Legends of Camelot (novel)

Legends of Camelot
Doctor:	Tenth Doctor
Companion(s):	Donna
Featuring:	King Arthur
Main setting:	Camelot
Key crew
Publisher:	BBC Children's Books
Editor:	Emil Fortune
Writer:	Jacqueline Rayner
Cover by:	Angelo Rinaldi
Release details
Release date:	10 June 2021
Format:	23 chapters
ISBN:	ISBN 9781405947985
Puffin Classics crossovers
← Previous	The Wonderful Doctor of Oz
Next →	The Return of Robin Hood

Legends of Camelot was the second novel released in the Puffin Classics crossovers range on 10 June 2021 by BBC Children's Books. Written by Jacqueline Rayner, it featured the Tenth Doctor and as an adaption of the legends of King Arthur.

Publisher's summary

While investigating a strange energy in Carbury, the Tenth Doctor and Donna Noble are pulled into a different dimension, smashing a giant hole into another world in the process.

As the magic of the hidden dimension slowly seeps out, the Doctor and Donna find themselves in Camelot, where a young squire, Arthur, comes to their aid, and when the Doctor is mistaken for Merlin, they are swept up in the glamorous and daring legends of the Knights of the Round Table.

But something far more menacing has been awakened. Caught in an ancient battle for power, Donna and the Doctor are sucked into a dangerous game. As each move is made and time spins faster, the Doctor must find a way to seal the rift before an unimaginable power is unleashed and the universe is laid to waste.

Plot

to be added

Characters

• Tenth Doctor
• Donna Noble
• King Arthur
• Guinevere
• Lancelot
• Morgwen

Worldbuilding

to be added

Individuals

• Donna knows about the Tenth Doctor's former companions Rose Tyler and Martha Jones.
• The Doctor mentions that he learned swordsmanship from a Captain in Cleopatra’s bodyguard.
• The Doctor mentions Iggy Pop and Phineas Gage. Donna mentions Idris Elba.
• The Doctor refers to Rassilon as the founder of the Time Lords.

Technology

• The Doctor loses the link to the Heart of the TARDIS.

Cultural References

• Donna mentions television shows EastEnders, Xena: Warrior Princess, and Bullseye.
• Donna mentions literary works Sherlock Holmes and the Beano.
• After learning that he was Merlin, Donna begins asking if he was also Robin Hood, the Wizard of Oz, or Bigfoot.
• The Doctor mentions that 'The uncle of a friend of mine once said, “With great power comes great responsibility.”'
• The Doctor refers to twin characters from media including Balin and Dwalin (from The Hobbit), Bifur, Bofur and Bombur (from the Hobbit), Pinky and Perky, Pixie and Dixie (from Pixie and Dixie and Mr. Jinks), Huey, Dewey and Louie (from Donald Ducks' Cartoons), and Flopsy, Mopsy, Cottontail and Peter (from Peter Rabbit).
• Donna mentions the 1982 band Spear of Destiny.
• The Doctor refers to a book called Time Lord Legends for Time Tots.
• The Doctor mentions the Shakespearean play A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Donna quotes As You Like It.
• The Doctor has a yo-yo, a tennis ball and an apple in his pockets.

Miscellaneous

• The Doctor implies that something crazy happens in 2020.
• Donna intends to pick up snacks from the 1970s, including Pacers, Aztec bars, Tiger Tots, Ringos, Terry’s Chocolate Lemon, Sky Ray ice lollies, and Horror Bags.

Notes

• Penguin Random House's official website mistakenly credits Emil Fortune (actually an editor) as the book's writer.

Continuity

• This is not the first time the Doctor has been involved in Arthurian mythology:
  • The Fourth Doctor claimed to have taught Lancelot how to use a sword. (PROSE: Wolfsbane)
  • The Fifth Doctor and the Master once crossed paths in the presence of King Arthur. (PROSE: The Creation of Camelot) The Fifth Doctor was also suprised upon seeing Merlin sitting on a council of the Higher Evolutionaries in the Matrix alongside Rassilon. (COMIC: The Tides of Time)
  • The Seventh Doctor encountered individuals related to the King Arthur legend, as they crossed dimensions in an invasion of Earth in Carbury. (TV: Battlefield) This account was heavily discussed and referenced by the Tenth Doctor and Donna.
  • The Eighth Doctor encountered individuals related to the King Arthur legend, called himself Merlin and created messages for his past self. (PROSE: One Fateful Knight) Other accounts also claimed that a future, red-haired incarnation of the Doctor also became Merlin, although the Eighth Doctor believed it was merely another Time Lord posing as the Doctor. (PROSE: Battlefield, Happy Endings, et al.)
  • The Tenth Doctor claimed that he was once called Merlin by King Arthur. (COMIC: Fugitive)
  • The Twelfth Doctor said he once met a young King Arthur who was looking for a sword. The Doctor pulled the sword from within the stone and was made King of England for a day before abdicating in favour of Arthur. (PROSE: Silhouette)
• The Doctor uses a crank handle to open the TARDIS door. (TV: Death to the Daleks; AUDIO: The Gift)
• The Doctor refers to his time in his Seventh Incarnation as being all mysterious and manipulative, the rebellious phase one goes through when turning a thousand years old, and slipping notes to himself from the future would be something he would have done.
• The Doctor lists previous titles, positions and names he has held: Doctor, (TV: The Name of the Doctor) Scientific Adviser to UNIT, (TV: Spearhead from Space, et al) one-time Lord President of the Time Lords, (TV: The Deadly Assassin, et al) the Oncoming Storm, (TV: The Parting of the Ways) Destroyer of Worlds (TV: Journey's End) and Time's Champion (PROSE: Love and War) which was unique to the Seventh Doctor. (PROSE: The Room With No Doors)
• The Doctor encountered the real Spear of Destiny in his Third Incarnation, battling the Master for possession of it. (PROSE: The Spear of Destiny)
• The Doctor compares the quest for the Shards to his first search for the Key to Time, involving collecting six things that were hidden in six different parts of the universe and could disguise themselves as anything. He mentions that one piece of the Key was a planet, (TV: The Pirate Planet) one was a person, one was swallowed by a giant god octopus, (TV: The Power of Kroll) and he had to deal with four versions of his companion including her, her double, her robot double and her double’s robot double. (TV: The Androids of Tara)
• The Doctor observes that Lancelot reminds him of an old companion of his, a science teacher who is now in his eighties in Donna's time. (TV: An Unearthly Child et al) Donna responds that the gorgeous ones always turn out to be either married or actually evil alien spider lackeys. (TV: The Runaway Bride)
• The Tenth Doctor also used a pair of 3D glasses when observing the effects the Void had on people and objects. (TV: Doomsday)
• The Doctor tells Morgwen of how Donna asked him to save just one person in Pompeii, which made him a better person. (TV: The Fires of Pompeii, The Girl Who Died)
• The TARDIS' Hostile Action Displacement System is activated, jumping a few minutes into the future. (TV: The Krotons, PROSE: Dead of Winter)
• The Guardian of Might and Guardian of Magic appears similar to the White and Black Guardian, the former being the emobdiment of order and the latter embodying chaos. (TV: The Ribos Operation)

External links

• Official Legends of Camelot page at Penguin Books