Deadfall
by Gary Russell


Publisher: Virgin
ISBN: 0 426 20513 8

     

    BASIC PLOT
    Jason Kane has found the perfect way to impress his ex-wife. With trusty crewman Emile, he sets off for the legendary planet of Ardethe. But they awaken something beneath the planet's surface and a ship full of female convicts only complicates the situation even more.

    COMPANIONS
    Irving Braxiatel, Wolsey, Chris Cwej, Jason Kane, Emile Mars-Smith.

    PREPARATORY READING
    Nothing absolutely essential, but this ties in to all books since Oh No It Isn't!

    CONTINUITY REFERENCES
    Story: Deadfall is a remake using elements of three of the fan-produced Audio Visuals produced by Bill Baggs. Firstly, 'The Space Wail' with Stephen Payne as the Doctor introduced BABE was the series pilot. 'Planet of Lies' and 'Deadfall' introduced the convicts and their motivations, as well as Ardethe (not our Mystery Planet), and starred Nick Briggs as the Doctor. His companion Ria played Chris's role, and Ria's sister's role was similar to Jason's. Chris, Jason and Emile are all amalgamations of Truman Crouch.

    Pg 1 "BIOMORPHIC ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE" Another Biomorphic intelligence, the BOSS (Biomorphic Organisational Systems Supervisor) supercomputer appeared in 'The Green Death'

    Pg 2 Marianne Townsend: Also appears in Divided Loyalties.

    Pg 27 "On the back was a small symbol" This might be the Seal of Rassilon, given Chris's associations with the Time Lords (Lungbarrow, Dead Romance).

    "We have to retrieve the receptacle for the Baygent Apotheosis" Vazlov Baygent, former Earth President from Geneva in the 23d Century and founder of the Knights of Jeneve (Dragons' Wrath), who are possibly what UNIT evolves into.

    Pg 28 "Garland College", "the Witch & Whirlwind" Many of the buildings of St. Oscar's are based on The Wizard of Oz, as seen in Oh No It Isn't!

    Pg 29 "And even a couple of Ootsie" Red feathered alien students at St. Oscar's, seen in Oh No It Isn't!

    "Down Among the Dead Men - Slight Return" Down Among the Dead Men was the title of Bernice's first textbook (or coffee-table book). The first reference made to it was in Theatre of War. Its name was a reference to the little-known Goon Show movie Down Among the 'Z' Men. 'Down Among the Dead Men' was the name of a song popular at the time the film was made, and its finale is the refrain from the song.

    Pg 31 "Try to win some of her credits back from Pluse" Vitor Pluse is part of Benny's tutorial group from Oh No It Isn't!. He's a Linnekerist and keeps making jokes about Chelonians.

    "Sounds more like Professor Warrinder, actually" Warrinder is a Pakhar, one of a race of three-foot tall mice, also introduced in Oh No It Isn't!. Gary Russell introduced the Pakhars in Legacy. Warrinder is also a powerful psychic. He is the Head of the Psi Department at St. Oscar's.

    Pg 32 "Trying to deal with [...] Matt Doran" Matt Doran is meant to be Michael Doran, another of Benny's students from Oh No It Isn't! He had a crush on her.

    Natural Path: Fundamentalist religious group which dominates Emile Mars-Smith's home and native relay station. Mentioned in Beyond the Sun.

    "She had met Emile Mars-Smith a while back" Gay companion of Benny's from Beyond the Sun.

    "He was infatuated by an Ursulan anarchist called Scott" The Ursulans were a peaceful anarchist people with interchangeable sexual roles which were born from Blooms on the planet Ursu in Beyond the Sun.

    "Another St. Oscar's student called Tameka" Friend and fellow student of Emile's from Beyond the Sun.

    Pg 34 Jayne Waspo is another student of Benny's from Oh No It Isn't!.

    Pg 35 "He might bring Michael and Leon" Scott's two surviving siblings from the Eight he was born in from a Bloom (Beyond the Sun).

    "And Kitzinger's still there" A human who works with the Blooms in bringing up babies (Beyond the Sun).

    Pg 38 "You would have more room for your Professor Nightshade figure" Relic of mid-20th Century England from Nightshade. Played by Edmund Trevithick, the storyline was halfway between Professor Quatermass and the early Dr Who.

    Pg 40 "And, in light of the Orion War" This is from the Audio Visual Sword of Orion, later remade as a Big Finish audio.

    Pg 41 "Doctor Archduke knows what we are planning." Professor Ferdinand Archduke: Part-time pantomime villain, specialist in Obscure Theatrical Forms at St. Oscar's and agent of the Knights of Jeneve, an underground cult dedicated to the resurrection of Vazlov Baygent (Dragons' Wrath).

    Pg 44 Marjorie Marjorie is a friendly pink-haired student of Benny's from Oh No It Isn't!

    Pg 47 "Nice guy, studies Euterpian music theory" The Euterpians were the aliens in Invasion of the Cat-People.

    Pg 57 The Hyperion II or that spanking new Empress VII" The Hyperion III appeared in Terror of the Vervoids and The Empress (presumably the original version) appeared in Nightmare of Eden.

    Pg 59 "Good morning BABE" Artificial Intelligences, AIs, are usually given names in capital letters, such as FLORANCE from Transit etc.

    Pg 61 "The Shabooj'm were a pretty stupid race" In the Audio Visual 'Planet of Lies' the Shabooj'm were the only survivors of Gallifrey, descendents of the Shobogans from The Deadly Assassin.

    Pg 62 "His young ranger foreman, Truman Crouch" One of the Doctor's companions from the Audio Visuals.

    Pg 68 "There you are Guppy" Tolland's words to his fish on this page are also the first scene which also appears in the Audio Visual 'Deadfall'.

    Pg 78 "The courtroom on Kastor Major" Ardethe/Gallifrey is in the constellation of Kasterborous.

    Pg 79 "Apparently there was a triple dwarf-star-alloy hatchway separating the two sections of the ship" The Privateer in Warrior's Gate had a hull of dwarf-star alloy, and Roz Forrester crushed the Aegisthus N-Form under a million-ton slab of it in So Vile A Sin. Someone also has a dwarf-star earring in Where Angels Fear, which must be rather heavy.

    Pg 98 "Bloody cobalt bombs" We also see these in Revenge of the Cybermen.

    Pg 112 "Professor Pul Zooss of the Krytell Science Foundation" The Krytell Science Foundation is run by Marcus Krytell, a Very Rich Man who initially funded St. Oscar's University, according to Oh No It Isn't!. He had dealings with Bernice in Ship of Fools.

    Pg 113 "Remember that big orange lady from Cantrya?" Cantyra was first mentioned in Destiny of the Daleks; one of the Daleks' slaves was from there. Also mentioned in Legacy.

    Pg 114 "The snowscapes of Frijor III" Taken from the AV play 'Enclave Irrelative'.

    "The Mutant Mice of Mogar" In Terror of the Vervoids Mogar is a methane-atmosphere planet being exploited by the Earth Empire; the Hyperion III is travelling from Mogar to Earth. There were no mice on board, mutant or otherwise.

    Pg 127 "Emmanuel College, Cambridge" The Doctor and Romana punted on the Cam in Shada.

    Pg 158 "Her great-grandparents had been among the original settlers in the Indra system" The Indra system appeared in Lords of the Storm.

    Pg 165 "Do we know each other?" Chris and Emile have never met, but Chris met an Emile-like character in Matthew Jones' first book, Bad Therapy, named Jack. Gary Russell at first intended to use Jack in Deadfall, but was faced with the problem to transporting him from 1950s London to 2593 Dellah. When he read about Emile in Beyond the Sun he realised a much simpler solution.

    Pg 184 "The leading academic at Earth Literature was Doctor Archduke, their friend with contacts in low places." First appeared in Oh No It Isn't! "Ripley's Believe it or FO" Also mentioned in Ghost Devices.

    Pg 191 "You were my best man, twice" At Bernice's wedding in Happy Endings there was an accident with a Gallifreyan genetic loom and some over-effective fertiliser called Bloom. Jason ended up with a body double who ran away with Ace and was never seen again.

    Pg 192 "Something about my DNA - bepple" When we first met Chris in Original Sin he had followed through on a 30th-Century fad and had his genetic matrix tweaked, or beppled, to make him look more like a lion: pointy teeth, body hair and so on. When he nearly burned to death in a car crash soon afterward, his body was healed in a bepple chamber so that, to all outward appearences, he looked completely human again (besides his stunning Aryan features and build.) Open his mouth, though, and you'll see he still has pointy teeth.

    Pg 210 "Conscript them all, have them serve in the Auxies for a while." After leaving the Doctor in Love and War, Ace served in Space Fleet and the Irregular Auxiliaries for a few years around 2570, fighting Daleks until she met the Doctor again in Deceit.

    Pg 212 "Originally called the Keller Principle" The Mind of Evil.

    Pg 216 "Ji'mli'n the Pakhar" Pakhars were first introduced in Legacy.

    Pg 217 "He'd have words with Professor Follett" First mentioned in Oh No It Isn't! and then seen in Dragons' Wrath, Follett is Bernice's head of department in Archaeology at St. Oscar's. He is a reptile who breathes chlorine.

    Pg 232 "Wild Bill Hickok" The eighth Doctor's outfit is stolen from someone going to a fancy dress party as Wild Bill Hickok in the Telemovie.

    Pg 233 "Military service during the great wars of '53" The wars have been mentioned in previous New Adventures such as Down; they almost coincide with the Dalek wars in which Ace fought, which take place after Frontier in Space and Planet of the Daleks. "There he was, working for Spinward, fresh out of military college on Io" First mentioned in Deceit, the Spinward Corporation was one of the first Multi-Planetary Corporations in the 22nd Century. Spinward was first known as the Butler Corporation in 2009 in Cat's Cradle: Warhead, when it was responsible for trying to put human consciousness into machines instead of repairing the environment. In 2107, according to A History of the Universe, Butler merged with Eurogen to become the EB Corporation. Such corporations eventually took the Earth into receivership when the government collapsed in Lucifer Rising, just before the Dalek Invasion in 2157. In Deceit, Spinward were running a colony on the planet Arcadia for sinister purposes; the colony ship EBC Back to Nature had left for Arcadia in 2112. EBC eventually became Spinward. Ace's Auxies were sent to Arcadia ostensibly to fight Daleks, but really to blow the whistle on Spinward for the Earth Government. Tolland worked for Spinward during the war in 2553; the Arcadia mission was in 2573; Deadfall takes place in 2593. Io is the home of Roz Forrester's family in So Vile A Sin in 2977. In Legacy in 3985 the Galactic Federation, the Earth Empire's successor, has terraformed Io over 70 years and turned it into their headquarters.

    Pg 237 Del Ravella and Mark Tarrant: These are two names inspired by favourite names for Terry Nation characters.

    Pg 239 "And you have limited developed psi powers as well" In SLEEPY Chris's until-then unknown psi-powers became briefly active. NA continuity has it that psi-powers slowly unfold in humans over the next few hundred years from now.

    Pg 242 "Geneva Convention Corp" Cover name for the Knights of Jeneve, themselves a future incarnation of UNIT.

    Pg 243 "They make the Tzun looklike firework manufacturers" The Tzun Confederacy are a militaristic group of aliens who attempted to take over Earth in 1957 with the Master's assistance in First Frontier. A survivor of that encounter made its way to Little Caldwell, home of a group of time-travellers concerned with repatriating survivors of alien invasions in the 1980s in Return of the Living Dad. The Tzun also appear in Bullet Time, but aren't named.

    Pg 256 "I'm trained, you see, to avoid hypnotism" The Guild of Adjudicators trains its people, such as Chris, to withstand psychic attack.

    Pg 257 "Chris started putting a TSS suit on" In Kinda the Total Survival Suit was a machine that rolled around the jungle with Earth colonials such as Commander Sanders in them; here the TSS suit is more of an ordinary space suit.

    Pg 258 "I'm going for a walk outside. I may be some time" Quotation from the diary of Robert Falcon Scott, the Antarctic explorer. One of Scott's companions, Ensign Oates, left the expedition's tent to save food for the others and died in the snow. According to Scott's diary these were his last words. Also quoted in Earthshock.

    Pg 263 "The Shakespeare building" Introduced in Dragons' Wrath.

    Pg 264 "Please don't kill her: This passage is lifted wholesale from the end of Death and Diplomacy at which point Benny introduces the Doctor to Jason; at that time the comment was necessary because the Doctor had been suspected of playing a role in the death of Ace's lover, Jan, in Love and War, and also because people in general tend to die near the Doctor because of his own magnetism to murderous alien monsters. However, this is basically ignored in Oblivion.

    OLD FRIENDS AND OLD ENEMIES
    Matt (Michael) Doran, Vitor Pluse, Tameka

    NEW FRIENDS AND NEW ENEMIES
    Marianne Townsend, who, despite dying in this book, later appears in Divided Loyalties.

    The Jithii, brain eating aliens.

    Charlene Connor, Jason's fiance.

    Jake Garrett, newsreader for DNN

    Blummer, Lloyd and Smokey the cat.

    CONTINUITY COCK-UPS

    1. Cover: The blue orb in the left background is obviously meant to be a moon, missing the point: The story doesn't take place on the multi-lunified Ardethe, but the solitary mystery planet. (In the Audio Visual 'Planet of Lies' Ardethe is the name given to Gallifrey after the destruction of the Time Lord civilisation there.)
    2. On page 8, Captain Lidiard is six foot three, whereas on page 16 Ensign Sax towers a good foot taller than her Captain. However, on page 17, Ensign Sax briefly becomes male, being referred to as "Mr Sax", but is then female again at the bottom of the page.
    3. Pg 32 "Trying to deal with [...] Matt Doran" Matt Doran is meant to be Michael Doran, another of Benny's students from Oh No It Isn't! who had a crush on her.
    4. Pgs 32-33 "She had returned to Dellah pregnant [...] and given birth to a son" Scott got Tameka pregnant in Beyond the Sun, and she's already given birth roughly three months later.
    5. Pg 112 "Professor Pul Zooss of the Krytell Science Foundation" The Krytell Science Foundation is run by Marcus Krytell, a Very Rich Man who initially funded St. Oscar's University, according to Oh No It Isn't!. He had dealings with Bernice in Ship of Fools. How the Foundation manages to still be around by this book is a mystery; at the end of Ship of Fools Krytell was exposed holding a stolen Olabrian joy-luck crystal, with the entire Olabrian society gearing up to lynch him.
    6. Pg 114 According to the introduction to Terror of the Vervoids the story takes place in 2986; in 2593 Mogar has not yet been exploited.

    PLUGGING THE HOLES [Fan-wank theorizing of how to fix continuity cock-ups]

    1. The image might be a representation of a Jithii.
    2. Ensign Sax must be some sort of huge shapeshifting alien, with telepathic powers that fool his/her colleagues into believe s/he is a different gender when it suits him/her.
    3. Benny's student is named Michael Matthew Doran and sometimes goes by his middle name.
    4. Scott's alien nature presumably explains the shorter gestation period.
    5. The Krytell Foundation presumably maintained the name after the death of its founder.
    6. Mogar might not have been exploited yet, but it might still have been discovered by humans.

    FEATURED ALIEN RACES
    The Jithii.

    FEATURED LOCATIONS
    The Administration Military Ship Trigan

    Ardethe

    Dellah

    The prison ship The KayBee 2.

    IN SUMMARY - Robert Smith?
    It's one of Gary Russell's better books, but compared to most of the Benny books it's one of the few disappointments. Trying to do fanwank in the new Benny line was at least a novel idea, although the flipside is that all the continuity errors make it hard to take the book seriously. Gary writes Benny beautifully, which makes it a bit of a shame that she's hardly in it. Once it gets going it's entertaining enough, but it isn't a book that dates particularly well.