''Walking to Babylon'' is a 1998 novel 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 ...

in 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 ...

series featuring the fictional archaeologist

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 ...

(known as Benny). 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 ''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 ...

'', but after the publisher

Virgin Books Virgin Books is a British book publisher 90% owned by the publishing group Random House, and 10% owned by Virgin Group, the company originally set up by Richard Branson as a record company. History Virgin established its book publishing arm ...

lost the license to do ''Doctor Who'' stories from the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

, the New Adventures continued, centred on the character of Benny and further characters and settings created for the series. ''Walking to Babylon'' is the tenth Benny-led New Adventure. Orman had previously written several ''Doctor Who'' New Adventures, but this was her first for the post-''Doctor Who'' series. As characterises her work, the novel mixes

hard science fiction Hard science fiction is a category of science fiction characterized by concern for scientific accuracy and logic. The term was first used in print in 1957 by P. Schuyler Miller in a review of John W. Campbell's '' Islands of Space'' in the Novem ...

with strong characters. The book also contains some scenes of a sexual nature, reflecting Virgin's willingness to include more adult content than the BBC had allowed for the ''Doctor Who'' New Adventures. The story features the People, an alien race were created in the ''Doctor Who'' New Adventure ''

The Also People ''The Also People'' is an original novel written by Ben Aaronovitch and based on the long-running British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. It features the Seventh Doctor, Bernice, Chris, Roz and Kadiatu. Plot The Prologue rel ...

'' and subsequently appeared in many of the Bernice Summerfield New Adventures. The novel also indirectly refers to the

Time Lord The Time Lords are a fictional ancient race of extraterrestrial life, extraterrestrial people in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', of which the series' main protagonist, The Doctor (Doctor Who), the Doctor, is a memb ...

s, a race from ''Doctor Who''; this was to avoid any copyright disputes with the BBC. The book opens by positing the conduct of a war between two super-powerful, time-travelling groups. A similar idea was being developed by fellow New Adventure author

Lawrence Miles Lawrence Miles (born 15 March 1972 in Middlesex) is a science fiction author known for his work on original ''Doctor Who'' novels (for both the Virgin New Adventures and BBC Books series) and the subsequent spin-off Faction Paradox. He is also ...

(which eventually saw its fullest exploration in his

Faction Paradox ''Faction Paradox'' is a series of novels, audio stories, short story anthologies, and comics set in and around a "War in Heaven", a history-spanning conflict between godlike "Great Houses" and their mysterious enemy. The series is named after a ...

stories), although Orman has said this was purely by coincidence. Miles has said his later New Adventure ''

Dead Romance ''Dead Romance'' is an original novel by Lawrence Miles, originally published as part of the Virgin New Adventures series. The New Adventures were a spin-off from the long-running British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. Though ...

'' was in part inspired by his dislike of elements of ''Walking to Babylon''.

Plot

Bernice Summerfield travels back in time to ancient

Babylon ''Bābili(m)'' * sux, 𒆍𒀭𒊏𒆠 * arc, 𐡁𐡁𐡋 ''Bāḇel'' * syc, ܒܒܠ ''Bāḇel'' * grc-gre, Βαβυλών ''Babylṓn'' * he, בָּבֶל ''Bāvel'' * peo, 𐎲𐎠𐎲𐎡𐎽𐎢 ''Bābiru'' * elx, 𒀸𒁀𒉿𒇷 ''Babi ...

to try to prevent the powerful race known only as the People from destroying the city with a singularity bomb.

Audio adaptation

In 1998, ''Walking to Babylon'' was adapted by

Big Finish Productions Big Finish Productions is a British company that produces books and audio plays (released straight to compact disc and for download in MP3 and m4b format) based, primarily, on cult science fiction properties. These include ''Doctor Who'', the ...

into their third audio drama. The drama stars

Lisa Bowerman Lisa Bowerman (born 1 February 1962) is a British actress. She is best known for portraying Sandra Mute, the paramedic, in the BBC One medical drama ''Casualty'', in the first two series (1986–1987). She also starred as Professor Bernice Summe ...

as Bernice, but also features actor

Elisabeth Sladen Elisabeth Clara Heath-Sladen (1 February 1946 – 19 April 2011) was an English actress. She became best known as Sarah Jane Smith in the British television series ''Doctor Who'', appearing as a regular cast member from 1973 to 1976, alongside ...

, better known for playing

Sarah Jane Smith Sarah Jane Smith is a fictional character played by Elisabeth Sladen in the long-running BBC Television science fiction series ''Doctor Who'' and two of its spin-offs. Sarah Jane is a dogged investigative journalist who first encounters alien t ...

in the ''Doctor Who'' television series. The adaptation was by Jac Rayner, who had also adapted the first release in the series, ''

Oh No It Isn't! ''Oh No It Isn't!'' is a novel published in 1997 by Paul Cornell from the Virgin New Adventures featuring the fictional archaeologist Bernice Summerfield. The New Adventures were a series of novels based on the long-running British science fict ...

''.

Cast

—

*Ninan-ashtammu —

* Jason Kane —

Stephen Fewell Stephen Fewell is a British actor who portrays Jason Kane in the audio adventures of Bernice Summerfield. He has also appeared in classical theatre, in various ''Doctor Who'' audio productions, an episode of the 2005 Channel 4 drama ''The Cour ...

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 Barnaby Edwards (born 20 August 1969) is a British actor, writer, director and artist. He is known as a performer for the British science-fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', in the role of a Dalek operator. He has also written, directed, p ...

*WiRgo!xu —

Nigel Fairs Nigel Fairs is a British actor and writer. He trained at Bretton Hall College and his theatre credits include stage production of ''Translations'' at The National Theatre, Inspector Morse in the UK tour of ''House of Ghosts'', Dr Watson in ' ...

*!Ci!ci-tel — Anthony Keetch *The Drone — Steven Wickham *Miriam — Louise Morell *Babylonian Child — Alex Canini Nigel Fairs, who performs in the audio adaptation by Big Finish, had previously worked on the

Audio Visuals The Audio Visuals were an unlicensed series of ''Doctor Who'' audio dramas made by British fans in the 1980s. Featuring Nicholas Briggs as the Doctor, twenty-eight audio plays were recorded and distributed on audio cassette between 1985 and 199 ...

series of ''Doctor Who'' fan audio dramas.

External links

''Walking to Babylon'' New Adventure

The Cloister Library - ''Walking to Babylon''
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Walking To Babylon 1998 novels 1998 science fiction novels Virgin New Adventures Bernice Summerfield audio plays Novels by Kate Orman Novels about time travel