The Taking of Chelsea 426 (novel)
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The Taking of Chelsea 426 was the thirty-fourth novel in the BBC New Series Adventures series. It was written by David Llewellyn and featured the Tenth Doctor.
Publisher's summary[[edit] | [edit source]]
The Chelsea Flower Show - hardly the most exciting or dangerous event in the calendarr, or so the Doctor thinks. But this is Chelsea 426, a city-sized future colony floating on the clouds of Saturn, and the flowers are much more than they seem.
As the Doctor investigates, he becomes more and more worried. Who is shopkeeper Mr Pemberton acting so strangely? And what is Professor Wilberforce's terrible secret?
They are close to finding the answers when a familiar foe arrives, and the stakes suddenly get much higher. The Sontarans have plans of their own, and they're not here to arrange flowers..
Plot[[edit] | [edit source]]
to be added
Characters[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Alice Wendell
- Professor Wilberforce
- Jake Carstairs
- Vienna Carstairs
- Tenth Doctor
- Brian Carstairs
- Bess Carstairs
- Mynah bird
- Mr Pemberton
- Wallace Fitch
- Mr Smalls
- Mr Sedgefield
- Zeke
- Assistant
- Bruno
- Field Marshal Henry Whittington Smythe
- Usher
- Sergeant Bashford
- Colonel Sarg
- General Kade
- Captain Thomas
- Zack
- Jenny
- Commander Strom
Worldbuilding[[edit] | [edit source]]
- The Rutans and the Sontarans are present.
- According to the Doctor, it is about due for the Third Renaissance.
Food and Beverages[[edit] | [edit source]]
- The Doctor cannot stand pears. He drinks orange juice in the Grand Hotel.
Notes[[edit] | [edit source]]
- This book continues the theme set by the BBC Tenth Doctor Adventures line for 2009, featuring returning monsters from the TV series. It also continues a series of novels in which the Doctor travels without a companion.
- David Llewellyn also wrote the Torchwood novel Trace Memory [+]Loading...["Trace Memory (novel)"], and would later go on to write extensively for Big Finish.
- The title is a reference to the novel and film The Taking of Pelham One Two Three. The number is also reminiscent of the 456, an alien race introduced a few months prior to the book's release in Children of Earth.
- The Doctor asks Vienna, "The city or the song?" The song may be a reference to the song by Ultravox, the song by Billy Joel or the Owl City song "Dear Vienna".
- This story was also released as an ebook available from the Amazon Kindle store.
- Several elements introduced in this story would later be reused in Llewellyn's novel Night of the Humans [+]Loading...["Night of the Humans (novel)"] including the Hexions, Mercutio 14 and the Herald of Nanking.
- The Doctor's dislike or pears references the Seventh Doctor's distaste for them in the novel Human Nature [+]Loading...["Human Nature (novel)"] from the Virgin New Adventures. The same reference to pears was originally filmed for the televised adaptation of the story in Series 3, but this scene was deleted. The Taking of Chelsea 426, therefore, essentially preserved this characteristic into the revived era. It was eventually directly referenced on television in Series 9's Hell Bent [+]Loading...["Hell Bent (TV story)"], and again in Series 10's Christmas Special, Twice Upon a Time [+]Loading...["Twice Upon a Time (TV story)"]. Incidentally, the latter was novelised by Paul Cornell, who also wrote both versions of Human Nature.
Continuity[[edit] | [edit source]]
- The Sontarans last appeared on screen in TV: The Sontaran Stratagem [+]Loading...["The Sontaran Stratagem (TV story)"] / The Poison Sky [+]Loading...["The Poison Sky (TV story)"] and TV: Enemy of the Bane [+]Loading...["Enemy of the Bane (TV story)"]. They last appeared in print in PROSE: The Sontaran Games [+]Loading...["The Sontaran Games (novel)"].
- The Rutans last appeared on screen in TV: Horror of Fang Rock. To date, this is their only on-screen appearance.
- The events of TV: The Two Doctors [+]Loading...["The Two Doctors (TV story)"] and The Time Warrior [+]Loading...["The Time Warrior (TV story)"] are mentioned.
- Chelsea 426 was founded by the Interplanetary Mining Corporation. (TV: Colony in Space [+]Loading...["Colony in Space (TV story)"])
- The Doctor mentions a Krynoid. (TV: The Seeds of Doom [+]Loading...["The Seeds of Doom (TV story)"])
- While in the TARDIS, Jake plays with the crate of items beginning with C, last seen in TV: The Unicorn and the Wasp [+]Loading...["The Unicorn and the Wasp (TV story)"]. Its contents include an Agatha Christie novel, the Carrionite globe and a Cyberman's chest plate.
- The Doctor declares a dislike of pears. (PROSE: Human Nature [+]Loading...["Human Nature (novel)","Human Nature"])
- At the end of the novel, the Doctor looks around the empty TARDIS. He also did this before his second meeting with Donna Noble. (TV: Partners in Crime [+]Loading...["Partners in Crime (TV story)","Partners in Crime"])
- The Doctor says "For one thing I've had my fair share of angry mothers lately" (TV: Aliens of London [+]Loading...["Aliens of London (TV story)"], The Lazarus Experiment [+]Loading...["The Lazarus Experiment (TV story)"], Partners in Crime [+]Loading...["Partners in Crime (TV story)"])
- The Doctor mentions the Battle of Olympus Mons. (PROSE: Transit [+]Loading...["Transit (novel)"])
Audiobook[[edit] | [edit source]]
- This novel was released as an audiobook in September 2010 by BBC Audio and read by Christopher Ryan.
Audiobook cover
External links[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Official The Taking of Chelsea 426 page at Penguin Books
- The Taking of Chelsea 426 at the Doctor Who Reference Guide
- The Discontinuity Guide to: The Taking of Chelsea 426 at The Whoniverse
- The Cloister Library: The Taking of Chelsea 426
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