Dying Days

by Lance Parkin

Spine creases and slight corner bumps. Text extremely clean. Presents well. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0426205049
• ISBN13: 9780426205043
• Release Date: January 1997
• Publisher: Virgin Publishing
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 4.4" x 7.0"

Customer Reviews

And, finally, here we are at the beginning

After the massive story that was Lungbarrow, the Virgin line still had one more book to go before it folded and the BBC took everything back. On TV the seventh Doctor had already regenerated into Paul McGann and so what we got here was not just the only Virgin book featuring the eighth Doctor, but the only meeting of the eighth Doctor and Bernice Summerfield, who would go on to star in the Doctor-less New Adventures for some time before that line eventually collapsed. As such the book isn't that easy to find and if I hadn't bought a copy when it came out ten years ago and forgotten to read it, I wouldn't have one either. After spending so much time with the McCoy Doctor, it was weird to read a book featuring a totally new incarnation, especially since I've never seen the Fox movie, or read any of the BBC novels (yet), so I really didn't know what to expect. But it was kind of fun, the eighth Doctor is much lighter than his predecessor, not as manipulative, not flamboyant but still exuberant and still remarkably clever. The Doctor meets Bernice, who is unaware that he regenerated, on Earth, just as a group of British astronauts reach Mars and see something that they aren't supposed to see. Cue the incoming Martians, as well as a coup to take over the British government. In the meantime old friends appear, like UNIT and all that entails (the Brigadier, not surprised at the Doctor's appearance, since they met in his future in some unspecified adventure) and much chaos ensues, as the team tries to figure out just what the Ice Warriors' plans are and then how to stop them. As the last New Adventure it's a little disappointing because those books were so engaged in pushing the boundaries of the show's mythology and what kinds of stories you could tell, and yet this is a basic Doctor Who romp, featuring old friends and enemies and a situation we'd seen many times on the show before. Still, it's great fun if you don't look at the context of the line ending, or expect anything super-deep. Parkin has a great handle on every character and manages to shade them with a lot of nuances . . . the Ice Warriors are ruthless but aren't really evil, a scene where the leader imagines taking some Earth art back to Mars to display in a museum was a nice touch. Being that the Doctor had not appeared in print in this incarnation yet (the Virgin book beats the BBC line debut by a few months, although this novel takes place later in the chronology, by all reports) he does a good job at giving us an idea of this new Doctor, sketching out some of his quirks and foibles but overall convincing us that it's the same man, yet different. The novel, although simple, moves quickly and doesn't suffer too much from the Doctor being taken out of action for a good chunk of it. Bernice is fun as always, her interaction with the new Doctor is poignant, as she realizes that the small funny man is gone and isn't coming back (probably the most wrenching scene in the novel is ea

Better then the TV movie!

Well I have to give Lance Parkin credit, the man knows his Who. I read this book 2 days after it was released here in the states. I was working a 3rd shift job at the time so every minute I had I was either sleeping or with my Girlfriend. I would take this book to work, read it on the way to work, in the bathroom... even inbetween breaks at work. It was that good. Parkin had the character of the McGann Doctor down to a science. And it was nice to have something that expanded from the Fox movie so well. And a UNIT story to boot! A wonderful teaming with Bernice and a beautiful, tearfull ending as the two parted ways, knowing full well even though the Doctor claimed he'd see her again, we knew due to legalities the two of them would never be teamed together again in offical continuity. It was nice that the Virgin Series ended on such a high note. I recommend The Dying Days very much and due to its very limited print run and availability buy it at any price under $100.00 if you can afford it. It's a classic in Doctor Who stories right up there next to Lungbarrow which I also highly reccomend.

A good book for any Whoovian

"The Dying Days" by Lance Parkin was rather a neat segue into the New New Adventures. A Martian invasion of Earth, arranged by a British politician who got in cahoots with the Martians some twenty years ago through a suspected axe murdering astronaut. I know, I know, it all sounds so ridiculously improbable, even for fiction, but that's what Doctor Who is about, overcoming insurmountable odds and finding yourself in the most bizarre situations! That's what makes it Doctor Who in the classic sense. It is a kind of an annoying blur in the vision of your mind's eye, when the Doctor disappears in the middle of the book, but of course he re-appears towards the end, to save the day. I think this was to give Benny a leg up on her own New Adventures, which I have not yet tried, but am looking forward to as Benny is a really neat, interesting, likeable character. This is one of the better New Adventures, and I look forward to New New Adventures in the future!

Dying Days: Bittersweet farewell

The Dying Days demonstrates both how good a writer Lance Parkin is, and how sad it is that the Doctor has been snatched from Virgin Publishing's hands. The plot hangs together well enough for novice readers and has enough in-jokes that long=time fans of Doctor Who and the New Adventures will have some good chuckles. All in all, a good book. The return of the ice warriors is welcome, and another glance at UNIT is always good.

Unfortunately last of a great series

Virgin's only 8th Doctor New Adventure, and a sight better than most of the BBC's own 8th Doctor Books, this is a must read for fans of the NA's. The sad thing is it hints at how good a Virgin-produced 8th Doctor line could have been.