Forever Autumn (novel)
Publisher's summary
It is almost Halloween in the sleepy New England town of Blackwood Falls. Autumn leaves litter lawns and sidewalks, paper skeletons hang in windows, and carved pumpkins leer from stoops and front porches. The Doctor and Martha soon discover that something long-dormant has awoken in the town, and this will be no ordinary Halloween. What is the secret of the ancient chestnut tree and the mysterious book discovered tangled in its roots? What rises from the local churchyard in the dead of night, sealing up the lips of the only witness? And why are the harmless trappings of Halloween suddenly taking on a creepy new life of their own? As nightmarish creatures prowl the streets, the Doctor and Martha must battle to prevent both the townspeople and themselves from suffering a grisly fate...
Characters
- The Doctor
- Martha Jones
- Hervoken
- Rick Pirelli
- Scott Beaumont
- Thad Steiner
- Chris Pirelli
- Mrs Pirelli
- Tony Pirelli
- Jim Tozier
- Etta Helligan
- Earl Clayton
Timeline
- This story is set during Series 3.
- Forever Autumn occurs after: DW: 42, The Infinite Quest
- Forever Autumn occurs before: DW: Human Nature
References
- In the book the Doctor says to one of Etta's cats "next time you're invited to a fancy dress party, don't go as a nun". Cat nuns appeared in DW:New Earth and DW: Gridlock.
- He also states he was beginning to like cats; this may be due to Novice Hame's atonement in his eyes. (DW: Gridlock)
- The Hervoken are arch enemies of the Carrionites. (DW: The Shakespeare Code)
- The Doctor mentions an alien that took whole faces, a reference to the Wire. (DW: The Idiot's Lantern)
- The Doctor still has his membership card for the Alpha Centauran Table Tennis Club, first seen in DW: Robot.
- Martha thinks about how she had been to Shakespeare's England (DW: The Shakespeare Code), 1930s New York (DW: Daleks in Manhattan / Evolution of the Daleks), on the planet Volag-Noc (DW: The Infinite Quest) and on real-life spaceships (DW: 42), which presumably places this either before Human Nature or after the Family of Blood
- She also recalls her encounters with a Plasmavores (DW: Smith and Jones), the Daleks (DW: Daleks in Manhattan), real-life witches (DW: The Shakespeare Code) and giant, pollution-guzzling crabs (DW: Gridlock).(Page 233.)
- The Doctor refers to the Eternals as though have returned to the universe after fleeing during the events of the Last Great Time War.
Notes
- In the Martha Jones Blog July 1, Martha Jones made note of this as "Hallowe'en in America."
- This story was rated best of 2008 by DWM readers in a season merchandise survey.
Audio releases
- This story was released on two disk audio CD read by Will Thorp. The audiobook was shortened to fit on the CD's, with removals such as the character of Earl Clayton.
Continuity
- The Doctor jokes about cat nuns, which were last seen in DW: Gridlock.
- The Doctor last encountered the Carrionites in DW: The Shakespeare Code.
