''Time's Champion'' is a work of '' Doctor Who'' fan fiction, written by Chris McKeon on the basis of an original novel outline by Craig Hinton, and incorporating fragments of text written by Hinton before his death. It features the

Sixth Doctor The Sixth Doctor is an incarnation of The Doctor (Doctor Who), the Doctor, the protagonist of the BBC Science fiction on television, science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. He is portrayed by Colin Baker. Although his televisual time ...

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 ...

and Sergeant Benton, and is an exploration both of the origins of the

Valeyard The Valeyard () is a fictional character from the long-running British science fiction television series, '' Doctor Who''. He is described by the Master as an amalgamation of the Doctor's darker sides from between his twelfth and final incar ...

and the concept of the Doctor's role as "Time's Champion" 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 on television, science-fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. They continued the story of the Doctor from th ...

. It also features plot elements from Hinton's earlier book '' The Quantum Archangel''. It was published in paperback form in 2008, as a charity venture in aid of the

British Heart Foundation The British Heart Foundation (BHF) is a cardiovascular research charity in the United Kingdom. It funds medical research related to heart and circulatory diseases and their risk factors, and runs influencing work aimed at shaping public policy ...

. The BBC, who hold the copyright in ''Doctor Who'' and had rejected Hinton's original proposal in 2004, were not involved.

Plot

2008: John Benton is celebrating his birthday by having a few friends round to his house at Hilsley Halt. But the monsters are lurking. 1908: Writer George Mackenzie-Trench is suffering from writer's block unable to foresee the ending of his novel, ''Time’s Champion'', nor the consequences of its completion. 9908: The planet Caliban is under attack from Cyber-forces, and governor George Mackenzie-Trench intends to save their world by unleashing Abaddon, a powerful computer virus. But Abaddon has other instructions. Meanwhile, Gallifrey is under attack and the Keeper is seeking answers within the Matrix. President Romana is helpless: no-one is who they seem and the conspiracy goes even deeper than she can imagine. She needs the Doctor... But the Doctor is on Earth in 2008, fighting to save the life of a child who must survive at all costs. As Gallifrey is attacked by ghosts from the past, the Doctor, Mel and Benton find themselves in the middle of an epic and final battle as the ancient gods choose their Champions and allow chaos to reign across all of time and space.

Continuity

* Although Mel and Sgt. Benton are the chief companions for the novel, many others are mentioned or have brief cameos, including: The Brigadier,

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 ...

Jo Grant Josephine "Jo" Grant, later Jo Jones, is a fictional character played by Katy Manning in the long-running British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who''. Jo was introduced by Barry Letts and Terrance Dicks in the first episode of ' ...

, Romana, Leela, Mike Yates,

Susan Susan is a feminine given name, from Persian "Susan" (lily flower), from Egyptian '' sšn'' and Coptic ''shoshen'' meaning "lotus flower", from Hebrew ''Shoshana'' meaning "lily" (in modern Hebrew this also means "rose" and a flower in general), ...

, Ace, Adric, Katarina and Kamelion. * Co-ordinator Vansell appears in '' The Sirens of Time'', ''

The Apocalypse Element ''The Apocalypse Element'' is a Big Finish Productions List of Doctor Who audio plays by Big Finish, audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction on television, science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. It forms the seco ...

'', ''

Neverland Neverland is a fictional island featured in the works of J. M. Barrie and those based on them. It is an imaginary faraway place where Peter Pan, Tinker Bell, Captain Hook, the Lost Boys, and some other imaginary beings and creatures live. Alth ...

'' and '' He Jests at Scars...''. * This book offers a different explanation for the Sixth Doctor's regeneration from both the televised series of events in '' Time and the Rani'', the audio drama '' The Sixth Doctor: The Last Adventure'' and the Missing Adventures novel '' Spiral Scratch''. It is explained that the events of ''Spiral Scratch'' were an alternate reality experienced by Mel. * The Valeyard appears as the Keeper, which sets the events of this novel some fifty years after ''

The Trial of a Time Lord The twenty-third season of British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who'', known collectively as ''The Trial of a Time Lord'', aired in weekly episodes from 6 September to 6 December 1986. It contained four adventures: '' The Mysteri ...

''.

Authorship

The book is credited to "Craig Hinton & Chris McKeon". Speaking in the

podcast A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosing ...

'' DWO WhoCast'' Episode 84, McKeon said:

Audio adaptation

In 2015, work began on an audio adaptation featuring John Levene reprising his role as Sergeant Benton. The project remained dormant for several years until August 2021, where the fan audio drama group Black Glove Studios teased an interest in furthering the idea on twitter

Notes

External links

Official ''Time's Champion'' BlogThe novel's missing epilogue

Reviews

Total Sci Fi review of ''Time's Champion''
{{Fan fiction 2008 British novels 2008 science fiction novels Fan fiction works Sixth Doctor novels The Master (Doctor Who) novels