The Plotters (novel)

The Plotters was the twenty-eighth novel in the Virgin Missing Adventures series. Like the later video game The Gunpowder Plot, it dealt with Guy Fawkes' 1605 plot against the British Houses of Parliament. However, the two stories depicted the event very differently, to the extent that they were essentially irreconcilable.

Publisher's summary

 * "If anyone tries to interrupt this opening of Parliament, there'll be fireworks!"

London, November 1605. The TARDIS materialises at a crucial moment in British history. While Ian and Barbara set off for the Globe Theatre, Vicki accompanies the First Doctor on a mysterious mission to the court of King James.

What connects the King's advisor Robert Cecil with the sinister hooded figure known only as "the Spaniard"? Why is the Doctor so anxious to observe the translation of the Bible? And could there be some dastardly plot brewing in the cellars of the Houses of Parliament?

As a history teacher, Barbara thinks she knows what to expect when she encounters a man called Guy Fawkes. But she is in for a very unpleasant surprise.

Plot
to be added

Characters

 * The First Doctor
 * Ian Chesterton
 * Barbara Wright
 * Vicki Pallister
 * Guy Fawkes

Continuity

 * Ian mentions several earlier occasions on which the Doctor claimed to have returned himself and Barbara to Earth in the 1960s. (DW: The Reign of Terror, DW: Planet of Giants, DW: The Dalek Invasion of Earth)
 * The Doctor refers to the Menoptera (DW: The Web Planet) and the Venusians (MA: Venusian Lullaby).
 * Barbara mentions the Great Fire of London in 1666. The Doctor would visit London during the conflagration on three separate occasions. At a later point in his first incarnation, the TARDIS had materialised in London, specifically outside the burning house of George Mortimer, shortly after the Great Fire began. The First Doctor rescued George, his wife Helen and their children Ida and Alan and took them on a trip to the Andromeda Galaxy in the far future. (DWAN: Doctor Who and the Invasion from Space) Considerably later in his personal timeline, the Doctor's fifth incarnation played a major role in causing the fire. (DW: The Visitation) Ironically, the Fourth Doctor, arriving shortly before his future self's departure, was wrongly accused of starting the fire only hours later. (DW: Pyramids of Mars, ST: The Republican's Story) It is possible that, for a brief period after the First Doctor's arrival in 1666, there were three separate incarnations of the Doctor co-existing in the same timeframe. ( DWAN: Doctor Who and the Invasion from Space) His involvement in the fire remained a source of embarrassment for the Doctor in his sixth incarnation. (BFA: Point of Entry, BFA: The Marian Conspiracy, BFA: Doctor Who and the Pirates)
 * Vicki disguises herself as a boy named Victor, as she did in Palestine during the Third Crusade in the 1190s. (DW: The Crusade) Polly Wright would later do the same thing in Cornwall in the 1660s. (DW: The Smugglers) Furthermore, the Fifth Doctor's companions Peri Brown and Erimem were forced by King Richard III of England to disguise themselves as his nephews King Edward V and Richard, Duke of York, the Princes in the Tower, from 1483 to 1485. (BFA: The Kingmaker)
 * Before becoming embroiled in the Gunpowder Plot, Ian and Barbara intend to visit the Globe Theatre. The Tenth Doctor and Martha Jones would do so in 1599. (DW: The Shakespeare Code)
 * Vicki must fight off the amorous advances of King James I, as Barbara had to fight off those of the Roman Emperor Nero in July 64. (DW: The Romans)
 * The First Doctor and Vicki would meet James I for a second time in 1609, though Vicki failed to recognise him on that occasion. (MA: The Empire of Glass) The Doctor's future companion Polly Wright would unwittingly help his son King Charles I escape from Roundhead captivity in December 1648 (PDA: The Roundheads) whereas the Second Doctor and his companions Jamie McCrimmon and Zoe Heriot met his grandson King James II in November 1688 (CC: The Glorious Revolution).
 * The Doctor no longer has a spare TARDIS key since his granddaughter Susan Foreman's departure. (DW: The Dalek Invasion of Earth)
 * The Doctor remarks that the 17th century was not a good place to be a witch. (PDA: The Witch Hunters)
 * Considerably later in his personal timeline, the Eleventh Doctor and his companions Amy Pond and Rory Williams would likewise become embroiled in the events surrounding the Gunpowder Plot in November 1605. (VG: The Gunpowder Plot)

Timeline

 * This story takes place after PDA: The Eleventh Tiger
 * This story takes place contemporaneously with VG: The Gunpowder Plot
 * This story takes place before ST: White Man's Burden