Escape Velocity was the forty-second novel in the BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures series. It was written by Colin Brake, released 5 February 2001 and featured the Eighth Doctor, Fitz Kreiner and Anji Kapoor.
Publisher's summary[]
"You know me then?" asked the Eighth Doctor, a little tentatively.
"You're the Doctor," replied Fitz, a slight frown worming its way on to his forehead.
"Yes, yes, yes, the Doctor, of course I am." The Doctor smiled, genuinely pleased to see a familiar face, even if for the moment he couldn't quite put a name to it. "But, er, Doctor who?" he added, hopefully.
The Doctor and Fitz are back together at last, but the Doctor is not the man he once was — which is a shame, because Fitz has promised Anji Kapoor that his old friend is Anji's best hope of finding her alien-abducted boyfriend, Dave.
Soon the Doctor, Fitz and Anji find themselves involved in a desperate contest between Pierre-Yves Dudoin and Arthur Tyler the Third, each determined to be the first privately funded man in space. But not all the parties are playing fairly: members of an alien race called the Kulan are helping the Frenchman — and at the far reaches of the Solar System their battle fleet awaits...
Can the Doctor find Dave before the alien contact proves fatal? Who are the secret agents keeping tabs on the rival Space Race teams? Will the Doctor's mysterious blue box finally reveal its purpose? And does the Doctor, now truly a man without a past, have what it takes to stop the Kulan Invasion of Earth...?
Plot[]
Brilliant classmates Pierre Yves-Dudoin, Arthur Tyler III, and Christine Holland were once close friends until rivalry and a love triangle tore them apart. Christine married Dudoin, had a daughter, Pippa, then divorced him when his obsession with becoming the first privately funded man in space eclipsed everything else. Dudoin and Tyler became bitter competitors in a race to orbit—unaware that both were being covertly aided by different factions of the alien Kulan, stranded on Earth after a failed invasion attempt.
In Brussels, British tourists Anji Kapoor and Dave Young witness the murder of an alien courier, who secretly injects Dave with vital biodata before dying. Dave is kidnapped by assassins seeking the data, drawing the attention of Fitz Kreiner, who suspects the involvement of his old friend, the Doctor. Fitz soon reunites with the Doctor in London—who, troublingly, has lost much of his memory and whose TARDIS has been dormant for a century.
As rival Kulan factions manipulate Dudoin and Tyler to escape Earth and summon their fleet, the Doctor, Fitz, and Anji uncover the truth: Dudoin plans to launch first, allowing the Kulan war leader Fray’kon to signal an invasion. Attempts to stop the launch end in disaster, killing Dudoin and most of the Kulan on Earth—but Fray’kon escapes.
The invasion escalates when Fray’kon infiltrates Tyler’s spacecraft, murdering Dave and triggering a confrontation aboard the Kulan flagship. Anji’s desperate actions accidentally turn the Kulan fleet against itself, causing its destruction. Tyler sacrifices himself to kill Fray’kon, ending the threat.
The Doctor finally regains access to his TARDIS and his identity. The TARDIS lets him re-enter after Anji encourages him to not wallow in self-pity. The interior of the TARDIS reminds him that he is a time traveller, but his memory remains fractured. As Fitz worries about what’s been lost, Anji just wants to go home. The Doctor attempts to land Anji back in 21st century Earth, but it's clear he gets something very wrong.
Characters[]
- Eighth Doctor
- Fitz Kreiner
- Anji Kapoor
- Dave Young
- Compassion
- Nivet
- Arthur Tyler III
- Christine Holland
- Pierre-Yves Dudoin
- Pippa Holland/Dudoin
- Sa'Motta
- Fray'kon
- Menhira
- Control
- Agent Paul Fisher
- Williams
- Kruse
- Murphy
- Koy'Guin
- Marshall Spear
- James Kent
- Krzyszof Szemplinski
- Jacques
- Charlene Tolliver
- Sheff
- Darren
- Holly
- Beverly
- Paul
- Hak'et
- Carl
- Stacey
- Raymond
- Sharon Jones
- Leonie Sutcliffe
- Paul Hudson
- Josh Wakerley
- Harvey
- Corey Hammond
- Alice
- Chris Green
- Miles Gorman
- Marcus
- Rama'ge
- Fa'man
- Gothran
Worldbuilding[]
Cultural references from the real world[]
- When Fitz and Dave Young witness a man apparently die and then arise, Young likens it to a scene from Terminator 3.
Individuals[]
- Fitz Kreiner was born in 1936 and carries around a battered copy of his birth certificate. Miraculously, he convinces the British passport authorities in 2001 to issue him a passport on the basis of that document. He somehow convinces them that it reads 1976, rather than 1936.
- For Fitz, only eight hours have passed since the destruction of Gallifrey.
- Sam Jones told Fitz about regeneration and Fitz wonders if the Doctor will have regenerated.
- Dave Young is Anji's boyfriend, whom she loves, but is perhaps no longer in love with.
- The Doctor seems to recognise Perivale when he and Anji pass. When asked if he knows the place the Doctor remarks, "I don't think so. Maybe I visited here once. Or maybe I knew someone from here. It's no good. I just get something vague about cats."
- At Arthur Tyler III's base, the Doctor is inspecting the Kulan technology and remarks that humans couldn't use it. Anji then asks why humans couldn't use it when the Kulan are humanoid like humans and don't have suckers on the end of their arms.
- When the Kulan fleet is passing Mars Koy'Guin remarks, "Legends tell of a great race of warriors that came from this planet".
Organisations[]
TARDIS[]
- Compassion briefly appears, dropping Fitz off. She departs with Gallifreyan technician Nivet within her.
- The Doctor's memory is still shaky; despite being able to pilot the TARDIS to the Kulan fleet without moving in time, he isn't able to immediately return Anji to Earth.
Notes[]
- This is the sixth (and final) story in the "Earth Arc".
- The TARDIS is restored in this novel with a new control room with a kitchen to the side, two swimming pools and various other rooms.
- This novel introduces new companion Anji Kapoor.
- Dave Young is a fan of the science fiction television series "Professor X". It has been suggested that the fictional series was designed as a tribute to the Doctor Who series itself, given the evidence listed above concerning similar running dates, characters and plotlines. It is possible that Professor X would in effect serve to replace Doctor Who in the Doctor Who universe. In this case, their American fans call themselves X-ians, while the British ones prefer to be known as Professor X Appreciation Association, with Internet-based fan organisations.
- From this novel onwards, while the Doctor has some idea of his past, he never explicitly recalls any specific details of past adventures, companions or enemies until PROSE: The Gallifrey Chronicles.
Continuity[]
- Fitz last saw the Doctor after he destroyed Gallifrey in PROSE: The Ancestor Cell.
- The end of this novel leads straight into PROSE: EarthWorld and mirrors the end of the first episode of the Doctor Who story An Unearthly Child with a ancient landscape.
- The 1950s BBC science fiction television series Nightshade is mentioned. The Doctor tells Dave that he had "never really rated TV science fiction since they got rid of Nightshade." His seventh incarnation previously met its star Edmund Trevithick in Crook Marsham in December 1968. (PROSE: Nightshade)
- The TARDIS "regenerates," something it would do again on two occasions. (AUDIO: Mary's Story, TV: The Eleventh Hour)
- Fitz mentions Vega Station. (PROSE: Demontage)
- Fitz has vague recollections of his recent adventures: running and hiding from something, (PROSE: The Shadows of Avalon) being in an 18th century house, (PROSE: The Banquo Legacy) and being on Gallifrey. (PROSE: The Ancestor Cell)
- The house that the Doctor has in Kent is mentioned. (PROSE: Cat's Cradle: Warhead, et al)
- Fitz wonders if the Doctor would steal a space shuttle. The Doctor did this in PROSE: Father Time. Later the Doctor remembers taking a look at an American space shuttle.
- When asked about the TARDIS while it is still regenerating, the Doctor claims that it's a useful place to keep his hat and then mentions wearing a felt hat, possibly a reference to the hat he regularly wore in his fourth incarnation.
- The Doctor passes Perivale while going in a car with Anji Kapoor. He has the impression that he knows this area, but the only thing he remembers is "something vague about cats". (TV: Survival)
- Anji suggests that the Doctor may be an actor and he thinks that this can be possible, "One minute a crotchety old man, a quick make-up and costume change, and then a comic little man with a flute"
External links[]
- Escape Velocity at the Doctor Who Reference Guide
- The Discontinuity Guide to: Escape Velocity at The Whoniverse
- The Cloister Library: Escape Velocity
