 300 (of the 700) wonders of the universe, first mentioned in DW: Death to the Daleks.

External Links

• The Doctor Who Reference Guide detailed synopsis of Birthright
• Whoniverse Discontinuity Guide entry for Birthright
• Prelude to White Darkness as published in DWM #203