Players (novel)

Publisher's summary
Promising his companion, Peri, high society elegance in fin-de-siecle London, the Doctor manages to hit the right time, but the wrong place...

The TARDIS has landed on the sun-baked veldt in the middle of a Boer War skirmish. And soon the Doctor and Peri are involved in the adventures of a struggling politician and war correspondent who they know is destined for greater things - a certain Winston Churchill. But mysterious forces seem to be interfering in his potentially great career...

Arriving in London, the Doctor and Peri enter high society but find themselves in a world of intrigue populated by notorious figures from Wallis Simpson to Joachim von Ribbentrop. And behind everything, the Doctor senses the hidden hand of the Players - mysterious beings who regard human history as no more than a chess board. Can the Doctor and Peri find the right moves to defeat them - before it's too late?

Characters

 * Sixth Doctor
 * Second Doctor
 * Peri Brown
 * Winston Churchill
 * Edward VIII
 * King Adelebert

Continuity

 * The Pinkerton Private Investigation Agency first appeared in NA: Shakedown.
 * Tom Dekker first appeared in NA: Blood Harvest.
 * The Doctor says he met Dracula. (BFA: Son of the Dragon)
 * This is the first time Winston Churchill meets the Doctor. He would go on to once again meet the Sixth Doctor (PDA: The Shadow in the Glass) and the Eleventh Doctor. (DW: Victory of the Daleks)

For the Second Doctor

 * Players occurs after DW: The War Games
 * Players occurs before PDA: World Game

For the Sixth Doctor

 * Players occurs after: DW: The Mark of the Rani
 * Players occurs before: DW: The Two Doctors