''Birthright'' is a novel by

Nigel Robinson Nigel Robinson is an English author, known for such works as the ''First Contact'' series. Nigel was born in Preston, Lancashire and attended St Thomas More school. Robinson's first published book was ''The Tolkien Quiz Book'' in 1981, co-writte ...

from the

Virgin New Adventures The ''Virgin New Adventures'' (NA series, or NAs) are a series of novels from Virgin Publishing based on the British science-fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. They continued the story of the Doctor from the point at which the televisio ...

. The New Adventures were a spin-off from the long-running British

science fiction television Science fiction first appeared in television programming in the late 1930s, during what is called the Golden Age of Science Fiction. Special effects and other production techniques allow creators to present a living visual image of an imaginary ...

series '' Doctor Who''. Although part of the main run of New Adventures featuring the

Seventh Doctor The Seventh Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the BBC science fiction television series '' Doctor Who'', and the final incarnation of the original Doctor Who series. He is portrayed by Scottish actor Sylvester McCoy. ...

, the Doctor only appears in the beginning and end of the novel; most of the story involves his companions

Bernice Summerfield Bernice Surprise Summerfield (later Professor Bernice Summerfield or just Benny) is a fictional character created by author Paul Cornell as a new companion of the Seventh Doctor in Virgin Publishing's range of original full-length '' Doctor Wh ...

and

Ace An ace is a playing card, die or domino with a single pip. In the standard French deck, an ace has a single suit symbol (a heart, diamond, spade, or club) located in the middle of the card, sometimes large and decorated, especially in the c ...

. The events in this book occur simultaneously (from the point of view of the characters) to those in the New Adventure '' Iceberg'', which was written by former ''Doctor Who'' actor David Banks. A prelude to this novel was published in '' Doctor Who Magazine'' #203, penned by the author.

Plot

After the TARDIS malfunctions and then explodes, the Doctor's companions find themselves in two different time zones. Bernice is stranded in the East End of London of 1909, where a series of grisly murders is occurring blamed on

Spring Heeled Jack Spring-heeled Jack is an entity in English folklore of the Victorian era. The first claimed sighting of Spring-heeled Jack was in 1837. Later sightings were reported all over the United Kingdom and were especially prevalent in suburban Lo ...

, while Ace is trapped on the planet Ant'ykhon fighting alongside guerrilla fighters against alien oppressors. Ace discovers that Ant'ykhon is actually the planet Earth, 22,000 years in the future and devastated by rising temperatures. The Charrl, an insect-like race, now inhabit Earth. They have been using an unstable trans-dimensional link called the "Great Divide" to travel to Earth's past in order to escape from the dying planet. Once there they implant humans with their eggs, but inadvertently kill them, causing the murders blamed on Spring-Heeled Jack. Since the Great Divide is unstable, any Charrl that travels to the past eventually crumbles into dust. Back in 1909, Benny is scratched by one of the time-travelling Charrls and is implanted with an egg. This has the effect of placing her under the control of the Charrl, causing her to replace the missing Time Vector Generator in the TARDIS and reunite it with its other half in the future. This also stabilizes the Great Divide and allows Jared Khan, a Charrel agent, to attempt to use the Great Divide to give him immortality. The TARDIS time rams its other half and sends it and Khan back to Siberia 1908, where it explodes, causing the

Tunguska event The Tunguska event (occasionally also called the Tunguska incident) was an approximately 12- megaton explosion that occurred near the Podkamennaya Tunguska River in Yeniseysk Governorate (now Krasnoyarsk Krai), Russia, on the morning of June 3 ...

. In the far future, Ace and Benny are aided by Muldwych, a mysterious hermit and former ally of the Charrl. He uses the TARDIS to entrap the Charrl inside one its interior dimensions, then sweeps the Great Divide over London, clearing it of Charrl and their eggs (and curing Benny). But when he tries to use the TARDIS to escape from his exile on Earth, the TARDIS expels him from the ship and returns him to Ant'ykhon. The Doctor emerges from the interior of the TARDIS, claiming to have been asleep in his room the entire time (but see '' Iceberg'' for details).

Production before Adaption

Peter Grimwade Peter Grimwade (8 June 1942 – 15 May 1990) was a British television director and screenwriter, known for his work as a director and writer of the BBC science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'' in the 1980s. Career After joining t ...

wrote the story as a Sixth Doctor adventure story entitled “League of the Tancreds” in mid-1985 for Season 23. It was abandoned due to the show put on a 18-month hiatus.

Continuity

Benny lives with Margaret Waterfield, the sister of Edward Waterfield (''

The Evil of the Daleks ''The Evil of the Daleks'' is the mostly-missing ninth and final serial of the fourth season in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which originally aired in seven weekly parts from 20 May to 1 July 1967. In this seri ...

'') and the aunt of companion

Victoria Waterfield Victoria Waterfield is a fictional character played by Deborah Watling in the long-running British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. A native of Victorian England, she was a companion of the Second Doctor and a regular in the p ...

. Benny also makes use of a bank account set up by the Doctor under the name R.J. Smith, Esq. Benny is a co-signatory, along with

Susan Foreman Susan Foreman (also known as Susan Campbell in spin-off media) is a fictional character in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. The granddaughter and original companion of the First Doctor, she was played by actress Car ...

, Victoria,

Sarah Jane Smith Sarah Jane Smith is a fictional character played by Elisabeth Sladen in the long-running BBC Television science fiction on television, science fiction series ''Doctor Who'' and two of Doctor Who spin-offs, its spin-offs. Sarah Jane is a dogged in ...

, and

Melanie Bush Mel, also sometimes referred to as Melanie, is a fictional character played by Bonnie Langford in the long-running British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who''. A computer programmer from the 20th century who is a companion of the ...

. The Time Vector Generator first appeared in ''

The Wheel in Space ''The Wheel in Space'' is the mostly missing seventh and final serial of the fifth season in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which originally aired in six weekly parts from 27 April to 1 June 1968. In this seria ...

.'' It also appears in the

Virgin Missing Adventures The ''Virgin Missing Adventures'' were a series of novels from Virgin Publishing based on the British science-fiction television series '' Doctor Who'', which had been cancelled in 1989, featuring stories set between televised episodes of the p ...

novel ''

Invasion of the Cat-People ''Invasion of the Cat-People'' is an original novel written by Gary Russell and based on the long-running British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who''. It features the Second Doctor, Ben and Polly. Plot Earth has been invaded twice: ...

.''

Reception

In 1994, ''Science Fiction Chronicle''s

Don D'Ammassa Donald Eugene D'Ammassa (born April 24, 1946) is an American fantasy, science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts ...

critiqued the novel as "this one's a bit of a mixed bag" but remarked "Unlike many in the series, this one is much closer to the tone of the show."

Audio adaptation

In 1999, ''Birthright'' was adapted by Big Finish Productions into an audio drama

audio drama Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine ...

starring Lisa Bowerman as Bernice. The plot was changed to fit in with the run of Bernice audio dramas, with alterations to the plot including the use of Time Rings, and Ace's role being replaced by Bernice's ex-husband Jason Kane. Big Finish had no license to do ''Doctor Who'' stories at the time and had been adapting later Benny-led New Adventures, before then converting the ''Doctor Who'' stories ''Birthright'' and ''

Just War The just war theory ( la, bellum iustum) is a doctrine, also referred to as a tradition, of military ethics which is studied by military leaders, theologians, ethicists and policy makers. The purpose of the doctrine is to ensure that a war i ...

'' in this manner. The audio drama also features

Colin Baker Colin Baker (born 8 June 1943) is an English actor who played Paul Merroney in the BBC drama series '' The Brothers'' from 1974 to 1976 and the sixth incarnation of the Doctor in the long-running science fiction television series ''Docto ...

, better known for playing the

Sixth Doctor The Sixth Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the BBC science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. He is portrayed by Colin Baker. Although his televisual time on the series was comparatively brief and turbulent, Ba ...

in the ''Doctor Who'' television series.

Cast

— Lisa Bowerman *Mikhail Vladamir Popov —

* Jason Kane — Stephen Fewell *

John Lafayette John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

— Barnaby Edwards *Jared Khan — John Wadmore *Queen Ch'tizz — Jane Shakespeare *Chf. Insp. Prior — Jonathan Reason (aka Jonty Reason) *Charlie — Benjamin Roddy

References

External links

''Birthright'' Prelude

{{Bernice Summerfield audios 1993 British novels 1993 science fiction novels Virgin New Adventures Bernice Summerfield audio plays Novels by Nigel Robinson Seventh Doctor novels Fiction set in 1909