''Blue Box'' is a

BBC Books BBC Books (also formerly known as BBC Publishing) is an imprint majority-owned and managed by Penguin Random House through its Ebury Publishing division. The minority shareholder is BBC Studios, the commercial subsidiary of the British Broadcasti ...

original novel written by

Kate Orman Kate Orman (born 1968 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia) is an Australian author, best known for her books connected to the British science-fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. Biography Orman was born in Sydney, but grew up in Canberr ...

and based on 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 ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...

''. It features 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 ...

and

Peri In Persian mythology, peris (singular: peri; from fa, پَری, translit=parī, , plural , ; borrowed in European languages through ota, پَری, translit=peri) are exquisite, winged spirits renowned for their beauty. Peris were later ado ...

, written from a first-person perspective by a fictional journalist, in a similar manner to ''

Who Killed Kennedy ''Who Killed Kennedy'' is an original novel written by David Bishop and based on the long-running British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. Although published by Virgin Books, it is considered a standalone, and not therefore part ...

'' by David Bishop. The character Ian Mond is named after a well-known fan who is a member of various internet forums including Jade Pagoda and the

Outpost Gallifrey Outpost Gallifrey was a fan website for the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. It was active as a complete fansite from 1995 until 2007, then existing solely as a portal to the still-active parts of the site, including its n ...

forums. The title of this novel does not refer to the

TARDIS The TARDIS (; acronym for "Time And Relative Dimension In Space") is a fictional hybrid of the time machine and spacecraft that appears in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'' and its various spin-offs. Its exterior ap ...

, but to the

blue box A blue box is an electronic device that produces tones used to generate the in-band signaling tones formerly used within the North American long-distance telephone network to send line status and called number information over voice circuits. ...

used by

phreaker Phreaking is a slang term coined to describe the activity of a culture of people who study, experiment with, or explore telecommunication systems, such as equipment and systems connected to public telephone networks. The term ''phreak'' is a ...

s, and by analogy, the alien hacking tool that is the book's

MacGuffin In fiction, a MacGuffin (sometimes McGuffin) is an object, device, or event that is necessary to the plot and the motivation of the characters, but insignificant, unimportant, or irrelevant in itself. The term was originated by Angus MacPhail for ...

External links

* 2003 British novels 2003 science fiction novels Past Doctor Adventures Sixth Doctor novels Novels by Kate Orman British science fiction novels {{DoctorWho-stub