The Man in the Velvet Mask (novel)

The Man in the Velvet Mask
Doctor:	[[doctor::First Doctor]]
Companion(s):	Dodo
Main enemy:	Minski
Main setting:	Alternate Paris: July, 1804
Key crew
Publisher:	[[publisher::Virgin Books]]
Writer:	Daniel O'Mahony
Release details
Release number:	19
Release date:	February, 1996
Format:	Paperback Book, 250 Pages
ISBN:	ISBN 0-426-20488-3

Publisher's summary

'The triumph of virtue. The misfortunes of vice. Who said the play had to be like the book?'

24 Messidor, XXII: the TARDIS has landed in post-revolutionary France, or so it appears. But the futuristic structure of the New Bastille towers over a twisted version of Paris. And First Deputy Minski, adopted son of the infamous Marquis de Sade, presides over a reign of terror that has yet to end.

Revolutionary soldiers arrest an ailing Doctor as a curfew breaker. Dodo is recruited by a band of wandering players whose intentions are less than pure. Deep in the dungeons of the Bastille, Prisoner 6 tries desperately to remember who he is. And outside time and space, a gathering of aliens watch in horror as their greatest experiment goes catastrophically wrong.

Characters

• The Doctor
• Dodo Chaplet
• Minski

References

• According to the novel, Time Lords grow their second heart after their first regeneration (an attempt to rectify the implication in DW: The Edge of Destruction that the First Doctor had only a single heart). This notion has yet to be supported by any televised episode, with two episodes, DW: The Mind of Evil and DW: The Christmas Invasion, suggesting that one of a Time Lord's hearts can stop due to trauma or illness, and another, DW: The Doctor's Daughter, possibly contradicting it by showing that Jenny was born with two hearts.

Notes

• Throughout this novel, the Doctor is portrayed as being weaker and frailer than usual, and he alludes several times to his inevitable, upcoming Regeneration.

Continuity

• The Doctor mistakenly calls Dodo 'Susan' at one point, and once again mentions how similar they look (DW: The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve)
• The Doctor tells Dodo that his time is near (refering to his approaching regeneration in DW: The Tenth Planet), and that he knew it was coming since his latest meeting with the Toymaker (DW: The Celestial Toymaker). He also mentions that he will need the aid of the TARDIS.
• Steven's recent departure is mentioned (DW: The Savages)
• Dodo tells Dalville she can play the piano a bit, mentioning 'The Ballad of the Last Chance Saloon' as an example of something she can play (DW: The Gunfighters)

Timeline

• The Man in the Velvet Mask occurs after DW: The Savages
• The Man in the Velvet Mask occurs before VD: Tarnished Image

External links

• The Man in the Velvet Mask at the Doctor Who Reference Guide
• The Discontinuity Guide to: The Man in the Velvet Mask at The Whoniverse