Our review of Paul Magrs' The Scarlet Empress can be downloaded here. We were tickled pink to hear that Mr. Magrs actually listened to our podcast and described us as "camp". That's an in-joke that you may or may not get, but we'll just leave it at that.
For April of 2013 we go back to a traditional Seventh Doctor and Ace story (as opposed to the grumpy manipulative Doctor and the angst-ridden Ace we know from the Virgin New Adventures). It's the BBC Past Doctor Adventure Independence Day by Peter Darvill-Evans. From the back cover:
'Danger is my middle name,' Ace said, 'or it would be if I had more than one. I can look after myself these days, you know.'
Freedom. Liberty. Free will. Independence. Choice. Everyone wants to be free. But at what point does freedom become irresponsibility? What happens when one person's choice causes another's oppression?
The Doctor's on a simple mission to return a communications device he borrowed years previously. Being a Time Lord, he can return it before anyone misses it.
But events in the Mendeb system have moved more quickly than the Doctor estimated, and he lands in the ruins of a civilisation devastated by mysterious invaders.
Darvill-Evans is arguably the single most important person in the history of Doctor Who novels. In 1989, he oversaw the Target novelizations of the televised stories, and then went on to work for Virgin, where he created launched the New Adventures (he even wrote one himself, Deceit). Aside from that book and Independence Day, he also wrote the BBC Past Doctors Adventure Asylum, featuring the Fourth Doctor and Nyssa.
Asylum, published in 2001, was the last thing Darvill-Evans published. However, you can catch him on the DVD extra, "Doctor Forever! -- Love and War" on the recently-released special edition of "The Ark of Space".
Fun links:
"Independence Day" on Amazon (Hey, it's affordable!)
"Independence Day" at the Doctor Who Reference Guide (Spoilers, sweetie)
Email us and tell us how much you love Erik's laugh at dwbcpodcast@gmail.com, look for us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter via @dwbcpodcast. You can also follow Erik via @sjcaustenite and Sean via @tardistavern.
