Back to Lance Parkin: The Dying Days

Our review of Lance Parkin's Cold Fusion can now be downloaded here.  It's time to review another Virgin New Adventure, and we've chosen The Dying Days by...well, by Lance Parkin again.

From the back cover:

6 May 1997

The Dying Days of the Twentieth Century

On the Mare Sirenum, British astronauts are walking on the surface of Mars for the first time in over twenty years.  The National Space Museum in London is the venue for a spectacular event where the great and the good celebrate a unique British achievement.

In Ardisham, Kent, the most dangerous man in Britain has escaped from custody while being transported by helicopter.  In Whitehall, the new Home Secretary is convinced that there is a plot brewing to overthrow the government.  In west London, MI5 agents shut down a publishing company that got too close to the top secret organisation known as UNIT.  And, on a state visit to Washington, the Prime Minister prepares to make a crucial speech, totally unaware that dark forces are working against him.

As the eighth Doctor and Professor Bernice Summerfield discover, all these events are connected.  However, soon all will be overshadowed.

This time, the Doctor is already too late.

The novel is unique in that it is the final Virgin New Adventure before they lost their license to publish Doctor Who books.  It's doubly unique in that it is the only New Adventure featuring the Eighth Doctor, so it's a respite from the machinations and manipulations of Doctor Seven.

This is the third novel we've read by Lance Parkin (The Infinity Doctors and, of course more recently, Cold Fusion), and we both agree that he's an ambitious writer.  We're looking forward to see what he can do with a story that is, on its face, not dissimilar to a Torchwood episode.  Grab a copy if you can and join us in a few days time when we sit down to discuss The Dying Days.

Fun links:

"The Dying Days" on the Doctor Who Ratings Guide

The Doctor Who Reference Guide  (Spoilers, sweetie!)

Lance Parkin's Official Website

"The Dying Days" on Amazon  (Wow, that's expensive!)

Winter in April: Cold Fusion

Our review of Gary Russell's Business Unusual is now available here.  Special thanks to our friend Charlie Paulson for providing last month's reading.

April brings us snowstorms, Adric, Nyssa, Tegan, the Fifth Doctor, and the Seventh Doctor in Lance Parkin's Cold Fusion, one of the later installments in Virgin's Missing Adventures series.  From the back cover:

'The entire universe is at stake and I'm locked in here with another incarnation of myself, and not even one of the good ones.'

More than one TARDIS lands on a barren ice world.  The fifth Doctor, Adric, Nyssa and Tegan find a once ordered society on the verge of collapse, as rebels wage a dirty war with Scientifica, the ruling elite.  All that stands between order and anarchy is the massed presence of an Adjudicator peacekeeping force.

But is peace the only reason for the Adjudicator garrison?  What exactly has been discovered deep beneath the planet's surface?  Who are the mysterious Ferutu?  And why is telling a ghost story a criminal offense?

The fifth Doctor sides with the cause of justice and fairness as always.  But, as a threat to the universe unfolds, he finds himself in conflict with his past...and his future.

For continuity buffs, this story takes place between the television stories "Castrovalva" and "Four to Doomsday" and between the New Adventures Return of the Living Dad and The Death of Art.  The back cover text seems to skirt around the fact that the Seventh Doctor and his friends are present in this story, but anything that is blatantly obvious by glancing at the front cover shouldn't be considered a spoiler.

We previously reviewed a Lance Parkin's The Infinity Doctors back in Episode 8.  It can't be argued that Parkin is an ambitious author, and hopefully Cold Fusion will not disappoint.  So sit back and enjoy!

Fun Links:

"Cold Fusion" on Amazon  (Wow, that's rich!)

Lance Parkin's Official Website

Lance Parkin's Wikipedia Page

"Cold Fusion" on the Doctor Who Reference Guide  (Spoilers, sweetie!)

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