The Fires of Pompeii (novelisation)

The Fires of Pompeii was a novelisation based on the 2008 television episode The Fires of Pompeii. It was written by the original writer James Moran and released by Target Books on 14 July 2022.

Publisher's summary
"My masters will follow the example of Rome... our mighty empire bestraddling the whole of civilization!"

It is AD 79, and the TARDIS lands in Pompeii on the eve of the town's destruction. Mount Vesuvius is ready to erupt and bury its surroundings in molten lava, just as history dictates. Or is it?

The Doctor and Donna find that Pompeii is home to impossible things: circuits made of stone, soothsayers who read minds and fiery giants made of burning rock. From a lair deep in the volcano, these creatures plot the end of humanity - and the Doctor soon finds he has no way to win...

Chapter titles

 * 1) Prologue: Dramatis personae
 * 2) Chapter I: Veni, vidi, vici
 * 3) Chapter II: In media res
 * 4) Chapter III: Caecilius est in hortō
 * 5) Chapter IV: Sub rosa
 * 6) Chapter V: Prima facie
 * 7) Chapter VI: Quid pro quo
 * 8) Chapter VII: Caveat emptor
 * 9) Chapter VIII: Dies irae
 * 10) Chapter IX: Tempus fugit
 * 11) Chapter X: Rigor mortis
 * 12) Chapter XI: Carpe diem
 * 13) Chapter XII: Alea iacta est

Deviations from televised story

 * There's a scene set inside the TARDIS just before the Doctor and Donna arrive in Rome, in which Donna begins to have second thoughts about deciding to travel with him.
 * The Doctor and Donna's final scene in the TARDIS is extended: the Doctor mentions how he won't be forgetting the family's faces in a hurry- especially Caecilius -and that he will continue to check in on them.
 * The epilogue ends with a section that talks about how the family's belief in their household gods continued for subsequent generations, with their descendants thousands of years later regularly joking that they must have a guardian angel watching over them.

Writing and publishing notes
to be added

Additional cover images
to be added

Audiobook
This Target Book was released as an audiobook on 14 July 2022 complete and unabridged by BBC Audio and read by Clare Corbett.