Beast of Fang Rock (novel)
Beast of Fang Rock was the third novel in the Lethbridge-Stewart series, released by Candy Jar Books in 2015.
Publisher's summary
"There’s always death on the rock when the Beast's about."
Fang Rock has always had a bad reputation. Since 1955 the lighthouse has been out of commission, shut down because of fire that gutted the entire tower. But now, finally updated and fully renovated, the island and lighthouse is once again about to be brought back into service.
Students have gathered on Fang Rock to celebrate the opening of the "most haunted lighthouse of the British Isles", but they get more than they bargained for when the ghosts of long-dead men return, accompanied by a falling star.
Colonel Lethbridge-Stewart is brought in to investigate what he believes to be signs of alien involvement. But it is not only Lethbridge-Stewart who has an interest in Fang Rock. Anne Travers is called to her family solicitor's, who have in their possession a letter from Archibald Goff, the paranormal investigator who once visited Fang Rock back in the 1820s, and along with it a piece of alien technology.
What connects a shooting star, ghosts of men killed in 1902 and the beast that roamed Fang Rock in 1823? Lethbridge-Stewart and Anne Travers are about to discover the answer first hand...
Plot
to be added
Characters
- Colonel Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart
- Anne Travers
- Owain Vine
- Lance Corporal William Bishop
- General Oliver Hamilton
- Lieutenant Colonel Walter Douglas
- Vince Hawkins
- Ben Travers
- Reuben Whormby
- Lord Palmerdale
- Edgar Wishart
- Alfred Scott
- Jacob
- Archibald Goff
- Steve Worman
- Jennie Rudge
- Mark Powell
- Ivan Heggessey
- Tim Gambrell
- Rupert Slant
References
to be added
Notes
- This book contains a foreword by Louise Jameson and an afterword by Ralph Watson.
- This book is a prequel and a sequel to the TV story Horror of Fang Rock, with a "based on" story credit for Terrance Dicks. There are many references to Horror of Fang Rock, including scenes that echo scenes from the first episode, as well as a chapter that leads directly into the first scene of episode one. The dead keeper from 1822, Davy Williams, is a reference to one of the character names in Terrance Dicks' original outline for Horror of Fang Rock.
- There are several references to Doctor Omega, drawing parallels from Doctor Who's popularity in the 1960s, including Cyril Cusack playing Dr Omega and the mention of "Kelptonmania", an allusion to Dalekmania.
Continuity
- Lethbridge-Stewart is still suffering the effects of the psychoactive drug SB-117 from his one-month stay on the Inferno Earth, and is questioning what exactly happened to him. He wonders how much was illusion and how much was truth. Believes he was held by the Soviet Bloc in East Germany. (PROSE: The Schizoid Earth)
- It is revealed that Lethbridge-Stewart doesn't believe in time travel, and only believed the Doctor during the London Event because it was expedient to do so. (TV: The Web of Fear) Events on Fang Rock prove to him the reality of time travel, however, and he discovers that he did end up in alternative 1959 the month before. (PROSE: The Schizoid Earth)
- Neither Anne nor Lethbridge-Stewart believe in ghosts. (TV: Day of the Daleks)
- Lethbridge-Stewart learns of previous visit by the Doctor, specifically the events of TV: The Faceless Ones, TV: The Curse of Fenric, and TV: Delta and the Bannermen. The Doctor has been given the codename 'Cosmic Hobo', with the Second and Seventh Doctors believed to be the same man due the similarities in their descriptions.
- At the Vault, Anne examines Om-Tsor and the dead body of Ed Hill. (PROSE: Revolution Man) She also makes use of a crystal fragment found at Krakatoa in 1883. (TV: The Lost Boy)
- Among the dead bodies in the Vault are Mike Smith, (TV: Remembrance of the Daleks) M Krimpton and DI Gascoigne, (TV: The Faceless Ones) and Corporal Lane, Craftsman Weams and Staff Sergeant Arnold. (TV: The Web of Fear)
- At the end of the book Lethbridge-Stewart is sent by General Hamilton to meet Vice Air-Marshal Gilmore to learn all about the 'Cosmic Hobo' and "more besides". He is told to give Gilmore the message, "let slip the dogs of war". (PROSE: Downtime, PROSE: The Scales of Injustice) This lead into PROSE: The Dogs of War.
