BASIC PLOT
A new video game has been launched; it's a big hit, and you can even win copies on scratchcards at the supermarket. There are all sorts of other prizes too - like holidays. That's what people are desperate to win - it's so hot, they want to get away for as long as possible. So it's really no surprise when they just don't return...

DOCTOR
Ninth.

COMPANIONS
Rose Tyler, Jackie Tyler and Mickey Smith.

MATERIALISATION CIRCUIT
Pg 13 In its usual place at the Powell Estate.

Pg 147 In the waiting room on the planet Toop.

Pg 237 By the Mantodean pit, the planet Toop.

PREPARATORY READING
None.

CONTINUITY REFERENCES
Pg 22 "There were a pile of games on the floor: Gran Turismo, Resident Evil, Bad Wolf, Timesplitters 2, loads of football stuff." Obligatory Bad Wolf reference for stories set during the Eccleston era.

Pg 30 "Oi, slag, heard your boyfriend done you in." As mentioned in Aliens of London.

"That made her flush with anger, anger for her mother and her long-dead father, but then she thought again about the aliens she'd faced, and imagined Darren Pye wetting himself if he came face to face with the Nestene Consciousness or something" Rose's father was seen in Father's Day, Rise of the Cybermen/The Age of Steel and Army of Ghosts/Doomsday, while the Nestene Consciousness was seen in Rose.

Pg 32 "Not uglier, though, and that's saying plenty if you've ever seen a Slitheen." Aliens of London/World War Three, Boom Town.

Pg 36 "There was nothing much except an old box of cereal and a giant jar of pickled onions" As we saw in World War Three.

Pg 53 "You've managed to reverse teleportation before" The End of the World.

Pg 67 "Didn't they say that footsteps remained on the moon for ever, because there was no wind to disperse them? Perhaps one day the Doctor would take her there, and she could see for herself." This is the setup for I am a Dalek.

Pg 189 "Further kudos derived by his having been suspecting of murdering her, even though it'd turned out that he hadn't." Aliens of London (but see Continuity Cock-Ups).

Pg 198 "That's Rose Tyler! The one who -" ...Mickey didn't murder, in Aliens of London.

Pg 234 "The box might say 'Police Public Call Box' on the outside, but the Doctor told him that was just for disguise." As he did in Rose, as well.

Pg 235 "'Yes, yes, I can take you to the furthest corners of the universe, I say, to infinity and beyond, and everyone's always, oh that's nice, that's good, but as soon as I mention it travels in time as well...' He flicked a switch on this amazingly bizarre-o giant glowing mushroom in the middle of the fantastic control room. 'Rose was just the same.'" As seen at the end of the episode Rose and emphasised in Father's Day.

OLD FRIENDS AND OLD ENEMIES
None.

NEW FRIENDS AND NEW ENEMIES
Robert, Daisy, Rachel and Daniel Goldberg, Mr and Mrs Snow, Mr and Mrs Nkomo, Jason Jones, Kevin.

CONTINUITY COCK-UPS

1. Front Cover: The six buildings of the Powell Estate are actually three buildings photoshopped twice. There's a tree in the middle that's trying to hide this, but there's an odd discontinuity with the blue car next to the red van, which is half disappearing into the ether.
2. Pg 9 "Make sure the family silver gets a good polish ready." Huh?
3. Pg 139 "The one who would send your anyone to their death for less than the price of a telly." Say what?
4. Pg 189 "Further kudos derived by his having been suspecting of murdering her" Sorry?

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

1. Something similar happens in the opening moments of The War Machines, so perhaps it's a side-effect of the TARDIS materialising.
2. Rose is nervous about calling her Mum in front of the Doctor and trips over her words.
3. Mickey is so scared of Darren he trips over his thoughts.
4. Mickey is trying to impress the gang and is tripping over his thoughts. This evidently happens a lot on the Powell Estate.

FEATURED ALIEN RACES
Pg 35 Quevvils, giant porcupines.

Pg 181 Mantodeans, giant Praying Mantises.

FEATURED LOCATIONS
Pg 13 The Powell Estate and surroundings, London, 2006.

Pg 34 The planet Toop.

IN SUMMARY - Robert Smith?
Well, it's the best of the sorry bunch, but that isn't saying much. Sticking to the Powell Estate works remarkably well, which gives the early parts of the novel a boost. The domestic stuff in the first half, with the neighbourhood videogame mystery, is pretty good. But then it devolves into a children's game, around the time we get an irritating eight year old with his irritating viewpoint commentary... except that we're told at the end that he's a teenager. I'm not sure what the author's teen years were like, but they must have been a bit strange if this is the way she imagines teenagers think. Mickey gets some decent stuff, which helps a lot, but the Doctor's voice is terrible. Oh, and Rose de-ages about six years. But that's something we're probably going to have to get used to, isn't it?