The Stranger (novel)
The Stranger was an erotic novel written by Portia Da Costa, and was released under the Black Lace line of books. It was published in 2012 by Ebury Publishing, manager of the prose rights to Doctor Who as well as the BBC Books brand.[1]
The main character of The Stranger was the young widow Claudia Marwood, who had been mentioned as one of the Eighth Doctor's companions, Claudia, in the BBC Books Eighth Doctor Adventures novels Father Time and The Gallifrey Chronicles. In the pattern of many BBC Books Short Trips stories which feature the Doctor without ever explicitly identifying them,[2] Claudia's brilliant but amnesiac love interest in The Stranger was the Eighth Doctor under the alias "Doctor Paul Bowman". Indeed, when Claudia was mentioned in Father Time, she was said to have spent time with the Doctor at a time when he had lost his memory, matching Bowman's appearance and characteristics in The Stranger.
Publisher's summary[[edit] | [edit source]]
Once she had got over the initial shock of the young man's nudity, Claudia allowed herself to breathe properly again...
When Claudia finds a sexy stranger near her home she discovers that he has lost his memory along with his clothes.
Having turned her back on relationships since the death of her husband, Claudia finds herself scandalising her friends by inviting the stranger into her home and into her bed...
Author's summary[[edit] | [edit source]]
Find out what happens in an alternate universe when a drop dead gorgeous amnesiac [who might once have been the Eighth Doctor Who, allegedly] turns up on the doorstep of beautiful and sensual widow Claudia Marwood…
When a confused and mysterious young man stumbles into the life of the recently widowed Claudia, he reignites her sleeping sexuality. But is the handsome and angelic Paul really a combination of innocent and voluptuary, amnesiac and genius? Claudia's friends become involved in trying to decide whether or not he is to be trusted. As an erotic obsession flowers between Paul and Claudia, and all taboos are obliterated, his true identity no longer seems to matter.
Plot[[edit] | [edit source]]
to be added
Characters[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Claudia Marwood
- "Paul Bowman"
- Melody Truebridge
- Beatrice Quine
- Tristan Van Dissell
- Sacha, the Comte D'Aronville
- Felicity Neston
- Richard Truebridge
- Gerald Marwood
- "Vivian"
References[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Paul gets skittish whenever the word "doctor" is mentioned.
- Claudia ponders if Paul is an alien.
- Claudia has a Jaguar which reminds Paul of his past.
Notes[[edit] | [edit source]]
- An earlier edition of The Stranger had been published on 6 November 1997 by Virgin Books,[3] six months after Virgin published its last novel under the Doctor Who license.[4]
- "Paul" is named in reference to Eighth Doctor actor Paul McGann. Claudia Marwood is named in reference to McGann's character Marwood from Withnail and I. The plot of Withnail and I is included in a flashback to "Paul"'s backstory.
- Paul's surname, "Bowman", is derived from an alias, "Dr. Bowman", created by Grace Holloway during the events of Doctor Who.
Continuity[[edit] | [edit source]]
- "Paul Bowman" wore a black velvet Edwardian frock coat with grey trousers, a black and grey striped brocade waistcoat, a wing collared shirt, and a grey silk cravat. (TV: Doctor Who, et al.)
- While moving the frock coat, Claudia found a period fob watch in one of the pockets. (TV: Doctor Who, The Night of the Doctor, COMIC: The Pictures of Josephine Day)
- "Paul" surprises Claudia by appearing at her door wounded in the middle of a storm. He met another of his companions, Mary Shelley, in a similar way. (AUDIO: Mary's Story)
- Claudia believed that Paul was telepathic. (TV: Doctor Who)
- Paul disliked hospitals, hinting at a recent traumatic experience. (TV: Doctor Who)
- In PROSE: Father Time, the Eighth Doctor recalled being "in England. Spending some time with a… friend. A young widow named Claudia."
- Claudia was one of the Eighth Doctor's companions. (PROSE: The Gallifrey Chronicles)
External links[[edit] | [edit source]]
Footnotes[[edit] | [edit source]]
- ↑ BBC Press Office (22 June 2006). The Random House Group acquires majority shareholding in BBC Books. BBC. “BBC Books will become part of the Ebury Publishing Division of The Random House Group under Fiona MacIntyre, Publisher of the Ebury Publishing Division.”
- ↑ See also Many Happy Returns and Sprout Boy meets a Galaxy of Stars, in which Sylvester McCoy's and Peter Capaldi's characters, respectively, are recognised as the Doctor because the stories were released by publishers of Doctor Who like Ebury Publishing, namely Big Finish Productions and BBC One.
- ↑ As with The Wings of a Butterfly, since the first edition was not licensed in its use of the Eighth Doctor character, it is not covered on this wiki.
- ↑ So Vile a Sin in May 1997.
Category:Eighth Doctor novels Category:2012 novels Category:Stories set in England Category:Stories set in the 1990s
