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The Time Travellers was the seventy-third novel in the BBC Past Doctor Adventures series. It was written by Simon Guerrier, released 10 November 2005 and featured the First Doctor, Ian Chesterton, Barbara Wright and Susan Foreman.

The novel is notable for featuring a unique take on the effects which the Doctor's adventures have on history. In the version of 2006 which the characters visit in the story, it is stated that WOTAN, the Cyberman, and the Daleks have accomplished somewhat successful invasions of Earth, implying that because the Doctor has yet to intervene in those events (seen in TV: The War Machines, The Tenth Planet and Remembrance of the Daleks respectively) that different outcomes came into being.

Publisher's summary[]

"Have you ever thought what it's like to be wanderers in the fourth dimension, to be exiles?"

24 June, 2006. The TARDIS has landed in London. Ian and Barbara are almost back home. But this isn't the city they knew. This city is a ruin, torn apart by war. A war that the British are losing.

With his friends mistaken for vagrants and sentenced to death, the Doctor is press-ganged into helping perfect a weapon that might just turn the tables in the war. The British Army has discovered time travel. And the consequences are already devastating.

What has happened to the world that Ian and Barbara once knew? How much of the experiment do the Doctor and Susan really understand?

And, despite all the Doctor has said to the contrary, is it actually possible to change history?

Plot[]

to be added

Characters[]

Worldbuilding[]

Individuals[]

Technology[]

  • After the WOTAN (successful) invasion, Britain outlawed radio communications devices, as WOTAN had used them to take over peoples' minds.
  • The South Africans have weapons and technology supplied to them by the Cybermen occupying the Arctic.
  • Dalek technology from the Shoreditch Incident helped the British create their time machine.

Notes[]

  • Unlike most novels in the BBC Past Doctor Adventures (and Virgin Missing Adventures), the back cover does not specify what television stories it is set between. However, it clearly takes place right after Planet of Giants. Chapter One opens with the Doctor saying his closing lines from that story: "I think we're beginning to materialise. Perhaps I shall know now where we are." The main characters are also described as wearing the same clothes, such as the Doctor's cloak and Susan's dungarees, and their previous adventure is also said to have been rough on Barbara.
  • The epilogue of this novel follows the last scenes of the television story The Chase with Ian and Barbara on the bus. William Russell read this in the documentary Last Stop White City.
  • The dystopian future of this story is the result of the events of the television story The War Machines — here, WOTAN was successful in temporarily conquering the planet. It is strongly suggested, though not outright said, that this is in fact what was meant to happen to Earth and that the Doctor's involvement changed history.
  • On the cover of this novel, the real world sculpture Traffic Light Tree, located in London, England, is featured.

Continuity[]

External links[]

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