''The Dying Days'' is an original novel written by

Lance Parkin Lance Parkin is a British author. He is best known for writing fiction and reference books for television series, in particular '' Doctor Who'' (and spin-offs including the Virgin New Adventures and Faction Paradox) and as a storyliner on ''Emmerd ...

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 was last of the New Adventures range to feature the

Doctor Doctor or The Doctor may refer to: Personal titles * Doctor (title), the holder of an accredited academic degree * A medical practitioner, including: ** Physician ** Surgeon ** Dentist ** Veterinary physician ** Optometrist *Other roles ** ...

and the only one of that range to feature

Paul McGann Paul John McGann (; born 14 November 1959) is an English actor. He came to prominence for portraying Percy Toplis in the television serial ''The Monocled Mutineer'' (1986), then starred in the dark comedy ''Withnail and I'' (1987), which was a ...

Eighth Doctor The Eighth Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the BBC science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. He is portrayed by Paul McGann. The character was introduced in the 1996 TV film ''Doctor Who'', a back-door pilo ...

. Thereafter the series centred on the character of

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 Who ...

. ''The Dying Days'' features the classic series

monsters A monster is a type of fictional creature found in horror, fantasy, science fiction, folklore, mythology and religion. Monsters are very often depicted as dangerous and aggressive with a strange, grotesque appearance that causes terror and fe ...

, the

Ice Warrior The Ice Warriors are a fictional extraterrestrial race of reptilian humanoids in the long-running British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who''. They were originally created by Brian Hayles, first appearing in the 1967 serial ''T ...

s and is strongly influenced by ''

The War of the Worlds ''The War of the Worlds'' is a science fiction novel by English author H. G. Wells, first serialised in 1897 by ''Pearson's Magazine'' in the UK and by ''Cosmopolitan (magazine), Cosmopolitan'' magazine in the US. The novel's first appear ...

''. The

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

MP for

Westmorland and Lonsdale Westmorland (, formerly also spelt ''Westmoreland'';R. Wilkinson The British Isles, Sheet The British IslesVision of Britain/ref> is a historic county in North West England spanning the southern Lake District and the northern Dales. It had an ...

, Tim Collins, was reported to have read the book in one sitting on the night of the 1997 General Election so that he could claim to have read the whole New Adventures series whilst the Conservatives were in government. (In the event, the postponed novel ''

So Vile a Sin ''So Vile a Sin'' is an original novel written by Ben Aaronovitch and Kate Orman and based on the long-running British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. It features the Seventh Doctor, Chris and Roz, Bernice, Jason, Kadiatu Let ...

'' was finally published later that month, thus frustrating Collins' claim.) ''The Dying Days'' is one of a number of the New Adventures which is hard to obtain and is often seen on auction websites such as

eBay eBay Inc. ( ) is an American multinational e-commerce company based in San Jose, California, that facilitates consumer-to-consumer and business-to-consumer sales through its website. eBay was founded by Pierre Omidyar in 1995 and became a ...

at prices many times the original cover price. This is because when the book was originally published in April 1997, it sold out before its official release date and a reprint was not practical with Virgin losing the ''Doctor Who'' license. A new version of ''The Dying Days'' with additional material, author's notes and an artwork gallery was presented as an

e-book An ebook (short for electronic book), also known as an e-book or eBook, is a book publication made available in digital form, consisting of text, images, or both, readable on the flat-panel display of computers or other electronic devices. Alt ...

on the BBC website, and was available there from 2002 through 2010.

Plot

In the year 1997, Bernice Summerfield is recovering from the breakdown of her marriage at the Doctor's house on the fictional Allen Road near

Adisham Adisham (formerly Adesham) is a village and civil parish in the English county of Kent. It is twinned with Campagne-lès-Hesdin in France. Geography The village centre, six miles south-east of Canterbury is on the B2046 road between Wingham a ...

in Kent. To her surprise, when the TARDIS arrives it is the

that steps out. Before Benny can come to terms with the change, a helicopter crash lands nearby, carrying soil samples from Mars and a prisoner, astronaut Alex Christian, who has been incarcerated since he killed the crew of a British Mars mission. Or so everyone thought. In reality, his crew were killed by

s and his imprisonment was part of a deal negotiated between the British government and the Martian authorities. Since then, there have been no further missions to Mars, but now Britain has sent a new mission back to the planet. British astronauts land on Mars where they intrude on the tomb of an Ice Lord. The Ice Warrior Xznaal arrives on Earth with the pretence of vengeance, but is secretly in league with the British Science Minister, Lord Greyhaven. When the Eighth Doctor interferes with their plans, Xznaal releases a deadly weapon known as the Red Death. This apparently kills the Doctor, leaving Bernice and the

Brigadier Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. In ...

to deal with the invading Ice Warriors…

Notes

*The ending of the book implies that Bernice has sex with the Eighth Doctor, marking the first time in licensed ''Doctor Who'' fiction that such relations occur between the Doctor and one of his companions. The scene also includes a statement by the Doctor that Bernice is his longest-serving companion. *Chapter two features a cameo appearance from an elderly character introduced halfway through a sentence as "-ermass", and subsequently referred to as "Professor" and "Bernard" during his brief appearance. Parkin confirmed in his notes accompanying the later

release that this was a deliberate cameo from television science-fiction character Professor Bernard Quatermass, specifically the

John Mills Sir John Mills (born Lewis Ernest Watts Mills; 22 February 190823 April 2005) was an English actor who appeared in more than 120 films in a career spanning seven decades. He excelled on camera as an appealing British everyman who often portray ...

version from the 1979 serial ''

Quatermass Professor Bernard Quatermass is a fictional scientist, originally created by the writer Nigel Kneale for BBC Television. An intelligent and highly moral British scientist, Quatermass is a pioneer of the British space programme, heading the Brit ...

''.

References

External links

The Whoniverse's review on ''The Dying Days''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dying Days, The 1997 British novels Fiction set in 1997 1997 science fiction novels Eighth Doctor novels Virgin New Adventures Novels by Lance Parkin Novels set on Mars British science fiction novels