The Roundheads (novel)

The Roundheads
Doctor:	[[doctor::Second Doctor]]
Companion(s):	Ben Jackson, Polly Wright, Jamie McCrimmon
Main enemy:	Captain Stanislaus
Main setting:	December, 1648
Key crew
Publisher:	[[publisher::BBC Books]]
Writer:	Mark Gatiss
Release details
Release number:	6
Release date:	November 1997
Format:	Paperback Book, ? Pages
ISBN:	ISBN 0563405767

Publisher's summary

"I tell you - we will cut off this King's head. Aye, with the crown on it!"

It is December 1648. Although victorious over the Cavaliers in the Civil Wars, the Roundheads are struggling to retain power. Plans are afoot to spirit King Charles from his prison, and the Doctor and his companions become embroiled in the intrigue...

Ben finds himself press-ganged and on board a mysterious ship to Amsterdam. Polly is an unwitting accomplice in the plot to rescue the King, and the Doctor and Jamie find themselves arrested and imprisoned in the Tower of London under suspicion of conspiracy.

Can the Doctor and Jamie escape, manage to find Ben and Polly and still ensure that history remains on its proper course?

Characters

• The Doctor

• Jamie McCrimmon

• Ben Jackson

• Mentions the Daleks and Cybermen.

• Polly

References

• Susan was very keen on the period of history of the English civil wars.
• The Doctor manages to get lost in the TARDIS on his way to the library, and in a rare display of its partial sentience (last seen in DW: The Edge of Destruction), the TARDIS guides him back to the console room by opening previously unseen doors, while showing him into a room containing the book he was looking for along the way.
• The Doctor states that he began his travels 'a very, very long time ago'.

Notes

• This story is the first historical to take place after the last on-screen regular historical. (DW: The Highlanders)

Continuity

• The Doctor mentions Susan.
• The Doctor reminisces of his first trip with Ben and Polly, when Ben kept insisting to be taken back to his ship because he'd be late. (DW: The Smugglers)
• The Doctor once again uses his ability to speak in a foreign accent (in this case - Scandinavian), last seen in DW: The Highlanders.
• The Doctor influences sleep using hypnosis, a feat last seen in DW: The War Machines. It is strongly implied that he was taught this skill by the Master.

Timeline

• This story occurs after DWA: Freedom by Fire
• This story occurs before CC: Resistance

External links

• The Roundheads at the Doctor Who Reference Guide
• The Discontinuity Guide to: The Roundheads at The Whoniverse