The Haunting of Gabriel Chase (novel)

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The Haunting of Gabriel Chase was the third and final novel in the eighth series of Lethbridge-Stewart, released by Candy Jar Books in 2021.

Publisher's summary[[edit] | [edit source]]

1983, and Gabriel Chase burns. Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart, teacher at Brendon School for Boys, had almost forgotten about the house. But the memories soon return to him, memories of thirteen years earlier...

1970, and Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, Anne Travers, Captain William Bishop and RSM Samson Ware are brought to an old house in Perivale by an old friend of Samson’s. An officer has been lost, and it is believed he may be in the house.

They decide the only way to find out is to investigate within the house. But Gabriel Chase is waiting. It is always waiting. And once you’re inside, you’ll be very lucky to leave.

Ghosts haunt Gabriel Chase. But who is in control? What is the angel? And who will escape? Darkness falls. And heaven help anybody still inside after dark...

Plot[[edit] | [edit source]]

to be added

Characters[[edit] | [edit source]]

to be added

Worldbuilding[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • Ace makes a cameo appearance, although she is only identified as 'Dorothy something' (TV: Death of the Doctor), and is seen from afar with no dialogue. Shoosh refers to her as 'Dot'.
  • Samson mentions the film Krakatoa, East Of Java, while Fenn-Cooper points out the geographical inaccuracy of that title.
  • Some of the themes of the novel involve forces combining to create a single unit, foreshadowing the creation of UNIT soon after the events of this story.
  • At the end of the story, Light, Survey and Control have combined into a single unit - led appropriately by Control. The ship is piloted by Harriet Coin and Redvers Fenn-Cooper who allegedly continue to travel through time and space.

Notes[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • The police officer Lethbridge-Stewart speaks to is Inspector Watt, named for Frank Windsor's character in Z-Cars. Frank Windsor played Inspector Mackenzie in the television story Ghost Light. A reference is made to a Ford Zephyr, the car of choice in Z-Cars.
  • Watt talks about a new tower block that is due to open, with 'all mod cons'. He's referring to Maxwell Tower, the building featured in The Thirteenth Floor, as seen in Scream! comics (1984)
  • Lethbridge-Stewart remembers the Highgate Cemetery killings and recalls that they weren't vampire related (a reference to the plot of Dracula AD 1972)
  • Lethbridge-Stewart has recently investigated the 'Wembley Stadium Incident', the events of which are detailed in the finale of Quatermass (1979)
  • Chapter Four is titled Maiden England, after the Iron Maiden album of the same name.
  • Samson mentions the Fitzroy Tavern, a pub known for a monthly meet-up of Doctor Who fans.
  • Anne picks up a book with a distinctive cover and titled Murder Me Twice. The same book is seen in an episode of Sapphire And Steel.
  • In another reference to Sapphire And Steel, one of the Gabriel Chase ghosts is called 'The Whispering Girl', recalling the young girl, often inaudible, seen in Adventure One.
  • The title of Chapter Five - Don't Have The Soup - is a reference to the Doctor's advice to Ace during Ghost Light.
  • Harriet Coin's name recalls Harry Price, who was also a psychic investigator.
  • Harriet mentions that she has investigated Borley Rectory, Calibourn House (Hide), and Taskerlands (The Stone Tape).
  • Jane quotes from The Eagles song Hotel California, a clue that she originates from a period after the mid-seventies.
  • Lethbridge-Stewart and others are expected to sleep in the Blue Room, the Red Room and so on. There are similar rooms mentioned in The Haunting Of Hill House.
  • The name of Chapter Eight is In Darkest England, which recalls a 1890 book by William Booth addressing social inequalities. The full name of the book is In Darkest England And The Way Out.
  • Samson Ware is shown a possible escape route to 1970, where he can see a television set showing what he thinks is a Carry On film. The action he can see closely resembles the Doctor Who story Spearhead From Space, first shown in 1970.
  • Jane, mishearing 'Ratkin', mentions Rapkyn, a magician of the Middle Ages. Rapkyn is referenced in an episode of Catweazle (1970).
  • Jane also mentions Ramon Lull, a philosopher born in 1229. He is sometimes otherwise known as Cole Hawlings, the magician featured in The Box Of Delights. In the 1984 BBC adaptation of that novel, Hawlings was played by Patrick Troughton.
  • Harriet makes a mocking reference to the title of a play by Jean Paul Satre, reflecting their situation: No Exit.
  • The keypad code to the ice house is 153 7Q, the production serial code for Ghost Light.
  • Anne, Samson and Jane are pursued through Gabriel Chase by a maid wielding a machete, which recalls a scene cut from Ghost Light.
  • When Harriet hits the maid with a rifle, it makes the sound KKLAK. KKLAK is the name of a book published by Candy Jar books around the same time as The Haunting Of Gabriel Chase.
  • Chapter Twelve is called The First Sign Of Progress, in reference to an anecdote about the research of anthropologist Margaret Mead. Nimod exhibits the behaviour allegedly discussed by Mead in this chapter.
  • Although not explicitly acknowledged, it's clear that the Husk (Survey) speaking to Bishop has adopted the appearance and speech patterns of Ace, and even takes the name Alice, which is what Gwendoline called Ace during the events of Ghost Light.
  • Fenn-Cooper says 'You may not believe in ghosts, but you cannot deny what is happening,' which is a misquote from the advertising slogan for The Haunting (1963).
  • The name of Chapter Fourteen - Ghosts And Their Shells - invokes the 1995 film Ghost In The Shell.
  • The sequence in which Alice (Survey) pulls her outer shell off while looking at herself in a mirror recalls a similar scene in Poltergeist (1982).
  • Survey mentions that he felt he doesn't have the right to 'use the Doctor's image', a reference to the fact that Candy Jar had the rights to use the supporting characters of Ghost Light for the sequel, but not for the Doctor himself.
  • Chapter Eighteen is called This House Is As Old As I Am, after a lyric from the Kate Bush song Get Out Of My House, which was inspired by the Stephen King novel The Shining.
  • On discovering a possible escape route, Harriet exclaims 'A dumb waiter? In a Victorian mansion? Ridiculous!', a reference to a similar line spoken by the Doctor in the Doctor Who story Pyramids Of Mars.
  • Chapter Nineteen is called Turn And Face The Strange after a line from the David Bowie song, Changes.
  • Bill, already haunted by the house, is transfixed by a painting featuring two polar bears in the wreckage of a ship. The painting he's looking at is Landseer's Man Proposes, God Disposes (1864).
  • Harriet mentions that she might be stealing a joke from someone, but she can't remember who. The person she's stealing from is Douglas Adams, which recalls the Doctor invoking (but not crediting) a line from Adams during Ghost Light.
  • A deleted scene reveals that Lethbridge-Stewart's final weapon was the tooth given to Nimrod by the Doctor during Ghost Light.
  • Fenn-Cooper exclaims 'What the deuce' when seeing Control in her most evolved form, invoking the actor Sharon Duce, who played Control in Ghost Light.
  • Bill laments that the events he's experienced would have made a lot more sense if he'd just had thirty more minutes, a reference to an episode being cut from the original runtime of Ghost Light.

Continuity[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • In 1983, The Brigadier witnesses Ace being taken away by police after she burns down Gabriel Chase, and is told a social worker and her mother have been informed. (TV: Ghost Light, PROSE: Ghost Light, Remembrance of the Daleks)
  • In 1983, the Brigadier is still teaching at Brendon School and has recently had his memories returned by the Doctor. (TV: Mawdryn Undead)

External links[[edit] | [edit source]]

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Lethbridge-Stewart
Series 1
Series 2
Series 3
Series 4
Series 5
Series 6
Series 7
Series 8
Series 9
Series 10
Novellas
Anthologies
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