Doctor Who

Blogs about Doctor Who

Deceit by Peter Darvill-Evans

The novel “Deceit” by Peter Darvill-Evans was published for the first time in 1993. It’s No. 13 in the “New Adventures” range by Virgin Publishing and follows “The Pit”.

The Seventh Doctor seems more lost than ever. Bernice Summerfield is concerned, also because the TARDIS appears to be having some stability issues. An infection is plaguing the TARDIS and, by extension, the Doctor, who must find a way to eliminate it. A contact from an old friend leads the travellers to the planet Arcadia.

Agent Isabelle Defries of Earth’s Office of External Operations leads an expedition to the planet Arcadia. Her team includes a so-called Dalek Killer, a criminal used to fight the Daleks. However, there are no Daleks on Arcadia, but a more sinister threat. It’s not the kind of threat that can be attacked with weapons like those wielded by the group’s explosives expert, Ace.

The Pit by Neil Penswick

The novel “The Pit” by Neil Penswick was published for the first time in 1993. It’s No. 12 in the “New Adventures” range by Virgin Publishing and follows “The Highest Science”.

Bernice Summerfield is bored and asks the Seventh Doctor to take her to the Althosian system, home to the Seven Planets, a collection of human colonies that eventually became independent from Earth. Before Bernice was born, the system vanished, and no one ever discovered the reason.

The Doctor finds no reference to that system in the TARDIS’s memories, and he knows nothing about it. This is decidedly abnormal, and the Doctor decides to investigate. However, the TARDIS suffers a mysterious interference that causes it to make a rough landing.

The Highest Science by Gareth Roberts

The novel “The Highest Science” by Gareth Roberts was published for the first time in 1993. It’s No. 11 in the “New Adventures” range by Virgin Publishing and follows “Transit”.

The Seventh Doctor is trying to locate the Fortean flicker, a peculiar metaphysical phenomenon associated with events that are supposed to be random, generating coincidences and removing people and things from their proper time and place. This search leads him and Bernice Summerfield to a planet that might be the legendary Sakkrat.

The travellers are forced to confront the Chelonians, an aggressive species that views humans as parasites. Humans transported from various places and eras are targeted by the Chelonians. Bernice is poisoned by a chemical that causes her to lose her memory. A spaceship reaches the planet carrying an entity created to pilot it and led by Sheldukher, the most wanted criminal in the galaxy.

Transit by Ben Aaronovitch

The novel “Transit” by Ben Aaronovitch was published for the first time in 1992. It’s No. 10 in the “New Adventures” range by Virgin Publishing and follows “Love and War”.

The Tardis materializes in King’s Cross Station, where an unknown entity has killed several people. Kadiatu is saved by the arrival of the Seventh Doctor, and the two of them, along with Bernice Summerfield, end up in another station.

Kadiatu is conducting experiments in time travel and becomes interested in the Doctor and his intervention. She decides to take him to a veteran of the war with the Ice Warriors. Bernice ends up on Pluto, where she uses the people who live in the slums for unfathomable purposes.

Love and War by Paul Cornell

The novel “Love and War” by Paul Cornell was published for the first time in 1992. It’s No. 9 in the “New Adventures” range by Virgin Publishing and follows “Nightshade”.

Ace passed through Perivale to go to the funeral of her old friend Julian. Having completed that sad task, the Seventh Doctor takes her forward in time nearly half a millennium to the planet Heaven, on the border between human and Draconian space. It’s a neutral place for the two powers, and life is supposed to be peaceful, but various events suggest otherwise.

The Doctor is searching for a lost manuscript and can’t find it, but he has other things on his mind and seems lost in thought. Ace seeks distraction by contacting a group of Travellers who have been on Heaven for some time. On the planet, the paths of very different entities intersect, while its past seems to interest only archaeologist Bernice “Benny” Summerfield and a few other researchers engaged in an excavation.