Doctor Who: Plague
City
Yes, I’ve written a new Doctor
Who novel. It’s out in April, around the same time that the new series
begins on television, and features the Peter Capaldi Doctor alongside his
companions Bill and Nardole, as played by Pearl Mackie and Matt Lucas. We haven’t
seen much of Bill yet – she was in a mini-episode last years – so the book will
only hit the shelves after she’s made her proper television debut. The novel is set during the new series, and I’ve
done my best to ensure it fits in seamlessly; it should feel a bit like having
an extra episode, but with an unlimited budget.
What’s it about? Well, here’s the blurb:
“We should leave. We
definitely should leave. But... chatty ghosts!”
The year is 1645, and
Edinburgh is in the grip of the worst plague in its history. Nobody knows who
will be the next to succumb – nobody except the Night Doctor, a masked figure
that stalks the streets, seeking out those who will not live to see another day.
But death is not the
end. The Doctor, Bill and Nardole discover that the living are being haunted by
the recently departed – by ghosts that do not know they are dead. And there are
other creatures lurking in the shadows, slithering, creeping creatures filled
with an insatiable hunger.
The Doctor and his
friends must face the terrifying secret of the Street of Sorrows – that
something which has lain dormant for two hundred million years is due to
destroy the entire city...
An original novel
featuring the Twelfth Doctor, Bill and Nardole as played by Peter Capaldi,
Pearl Mackie and Matt Lucas.
I’ve been to Edinburgh a few times, but not very much of the
17th century city remains, so in terms of geography and architecture it was all
a matter of historical research and imagination. I had a lot of fun writing it during
the cold, dark days of January – it is a tale of spooky and supernatural goings-on
– and I’m very proud of the end result, it does everything I set out to do, so
please place your orders now. It’s also coming out as an ebook,
for those of you who hate paper. I daresay I will be plugging it a little bit more
nearer the time, I may even do some signings, and eventually I'll write a blog about the research in more depth.
It’s been very exciting, and a great honour/responsibility,
to be writing a book to fit alongside a new TV series (my last one, Doctor Who: Touched by an Angel, falls somewhere between seasons). I hope you all like it.
