Prologue
You can find a quote in Shakespeare to fit most things, but
the ‘abysm of time’ line from The Tempest seemed absolutely
right here. The Tempest is also Shakespeare’s last play and
Prospero is another magical figure and arch-manipulator, not
unlike the Doctor. Maybe he is a Doctor, 12th or 13th
incarnation. Now there’s a thought. They do say that if
Shakespeare was alive today, he’d be writing for television...
The Other’s garden is reminiscent of the rose garden in
which we see the First Doctor, Hartnell in Three Doctors and
Hurndall in Five Doctors. It also reappears as the Doctor’s
imaginary garden in Auld Mortality.
According to Cat’s Cradle: Time’s Crucible, the
Gallifreyans of the Old Time were all linked by telepathy.
There was a continuous commentary in their heads reflecting
the communal mood and public opinion. A bit like a telepathic
chatroom. By the Doctor’s time, that ability has declined to a
mere remnant of its past, but it still exists within families.
The Doctor and Susan were supposed to have a degree of
telepathic empathy. The Doctor’s Cousin Innocet has strongly
developed powers. And the living House is in telepathic
sympathy with its Housekeeper. And, of course, the TARDIS has
telepathic circuits.
Ben Aaronovitch and Andrew Cartmel were especially proud of
the Hand of Omega, because it was old, battered and
believable. Not the star spangled stuff of most TV science
fiction.
Eighth Man Bound first appeared in Lawrence Miles’s
Christmas on a Rational Planet. It’s a game played by students
on Gallifrey, in which they foresee their possible future
lives. The rhyme in Chris’s head seems to list the Doctor’s
lives so far. The Doctor couldn’t see beyond his seventh
incarnation, and it worries him...
The scene with Badger is a bit of an info-dump to set up
the location and family. But it also harks back to those
magical childhoods in classic children’s books. The start of a
Big Adventure. It’s very C.S. Lewis and Arthur Ransome. All
old houses and schoolrooms and sunlight. I thought it was the
sort of childhood that the Doctor should have had. Even if he
does look about twenty.
Badger is essentially the Doctor’s first companion. When we
needed a visual reference for the original book cover, I asked
Mike Tucker to come up with a design. Mike, bless him, turned
up on my doorstep with a complete plasticine maquette, ram's
horns, dangling eye and all. The Virgin cover design was a bit
slimline compared to the original, but Daryl Joyce has gone
back to the original for his wonderful illustrations here.
Badger’s zigzag fur comes from one of the skins worn by an
Outler in The Invasion of Time.
