''Conundrum'' is an original novel written by Steve Lyons 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 Lyons, 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 ...

'' #208. This novel is the fourth book in the " Alternate Universe cycle" which continues until '' No Future''.

Plot

What seems to be a simple murder investigation in a quiet English village becomes something far more deadly for the

and his companions when the inhabitants begin to exhibit superhero abilities...

Continuity

* ''Conundrum'' features the Land of Fiction first seen in the 1968 television serial '' The Mind Robber''. Lyons' later ''New Adventure'' '' Head Games'' is a sequel to this novel and also relates to the Land of Fiction. * This novel is effectively written in the first person by Jason, the Master of the Land of Fiction. This enables

metafiction Metafiction is a form of fiction that emphasizes its own narrative structure in a way that inherently reminds the audience that they are reading or viewing a fictional work. Metafiction is self-conscious about language, literary form, and story ...

al concepts; for instance, he grows frustrated that he finds it impossible to read the Doctor's mind, a reference to the New Adventures guideline that the books should not show what the Doctor is thinking. * This novel features the second occasion in which the Doctor manages to repair the TARDIS's chameleon circuit, the previous occasion being 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 ...

story '' Attack of the Cybermen''. Although technically this is not the same TARDIS.

References

{{Bernice Summerfield stories, selected=Books 1994 British novels 1994 science fiction novels Virgin New Adventures Metafictional novels Novels by Steve Lyons (writer) Seventh Doctor novels