The Dying Days
6 May 1997
The Dying Days of the Twentieth Century
On the Mare Sirenum, British astronauts are walking on the surface of Mars for the first time in over twenty years. The National Space Museum in London is the venue for a spectacular event where the great and the good celebrate a unique British achievement.
In Adisham, Kent, the most dangerous man in Britain has escaped from custody While being transported by helicopter. In Whitehall, the new Home Secretary is convinced that there is a plot brewing to overthrow the government. In west London, MI5 agents shut down a publishing company that got too close to the top secret organisation known as UNIT. And, on a state visit to Washington, the British Prime Minister prepares to make a crucial speech, totally unaware that dark forces are working against him.
As The Doctor and Professor Bernice Summerfield discover, all these events are connected. However, soon all will be overshadowed.
This time, The Doctor is already too late.
coming soon
- The Dying Days was the final release of the Virgin New Adventures line of Doctor Who novels
- Bernice stole parts of her diary describing events around the UNIT/Rebel assault on Martian held London from a “tattered old paperback with a creepy eye on the cover”.
- The Doctor is calm about dying after blowing up the Martian War Rocket.
- Although officially considered the last release of the Doctor Who New Adventures line, it was in fact not the last to be published. Due to production delays, a novel featuring the Seventh Doctor that had been intended for release several months earlier, So Vile a Sin, was not published until a month after this novel came out, making it, technically, the final Doctor Who NA release.
- This was the only New Adventures book to feature the Eighth Doctor, and is the last Doctor Who book to be published by Virgin.
- UNIT is much better funded than it was in the 1970s.
- UNIT has a branch in Paris (called NUIT).
- UNIT in the past has dealt with the Bandril and Drahvin attempted invasions (without The Doctor’s help).
- Alexander Christian knew Jo Grant when she was studying her A levels.
- Winifred Bambera is married to Ancelyn, who has gone with the Crown into exile, as befits a Knight of the Realm. (Battlefield)
- The Brigadier mentions debriefing Jo Grant after her adventures with The Doctor, one involving the Ice Warriors and Peladon. (The Curse of Peladon)