The Shadow of Weng-Chiang (novel)

The Shadows of Weng-Chiang was the twenty-fifth novel in the Virgin Missing Adventures series.

As the name implied, it was a sequel to The Talons of Weng-Chiang, if an indirect one. Set during the Fourth Doctor and Romana I's quest for the Key to Time, it also served as something of a bookend to that earlier television serial. Whereas the serial had featured expatriate Chinese in London, the novel was set mostly in Shanghai. Moreover, because of the franchise's obvious British bias, Shadow is one of the few Doctor Who stories in any media to deal with the runup to World War II in Asia — much less the Chinese perspective on the coming war.

Publisher's summary

 * "They say a journey of a thousand miles begins with but a single step. If I'm right, then a journey of a thousand miles will take but a single step."

The search for the fourth segment of the Key to Time brings the TARDIS to 1930s Shanghai: a dark and shadowy world, riven by conflict and threatened by the expansion of the Japanese Empire. Meanwhile, the savage Tongs pursue their own mysterious agenda in the city's illegal clubs and opium dens.

Manipulated by an elusive foe, the Fourth Doctor is obliged to follow the Dragon Path - the side-effect of a disastrous experiment in the far future.

But would two segments of the Key be on the same planet? Is the Black Guardian behind the dark schemes of the beautiful Hsien-Ko? And who is the small child who always accompanies her?

Characters

 * The Doctor
 * Is a competent fighter.
 * Notes that he cannot remember his real name as it has been so long since he's used it.
 * Romana
 * Demonstrates she can sing.
 * Dislikes being called Romana, but tolerates it more than "Romy" or any other version of her proper name.
 * K9
 * Can climb stairs, but it takes a great deal of time and energy.
 * His laser sets Mr. Sin's wooden parts on fire.
 * Hsien-ko Chang
 * Mr Sin
 * Lucas Seyton
 * Sung-Chi Li
 * Yan Cheh
 * Kwok
 * Vogler

Continuity

 * This is a sequel to DW: The Talons of Weng-Chiang.
 * Henry Gordon Jago sold the Palace Theatre as a result of the scandal following the Weng-Chiang incident in 1889. (DW: The Talons of Weng-Chiang)
 * The Doctor mentions that he once dined with Nero. (DW: The Romans)
 * The Doctor compares the quarry to Skaro (DW: Genesis of the Daleks) and the land outside the Capitol on Gallifrey (DW: The Invasion of Time).
 * The Doctor refers to Professor Marius, the creator of K9 Mark I. (DW: The Invisible Enemy)
 * The Doctor again claims that the head of Cleopatra's guard taught him how to fight with a sword. (DW: The Masque of Mandragora)

Timeline

 * The Shadow of Weng-Chiang occurs after: DW: The Stones of Blood
 * The Shadow of Weng-Chiang occurs before: PDA: Heart of TARDIS