The Cradle (novel)
- You may wish to consult
The Cradle (disambiguation)for other, similarly-named pages.
The Cradle was the second novel published in The Decades Collection on 26 October 2023 by Puffin Books to celebrate the 60th Anniversary of Doctor Who.
The novel was written by Tasha Suri, covered the 1970s and featured the Twelfth Doctor.
Publisher's summary[[edit] | [edit source]]
Original[[edit] | [edit source]]
It is London, 1978, and tensions are high. Seema and her family are struggling, but she has learnt to keep her head down, not create trouble.
That is until she and her two friends, Terrence and Inderjit, decide to join an anti-National Front protest in the East End.
And when trouble does inevitably find them, the friends are saved by the appearance of a mysterious, seemingly broken-down bus.
But inside this bus it is like nothing any of them have ever seen. It is a journey through the most wonderful landscapes, where visions of hopes and dreams envelop the lost group.
Who - or what - is this strange place? The tall, grumpy man with white hair might know the answers, but then he seems just as scared as they are...
Blurb[[edit] | [edit source]]
1978.
Tensions are high in Southall, and Seema, Inderjit and Terrence are right in the middle of it.
Threatened by members of the National Front and fearful for their lives, the friends find themselves saved by a seemingly broken-down bus.
But inside the bus, a world of wonders and terrors awaits. And when a tall, grumpy man calling himself "the Doctor" says he can help, they've no choice but to trust him...
Plot[[edit] | [edit source]]
to be added
Characters[[edit] | [edit source]]
Primary[[edit] | [edit source]]
Secondary[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Mr Ahluwalia
- Mrs Ahluwalia
- Mrs Button
- Mrs Wilson
- Policeman
- Anjali Ahluwalia
- Seema's Nani
- Raj
- Bus driver
- Boy 1
- Boy 2
- Boy 3
- Boy 4
- Woman
- Jaya
- The Cradle
Worldbuilding[[edit] | [edit source]]
to be added
Notes[[edit] | [edit source]]
- The original summary states that Seema and her friends are saved by the "bus" after deciding to join an anti-National Front protest. However, the protest in question does not occur until after the end of the book, and only appears as a vision the Cradle shows to Seema of the future. In the novel, Seema and her friends instead encounter the "bus" after getting into a fight with skinheads on their way to school.
- It also refers to the book as being set in the East End. The actual book is set in Southall, in West London.
Continuity[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Mrs Ahluwalia saw the TARDIS and mistook it for a newly-installed police box.
- The Doctor has sonic sunglasses instead of a screwdriver, and mentions his teacher friend is absent because of GCSEs and Ofsted, placing the story, for him, between The Witch's Familiar [+]Loading...["The Witch's Familiar (TV story)"] and Face the Raven [+]Loading...["Face the Raven (TV story)"].
- The Cradle shows the Doctor illusions of all his former companions, including a person with green skin, a short man resembling a potato, and a woman holding a metal dog on her lap.
External links[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Official The Cradle page at Penguin Books
| |||||
