For January: A Device of Death

Episode 12, in which we review Atom Bomb Blues by Andrew Cartmel is now available here.  As the new year breezes in, we go back in time to savor something a little more vintage from the Virgin Missing Adventures line.

Assuming you haven't notice the image planted to the left of this text, our next review will be A Device of Death by Christopher Bulis.  From the back cover:

'As a member of an inferior race, you either work to serve the cause of Averon, or die.'

Sarah is marooned on a slave world where the only escape is death.  Harry is caught in the middle of an interplanetary invasion, and has to combine medicine with a desperate mission.  And the Doctor lands on a world so secret it does not even have a name.

Why have the TARDIS crew been scattered across the stars?  What terrible accident could have wiped the Doctor's memory?  And what could interest the Time Lords in this war-torn sector of space?

At the heart of a star-spanning conspiracy lies an ancient quest: people have been making weapons since the dawn of time -- but perhaps someone has finally discovered the ultimate device of death.

A Device of Death is slotted nicely in between the television stories "Genesis of the Daleks" and "Revenge of the Cybermen," so presumably something goes haywire with the time ring provided to the Doctor and his friends.  (Fun fact: this is Erik's favorite period of the show, so he is particularly looking forward to this one.)

This episode will be the first in which we have a "repeat author"; we previously read Christopher Bulis' The Sorcerer's Apprentice for our first episode back in January of 2011, so in a way we've come full circle (yes, we've been doing this for a year, and we can hardly believe it ourselves).  Although The Sorcerer's Apprentice is perhaps Bulis' best-known work, he also penned four other Virgin Missing Adventures, one for BBC's Eighth Doctor range, and five for BBC's past Doctors range.

Thank you to those of you that have dedicated a year to listening to us, and we are looking forward to providing you with many more reviews in the year(s) to come.  In the meantime, grab a cup of tea, sit back in your easy chair, and immerse yourself in A Device of Death.

Fun links:

Christopher Bulis' TARDIS Wiki Page

"A Device of Death" from the Doctor Who Reference Guide -- WARNING!  SPOILERS!

"A Device of Death" on Amazon  (Yes, it's expensive!)

Please "like" us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter via @dwbcpodcast, Erik via @sjcaustenite, and Sean via @tardistavern.  Happy reading and Happy New Year!

For December: Atom Bomb Blues

If you still haven't listened to Erik & Sean's rousing discussion of Alien Bodies, you can download the episode here.

Before Sean switched on his randomizer to pick this month's selection from the proverbial hat, he had to think back about whether or not the BBC provided any past Doctor novels involving Christmas.  Answer: They didn't.  So, for December we present Atom Bomb Blues by Andrew Cartmel.  From the back cover:

Los Alamos, New Mexico, 1945.  The Second World War is coming to its bloody conclusion, and in the American desert the race is on to build an atomic bomb.

The fate of the world is at stake -- in more ways than one.  Someone, or something, is trying to alter the course of history at this most delicate point.  And destroy the human race.  Posing as a nuclear scientist with Ace as his research assistant, the Doctor plays detective among the Manhattan Project scientists, while desperately trying to avoid falling under suspicion himself.

As the minutes tick away to the world's first atom bomb blast, the Doctor and Ace find themselves up to their necks in spies, aliens of the flying-saucer variety, and some very nasty saboteurs from another dimension...

Published in November, 2005, this novel is the final installment of the BBC's Past Doctor Adventures.  They had already begun releasing the New Series Adventures featuring the Ninth Doctor and Rose months earlier, something of a death toll for the Past Doctor and Eighth Doctor series.

Author Andrew Cartmel is best known as the shows script editor from seasons 24 through 26 and for spearheading the "Cartmel Master Plan," which would have come to fruition in season 27, had the show not been cancelled.  This would have involved peeling away much of the Doctor's mysterious persona and revealing much of his back story.  They had barely touched the tip of the iceberg in "Silver Nemesis" by dropping hints that the Doctor harbored some deep, dark secret.  This was continued in the Virgin New Series Adventures, particularly in the final Seventh Doctor installment, Marc Platt's Lungbarrow.

The BBC Past Doctor Adventures which feature the Seventh Doctor and Ace differ quite a lot from the Virgin New Adventures not just in the way they exclude characters like Roz and Chris (if one were to be a continuity hound, all of the Past Doctor Adventures would take place before all of the Virgin New Adventures), but they feature a Doctor and Ace who are less riddled with angst than we saw in a novel like Conundrum.

Fun links:

The Doctor Who Reference Guide BEWARE: SPOILERS!
Andrew Cartmel's Wikipedia Page

Join us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter via @dwbcpodcast, or email us at dwbcpodcast@gmail.com.  You can also follow Erik on Twitter via @sjcaustenite and Sean via @tardistavern.

For November: Alien Bodies

Episode 10, in which we review Cat's Cradle: Time's Crucible by Marc Platt, can be found here.  This month's recording was...well, let's just say "interesting."  Special thanks to Phil Serna of the Adventures in Time, Space, and Music podcast who helped us out with yet another brilliant reading.

For November, 2011, Erik has chosen the epic Alien Bodies by Lawrence Miles.  Few books have such a brilliant reputation than this one, so we're looking forward to next month's recording.  From the back cover:

On an island in the East Indies, in a lost city buried deep in the heart of the rainforest, agents of the most formidable powers in the galaxy are gathering. They have been invited there to bid for what could turn out to be the deadliest weapon ever created.


When the Doctor and Sam arrive in the city, the Time Lord soon realises they've walked into the middle of the strangest auction in history — and what's on sale to the highest bidder is something more horrifying than even the Doctor could have imagined, something that could change his life forever.

And just when it seems things can't get any worse, the Doctor finds out who else is on the guest list.

Alien Bodies is a milestone in the Eighth Doctor series because it introduces us to Faction Paradox, who became important later in the series.  And this is just our opinion, but ten will get you twenty that Steven Moffat has been inspired by this one.


Lawrence Miles also penned the Interference books for the BBC New Adventures and Christmas on a Rational Planet for the Virgin New Adventures, among others.  He has an infamous reputation in the fan community for being critical of the current series, but we really hope he doesn't burn any of his bridges: Alien Bodies could easily be an Eleventh Doctor story, and it could easily become the next Human Nature and find a slot in the series.

Please come and join us on Facebook follow us on twitter via @dwbcpodcast.  You can also follow Erik via @sjcaustenite and Sean via @tardistavern.

Episode 9 is Out, How the Master Turned Evil, and Marc Platt for October

Episode 9, in which we discuss David A. McIntee's The Dark Path is available now.  Special thanks to Graeme Sheridan of The2ndDoctors Podcast and Professor How!!!, a narrative podcast parodying our favorite show, for recording this month's dialogue-heavy reading; it was a challenge we knew he could take up!

October's release, as our rotation of the series' dictates, will be a Virgin New Adventure chosen by Sean: Cat's Cradle: Time's Crucible by Marc Platt (ISBN: 0-426-20365-8).  Here's the blurb from the back cover:

You're on your own, Ace.

The TARDIS is invaded by an alien presence, and is then destroyed.  The Doctor disappears.

Ace, lost and alone, finds herself in a bizarre deserted city ruled by the tyrannical, leach-like monster known as the Process.

Lost voyagers drawn forward from Ancient Gallifrey perform obsessive rituals in the ruins.

The strands of time are tangled in a cat's cradle of dimensions.


Only the Doctor can challenge the rule of the Process and restore the stolen Future.


But the Doctor was destroyed long ago, before Time began.

Hmm, sounds mysterious.

If Marc Platt sounds familiar, you likely know him as the author of the Seventh Doctor's televised serial, "Ghost Light."  He also penned the Seventh Doctor's final adventure of the Virgin line, Lungbarrow, and Big Finish's Spare Parts.  All that being said, we have some rather high expectations for this book.

Don't forget to follow the podcast on Twitter via @dwbcpodcast, or follow Erik via @sjcaustenite or Sean via @tardistavern.  Feel free to contact us at dwpcpodcast@gmail.com.

Episode 8, The Alternative Reality Doctor, and Patrick Troughton is Coming

Episode 7 (available here), in which we review The Infinity Doctors has now been released for August.  Special thanks go out to Steven Schapansky of Radio Free Skaro for providing this month's reading.
But enough of August; what Virgin Missing Adventure has Erik chosen for September.  It's The Dark Path by David A. McIntee (ISBN: 0-426-20503-0), featuring the Second Doctor, Jamie, Victoria, and a certain returning villain who shall remain unnamed but will be apparent by glancing at the cover.  From the back cover:

"He's one of my own people, Victoria, and he's hunting me."

Darkheart: a faded neutron star surrounded by dead planets.  But there is life on one of these icy rocks -- the last enclave of the Earth Empire, frozen in the image of another time.  As the rest of the galaxy enjoys the fruits of the fledgling Federation, these isolated Imperials, bound to obey a forgotten ideal, harbour a dark obsession.

The Doctor, Jamie and Victoria arrive to find that the Federation has at last come to reintegrate this lost colony, whether they like it or not.  But all is not well in the Federation camp: relations and allegiances are changing.  The fierce Veltrochni -- angered by the murder of their kinsmen -- have an entirely different agenda.  And someone else is manipulating the mission for his own mysterious reasons -- another time traveller, a suave and assured master of his work.

The Doctor must uncover the terrible secret which brought the Empire to this desolate sector, and find the source of the strange power maintaining their society.  But can a Time Lord, facing the ultimate temptation, control his own desires?

Hmm.  Sounds sexy.
David A. McIntee is perhaps one of the most prolific writers of Doctor Who novels, with a total of 12 under his belt, including The Face of the Enemy, Bullet Time, and The Shadow of Weng-Chiang.  He has also penned two Big Finish releases.

Don't forget to follow the podcast on Twitter via @dwpcpodcast, or follow Erik via @sjcaustenite or Sean via @tardistavern.  Feel free to contact us at dwpcpodcast@gmail.com.

Episode 7, A Sequel to "The Dalek Invasion of Earth," and August's Offering

Episode 7 (available here), our shortest yet, features a review of Legacy of the Daleks, a somewhat-sequel to "The Dalek Invasion of Earth" featuring Susan and the Eighth Doctor.  We would like to send a very special thanks to Jeff of The Goodies Podcast who provided us with this month's reading; as each episode progresses, it seems like each one of these readings is a tougher act to follow, and Jeff is no exception.

For August we will be reading The Infinity Doctors (ISBN: 0563-40591-0) by Lance Parkin.  The back cover reads:

"Sing about the past again, and sing that same old song.  Tell me what you know, so I can tell you that you're wrong."

Gallifrey.  The Doctor's home planet.  For twenty thousand centuries the Gallifreyans have been the most powerful race in the cosmos.  They have circumnavigated infinity and eternity, harnessed science and conquered death.  They are the Lords of Time, and have used their powers carefully.

But now a new force has been unleashed, one that is literally capable of anything.  It is enough to give even the Time Lords nightmares.  More than that: it is enough to destroy them.

It is one of their own.  Waiting for them at the end of the universe.

Featuring the Doctor, this adventure celebrates the thirty-fifth anniversary of Doctor Who. 

If this description seems a little broad, it is noteworthy that this book defies all continuity of the series, as it's impossible to tell when it is set (at least that held true in 1998).  It's also worth mentioning that this is a rather meatier selection from our last entry, with 280 single-spaced pages in a small font.  We'll have to start reading this one early!

Author Lance Parkin has penned a number of Doctor Who novels, perhaps the most notable being The Dying Days (the last Virgin New Adventure featuring the Doctor), The Gallifrey Chronicles (the last of the BBC Eighth Doctor adventures), and Cold Fusion (a Virgin Missing Adventure with both the Fifth and Seventh Doctors).

Don't forget to follow the podcast on Twitter via @dwpcpodcast, or follow Erik via @sjcaustenite or Sean via @tardistavern.  Feel free to contact us at dwpcpodcast@gmail.com.

Other sites of interest:
Lance Parkin's Official Website
The Doctor Who Reference Guide on The Infinity Doctors WARNING: SPOILERS!

The Doctor Who Reprint Society
 

Episode 6, Back to the Land of Fiction!

Sean here, posting for the first time ever, so watch out for those grammatical errors!  Episode 6, in which we discuss Conundrum by Steve Lyons is now available here.  This is the second Virgin New Adventures novel we've read (after Damaged Goods) and we're learning that this series is pretty deep.  But listen as we discuss this mind-bending sequel (of sorts) to "The Mind Robber" and as Erik waxes eloquent on tropes and what not.  And I think I say some stuff, too.  (He is so going to hate me for saying that.)  Also, a special thank you to Lillibet of Professor Dave's Ark in Space for lending us her dulcet tones by reading a passage from the book for us.

What steamy summer read do we have set for July?  We're due for an BBC Eighth Doctor novel, and it's going to be Legacy of the Daleks by John Peel (ISBN: 0-563-40574-0), entry #10 in the Eighth Doctor series.  It features the return of Susan, the Daleks (duh!), and a certain other character from the television series who I shan't mention (spoilers!).  From the back cover:

England in the late 22nd century is slowly recovering from the devastation that followed the Daleks' invasion.  The Doctor's very first traveling companion -- his granddaughter, Susan -- is where he left her, helping to rebuild Earth for the survivors.  But danger still remains all around...

While searching for his lost companion, Sam, the Doctor finds himself in Domain London.  But it seems that Susan is now missing too, and his efforts to find her lead to confrontation with the ambitious Lord Haldoran, who is poised to take control of southern England through all-out war.  With the help of a sinister adviser, Haldoran's plans are already well advanced.  Power cables have been fed down a mineshaft, reactivating a mysterious old device of hideous power.  But has the Dalek presence on Earth really been wiped out?  Or are there still traps set for the unwary?

The Doctor learns to his cost once again that when dealing with the evil of the Daleks, nothing can be taken at face value...

Have you ever noticed that there are very few Dalek novels in the entire range of Doctor Who novels, from the Missing Adventures on?  As they are trademarks of the BBC, authors writing about them were legally obligated to pay a large portion of the book's proceeds to the BBC, so practically no one chose to write them.  John Peel, as a close friend to Terry Nation, elected to pick up the gauntlet and wrote both Legacy of the Daleks and War of the Daleks.  He also penned a number of Target novelizations of Dalek stories.  I also can't help but feel tickled that he wrote novels for the Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? series.  (Now good luck getting the theme song from the TV show out of your head.)

Thank you for all of your lovely comments on Twitter and iTunes, and feel free to email us at dwbcpodcast@gmail.com.  You can also follow us on Twitter via @dwbcpodcast.  Also, follow Erik via @sjcaustenite and Sean via @tardistavern.

Other fun stuff:
The Doctor Who Reprint Society
Wikipedia  BEWARE: SPOILERS!
The Doctor Who Reference Guide   BEWARE: EVEN MORE SPOILERS!
The TARDIS Library