Wedding Notes

Many New Adventures novels contain a multitude of continuity references in the form of links to the television series, other New (and Missing) Adventures novels, and both behind-the-scenes and fan-related in-jokes. The fiftieth New Adventures novel, Happy Endings by Paul Cornell, was undoubtedly - and appropriately - the most continuity reference-laden of all.

To identify and understand the meaning of the many links it is necessary to have read most if not all of the preceding forty-nine novels. For the benefit of less well-read readers of Happy Endings, I have compiled this user-friendly guide to the novel, covering not only the links to other novels but also some of the wider 'popular culture' connections.

Although I had done all of the 'required reading' before undertaking this task, I still ran into difficulties with some of the more cryptic or obscure references. I am therefore indebted to Peter Adamson, who identified some of the music links, and also most importantly, to the novel's author, Paul Cornell, who very kindly took the time to provide answers to my long and detailed list of questions. I was particularly surprised by a couple of Cornell's revelations, and all of the material he provided is featured here. I have quoted directly from Paul's answers wherever appropriate.

Numbers in parentheses refer to page numbers in Happy Endings.

The Wrong Kind of Snow

Romana returned to Gallifrey in Blood Harvest. Castellan Spandrell, originally from The Deadly Assassin, was reintroduced in Blood Harvest. Romana and Spandrell also appeared in Goth Opera. The Tharils (1) are from Warriors' Gate. The Land of Fiction (2) previously appeared in The Mind Robber, Conundrum and Head Games. The Great Old Ones are the Cthulhu Gods from White Darkness and Millennial Rites. Legion is from Lucifer Rising.

Death and Time (2) have cropped up in earlier Cornell novels, dating back to Revelation. Here they are defined as Eternals, from Enlightenment. Fortean Flickers are from The Highest Science, and the situation with the Chelonians that Spandrell and Romana discover and resolve is as the Doctor left it at the end of that novel.

Pre-Titles Sequence

The Pakhars, in particular Keri and her assistant Kitai, originate in Legacy. Jason Kane is introduced in Death and Diplomacy.

The Unformed Heart

The effort to improve in Earth's ecosystem, termed the 'Reconstruction', rationalises the vision of a heavily polluted environment, as it is portrayed in Warhead and Iceberg, with future adventures set in an environmentally healthy world. Lance Parkin's A History of the Universe explains this in greater depth.

Cheldon Bonniface is the same village that appeared extensively in Cornell's first novel, Revelation, as did the Reverend Ernest Trelaw, Saul, Peter and Emily Hutchings, and the Black Swan. Ishtar was the artificially grown baby into which the Doctor placed the mind of the Timewyrm at the end of Revelation. She is named after the alien woman in Genesys who became the Timewyrm.

"Doctor, this is my fiance. Please don't kill him." (14), originates in Death and Diplomacy.

The Tzun (17), or Maleans, appear in First Frontier.

"All that moon stuff" (20) is a reference to the events of Revelation, when the Timewyrm transported Saul's church to the surface of the moon.

Emily Hutchings's attitude to her novel writing (22) reflects Paul Cornell's own views on his New Adventures novels. "In the sense that she'd like to be cynical enough to just churn them out, but actually finds that all her care does go into them, and that she gets very defensive about anybody criticising them."

The word "cruk" (25) was introduced to the New Adventures in 1993 as an alternative for a similar swear word after complaints over its use in novels such as Transit and Iceberg.

The Doctor knowing who killed the Kennedys (26) is possibly a reference to Who Killed Kennedy.

The Pythia was an ill-fated high priestess on ancient Gallifrey who appeared in Time's Crucible.

Ace's name, Dorothee Sorina-McShane (27), dates from Set Piece. Dorothee is the French form of Dorothy. Sorina is from Count Sorin, the ancestor of the Captain Sorin in The Curse of Fenric. McShane is Ace's own surname, first devised by Cornell for Love and War but vetoed by Virgin for some time before finally appearing in print in Set Piece. It was however hinted at in Conundrum.

The conflict that erupted over Mars (28) is explained in Transit.

Bernice was tortured (29) in Just War; fell off a Silurian airship in Blood Heat, an Ismetch dirigible in St Anthony's Fire and a flying raft in Parasite; and was 'killed' in Falls the Shadow and twice in Head Games.

The Power of Cheap Music

Johnny Chess (36) is a pop star whom Ace idolised as a teenager, as noted in Revelation. Johnny Chess was invented by Keith Topping and has appeared in many of his fan fiction stories under the name Johnny Chester.

The Doctor's time-flow analogue device (36) is like the one he constructed in The Time Monster.

The Voltranon assault on Sydney (37) is first mentioned in Set Piece. The alternative future in which Dorothy stayed at home was seen in Revelation. Ka Faraq Gatri is the Daleks' name for the Doctor, first used in the novelisation of Remembrance of the Daleks. It has since appeared in numerous stories.

'An avatar of a little god of time' (38) refers to the seventh Doctor's role as Time's Champion in the New Adventures. The Doctor and Ace as 'the dragon and his apprentice' harkens back to the metaphor of Puff the Magic Dragon and Little Johnny Piper in Love and War and No Future, which is also explains the last line of this chapter.

Danny (40) is the punk musician who appeared in No Future. The Stone Roses, the Timewyrm and Ace being in the Doctor's head are all from Revelation. The Stone Roses were also mentioned in Nightshade.

The Isleys, Ronald, O'Kelly and Rudolph (41) are a real-life American black rock trio, who are adored by Bernice, as was first noted in Love and War. 'Twist and Shout' (42) is one of the Isleys' hit songs, released around 1962, later covered by the Beatles. The soccer match (43) is England winning the world cup final in 1966. The famous bit of commentary goes: 'They think it's all over... it is now!'

Frocks

Emily Hutchings asked Ace to stay with her and Peter (58) in Revelation.

Dorothee and Bernice listing their respective sexual partners (62) is derived from a similar scene in the film Four Weddings and a Funeral. Sabalom Glitz is from Dragonfire and Head Games. Jan is from Love and War.

Ernest Trelaw's last words: 'Fear makes companions of us all' (64) is also what he said near the end of Revelation.

The first two Neanderthals Dorothee met (65) were Nimrod in Ghost Light and Enkidu (from Mesopotamia) in Genesys. The third Neanderthal, Arnkush, is the product of what Cornell describes as "My own fevered imaginings." Peter the dentist is Cornell's "friend and dentist Peter Ware, who asked for this role very specifically."

The last person who said 'I love you' to Roz (65) was George Reed in Just War. 'Rupert something' is Rupert Hemmings from Revelation.

'The Kilbracken stuff' (66) refers to the unstable Kilbracken cloning technique mentioned in The Invisible Enemy.

Ace telephoned her mother (67) in Revelation.

The UNIT Family

The blockade of Westminster Bridge in the late 1990s (72) is a piece of history Cornell invented for this book.

The Brigadier's wife Doris appeared in Battlefield, along with Winifred Bambera and Ancelyn (73). Bambera also appears in Head Games. Mike Yates mentions Tom; this is Tommy at the meditation centre from Planet of the Spiders. Hamlet Macbeth is from The Left-Handed Hummingbird. His companion, Ruby Duvall (74), is from Iceberg. The bit about Ruby getting too close to Broadsword is invented for this book, but Tennant is UNIT Corporal Claire Tennant and Broadsword is the intelligence division of UNIT, both from No Future.

The Doctor regretting attending a Bucks Fizz concert (76) is invented for this novel.

Mike Yates, Benton and the Brigadier previously met Bernice (77) in No Future.

Hamlet Macbeth kidnapped the Doctor and tortured him (79) in The Left-Handed Hummingbird.

Kate (81) is the Brigadier's daughter from Downtime.

The Brigadier's service in Africa (82) was first mentioned in Transit. Kadiatu Lethbridge-Stewart previously appeared in Transit, Set Piece and The Also People. Her companion, aM!xitsa, is an artificial intelligence from The Also People, and takes on the disguise of an owl (83). Owls are a recurring motif in Paul Cornell's novels.

Chris describes the Doctor's fifth incarnation as a bepple (83), which is a transformation technique common to his own time, in Original Sin.

Isatu (84) was the African woman in Transit who had the Brigadier's child.

Ruby Duvall encountered the Cybermen (85) in Iceberg.

Kadiatu compares her time travelling spacecraft to something 'Zamper made' (86), referring to the spaceship construction yards in Zamper.

The Brigadier still uses the code name Greyhound Leader, which was his call sign in many UNIT stories.

The Adventure of the Curious Landowner, Chapter One

This chapter is narrated as a series of extracts from the journals of both Doctor Watson and Bernice. Andy Lane's All-Consuming Fire was written in the same fashion. Watson makes reference to this earlier adventure (88).

Bona Earth Reptiles

Although Jacquilian and Sanki (98) have met the Doctor before, this is the first time they have been mentioned. They are closely based on the characters Julian and Sandy in the radio comedy series Round the Horne, and Cornell points out that he even stole the "dragged up on deck" line (99) from one of the sketches.

Kit (99) was one of the members of the music group Plasticine in No Future, with Cob, Danny and Bernice. Kit's description of Bernice (100) is a nod to her primary inspiration, Emma Thompson, an English actress who has appeared in many Merchant Ivory films.

The Doctor turns down Kit's offer of a music deal, saying 'Last time I got involved in all that, I was so upset by it all that I had to fake a motorcycle crash and hire an actor to play me.' (101) Cornell explains: "It's just a joke about the commonly-held belief amongst Bob Dylan fans that Bob was an entirely different person after his motorcycle accident."

Writing in the Sand

The Brigadier's incomplete memory of Danny, the Vardan invasion and Artemis (103) all refer to No Future. The Doctor wiped the Brigadier's memory of the events of that adventure at the end of the novel.

The Brigadier's grandson 'Gordy' (Gordon) (104) appeared in Downtime. The Brigadier's mention of "Miss (Jo) Grant" leaving the Doctor's company once married is a reference to the end of The Green Death.

Cut to the Chase

Danny's wife Helen (107) was first mentioned at the end of No Future.

The Brigadier's joke about Keri (108) is a reference to the Australian Kerry Packer.

The spacecraft captured by the Americans (109), according to Cornell, refers to his prelude to No Future which appeared in Doctor Who Magazine 209. As for the spacecraft's origins, Cornell says "One might assume these to be Tzun craft."

When Danny says 'Just like seventy-six all over again' (113) he is referring to the riots in London of No Future.

The Adventure of the Curious Landowner, Chapter Two

Doctor Watson's observation that people only know his colleague by the name Sherlock Holmes and not by his real name (121) relates to the fact established in All-Consuming Fire that Watson changed their names for the purposes of publishing their exploits.

Interlude

Ruby Duvall wanted the Doctor to take her with him at the end of Iceberg.

Neville Cardus, Do Not Touch Me

Plasticine's song 'Oxford Street' (125) appeared in No Future. The Isley Brothers are about to sing 'Shout' (126), which was their first hit song.

Captain Traylen (127) is named after Steve Traylen, a fan who frequently writes for the internet newsgroup rec.arts.drwho.

'Brax' or Irving Braxiatel (130) previously appeared in Theatre of War and Empire of Glass. His famous collection was first mentioned in City of Death. 'Thete' is the Doctor's Gallifreyan nickname, Theta Sigma, first revealed in The Armageddon Factor and also mentioned in The Happiness Patrol.

Sgloomi Po the Sloathe, Captain Nathan Li Shao, Leetha, Kiru, and the Schirron Dream (131) are all from Sky Pirates! Captain Lisa Deranne is from Shakedown.

Dorothee's thoughts of Saul and 'that old guilt stuff' (134) relates to Revelation.

Guy (135) is Guy de Carnac, a medieval French mercenary with whom Bernice had a romantic involvement in Sanctuary.

Lisa Deranne mistakes Dorothee (146) for the ill-fated Mari from Shakedown (both characters were played by Sophie Aldred).

The Ice Warriors Savaar and Skeet (153) are from Legacy.

Oops! It's the Bishop

The Doctor appears deeply troubled over a sequel to King Kong (157), but Cornell says: "He's only wracking his brains for the right answer! You'd never have suspected anything else if this had been a Troughton novel... It does look sinister in retrospect."

Jacquilian's head wobbling with exertion when he uses his third eye (159) refers to the way in which the creatures' heads wobbled in Doctor Who and the Silurians.

When the Doctor says "If we fight like-" (160) he's quoting himself from Survival.

'The Artist Formerly Known As Ace' (161) is a play on what the pop star Prince is now referred to since changing his name to a symbol.

Knees Up, Mother Earth

The Isley's hit song 'Summer Breeze' (165) was released in 1974.

The scene in which Ace finds herself sitting on top of the wardrobe wearing three hats (167) is not rationalised within the novel. Cornell explains: "The android James has been trying to hypnotically influence Ace to tell Bernice about Jason's apparent infidelity, thus stopping the marriage. But James is malfunctioning, hence his speech problems, hence his commands to Ace end up being rather scrambled and wrong."

Maire, Cook William and Alec Without Gloves (168) are Bernice's old Traveller friends from the planet Heaven in Love and War. Bernice is surprised that Maire is still alive, because, as Cornell explains "We don't see it on the page, but there was a hint that something bad had happened to Maire when Ace returned in Deceit."

'No, not the mind probe!' is an infamously badly-delivered line from The Five Doctors.

Vincent and Justine (178) appear in Warhead, Warlock and Warchild.

The Brigadier pulls Lord Tasham's beard (179) based on years of experience of the Master's disguises.

Puterspace (179) is a form of Cyberspace which appeared in Love and War. The third Eternal, Pain (181) appeared in Set Piece.

Time greets Emily Hutchings as 'grandmother' (181), which implies that Time is Ishtar's child. Cornell explains: "I'm so sorry about this now. Ishtar and Ricky become the parents of an Eternal, the species from Enlightenment who (in my never-mentioned back-story) breed like cuckoos in the wombs of other humanoid races. That Eternal goes on to become one of the Gods of Gallifrey, Eternals whose constituency is that world, and who represent the various prohibited belief archetypes of the Gallifreyans, in this case Time."

'Be seeing you' (182) is a catch-phrase from The Prisoner television series.

Gerhardt was a young German soldier in Just War; Bernice killed him and was subsequently tortured by the Germans. Dorothee mentions someone called Jarvis, who is Jarvis Crocker of the British pop group Pulp.

The unicorn (183) is from Witch Mark. Muldwych and Antykhon are from Birthright. Time rings (184) are a Time Lord invention introduced in Genesis of the Daleks.

Yes, They're Back!

The other TARDIS (186) is the Doctor's original ship, which he abandoned in a tar pit in Blood Heat.

The Adventure of the Curious Landowner, Chapter Three

When the Brigadier says 'I do believe somebody once told me something profound concerning eggs and baskets' (189) he is referring to the Doctor's advice in The Time Warrior.

Blake's Heaven

The true nature of the extra-dimensional version of the Charrl homeworld (190) - the Charrl are from Birthright, and Paul Cornell explains the rest: "The extra-dimensional bit is that the environment in question was stored for them aboard the TARDIS. It's the true nature of their real homeworld that the Doctor is referring to. There are hints in Birthright that it's a future Earth." The Doctor time-rammed the Charrl TARDIS in Blood Heat.

Emily putting real people into her book (191) is a something that the New Adventures authors seem to do all the time.

The Tzun (195) are from First Frontier. Sweet Hooligan is one of the archetypal deities of Puterspace. Ace sees him as Damon Albarn, from the pop group Blur.

William Blake (196) appeared in The Pit. Blake's explanation regarding his 'affecting agnosticism' is to solve the problem of his inaccurate religious beliefs in The Pit.

Provost-Major Beltempest (197) is from Original Sin. Baron Denon Vivant is a French archaeologist whom Bernice befriended when she was stranded in 1798 in Set Piece. Forgwyn is from Tragedy Day and Alexander is from Human Nature.

Hens And Stags

The conversation involving Alexander, Yates, Sanki and Forgwyn (203) is partly in palare. Cornell translates: "Omi: Man. Ajax: adjacent. TBH: to be had, available. Nada: no. Vada: look at. Lallies: limbs, legs or arm muscles." This scene implies that Mike Yates is gay. When asked if this is the first time this has been suggested, Cornell responded: "I think so. Hence the 'screaming' line from the Brigadier at the cricket match. It's an accepted part of fan subculture. A part that was ignored in The Eye of the Giant, so he's obviously come to this in later life. We never believed all that stuff about dating Jo Grant, mind you."

Excalibur (203) appeared in Battlefield, and the reason that Muldwych doesn't discuss the sword's origins around the Doctor (204) is that Muldwych is in fact the Merlin incarnation of the Doctor (Cornell has confirmed this). This is why they avoid physical contact and also why the Doctor consults Muldwych to learn how things turn out on page 243.

The Brigadier's descendant who caused Savaar's people "much distress" (204) was Brigadier Yembe Lethbridge-Stewart, a hero in the Thousand-Day War against the Ice Warriors, as recounted in Transit.

The rumble from the ground that Cook William and Alec Without Gloves recognise is a reference to Love and War, in which the dead rose from their graves.

The Phractons (206) are from Infinite Requiem.

A Slight Interruption

The Master misquotes the Rani - 'Professor Summerfield is going to go on a very long journey.' (224) - from Dimensions in Time. The Master collaborated with the Tzun (225) in First Frontier.

Lieutenant Anthony Rupert Hemmings (227) is from Exodus and Revelation. He's Anthony in the former and Rupert in the latter. Gallifreyan genetic looms are first mentioned in Time's Crucible.

The Doctor says of the Brigadier 'I thought I knew how he died.' (233) is probably a reference to his line in Battlefield: 'You were supposed to die in bed!'

A Warm Reception

Cinnabar Flynn and Byerley St John (238) were the couple trying desperately to get married in Sleepy.

Tanith and Gabriel (239) are from Falls the Shadow.

The sliced up telegram (240) is from Abslom Daak, originally a comic strip character in Doctor Who Magazine, who later appeared in Deceit.

Dorothee's line 'I've got a house, a very big house in the country' is a quote from the song 'Country House' by the pop group Blur.

The Doctor discusses the Isleys song 'This Old Heart of Mine', with Bernice, saying that if she hadn't agreed that it wasn't the best Isley Brothers' song, things would have been different (242-243). The original conversation appears on page 70 of Love and War:

Benny reflected for a moment, then decided. 'What's the best Isley Brothers song?' '"This Old Heart of Mine".' Benny nodded solemnly. 'Correct.' 'Surprising question,' grinned the Doctor.

Everybody's Welcome at the Wedding

This chapter was composed from a collection of small segments, each written by a New Adventures author. The writer of each segment is identified after the notes relating to their section.

Liso the Ismetch Warrior and the planet Betrushia (246-247) from St Anthony's Fire [Mark Gatiss]

Professor James Rafferty (247) is from The Dimension Riders [Daniel Blythe]

The grey man (248) is from Falls the Shadow [Daniel O'Mahony]

SaRa!qava, Dep, God, the villa and the Mote In God's Left Eye (248-249) are from The Also People [Ben Aaronovitch]

Anne Doras was Bernice Doras's mother, from Guernsey where Bernice left her diary; Oskar Steinmann was Bernice's interrogator to whom Bernice told something of the future (250) from Just War [Lance Parkin]

Alpha Centauri appears in The Curse of Peladon, The Monster of Peladon and Legacy. The Kantryan Commissioner, Damakort and Rhukk (251-253) are also from Legacy. Rhukk refers to Terras Delta and the ruins on Karnas Prime from Theatre of War. [Gary Russell]

Jason the ex-Master of the Land of Fiction, Doctor Nemesis and the White Knight (254) are from Conundrum and Head Games. [Steve Lyons]

Nathan Li Shao and his companions (254-255) are from Sky Pirates! [Dave Stone].

The note that SaRa!qava gives Roz (255) is from feLixi, Roz's former lover in The Also People.

Irving Braxiatel (256) is from Theatre of War [Justin Richards].

Forgwyn (257) is from Tragedy Day [Gareth Roberts].

Captain Petion and Doctor Howard Phillips (257) are from White Darkness [David A. McIntee].

Kim Talevera, the Shenn and Arden (258) are from Shadowmind [Christopher Bulis].

Manda, Q'ell and Charles (258-259) are from Toy Soldiers [Paul Leonard].

Benjamin Alvarez and his father Cristian (259) are from The Left-Handed Hummingbird [Kate Orman].

Elaine, Francis, Arcadia and the Spinward Corporation (260-262) are from Deceit [Peter Darvill-Evans].

Mikhail Vladimir Popov (262-263) is from Birthright [Nigel Robinson].

Gilgamesh (263-264) is from Genesys [John Peel].

Leonardo da Vinci (264) is not from any previous novel [Marc Platt].

Richard and Charlotte (264-265) are from Strange England [Simon Messingham].

Ruby Duvall (265) is from Iceberg [David Banks].

Creed McIlveen and warlock (266) are from Warlock and Warchild [Andrew Cartmel]

Doc Dantalion and Provost-Major Beltempest (268) are from Original Sin [Andy Lane]

The old man in a silver Troifran cloak who gives Bernice a copy of The Hobbit is probably Old Davy, and his companion, a glowing humanoid figure for whom time runs backwards, is undoubtedly Herne (268-269), both from Witch Mark. [Andrew Hunt].

Tom Dekker and Doc's place in Chicago (269-270) are from Blood Harvest [Terrance Dicks].

The enigmatic girl whom Bernice encounters (270-271) is Death, a character from Neil Gaiman's Sandman series. Death's dialogue in this scene is identical to that from The Books of Magic, a spin-off publication from Sandman [Neil Penswick].

They Think It's All Over...

The line from the song that opens the chapter (272) is also the opening line of 'Love is All Around Me' the theme song from the film Four Weddings and a Funeral.

The Brigadier's line "What's this? It's got a good beat." (273) is an in-joke based on a character from the British show The Mary Whitehouse Experience. Cornell explains: "The character (played by Hugh Dennis) is a geography teacher, or in one case, somebody's Dad, who turns up at school discos and tries to be hip, doing a little boogie and coming out with that catchphrase."

Raphael and the planet Mimas (275) are from Apocalypse.

The Jade Pagoda (276) appeared in Iceberg and Sanctuary.

Dorothee's mother's fiance is Robin Yeadon (278), who was once Ace's boyfriend in Nightshade. Audrey McShane, of course, appeared as a baby in The Curse of Fenric.

Happy Endings

The villagers applaud and boo the captured Master (280), which is what happened behind the scenes when The Daemons was being filmed. Cornell says, "I thought villagers did that in Doctor Who."

The conversation between the Doctor and Alexander (284) concerns Joan Redfern, with whom the Doctor had a romance in Human Nature.

The last line "A love for all seasons" (289) echoes the seasonal motif of the closing lines of Cornell's previous four New Adventures.