''Blood Heat'' is an original novel written by

Jim Mortimore Jim Mortimore is a British science fiction writer, who has written several spin-off novels for popular television series, principally ''Doctor Who'', but also ''Farscape'' and ''Babylon 5''. When BBC Books cancelled his ''Doctor Who'' novel ''Ca ...

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, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

''. It features the

Seventh Doctor The Seventh Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. He is portrayed by Scottish actor Sylvester McCoy. Within the series' narrative, the Doctor is a centuries-o ...

Ace An ace is a playing card, die or domino with a single pip. In the standard French deck, an ace has a single suit symbol (a heart, diamond, spade, or a club) located in the middle of the card, sometimes large and decorated, especially in the ...

and Bernice. A prelude to the novel, also penned by Mortimore, appeared in ''

Doctor Who Magazine ''Doctor Who Magazine'' (abbreviated as ''DWM'') is a magazine devoted to the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. Launched in 1979 as ''Doctor Who Weekly'', the magazine became a monthly publication the following year. In ...

'' #205. This novel is the first novel in the " Alternate Universe cycle" which continues until '' No Future''.

Plot

A mysterious force breaks through the TARDIS exterior, throwing Bernice into the Vortex and forcing the Doctor to make an emergency landing. At first thinking they've landed in prehistoric times (after a dinosaur knocks the TARDIS into a tar pit), the Doctor soon learns that they have landed on a parallel Earth. On this Earth, the Silurians killed the Doctor in his third incarnation twenty years ago, then went on to kill most of humanity with a plague, and return Earth to its prehistoric state. An embittered alternate version of the

Brigadier Brigadier ( ) is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore (rank), commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several t ...

, along with

Liz Shaw Elizabeth "Liz" Shaw is a fictional character played by Caroline John in the long-running British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'' and its spin-offs. A civilian member of UNIT, an international organisation that defends Earth fr ...

and the remnants of

UNIT Unit may refer to: General measurement * Unit of measurement, a definite magnitude of a physical quantity, defined and adopted by convention or by law **International System of Units (SI), modern form of the metric system **English units, histo ...

, attempts to destroy the Silurians with nuclear missiles. Ace manages to reactivate the Third Doctor's TARDIS (which had gone into hibernation after his death), which the Doctor then materializes around the entire Earth. He then uses the Architectural Configuration controls to delete the inbound missiles and prevents the massacre of the Silurians. The Doctor then manages to convince the Brigadier and the Silurian leader that the two races can and must live in peace. The happy ending is ruined for Ace and Bernice, however, when the Doctor reveals that this alternate universe cannot survive without destroying the real Universe. In order to save their Universe, the Doctor time rams his old TARDIS in order to start a chain reaction that will destroy the parallel universe after the current inhabitants have lived out the rest of their lives, vowing simultaneously to find whoever created this timeline and bring them to justice. When Ace and Bernice leave the Doctor alone, he pushes a lever, destroying the Alternate Earth automatically.

Continuity

The death of the Third Doctor takes place during the events of ''

Doctor Who and the Silurians ''Doctor Who and the Silurians'' is the second serial of the seventh season in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. It was first broadcast in seven weekly parts on BBC1 from 31 January to 14 March 1970. The serial is s ...

''; his regeneration was somehow prevented by an unknown cause (later revealed in the New Adventure '' No Future'' to be the

Meddling Monk ''The Time Meddler'' is the ninth and final serial of the second season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. Written by Dennis Spooner and directed by Douglas Camfield, the serial was broadcast on BBC1 in four wee ...

). The Seventh Doctor continues to pilot the Third Doctor's TARDIS until the New Adventure ''

Happy Endings A happy ending is a type of plot conclusion. Happy Ending or Happy Endings may also refer to: Film and television * Happy Ending (Schitt's Creek), "Happy Ending" (Schitt's Creek), the 2020 series finale of ''Schitt's Creek'' * Happy Ending (20 ...

'', when his TARDIS is returned to him by the Charrl (first seen in ''

Birthright Birthright is the concept of things being due to a person upon or by fact of their birth, or due to the order of their birth. These may include rights of citizenship based on the place where the person was born or the citizenship of their paren ...

). Ace meets an adult version of her childhood friend Manisha, first mentioned in the season 26 serial '' Ghost Light''. In Ace's original timeline, Manisha died after her house was firebombed by

skinhead A skinhead or skin is a member of a subculture that originated among working-class youth in London, England, in the 1960s. It soon spread to other parts of the United Kingdom, with a second working-class skinhead movement emerging worldwide i ...

External links

''Blood Heat'' Prelude
{{navboxes, list1= {{Seventh Doctor stories, selected=Books {{Bernice Summerfield stories, selected=Books {{Silurian stories Virgin New Adventures 1993 British novels 1993 science fiction novels Novels by Jim Mortimore Seventh Doctor novels Fiction set in 1993 Novels about parallel universes