BASIC PLOT
The Doctor finds himself haunted by ghosts at sea. But ghosts can't possibly exist... can they?

DOCTOR
Fourth.

COMPANIONS
None.

MATERIALISATION CIRCUIT
Aboard the Queen Mary, October 1963.

PREPARATORY READING
None, although much of this follows up The Deadly Assassin.

CONTINUITY REFERENCES
Pg 16 "After my recent, and troubled, return to my home." The Deadly Assassin.

Pg 22 There's a brief mention of Daleks and Cybermen.

Pgs 45-46 "Denying reality was, I reasoned, something that had worked successfully for me in the past." The Deadly Assassin (but see Continuity Cock-Ups)

Pgs 47-48 "Was this, perhaps, an after-effect of my experiences within the Matrix on my recent visit to Gallifrey?" The Deadly Assassin.

Pgs 48-49 "I was reminded, briefly, of an incident in a darkened, shadowy French church in the 14th century." Uncertain reference.

Pg 61 "I hit the Fast Return switch, in irritation, for the first time in what seemed like a lifetime or three." The Fast Return Switch was seen in The Edge of Destruction and The Witch Hunters.

"This was different from the manifestations at Auderly House, the pulse spirits in the Cave of Horrors on Cassuragi III or haunted castles on the planet of Kambalana." Day of the Daleks, uncertain references.

Pg 88 "As a concept to define whether free will is merely an illusion after all?" This paraphrases a line from Inferno.

Pg 95 "I was reminded of a deep and lengthy conversation I had once shared with a Roman centurion, at a settlement near Condercum" This might have occurred during Byzantium!.

Pg 99 "From the pain and misery and the self-doubt and all those other things I thought I had left behind on Gallifrey and on Skaro." The Deadly Assassin, Genesis of the Daleks.

OLD FRIENDS AND OLD ENEMIES
None.

NEW FRIENDS AND NEW ENEMIES
Raymond Bryce and Jarvis are the only survivors, although in this case the dead may count, which would include Simpkins, Peter Osbourne and Miss Lamb.

CONTINUITY COCK-UPS

1. Pg 16 The Doctor describes the TARDIS as dematerialising, when it is quite plainly materialising.
2. Pg 26 "'That's what I thought,' he replied. 'At first.' I was curious. There was an unspoken yet dreadful implication that his opinion on the matter had now changed." Why does the Doctor say that it's unspoken, when the man just spoke it?
3. Pgs 45-46 "Denying reality was, I reasoned, something that had worked successfully for me in the past." In fact, that's not true, as the Doctor's attempts to deny reality in The Deadly Assassin last barely a second before Goth reasserts control and he's forced to play within the scenario created.

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

1. The Doctor is probably still thinking in terms of the vortex, so the TARDIS is dematerialising from it.
2. The Doctor isn't really listening.
3. The Doctor is denying reality in this very moment and it's working quite successfully.

FEATURED ALIEN RACES
None.

FEATURED LOCATIONS
Aboard the Queen Mary, October 1963.

IN SUMMARY - Robert Smith?
Writing a book in the first person narrative from the fourth Doctor is a huge mistake, with hideous results at times. The book has to work incredibly hard to overcome that, along with a number of other flaws, but the plot twists actually manage to keep this afloat. The identity of the passenger in cabin 672 is a stroke of genius (the set-up is divine) and the novella format aids this immeasurably. A book that could have been fabulous or awful, but ends up somewhere in the middle.