''Lungbarrow'' is an original novel written by Marc Platt 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 ...

''. Published in

Virgin Books Virgin Books is a British book publisher 90% owned by the publishing group Random House, and 10% owned by Virgin Group, the company originally set up by Richard Branson as a record company. History Virgin established its book publishing ...

' '' New Adventures'' range, it was the last of that range to feature 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 ...

. When all stories of any media under any banner are listed chronologically, this is the last which features the Seventh Doctor as the "current" Doctor, although

Paul McGann Paul John McGann ( ; born 14 November 1959) is an English actor. He came to prominence for portraying Percy Toplis in the television serial '' The Monocled Mutineer'' (1986), then starred in the dark comedy '' Withnail and I'' (1987), which wa ...

's Eighth Doctor had already made his televised appearance by the time the novel was published.

Plot

His mind occupied with thoughts of his coming regeneration, the Doctor accidentally returns to

Gallifrey The Time Lords are a fictional ancient race of extraterrestrial people in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. Time Lords are so named for their command of time travel technology and their non-linear perception of t ...

and the House of Lungbarrow, where for over 673 years his 44 cousins have been trapped, but mysteriously only six of them are still left. Meanwhile, Chris Cwej is having strange dreams of the past, when the family cast the Doctor out. The Doctor is accused of the murder of the head of the House, but he finds many allies in the form of former companions Ace, Romana, K-9 Mark I, K-9 Mark II and Leela, who have become embroiled in a Celestial Intervention Agency plot to overthrow Romana's presidency. The secrets of the past are catching up to the Doctor—in particular, the secret that links him to a figure from Gallifreyan history known only as the Other.

Background

''Lungbarrow'' wrapped up the last of the continuity of the New Adventures and put the Doctor on course to gather the

Master's A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

remains from Skaro, as depicted in the 1996 Doctor Who television movie. It is also one of a number of the New Adventures which is hard to obtain and is often seen on auction websites such as

eBay eBay Inc. ( , often stylized as ebay) is an American multinational e-commerce company based in San Jose, California, that allows users to buy or view items via retail sales through online marketplaces and websites in 190 markets worldwide. ...

at prices many times the original cover price. The novel which followed ''Lungbarrow'', Lance Parkin's '' The Dying Days'', featured the Eighth Doctor. When Virgin subsequently lost their licence to print original ''Doctor Who'' fiction, they chose to focus on a character from the New Adventures which the BBC did not own, former companion Bernice Summerfield. ''Lungbarrow'' serves, in concert with ''Dying Days'', to gradually increase the standing of Summerfield's character, laying the groundwork for the later appearance of the Seventh Doctor's then-companion, Chris Cwej, in Summerfield's own novels. Platt's novel, though, is largely concerned with concluding what was known as the " Cartmel Masterplan". In the final two seasons of the original 1963-1989 run of ''Doctor Who'', the then

script editor A script editor is a member of the production team of scripted television and radio programs, usually dramas and comedies. The script editor has many responsibilities including finding new script writers, developing storyline and series ideas wit ...

Andrew Cartmel Andrew J. Cartmel (born 6 April 1958) is a British script editor, author and journalist. He was the script editor of ''Doctor Who'' during the Sylvester McCoy era of the show between 1987 and 1989. He has also worked as a script editor on other t ...

introduced new elements of mystery into the character of the

Doctor Doctor, Doctors, The Doctor or The Doctors may refer to: Titles and occupations * Physician, a medical practitioner * Doctor (title), an academic title for the holder of a doctoral-level degree ** Doctorate ** List of doctoral degrees awarded b ...

. Suggestions of dark secrets that the Doctor might be more than just a

Time Lord The Time Lords are a fictional ancient race of extraterrestrial life, extraterrestrial people in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. Time Lords are so named for their command of time travel technology and their Nonli ...

were inserted into scripts of stories such as

Ben Aaronovitch Ben Dylan Aaronovitch (born 22 February 1964) is an English author and screenwriter. He is the author of the series of novels '' Rivers of London''. He also wrote two ''Doctor Who'' serials in the late 1980s and spin-off novels from ''Doctor Who ...

's '' Remembrance of the Daleks'' and Kevin Clarke's '' Silver Nemesis''. Had the series not been effectively cancelled in 1989, the following series would have made some of these revelations. ''Lungbarrow'' began life as a television script, which was rejected by John Nathan-Turner on the grounds that it revealed too much about the Doctor and the Time Lords, too quickly. Elements of Platt's planned ''Lungbarrow'' instead became part of the Series 26 serial '' Ghost Light'', such as the sinister house keeper, the trapped investigating policeman and finale based around the family dinner. If produced, the story would have featured Ace as the main companion and been set entirely within the House. Along the way to this resolution, ''Lungbarrow'' ultimately reveals much new information about the Doctor's home world and race, some of which had been hinted at ever since the first New Adventures novel. Many of the New Adventures authors migrated to the BBC Books ''Doctor Who'' line and elements of this backstory also made their way into subsequent novels. However, there have also been elements in those novels that contradict it.

Publication history

The numbering of this book (60 of 61) refers to the publisher's ''intended'' order, not the actual order of publication. Because of chronic delays troubling

's '' So Vile a Sin'' (which was eventually finished by Kate Orman), it was actually the 59th New Adventure published. Lance Parkin on an Outpost Gallifrey forum thread stated in 2005 that the reason the last three books in the Virgin New Adventures range, including ''Lungbarrow'', were so expensive on the

secondary market The secondary market, also called the aftermarket and follow on public offering, is the financial market in which previously issued financial instruments such as stock, bonds, options, and futures are bought and sold. The initial sale of ...

was excessive demand, rather than an unusually low initial

print run Print circulation is the average number of copies of a publication. The number of copies of a non-periodical publication (such as a book) are usually called print run. Circulation is not always the same as copies sold, often called paid circulat ...

. However, he also noted that reprints of these books were not allowed, because Virgin's license expired before a second printing might otherwise have been made. A new version of ''Lungbarrow'', with both additions and subtractions to the original text, author's notes and an artwork gallery, was presented as an

e-book An ebook (short for electronic book), also spelled as e-book or eBook, is a book publication made available in electronic form, consisting of text, images, or both, readable on the flat-panel display of computers or other electronic devices. Al ...

on the BBC website from 22 August 2003 to December 2010.

Continuity

*The Seventh Doctor is sent to collect the Master’s remains by Romana, a lead in to the television movie.

Outside references

The Houses that Platt gives Gallifrey are similar to the household featured in Peake's '' Gormenghast'' trilogy. Badger, a character who makes his first appearance in ''Lungbarrow'', has much in common with a character in Peake's ''Gormenghast'' novella, '' Boy in Darkness'', which originally appeared in the collected work '' Sometime, Never'' by Golding, Wyndham and Peake.

References

External links

* * {{navboxes, list1= {{Seventh Doctor stories, selected=Books {{K9 stories, selected=Books 1997 British novels 1997 science fiction novels Virgin New Adventures Novels by Marc Platt Seventh Doctor novels