Dancing the Code (novel)

Dancing the Code was the ninth novel in the Virgin Missing Adventures series. It was written by Paul Leonard and featured the Third Doctor, Jo Grant, Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart, Mike Yates, John Benton and UNIT.

Publisher's summary

 * "The Brigadier's going to shoot you, Jo," the Doctor said grimly, "and then he's going to shoot me. Both of us are going to die."

The Doctor builds a machine designed to predict the future. It shows the Brigadier murdering him and Jo in cold blood. Unable to tell where or when this event is destined to occur, the Doctor and Jo decide that they must stay apart.

Jo is sent on a top-secret mission to the war-torn Arab nation of Kebiria. But upon arrival, she is immediately arrested and consigned to a brutal political prison. The Kebirians have something to hide: deep in the North African desert, an alien infestation is rapidly growing. And the Doctor and UNIT soon discover that unless it is stopped, the alien presence will spread to overrun the entire world.

Characters

 * Third Doctor
 * Jo Grant
 * Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart
 * Captain Mike Yates
 * Sergeant John Benton
 * Xarax
 * Catriona Talliser
 * Anton Deveraux
 * Mohammad
 * Tahir
 * Benari
 * Sadeq Zalloua
 * Vincent Tayid
 * Akram
 * Tom Osgood

Worldbuilding

 * Kebiria is a former French colony which achieved its independence in 1956. Two-thirds of the population are Muslim while the remainder are Christians, predominantly French-speaking Catholics.
 * The UNIT training ground is in Henley Wood.
 * Dave Greene reads the Daily Mail.
 * Jo claims to have met the Methaji, Hoveet, Skraals and Kalekani.

Continuity

 * The Doctor mentions Metebelis III. (TV: Carnival of Monsters)
 * There are references to the Nestenes and the Delphons, (TV: Spearhead from Space, TV: Terror of the Autons) the Axons, (TV: The Claws of Axos) Solos, (TV: The Mutants) Spiridon, (TV: Planet of the Daleks) the Cybermen, (TV: The Invasion) the Daleks, the Ogrons, and Sir Reginald Styles, (TV: Day of the Daleks) the Dæmons, (TV: The Dæmons) the Arcturans and the Ice Warriors, (TV: The Curse of Peladon) the Sea Devils, (TV: The Sea Devils) the Drashigs (TV: Carnival of Monsters) and the Mars Probes. (TV: The Ambassadors of Death)