Published 1997; written by Keith Topping and Martin Day, featuring the Third Doctor, Liz and UNIT.
The human race stands at a worrying political crossroads. UNIT is up to its ears in alien sightings, reporting of UFOs and threats from other worlds - and for good reason - the devil goblins from Neptune have landed.
Tropes
- The ’70s: Co-author Martin Day said the book sprang from the idea to “do something utterly rooted in the 70s”
— hence blending the Pertwee era of Doctor Who with spy movies, Cold War tensions and hippies. - Alien Invasion: And unlike most Doctor Who of the era, as the cover blurb notes, “London doesn’t have a monopoly” on them.
- Conspiracy Thriller: While the Doctor deals with the above, the Brigadier investigates treachery in UNIT.
- Continuity Nod: Loads of references to the Doctor’s adventures with UNIT are made, and at a party one character has heard of the Doctor from former companion Ian Chesterton.
The Doctor: Is he still working for NASA?
Professor Trainor: Yes, I met him and Barbara in London last month. I told him I hoped to meet you soon, and he said I should ask you about Vortis.
- Continuity Snarl: Played with. The Soviets are confused by how many buildings UNIT seems to have used as headquarters, while the Brigadier notes that moving so frequently “made continuity a big problem” for the organisation.
- Credits Gag: At the end of the dedications at the start of the book, there’s an “Action by Havoc” credit, referencing the stunt team employed by this era of the show.
- Dirty Communists: The Soviet branch of UNIT is treated with this sort of suspicion, not least when they try to kidnap the Doctor. Their leader, Valentina Shuskin, is at one point nicknamed “The Bitch Queen of Leningrad”.
- The Greys: The Nedenah.
- History with Celebrity: The Doctor mentions meeting Wernher von Braun (a “sordid little man”) and teaching Jacques Cousteau everything he knows… although the narration reveals the latter is not true, as he chuckles at human gullibility.
- Hippie Van: The Doctor gets a lift in one “covered with poorly painted flowers against a purple starscape”. In case there’s any doubt as to who might own such a vehicle, the “hippie at the wheel” compliments the Doctor on his “groovy gear”.
- I Know Venusian Aikido: The Doctor tries to avert his kidnapping by Spetsnaz soldiers like this.
The Doctor: I should warn you that I am a tenth dan master in all of the major disciplines: Venusian aikido, Saturnian kung-fu. I trained as a Ninja on Quinnis in Galaxy Four. I’m not boasting, you understand. But I don’t believe a physical confrontation is in either of our interests.
- Imported Alien Phlebotinum: The CIA have been using Nedenah tech from the Roswell crash and are “bolting these weapons to experimental aircraft”.
- It Will Never Catch On: A pair of American UNIT officers discuss the unlikelihood of “Mad Ronnie” Reagan becoming president.
- Leave Behind a Pistol: Subverted. A spy who's been acting to undermine UNIT has discovered that his superiors have betrayed him, and has been captured and tortured by them as a result when he tried to defect. Later, one of his minders appears to leave a gun behind to end the spy's misery; he tries to, only to learn it's not loaded. His former boss then enters the room and bluntly tells him that he'll be the one to decide when it ends for him.
- Original Flavor: The book is divided into seven “parts” of a few chapters each, mirroring season seven’s trend for seven-part stories. (Interludes between parts, however, show off the broader scope a novel can use, as well as the globetrotting plot.)
- Roswell That Ends Well: The Brigadier has heard of Area 51, and gets to visit but is horrified by how the CIA keeps aliens in captivity, being reminded of a concentration camp.
