Anthologies and Novels

"EDEN BY ANNIHILATION" (2020)

(Second Edition, 2022)

WHO'S WHO? (No Spoilers)

Born from a fatal case of blood poisoning, the Sixth Doctor has made for the most unpredictable incarnation of the infamous Time Lord to date. Passionate and boisterous, his apparent egocentrism and irascible demeanour belies a genuine care for his friends and the peoples of the planets he visits.

In his travels, the Doctor is accompanied by two companions. American botanist Perpugilliam “Peri” Brown and Xenon shapeshifter Avan “Frobisher” Tarklu. The first, he inherited from his predecessor during a crisis on the planet Sarn. The latter, from a stellar-wide manhunt for the Time Lord by the malevolent profiteer Dogbolter.

Together, the Doctor, Peri and Frobisher’s rovings have brought them to many worlds and cultures from across the cosmos. This is another such tale.

Author Commentary (*Spoilers)

Alan Camlann

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.
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 that 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 Mentality speaks to the Doctor and 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.
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 unusual placement presented an opportunity for the Doctor and Peri's newly-strengthened friendship to aid two others struggling in similar circumstances.
Peri's memory of her mother's behaviour following her father's death, mirrors that of another character played by Claudia Christian (Janine Foster). That of Susan Ivanova of Babylon 5.
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.
At one point in the story, Peri and Frobisher recognise one another from a shout of "Ivanhoe!" Ivanhoe, the 1958-59 television series starring Roger Moore, also featured Jon Pertwee (The Third Doctor) in the prominent guest role of Peter the Peddler. The two companions' shared recognition of the call was also a reference to the comic, Time Bomb, where Frobisher mentions watching Godzilla on video with Peri.
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.

The Sixth Doctor reads "There Will Come Soft Rains"

(The Sixth Doctor performed by Brian Corrigan
Soundtrack sourced from music composed by Peter Howell
"There Will Come Soft Rains" written by Sara Teasdale
Special thanks to Jacob Licklider
Soundbite arranged by Alan Camlann)

"TBA" (TBC)

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