Doctor Who: The Newbies Guide
Goth Opera
This is the first novel in Virgin's Missing Adventures series.
Where does this fit?
This happens in Season 20 between Snakedance and Mawdryn Undead.
Story Arcs
This is a sequel to the New Adventures novel State of Decay, even though that story happens in the Doctor's future.
Other Guides to this Story
Doctor
The Fifth Doctor is physically younger than his previous incarnations. He wears Edwardian cricketing clothes with a stick of celery on the lapel. He is less eccentric than his previous incarnations. In Earthshock he was unable to save his companion Adric from dying.
Companion(s)
Nyssa of Traken is the daughter of Tremas of Traken. In The Keeper of Traken she helped the Doctor and Adric to defeat the Melkur, a living statue that threatened their planet. The Melkur was actually the Master's TARDIS, and at the end of that story the Master took over her father's body. In Logopolis, the Master destroyed a large portion of the universe, including Traken.
Tegan Jovanka is an Australian air stewardess who accidentally stumbled into the TARDIS in Logopolis. She has a tendency to moan. In Kinda she was possessed by psychic entity called the Mara. In Time-Flight she was left behind in her native time, but she rejoined the Doctor when she ran into him in Arc of Infinity.
Recurring and Historical Characters
Romana is a Time Lady who travelled with the fourth Doctor. In Warrior's Gate she chose to leave him and stay in an alternative dimension called E-Space. In State of Decay she helped the seventh Doctor defeat some vampires on a planet within E-Space. During that story she returned to Gallifrey. This incarnation of Romana is very much the Doctor's equal.
The Vampires are a race that fought the Time Lords at the foundation of Time Lord society. They are the vampires of modern human mythology - drinking blood, being unable to go out in the daytime etc. The Doctor defeated the Great Vampire - their leader - in State of Decay.
In State of Decay the seventh Doctor defeated another group of vampires, though one of them - Lord Yarven - escaped to Earth. The Seventh Doctor defeated Yarven in Blood Harvest.
The Time Lords are the Doctor's own people.
The Time Lady Ruath was briefly seen before in Blood Harvest, but her only scene there is repeated in this novel.
Castellan Spandrell is the Time Lord in charge of the Chancellery Guard who function as the police force of the Time Lords.
Sabalom Glitz is a petty criminal/lovable rogue who the Sixth and Seventh Doctors encountered on several occasions (including Trial of a Time Lord: The Mysterious Planet, Trial of a Time Lord: The Ultimate Foe, and Dragonfire, and Dragonfire). In The Mysterious Planet he had an assistant called Dibber. In Dragonfire he started travelling with the Doctor's companion Mel.
Recommended Viewing
We first met vampires (including the legendary Great Vampire) in Season 18s State of Decay, but that story is irrelevant to this one.
Recommended Reading
This story is a sequel to the New Adventure State of Decay, the plot does not depend on it. Its only effect is to put the Vampire and Time Lord characters in place for this story.
Recommended Listening
None.
Feel free to Contact Us if you have any questions about the site, or any technical problems with it. You may also want to check out our Privacy Policy. There is also an About Us page, if you really want to read one.
Add new comment