''Blue Box'' is a

BBC Books BBC Books (also formerly known as BBC Consumer Publishing and BBC Publishing) is an imprint majority-owned and managed by Penguin Random House through its Ebury Publishing division. The minority shareholder is BBC Studios, the commercial subsidia ...

original novel written by

Kate Orman Kate Orman (born 1968) is an Australian author, best known for her books connected to the British science-fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. Biography Kate Orman was born in Sydney, but grew up in Canberra and Melbourne and spent two ye ...

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

Sixth Doctor The Sixth Doctor is an incarnation of The Doctor (Doctor Who), the Doctor, the protagonist of the British Science fiction on television, science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. He is portrayed by Colin Baker. Although his televisual t ...

and Peri, written from a first-person perspective by a fictional journalist, in a similar manner to '' Who Killed Kennedy'' by David Bishop. The character Ian Mond is named after a well-known fan who is a member of various internet forums including Jade Pagoda and the

Outpost Gallifrey Outpost Gallifrey was a fan website for the British science fiction on television, science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. It was active as a complete fansite from 1995 until 2007, then existing solely as a portal to the still-active pa ...

forums. The title of this novel does not refer to the

TARDIS The TARDIS (; acronym for "Time And Relative Dimension(s) In Space") is a fictional hybrid of a time machine and spacecraft that appears in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'' and its various spin-offs. While a TARDI ...

, but to the

blue box A blue box is an Electronics, electronic device that produces tones used to generate the in-band signaling tones formerly used within the North American long-distance telephone network to send line status and called number information over voi ...

used by

phreaker Phreaking is a slang term coined to describe the activity of a culture of people who study, experiment with, or explore telecommunication systems, such as equipment and systems connected to public telephone networks. The term ''phreak'' is a sen ...

s, and by analogy, the alien hacking tool that is the book's

MacGuffin In fiction, a MacGuffin (sometimes McGuffin) is an object, device, or event that is necessary to the plot and the motivation of the characters, but insignificant, unimportant, or irrelevant in itself. The term was originated by Angus MacPhail fo ...

External links

* {{Sixth Doctor stories, selected=Books 2003 British novels 2003 science fiction novels Past Doctor Adventures Sixth Doctor novels Novels by Kate Orman British science fiction novels