The Dying Days (novel)

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The Dying Days was the final release of the Virgin New Adventures line of Doctor Who novels (however, see "Notes", below), and the only one featuring the Eighth Doctor.

Publisher's Summary

6 May 1997
The Dying Days of the Twentieth Century

On the Mare Sirenum, British astronauts are walking on the surface of Mars for the first time in over twenty years. The National Space Museum in London is the venue for a spectacular event where the great and the good celebrate a unique British achievement.

In Adisham, Kent, the most dangerous man in Britain has escaped from custody while being transported by helicopter. In Whitehall, the new Home Secretary is convinced that there is a plot brewing to overthrow the government. In west London, MI5 agents shut down a publishing company that got too close to the top secret organisation known as UNIT. And, on a state visit to Washington, the Prime Minister prepares to make a crucial speech, totally unaware that dark forces are working against him.

As the eighth Doctor and Professor Bernice Summerfield discover, all these events are connected. However, soon all will be overshadowed.

This time, the Doctor is already too late.

Characters

  • The Doctor
    • Refers to himself as the Eighth Man Bound, the champion of Life and Time, The Bringer of Darkness to the Daleks and the Oncoming Storm to the Draconians. And the guy with two hearts.
    • Is calm about dying after blowing up the Martian War Rocket.
    • Is Capable of creating a balloon to cut the speed of his descent out of bin bag and a helium canister from the War Rocket.
  • Bernice Summerfield
    • Benny excavated Mare Sirenum, Mars when she was 24, this established her reputation as an archaeologist.
    • Benny's 20th century knowledge speciality actually ranges from 1963 to 1989
    • Can speak Martian.
    • Knows how to isolate electrics from the fuel supply of a 20th century helicopter.
    • Nicked parts of her diary describing events around the UNIT/Rebel assault on Martian held London from a "tattered old paperback with a creepy eye on the cover" (ie Lance Parkin's original A History of the Universe. Which ironically doesn't cover this period).
  • Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart
    • Is made General by the end of this story.
    • Keeps Bessie in mothballs for the Doctor (see also Battlefield) and waits for the Doctor in the UNIT parking bays for him with the car.
    • reminds Bambera that he is still, technically, retired despite being the figurehead of the anti-Martian/Greyhaven rebellion.
  • Alexander Christian
    • Knew Jo Grant when she was studying her A levels.
  • Winifred Bambera
    • Is married to Ancelyn, who has gone with the crown into exile, as befitting a Knight of the Realm.
  • Edward Greyhaven
  • Xznaal
    • Despite being an Ice Lord, doesn't wear the traditional armour, rather wearing the shell of a Warrior. This makes him rather eccentric and is an insight into his mindset according to Benny (he's militaristic and close-minded).

References

Cultural references

  • The whole Martian invasion is viewed as a hoax by the public as a distraction to enable the Provisional Government to keep control of the country.
  • Benny looks at a John Smith and the Common Men album when she and the Doctor are searching Todd's flat.
  • Bruce Springsteen is the American President.

Gallifrey

Individuals

Organizations

  • UNIT is much better funded than it had been in the 1970s.
  • UNIT has a branch in Paris (called NUIT).
  • UNIT in the past has dealt with the Bandril and Drahvin attempted invasions (without the Doctor's help).
  • Veronica Halliwell is Director General of MI5.

Planets

  • Mars has a perfectly breathable (though a bit chilly) atmosphere, but the soil is almost completely infertile.
  • Water is a source of great wealth on Mars.
  • The Arturan Treaty of 2085 is the 'official' date of peaceful first contact with aliens.
  • The Sword of Tuburr is mentioned.

Technology

Timeline

Notes

  • Alhough officially considered the last release of the Doctor Who New Adventures line, it was in fact not the last to be published. Due to production delays, a novel featuring the Seventh Doctor that had been intended for release several months earlier, So Vile a Sin, was not published until a month after this novel came out, making it, technically, the final Doctor Who NA release.
  • This was the only New Adventures book to feature the Eighth Doctor, and is the last Doctor Who book to be published by Virgin.
  • Rather than using the McCoy era Doctor Who logo on the spine, or the later New Adventures logo intended for the Summerfield novels, The Dying Days uniquely features the Virgin Books logo on the spine.
  • For over ten years (before the release of The Company of Friends) this was the only appearance of Professor Bernice Summerfield with the Eighth Doctor.
  • Virgin would continue to publish The New Adventures of Bernice Summerfield, The Dying Days ends leading Bernice to her new home at the University of Dellah.
  • At the Mars landing party there are a few notable guests; Jeremy Paxman, Richard Dawkins, Chris Evans, Gillian Anderson, Richard Branson, Alan Yentob, Emma Peel and Lalla Ward (who appears as herself and 'in character' as Romana II at the end of the book).
  • Benny's knowledge speciality of the 20th century actually ranges from 1963 to 1989 (which is the length of the TV series' original continuous run).
  • When Xznaal is seen from the point of view of Greyhaven, the Doctor, or Benny, the pronoun Parkin uses for Xznaal is "he". From anyone eles's point of view Parkin refers to Xznaal as "it". As in, "Xznaal moved its scaly body".
  • The human names are also written (when viewed from the Ice Warrior's point of view) as they would pronounce them ie: Gerayhavun/Greyhaven, Xztaynz/Staines.
  • Supposedly Philip Segal stated that a big alien invasion couldn't be done on (the TV movie's budget) because of the cost of multiple prosthetic costumes and the cost of showing a full alien invasion. The Dying Days does an alien invasion with three Ice Warriors (there are never more than two Ice Warriors in a room together throughout the book). [1]
  • The book's concluding chapter has been interpreted as showing Benny initiating a romantic encounter with the Doctor.
  • This book is notable for not having the Doctor Who logo anywhere on the cover, spine or interior, due to Virgin not having the rights to the logo introduced for the Eighth Doctor (the rights to which were owned by BBC Books) and not wanting to use the Seventh Doctor's logo. Instead, Virgin Publishing's logo is used instead. In addition, the title "Doctor Who" appears nowhere on the back cover or interior pages until one gets to the copyright page. There is also a brief mention on an acknowledgements page.
  • The book concludes with the afterword "The End and a new beginning", signed by the editors of the New Adventures line, acknowledging this as the final Doctor Who novel and promoting the start of the Virgin Bernice Summerfield New Adventures line.
  • The Dying Days - Final Chapter, this was a chapter released by Lance Parkin and posted on rec.arts.drwho sometime in 1997, it is the original epilogue / final chapter to The Dying Days.

Continuity

External Links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ The Dying Days Lance Parkin Ebook Author Notes Chapter 7
  2. ↑ The Dying Days Lance Parkin Ebook Author Notes Chapter 10

Template:Virgin New Adventure Series Box

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