Festival of Death (novel): Difference between revisions

|image       = Festival of Death.jpg  

|series       = [[BBC Past Doctor Adventures]]  

|number       = 35  

|doctor       = Fourth Doctor

|companions   = [[K9 Mark II]], [[Romana II]]

|enemy       = [[Repulsion]], [[Koel Paddox|Paddox]]

|setting     = [[Festival of Death]], [[2815]] and [[3012]]

|writer       = [[Jonathan Morris]]  

|publisher   = BBC Books  

|cover       = [[Black Sheep]]

|release date = [[4 September (releases)|4 September]] [[2000 (releases)|2000]]

|format       = Paperback Book, 20 chapters, 284 Pages  

|isbn         = ISBN 0-563-53803-1  

|prev         = Imperial Moon (novel)

|next         = Independence Day (novel)

* The Doctor, as he is about to die, quotes multiple final phrases:

** "It is a far, far better thing that I do now, than I have ever done. And it is a far, far better rest that I go to, than I have ever known" from ''[[A Tale of Two Cities]]'' by [[Charles Dickens]].

** "If I should die, think only this of me..." from the poem ''The Soldier'' by Rupert Brooke.

** [[Oscar Wilde (writer)|Oscar Wilde's]] last words "Either that wallpaper goes or I go!"  

** "How's the empire?", from the morning of [[George V|King George V's]] death.

** [[Goethe|Goethe's]] last words "More light! More light!"

** '''''"'''''And so to bed," an expression often used by [[Samuel Pepys]] at the end of his day's diary entry.

** "[My life] is conquered at last", a misquote of the poem ''For Annie'' by [[Edgar Allan Poe]].

** "For in that sleep of death what dreams may come", a line from the [[William Shakespeare|Shakespeare]] play ''[[Hamlet]]''.

** "Out​, out, brief candle!" a line from the [[William Shakespeare|Shakespeare]] play ''[[Macbeth]]''.

* The Doctor quotes multiple passages from the Bible, including:

** "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death..." from Psalm 23:4

** "Oh grave, where is thy victory?" from 1 Corinthians 15:55

* The Doctor and Romana make multiple mentions of the [[Web of Time]] and the [[First Law of Time]].

* Romana quotes Richard Dawkins and tells the Doctor that the quote was by someone he wouldn't know. This is a reference to Lalla Ward being married to Richard Dawkins after previously in a relationship with Tom Baker.

* The Doctor mentions to Romana that as Time Lords, they have a unique sensitivity to distortions in time. ([[TV]]:  ''[[City of Death (TV story)|City of Death]]'')

* The Doctor refers to the Repulsion as "an ancient evil from the dawn of time", a term he would later use to describe [[Fenric]] in his [[Seventh Doctor|Seventh incarnation]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Curse of Fenric (TV story)|The Curse of Fenric]]'')

* The Doctor says "Sorry, must dash," a phrase often used in his fifth incarnation. ([[TV]]: ''[[Time-Flight (TV story)|Time-Flight]]'', ''[[The Five Doctors (TV story)|The Five Doctors]] et al'')

* Romana was trained in the Academy to stop her hearts beating for a short time, and enter a state of suspended animation. ([[TV]]: ''[[Destiny of the Daleks (TV story)|Destiny of the Daleks]]'')

* The Doctor tracks Romana's time trail in the [[TARDIS]], something he would do again in his [[Eleventh Doctor|Eleventh incarnation]]. ([[COMIC]]: ''[[Random History (comic story)|Random History]]'')

* This would not be the last time the Doctor travels back multiple times in his personal timeline and in the same adventure. Most notably, the [[Eleventh Doctor]] would do so to release his past self from the [[Pandorica]] and leaving notes for [[Amy Pond|Amelia Pond]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Big Bang (TV story)|The Big Bang]]'')

* The Doctor throws away the textbook for his basic time travel proficiency test in annoyance. The [[Eleventh Doctor]] similarly admitted that he'd disagreed with the [[TARDIS Instruction Manual|TARDIS instruction manual]] so much that he threw it into a [[supernova]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[Amy's Choice (TV story)|Amy's Choice]]'')

* The Fourth Doctor and Romana discuss the possibility of travelling elsewhere for months and years and avoiding the Doctor's death. They ultimately decide against it and return immediately.

** The [[Eleventh Doctor]] would also know about his upcoming death at [[Lake Silencio]], but unlike the Fourth Doctor spends time delaying his arrival there and putting his affairs in order. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Impossible Astronaut (TV story)|The Impossible Astronaut]] et al)''

** [[Clara Oswald]], in a similar situation, also decided not to return to the fixed point of her death immediately but to travel in a [[TARDIS]] with [[Me]] ([[TV]]: ''[[Hell Bent (TV story)|Hell Bent]]'')