DOCTOR WHO
"EDEN BY ANNIHILATION"
Facing death inside a living planet.
Starring the Sixth Doctor, Peri Brown and Frobisher
Starring the Sixth Doctor, Peri Brown and Frobisher
It was a monument to wanton slaughter and the Doctor detested every facet of it. On the edge of space lies Natasia Tor, a sargasso of dead spacecraft, through which members of the Affiliation of Outer Free Worlds and the Tyrikan Resurgance are forbidden to travel. When the TARDIS materialises in the eighty-second century, the Doctor, Peri and Frobisher discover the region to be far from unoccupied. At the heart of the mausoleum in space, something vast and terrible has begun to wake... Who are the Vaisyan Lonewatch and their opponents? What links the mysterious object with a planet known as Trailblazer Prime? And can the Doctor and his friends escape a violent and bloody fate from a war set to ignite the Galaxy? Episodic Version:
Full Version:
WHO'S WHO? (SPOILER-FREE)
This novel can be read with no prior knowledge of this Doctor or his companions.
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(Second Edition, 2022)
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Addenda:
Author Commentary for "Eden by annihilation" (*Spoilers) by alan camlann
Alan Camlann
- Working titles included Weapon in Space and Instruments of Destruction.
- The mutual subplots of the Doctor with Azovka and Peri with Maestric was a deliberate response to the character development that both time-travellers received during Big Finish Productions's The Lost Stories audio dramas. Eden By Annihilation's placement -- prior to The Trial of a Time Lord -- presented an opportunity for the Doctor and Peri's newly-strengthened friendship to aid two others struggling in similar circumstances.
- An innocuous tune can reveal much. The Doctor's humming of "A-Huntin' We Will Go" is an oblique reference to The War Games. However, Eden By Annihilation shares more in common with the Cold War themes of WarGames, the 1983 film starring Matthew Broderick.
- The idea behind the novel began from an Omni magazine article from the 1980s debating how to plan for a nuclear war. Fittingly, the Doctor also quotes Sara Teasdale's poem, "There Will Come Soft Rains", which features themes strongly similar to the novel. Eden By Annihilation was written with the 1980s zeitgeist of such widely-watched programmes as Threads and Edge of Darkness in mind.
- As published in 2020, the Sixth Doctor's fondness for Winnie-the-Pooh was initially intended as a incarnation-specific homage to other literary classics. Similar to the appearance of JRR Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings in Once Upon a Time Lord. However, since the release of stories like The Doomsday Contract in 2021, it seems a number of incarnations have shown a happy appreciation for A.A. Milne.
- The Central Mentality speaks to the Doctor and Telle Azovka in a series of dashes and dots. Those lines are in Morse code and can be translated into some rather eerie dialogue from the Mentality itself.
- Peri's memory of her mother's behaviour following her father's death, mirrors that of another character played by actress Claudia Christian (Janine Foster). That of Susan Ivanova of Babylon 5.
- At one point in the story, Peri and Frobisher recognise one another from a shout of "Ivanhoe!" Ivanhoe, a 1958-59 television series starring Roger Moore, also featured a prominent Doctor Who stalwart. Jon Pertwee (The Third Doctor) in the guest role of Peter the Peddler. The two companions' shared recognition of the call is also a reference to the comic, Time Bomb, where Frobisher mentions watching Godzilla on video with Peri. Who says a night with friends can't save your life?
- The name "Azovka" comes from a figure in a Finnic folktale, who commonly features in folklore about a treasure sealed deep in the Ural Mountains. Likewise, Azovka, Maestric and Dellevar's home planet, Briar Rose, is a reference to the Brothers Grimm's Little Briar Rose, more widely known as Sleeping Beauty. A hint, for eagle-eyed readers, on the Central Mentality's true nature.
- The Doctor's thought of Azovka "balancing the scales" can be seen as his response to the events of The World Shapers. The last Sixth Doctor, Peri and Frobisher comic of 1987, which ended with victory for the Time Lords, but tragedy for the Doctor.
Audio Production: