The Murder Game (novel)

The Murder Game was the second novel in the BBC Past Doctor Adventures series. It was written by Steve Lyons, released 7 July 1997 and featured the Second Doctor, Ben Jackson and Polly Wright.

The novel was written by Lyons, who had previously written a number of Doctor Who books. It was published on 7 July 1997 as a paperback book. It saw the first appearance of the Selachians, a race which was first mentioned in Lyons' Virgin Missing Adventures novel Killing Ground.

Publisher's summary
The faded glamour of a hotel in space, spinning in an all-but-forgotten orbit round the Earth, is host to some unusual visitors this weekend — including a party that claim to travel in a battered blue police box...

It is the year 2136. Answering a distress call from the dilapidated Hotel Galaxian, the TARDIS crew discover a games enthusiast is using the hotel to host a murder-mystery weekend. But it seems someone from his motley group of guests is taking things a little too seriously.

While the Doctor, Ben and Polly find themselves joining in the shadowplay, it becomes clear that a real-life murderer is stalking the dark, disused corridors of the Galaxian. But worse than this: there's a sinister force waiting silently in space for events to unfold. A terrible secret is hidden on board the Galaxian, and if it is discovered nothing — least of all murder — will ever be the same again. If this is a game, the stakes just got higher.

Plot
to be added

Characters

 * Second Doctor
 * Ben Jackson
 * Polly
 * Alison Hayes
 * Bryan Melrose
 * Daphne McAllister
 * Dorothy Adler
 * Henry Mace
 * Geoff Hornby
 * Neville Adler
 * Ted Matlock
 * Terri Willis
 * Thomas

The Doctor

 * In the Doctor's pockets are (amongst other things) a bag of jelly babies and a yo-yo.

Objects

 * Clockwork frogs are used as currency in the Alpha Mardis systems.

Species

 * The Doctor, Ben and Polly encountered Venusians, Draconians and Alpha Centaurans at a spaceport bar in an adventure preceding this one.
 * The Doctor offers a silent prayer to "the gods of his own people".

Other

 * Ben's bedroom has a cabinet and a dressing table, upon which he kept a bottle of aftershave before it smashed.
 * Thomas refers to six colony worlds which don't maintain computerised links to Earth.
 * Hayes and Matlock work for an agency with ties to the European government.
 * The TSF mention the First Galactic Treaty.

Continuity

 * T-Mat equipment is mentioned. (TV: The Seeds of Death)
 * Henry Mace sings a song "about business being business and always aiming to please". (STAGE: The Ultimate Adventure)
 * UNIT — and mentions of the Doctor in the organisation's files — are mentioned; however, the Doctor says he knows nothing of such an organisation. (TV: The Invasion, Spearhead from Space, et al.)
 * The Doctor refers to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle as an "old friend"; the Fourth Doctor suspects they may have met before. (PROSE: Evolution)
 * The Doctor can feel the space station moving, even though no one else can. (TV: Rose)
 * Among the alien menaces the Doctor has fought, Ben mentions the War Machines, (TV: The War Machines) the Daleks, (TV: The Power of the Daleks) and the Cybermen, (TV: The Tenth Planet) and is about to mention more (but is interrupted).
 * Polly recalls Professor X. (PROSE: No Future)
 * The Doctor creates a temporary sonic device, used to unlock a door, and resolves to begin work on a permanent version when he gets back to the TARDIS. (PROSE: Dreams of Empire, TV: Fury from the Deep)
 * Ben states that in his experience, computers do as they please. (TV: The War Machines)
 * When seeing an outfit found in the TARDIS wardrobe consisting of a colourful patchwork shirt clashing with yellow trousers, the Doctor thinks to himself that he would never wear such a thing. (TV: The Twin Dilemma)
 * Ben and Polly both refer to the attempted Cyberman invasion of Earth in December 1986. (TV: The Tenth Planet)
 * Terri mentions the green men of Mars to Ben. (TV: The Ice Warriors, The Seeds of Death, et al.)
 * Terri also tells Ben about an encounter between the Selachians and the colonists of Terra Alpha. Terra Alpha was the setting of TV: The Happiness Patrol.
 * The Cybermen stole a Selachian spaceship in 2191. (PROSE: Killing Ground)
 * Ben remembers hiding under a tarpaulin as a 14-year-old stowaway. (PROSE: Invasion of the Cat-People)
 * The Selachians are challenged by the Terran Security Forces. (PROSE: Time of Your Life)