''Vanderdeken's Children'' is an original novel written by

Christopher Bulis Christopher Bulis is a writer best known for his work on various Doctor Who spin-offs. He is one of the most prolific authors to write for the various ranges of Spin-off (media), spin-offs from the BBC Television series ''Doctor Who'', with twelve ...

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

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 ...

and Sam.

Plot overview

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 ...

is thrown off course by a 'vortex discontinuity'. They materialise in deep space, several hundred light years form Earth in the year 3123 A.D. The discover a derelict, cylinder like ship, over four-thousand meters in length.
There are two other ships in the area as well, from rival star-systems, the Emindarian passenger liner, ''Cirrandaria'', and the Nimosian warship, ''Indomitable''. Both ships claim they have the right to salvage the derelict.
Narrowly avoiding destruction by the ''Indomitable'', the Doctor and Sam land on the ''Cirrandaria''.
The ''Indomitable'' sends a technician in a pod down to the derelict to explore. The technician, after some examining, begins to think that the derelict was grown, not built. He loses contact with ''Indomitable'', and comes to believe he is being followed by a creature. He attempts to escape by climbing up one of the pylons that ring both ends of the ship. He pictures the monsters from his childhood reaching up for him, lets go of the pylon and falls to his death.
The ''Cirrandaria'' sends its own expedition down to the derelict, including the Doctor and Sam, and all hell breaks loose...

External links

The Cloister Library - ''Vanderdeken's Children''
* {{Eighth Doctor stories, selected=Books 1998 British novels 1998 science fiction novels Eighth Doctor Adventures Novels by Christopher Bulis