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{{Infobox Story SMW
|novelisation of = City of Death (TV story)
|image          = <gallery>
City of Death novel.jpg|2015 edition
City of Death (Target Books).jpg|2018 edition
</gallery>
|series          = [[BBC Books novelisation]]s
|number          = 3
|doctor          = Fourth Doctor
|companions      = [[Romana II]]
|featuring      = K9 Mark II
|featuring2      = Duggan
|enemy          = [[Scaroth]], [[Hermann]]
|setting        = {{il|[[Paris]], [[1979]]|[[Florence]], [[1505]]|[[Earth]], the distant past}}
|writer          = James Goss
|read by        = [[Lalla Ward]]
|publisher      = BBC Books
|publisher2      = Target Books
|release date    = 21 May 2015
|cover          =
|format          = Print, 320 pages
|isbn            = ISBN 978-0-425-28391-2
|prev            = Shada (novelisation)
|next            = The Pirate Planet (novelisation)
|series2        = [[Target Books|Target novelisations]]
|prev2          = The Paradise of Death (novelisation)
|next2          = Rose (novelisation)
|series3        = [[List of Doctor Who television stories|TV series order]]
|prev3          = Doctor Who and the Destiny of the Daleks (novelisation)
|next3          = Doctor Who and the Creature from the Pit (novelisation)
}}
'''''City of Death''''' by [[James Goss]] was a novelisation of the [[City of Death (TV story)|TV story of the same name]] written under the pen name [[David Agnew (writer)|David Agnew]] by [[Douglas Adams]] and [[Graham Williams]] during a last minute rewrite of the script ''A Gamble With Time'' written by [[David Fisher (writer)|David Fisher]]. It was the first novelisation since ''[[Shada (novelisation)|Shada]]''.


{{Infobox Story
[[Gareth Roberts]], who wrote the ''Shada'' novelisation, was originally meant to write that of ''City of Death'', but dropped out during writing.
|name    = City of Death
|novelisation of=City of Death (TV story)
|image          = City of Death novel.jpg
|series        = [[BBC Books]] novelisations
|number        = 3
|doctor        = Fourth Doctor
|companions    = [[Romana II]]
|enemy          = [[Scaroth]]
|setting          = [[Paris]], [[1979]] [[Florence]], [[1505]] [[Earth]], the distant past
|writer        = [[James Goss]]
|publisher      = BBC Books
|release date  = [[21 May (releases)|21 May]] [[2015 (releases)|2015]]
|cover          =
|format        = Print
|isbn          = ISBN
|prev = Shada (novelisation)
|next = TBA
}}'''''City of Death''''' by [[James Goss]] was a novelisation of the [[City of Death (TV story)|TV story of the same name]] written under the pen name [[David Agnew]] by [[Douglas Adams]] and [[David Fisher]] during a last minute rewrite of the script A Gamble With Time. It was the first novelisation since ''Shada''. [[Gareth Roberts]] who wrote the [[Shada (novelisation)|Shada]] novelisation was originally meant to write it however dropped out during writing.


== Publisher's summary ==
== Publisher's summary ==
=== Hardback ===
=== Hardback ===
''"You're tinkering with time. That's always a bad idea unless you know what you're doing."''


The Doctor takes Romana for a holiday in Paris – a city which, like a fine wine, has a bouquet all its own. Especially if you visit during one of the vintage years. But the TARDIS takes them to 1979, a table-wine year, a year whose vintage is soured by cracks – not in their wine glasses but in the very fabric of time itself.
The Doctor takes Romana for a holiday in Paris – a city which, like a fine wine, has a bouquet all its own. Especially if you visit during one of the vintage years. But the TARDIS takes them to 1979, a table-wine year, a year whose vintage is soured by cracks – not in their wine glasses but in the very fabric of time itself.
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Aided by British private detective Duggan, whose speciality is thumping people, the Doctor and Romana must thwart the machinations of the suave, mysterious Count Scarlioni – all twelve of him – if the human race has any chance of survival.
Aided by British private detective Duggan, whose speciality is thumping people, the Doctor and Romana must thwart the machinations of the suave, mysterious Count Scarlioni – all twelve of him – if the human race has any chance of survival.


But then, the Doctor’s holidays tend to turn out a bit like this.
But then, the Doctor's holidays tend to turn out a bit like this.


Featuring the Fourth Doctor as played by Tom Baker, City of Death is a novel by James Goss based on the 1979 Doctor Who story written by Douglas Adams under the pen-name David Agnew. City of Death is one of the best-loved serials in the show’s 50-year history and was watched by over 16 million viewers when first broadcast.
== Chapter titles ==
* Part One
** All Roads Lead to Paris
** Isn't it Nice?
** A Painting Like...
** Look to the Lady
** Mixed Doubles
* Part Two
** Paris in a Day
** Lies Beneath
** Unique Plurals
** Count Down
* Part Three
** Renaissance Man
** Follies
** Déjà Vu
** The Father of Invention
** Material Witness
* Part Four
** The Discrete Charm of the Bourgeoisise
** Goodbye, Not Au Revoir
** We'll Never Have Paris
** À la Recherche du Temps Perdu
** French without Tears in the Fabric of Space-Time


== Characters ==
== Characters ==
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* [[Duggan]]
* [[Duggan]]
* [[Scaroth]]
* [[Scaroth]]
* [[Heidi Scarlioni|Countess Heidi Scarlioni]]
* [[Hermann]]
* [[Fyodor Nikolai Kerensky]]
* [[Leonardo da Vinci]]


== References ==
== Worldbuilding ==
to be added
* It is mentioned that the Jagaroth came to earth tracking a [[Racnoss]] energy signal, in reference to the events of ''[[The Runaway Bride (TV story)|The Runaway Bride]]''.
* Romana notes that she prefers Count Scarlioni as a villain over [[Davros]].
* Romana lists a number of art galleries across the universe better than the [[Louvre]], including the [[Braxiatel Collection]].
* Romana began travelling with the Doctor at the age of 125, and has been travelling with him for somewhere between a few weeks and a few years. Duggan believes she is 25.
* The Doctor looks at an [[Ernest Hemingway]] book.
* The Doctor and Romana have previously visited the [[Medusa Cascade]].
* The Doctor returns to Paris from Florence using the [[fast return switch]].
* The Doctor once showed Romana an episode of ''[[Blue Peter]]''.
* Romana improves upon Kerensky's computer, increasing the memory to 1 MB and adding 7 computer languages and 5 protocols. She describes it as a "clever prime", in reference to a series of BBC-licensed [[television]] [[Prime Computer advertisement|adverts]] for Prime Computers in [[Australia]] featuring the Doctor and Romana, which were released in [[1979]], but never shown in the [[UK]].


== Notes ==
== Notes ==
* This is the second of [[Douglas Adams]]' ''Doctor Who'' stories to be released in book form, 14 years after Adams' death in 2001. None of [[Douglas Adams]]'s three ''Doctor Who'' stories have previously appeared in book form for a variety of legal reasons.  
* This novel was released complete and unabridged by [[BBC Audio]] and read by [[Lalla Ward]].
* This is the first official novelisation of ''City of Death''.
* The audio set of eight CDs was released [[21 May (releases)|21 May]] [[2015 (releases)|2015]] priced £25 (UK)
* This is the second of [[Douglas Adams]]'s ''Doctor Who'' stories to be released in book form, fourteen years after Adams's death in 2001. None of his three ''Doctor Who'' stories had previously appeared in book form for a variety of legal reasons.
* This is the first official novelisation of ''City of Death''. It is also the first novelisation of a story broadcast on television since [[PROSE]]: ''[[The Novel of the Film (novelisation)|The Novel of the Film]]''.
* The four-part structure of the novel mirrors the four-part structure of the televised story.
* The title page includes the following info, in homage to the original Target novels:
** THE CHANGING FACE OF DOCTOR WHO This book portrays the fourth incarnation of Doctor Who, whose physical appearance later changed when he [[Logopolis (TV story)|lost an argument with gravity]].
** THE CHANGING FACE OF SCAROTH This book portrays the twelfth and final incarnation of Scaroth, last of the Jagaroth.
* In [[2018 (releases)|2018]], [[Target Books]] printed an abridged version of the novelisation.
* This story was also released as an ebook available from the Amazon Kindle store.
* This story was also released as an ebook available from the Amazon Kindle store.
* The book was released in Brazil by Suma de Letras as Cidade da Morte.


== Continuity ==
== Continuity ==
to be added
* The Doctor recently defeated the Black Guardian. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Armageddon Factor (TV story)|The Armageddon Factor]]'')
* Many previous companions left because they were no longer enjoying the experience of travelling with the Doctor; some got married, such as [[Jo Grant|Jo]] ([[TV]]: ''[[The Green Death (TV story)|The Green Death]]'') and [[Leela]], ([[TV]]: ''[[The Invasion of Time (TV story)|The Invasion of Time]]'') whilst [[Dodo Chaplet|one]] wandered off halfway through a battle with [[WOTAN|a supercomputer]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[The War Machines (TV story)|The War Machines]]'')
* Romana regenerated for the fun of it, and suffered few ill-effects from it, before then defeating the Daleks. Various other explanations have previously been given. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[Lies (audio story)|Lies]], ''[[PROSE]]: ''[[The Lying Old Witch in the Wardrobe (short story)|The Lying Old Witch in the Wardrobe]], ''[[TV]]: ''[[Destiny of the Daleks (TV story)|Destiny of the Daleks]]'')
* The Doctor compares Paris to the rooms of the TARDIS, where its rooms always seems to rearrange itself. ([[AUDIO]]: ''[[No Place Like Home (audio story)|No Place Like Home]], ''[[TV]]: ''[[The Doctor's Wife (TV story)|The Doctor's Wife]]'')
* [[Genghis Khan]] threw an army at the TARDIS to little success, and was won in a game of [[backgammon]] by his [[Kublai Khan|grandson]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[Marco Polo (TV story)|Marco Polo]], [[Rose (TV story)|Rose]]'')
* Romana has a sonic screwdriver. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Horns of Nimon (TV story)|The Horns of Nimon]]'')
 
==  Deviations from the televised story ==
* An original scene features Romana and Duggan going on a night out together, with Romana getting drunk on wine in the process.
* The background of the art critics is expanded upon.
* Scarlioni does not know he is Scaroth until the scene where he removes his face.
* The character of [[Heidi Scarlioni|Countess Scarlioni]] is greatly expanded upon, given a backstory and a first name, Heidi. She is also shown to have a closer relationship with the Count, with him regretting having to kill her greatly.
* K9 features briefly in the novel; he did not appear at all in the televised version.
* Duggan's backstory as to how he ended up in Paris is explored in great detail, with a scene depicting his last case before the events of this story.
* There are several other minor changes: for instance, Scaroth can travel three minutes back in time as opposed to two, and the Doctor's words on the ''[[Mona Lisa]]'' are "These are Fakes" rather than "This is a Fake".
* Kerensky's death is presented from his perspective, showing him living out decades within the time bubble musing over his past.
* [[Hermann]] is given a back story as a German soldier who provided Scarlioni with art treasures after World War II.
* The sketcher from the café is named as [[Bourget]], as per an early storyline, and makes several more appearances, repeatedly compelled to draw people with clock faces.
* The tour guide is named Madame [[Henriette]] and given a collection of cats.
* Scaroth is not killed in the chateau explosion but left trapped in the time bubble.
* There is an extra sequence of [[Duggan]] fighting a group of Scarlioni's men while escaping from the chateau. It is Romana, rather than Duggan, who knocks the Countess unconscious. The Countess is armed with a gatling gun rather than a hand gun.
* The Doctor does not realise the explosion of [[Sephiroth|the Jagaroth ship]] started life on Earth until he travels back in time, instead worrying history will be changed drastically if Scaroth's splinters are removed from history.
* The Doctor displays more anger towards Romana for building Scarlioni a time machine.
* The Doctor states Shakespeare sprained his wrist playing croquet rather than writing sonnets.
* The Jagaroth ship is named the ''Sephiroth'', the name of the species in early storylines.
* Some characters are switched around: for instance, when the Doctor returns to the show on television he is escorted in by a thug and sends a maid to inform Scarlioni. In the novelisation, he gets the maid to take him inside and sends Hermann to get Scarlioni.
* The Countess' bracelet is said to be isomorphic, meaning in theory only Scarlioni can remove it, and allows him a degree of control over her.
* The Doctor gives the remaining ''Mona Lisa'' to Duggan at the end; the televised version is vague as to what happened to it.
* Duggan sees the Doctor and Romana leaving in [[the Doctor's TARDIS]] from the bottle of the Eiffel Tower.
* Count Scarlioni is said to possess a fireplace previously owned by [[Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson|Madame du Pompadour]].
 
== Additional cover images ==
<gallery position=center captionalign=center hideaddbutton="true" >
PaperbackCityOfDeath.jpg|2016 BBC Books paperback edition
City of Death (Target Books).jpg|2018 Target Books edition.<br />Cover by [[Anthony Dry]]
</gallery>
 
== Editions published outside Britain ==
* Published in the USA by Ace Books in 2015 as a hardback edition and 2016 as a paperback edition, it was one of three books published by them in the 2010's.
* Published in Italy by Mondadori in 2015 as a paperback edition, translated by Alessandro Vezzoli and published as ''La Citta della Morte'', it was one of three books published by them in the 2010's.
* Published in Brazil by Suma de Letras in 2015 as a paperback edition, translated by Regina Winarski and published as ''Cidade da Morte'', it was one of two novelisations published in the 2010's.
* Published in Germany by Cross Cult in 2015 as a paperback edition, translated by Claudia Kern and published as ''Die Stadt des Todes'', it was one of five books published by them in the 2010's; this edition uses the same cover design as the UK paperback edition.
* Published in Hungary by Gabo in 2015 as a paperback edition, translated by Zsolt Beke and published as ''A Halal Varosa'', it was one of two novelisations published in the 2010's.
* Published in the Czech Republic by Argo in 2016 as a hardback edition, translated by Pavel Cernovsky and published as ''Mesto Smrti'', it was one of three novelisations published in the 2010's.
* Published in Turkey by Ithaki Yayinlari in 2016 as a paperback edition, translated by Ayda Sungur and published as ''Olum Sehri'', it was one of three books published in the 2010's.
* Published in China by the Shanghai Translation Publishing House in 2017 as a paperback edition, translated by Yao Xiang Hui, it was one of two novelisations published by them in the 2010's.
* Published in Russia by AST in 2018 as a hardback edition, translated by Alexey Osipov, it was one of eight books published in the 2010's; this was the only foreign edition to create its own version of the cover design.
 
<gallery position=center captionalign=center hideaddbutton="true" >
File:1stAmericanCityOfDeath.jpg|US Hardback edition
File:AmericanCityOfDeath.jpg|US Paperback edition
File:ItalianCityOfDeath.jpg|Italian edition
File:BrazilianCityOfDeath.jpg|Brazilian edition
File:GermanCityOfDeath.jpg|German edition
File:HungarianCityOfDeath.jpg|Hungarian edition
File:CzechCityOfDeath.jpg|Czech edition
File:TurkishCityOfDeath.jpg|Turkish edition
File:ChineseCityOfDeath.jpg|Chinese edition
File:RussianCityOfDeath.jpg|Russian edition
</gallery>
 
== Audiobook ==
This novel was released as an audiobook on [[21 May (releases)|21 May]] [[2015 (releases)|2015]] complete and unabridged by [[BBC Audio]] and read by [[Lalla Ward]].


== Deviations from the televised story ==
The cover blurb and thumbnail illustrations were retained in the accompanying booklet with sleevenotes by [[David J. Howe]]. Music and sound effects by [[Simon Power]].
* An original scene features Romana and Duggan going on a night out together.


== Audiobook ==
The audiobook was re-released on [[4 November (releases)|4 November]] [[2021 (releases)|2021]] as part of the anthology ''[[The Time Travel Collection]]''.
This novel was released complete and unabridged by [[BBC Audio]] and read by [[Lalla Ward]].


<gallery position="center" captionalign="center" hideaddbutton="true">
<gallery position="center" captionalign="center" hideaddbutton="true">
File:City of Death cd.jpg
City of Death cd.jpg|Audiobook cover.
</gallery>
</gallery>


The audio set of nine CDs was released [[21 May (releases)|21 May]] [[2015 (releases)|2015]] priced £19.99 (UK)
== External links ==
* {{Penguin|1115907/doctor-who-city-of-death-target-collection/}}


== External links ==
{{DWN}}
* [http://doctorwho.org.nz/archive/city/ The unrelated fan novelisation ''Doctor Who and the City of Death'']
{{TitleSort}}
{{TitleSort}}
[[cs:Město smrti (novelizace)]]
[[fr:City of Death (novélisation)]]
[[Category:BBC Books novelisations of television stories]]
[[Category:Stories set in 1979]]
[[Category:Stories set in 1505]]
[[Category:Stories set in the distant past]]
[[Category:Fourth Doctor novelisations]]
[[Category:2015 novels]]
[[Category:Stories set in Paris]]
[[Category:Novels set on Earth]]
[[Category:Romana II novels]]
[[Category:Stories set in Florence]]
[[Category:Target novelisations]]
[[Category:BBC Books novelisations with audiobook readings]]
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