Bay of the Dead was the eleventh release in the BBC Torchwood Novels series.
Publisher's summary[]
When the city sleeps, the dead start to walk…
Something has sealed off Cardiff, and living corpses are stalking the streets, leaving a trail of half-eaten bodies. Animals are butchered. A young couple in their car never reach home. A stolen yacht is brought back to shore, carrying only human remains. And a couple of girls heading back from the pub watch the mysterious drivers of a big black SUV take over a crime scene.
Torchwood have to deal with the intangible barrier surrounding Cardiff, and some unidentified space debris that seems to be regenerating itself. Plus, of course, the all-night zombie horror show.
Not that they really believe in zombies.
Plot[]
to be added
Characters[]
- Captain Jack Harkness
- Gwen Cooper
- Ianto Jones
- Rhys Williams
- PC Andy Davidson
- Jackie Hargreaves
- Joe Hargreaves
- Toby
- Steffan
- Curtis
- Stan
- Greg
- Sophie Gould
- Kirsty Lane
- Terry
- DS Kathy Swanson
- SOCO Guy Baker
- PC Dawn Stratton
- Hayley
- Martin
- Jace
- Trystan Thomas
- Sarah Thomas
- Rianne Kilkenny
- Nina Rogers
- Sister Felicity Andrews
- Mildred
- Winston
- Old man
- Sarah and Trystan Thomas' son
- Keith Samuels
- Naomi Samuels
- Jasmine Samuels
- Oscar Phillips
- Clare Phillips
- Nobby
- Alexander Martin
- Slug-Face
- Leet
Worldbuilding[]
Individuals[]
- Joe and Jackie have been visiting Mike and Sue Roach.
- Toby has a sister called Jess and a girlfriend called Lauren.
- Curtis' friends call him Audley, after Audley Harrison.
- Steffan has an uncle.
- Gwen has nightmares following the deaths of Owen Harper and Toshiko Sato.
- Betty Prudom lives in the flat below Gwen and Rhys.
- Kathy thinks Myers is a nuisance.
- Sophie has a lodger called Kate.
- Emily Holroyd ran Torchwood in the 1890s.
- Ianto places Mildred in the cell next to Janet.
- Jasmine has a toy rabbit called Sunny.
- Gwen mentions her gran, who bought her a toy monkey called Bonzo.
- Alexander's nurse is called Ben.
Species[]
- Leet is a "child of the Dellacoi".
- Rhys at first believes the zombie outside his flat to be a Weevil.
- Leet uses search units based on stereotypical zombies.
Geography[]
- Roads and streets in Cardiff include Gabalfa Road, James Street, Greyfriars Road, Bradford Street, Corporation Road, Harrowby Street, Penarth Road, North Road, Bute Street, Railway Street and Madoc Road.
- Districts in Cardiff include Llandaff, Grangetown, Trowbridge, Butetown, Canton and Splott.
- Places in Wales include Cowbridge, Bonvilston, Merthyr and Penarth.
- Students attending Cardiff University come from Leicester, London, Newport, Liverpool and Southport among other places.
Businesses[]
- Rhys crashes his Saab.
- Gwen and Rhys take cover behind a Citroën.
- Gwen sarcastically asks Rhys if he is trying to call Rentokil.
Sport[]
- Audley Harrison is a boxer.
- Stan has had football trials with QPR and Southport.
Popular culture[]
- Steffan mentions Pirates of the Caribbean.
- Rhys compares a man to Jacob Marley.
- Rhys mentions Night of the Living Dead.
- Gwen compares Oscar's falling body to the flying Darling children from Peter Pan.
- Nobby refers to Naomi as Cruella De Vil's more obnoxious sister.
- Nobby's mobile ringtone is the theme tune from The A-Team.
Music[]
- Jackie and Joe listen to Elbow on the car radio.
- Andy owns the Only by the Night CD by Kings of Leon.
- Mildred wears a gore-spattered Girls Aloud T-shirt.
- Oscar is played Queen, Bon Jovi and Bruce Springsteen in his hospital bed.
Miscellaneous[]
- Gwen suggest calling UNIT for help.
- Staff and visitors to St Helen's Hospital show a touch of Dunkirk spirit.
Notes[]
- The title appears to be a reference to Romero's Living Dead movies, most notably Day of the Dead.
- The dense fog which foreshadows the appearances of zombies in the novel appears to reference the cult horror film The Fog, in which a glowing fog sweeps over a Californian town, bringing with it the vengeful ghosts of mariners killed in a shipwreck 100 years prior.
- Although it remains unnamed in the book, a reference is made to the film The Incredible Shrinking Man. Reference is also made to The Addams Family.
- This book is also available as an ebook from the Amazon Kindle store.
Continuity[]
- The team is still affected by the deaths of Toshiko Sato and Owen Harper. (TV: Exit Wounds)
- Kathy Swanson appears. (TV: They Keep Killing Suzie, PROSE: Virus)
- Ianto remembers the cannibals from the Brecon Beacons. (TV: Countrycide)
- St Helen's Hospital appears. (TV: Dead Man Walking, TV: Exit Wounds)
- Nina Rogers appears. (PROSE: Into the Silence)
- Gwen and Rhys own a Saab. (PROSE: Border Princes)
- Jack remains distrustful of UNIT. (TV: Dead Man Walking, TV: Journey's End)
- Jack and Ianto use the Bekaran deep-tissue scanner. (PROSE: Another Life, Border Princes, Slow Decay)
- Jack vows to soon pay Alexander Martin a proper visit. (PROSE: The House That Jack Built)
External links[]
- Official Bay of the Dead page at Penguin Books
- Bay of the Dead at the Doctor Who Reference Guide