Warmonger (Doctor Who)
Encyclopedia
Warmonger is a BBC Books
original novel written by Terrance Dicks
and based on the long-running British
science fiction television
series Doctor Who
. It features the Fifth Doctor
and Peri
.
It is a prequel to the television serial The Brain of Morbius
from Morbius and Solon and the Sisterhood of the Flame's perspective, although it is technically also a sequel as the Fifth Doctor is the main character while The Brain of Morbius featured the Fourth as the central protagonist. Cardinal Borusa also appears.
to the hospice on the planet Karn to see the best surgeon in the galaxy, Doctor Mehendri Solon. When they arrive, the hospice’s advisor, the Reverend Mother Maren (of the Sisterhood of the Flame) convinces Solon to reattach Peri's arm, which he does successfully.
The head of security, Commander Aylmer Hawken tries to stop the Doctor leaving, but Maren convinces him not to, as she is wary of Time Lord
s. Lord Delmar, the owner of the hospice also warns Hawken against interfering with The Doctor, in case it stops the peace conference which the hospice is hosting from proceeding. The conference is to make alliances between the smaller empires, and has been set up by a warlord known as "The General".
Solon’s assistant Drago starts harassing Peri, and after The Doctor complains, Drago later suggests to Solon that Peri and The Doctor be killed, but Solon dismisses his worries and goes to work on "project Z". overhearing this, Peri follows Drago to a room full of dead bodies made from parts of different species. She leaves the room, but Solon notices Peri's interference and injects her with a poison, but tells The Doctor that her body is rejecting the arm, and she needs the Sisterhood's elixir of life. The Doctor fetches it, but Solon secretly keeps it and gives Peri the antidote. The Doctor then threatens to reveal what Solon just did to Lord Delmar and takes Peri out of the room.
When the ambassadors arrive for the peace conference, Lord Delmar invites the Doctor to watch, but as the Doctor is about to refuse, he recognises the General's mind as that of a Time Lord, and decides to bug the room. Listening in on the meeting, they discover that The General is gathering the small empires into a huge army to take over the galaxy. After his plan to steal the elixir of life fails, the General reveals himself to be Morbius and kidnaps Peri.
Peri escapes Morbius's ship by pretending to have an infectious skin disease, and she is put in an escape pod and launched into space, but a ship from the planet Sylvana finds her and takes her back to Sylvana. Sylvana's nearest planet Freedonia joins Morbius and attacks Sylvana and invades it, causing Peri to join a group of guerrillas.
While Solon continues his experiments, the Doctor goes to Gallifrey
to warn the Time Lords about Morbius. The Time Lord President Saran and Borusa refuse to become directly involved, but order the Doctor to unite the largest empires in the galaxy into one army to defeat Morbius. The Doctor then manages to persuade a number of Draconians
and Sontaran
s to join his army. The Time lords send him Ensign Vidal, a Gallifreyan, to act as his advisor, a flagship and the title of Supreme Coordinator of the Alliance. As the campaign grows, Ogron
s, Ice Warrior
s and Cybermen
join the Doctor's forces. After Sylvana is recaptured, Peri is reunited with the Doctor.
Eventually Morbius begins defending the area around Karn, which is where The Doctor plans to defeat him finally. The Doctor leads his army into a ground battle, but Maren initially refuses help in defending the elixir of life but eventually accepts. Morbius then withdraws all his troops from the planets they are protecting and brings them to Karn. After the Doctor's forces are nearly destroyed, a second army arrives, comprising foot soldiers from the planets that the Doctor liberated from Morbius. Morbius's army is destroyed, he is captured, tried and sentenced to death. The survivors of the Doctor's army return to their home planets while Morbius is imprisoned awaiting execution.
Solon unleashes his zombies on Saran and Borusa, but they easily overpower them, and Solon is imprisoned. To avoid a paradox, the Doctor goes to free Solon from his cell, but finds one of Morbius's commanders has already done so, following them to the execution room, he finds Solon removing Morbius's brain. After Solon leaves, the Doctor puts Morbius's body in the vaporisation chamber, and waits for Saran and Borusa to arrive. They then vaporise Morbius's body. The Doctor quietly leaves with Peri. The hospice is abandoned, the Sisterhood retreat to their temple and Solon resumes his experiments until, years later, the Fourth Doctor
and Sarah Jane Smith
arrive on Karn
.
BBC Books
BBC Books is an imprint majority owned and managed by Random House. The minority shareholder is BBC Worldwide, the commercial subsidiary of the British Broadcasting Corporation...
original novel written by Terrance Dicks
Terrance Dicks
Terrance Dicks is an English writer, best known for his work in television and for writing a large number of popular children's books during the 1970s and 80s.- Early career :...
and based on the long-running British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
science fiction television
Science fiction on television
Science fiction first appeared on a television program during the Golden Age of Science Fiction. Special effects and other production techniques allow creators to present a living visual image of an imaginary world not limited by the constraints of reality; this makes television an excellent medium...
series Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
. It features the Fifth Doctor
Fifth Doctor
The Fifth Doctor is the fifth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He is portrayed by Peter Davison....
and Peri
Peri Brown
Peri Brown, full name Perpugilliam Brown, is a fictional character played by Nicola Bryant in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who....
.
It is a prequel to the television serial The Brain of Morbius
The Brain of Morbius
The Brain of Morbius is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 3 January to 24 January 1976...
from Morbius and Solon and the Sisterhood of the Flame's perspective, although it is technically also a sequel as the Fifth Doctor is the main character while The Brain of Morbius featured the Fourth as the central protagonist. Cardinal Borusa also appears.
Plot
The Doctor and Peri arrive on a small planet, but as soon as Peri steps out, she is attacked by a wild animal and her arm is almost severed. The Doctor takes her in the TARDISTARDIS
The TARDISGenerally, TARDIS is written in all upper case letters—this convention was popularised by the Target novelisations of the 1970s...
to the hospice on the planet Karn to see the best surgeon in the galaxy, Doctor Mehendri Solon. When they arrive, the hospice’s advisor, the Reverend Mother Maren (of the Sisterhood of the Flame) convinces Solon to reattach Peri's arm, which he does successfully.
The head of security, Commander Aylmer Hawken tries to stop the Doctor leaving, but Maren convinces him not to, as she is wary of Time Lord
Time Lord
The Time Lords are an ancient extraterrestrial race and civilization of humanoids in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, of which the series' eponymous protagonist, the Doctor, is a member...
s. Lord Delmar, the owner of the hospice also warns Hawken against interfering with The Doctor, in case it stops the peace conference which the hospice is hosting from proceeding. The conference is to make alliances between the smaller empires, and has been set up by a warlord known as "The General".
Solon’s assistant Drago starts harassing Peri, and after The Doctor complains, Drago later suggests to Solon that Peri and The Doctor be killed, but Solon dismisses his worries and goes to work on "project Z". overhearing this, Peri follows Drago to a room full of dead bodies made from parts of different species. She leaves the room, but Solon notices Peri's interference and injects her with a poison, but tells The Doctor that her body is rejecting the arm, and she needs the Sisterhood's elixir of life. The Doctor fetches it, but Solon secretly keeps it and gives Peri the antidote. The Doctor then threatens to reveal what Solon just did to Lord Delmar and takes Peri out of the room.
When the ambassadors arrive for the peace conference, Lord Delmar invites the Doctor to watch, but as the Doctor is about to refuse, he recognises the General's mind as that of a Time Lord, and decides to bug the room. Listening in on the meeting, they discover that The General is gathering the small empires into a huge army to take over the galaxy. After his plan to steal the elixir of life fails, the General reveals himself to be Morbius and kidnaps Peri.
Peri escapes Morbius's ship by pretending to have an infectious skin disease, and she is put in an escape pod and launched into space, but a ship from the planet Sylvana finds her and takes her back to Sylvana. Sylvana's nearest planet Freedonia joins Morbius and attacks Sylvana and invades it, causing Peri to join a group of guerrillas.
While Solon continues his experiments, the Doctor goes to Gallifrey
Gallifrey
Gallifrey is a fictional planet in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who and is the homeworld of the Doctor and the Time Lords...
to warn the Time Lords about Morbius. The Time Lord President Saran and Borusa refuse to become directly involved, but order the Doctor to unite the largest empires in the galaxy into one army to defeat Morbius. The Doctor then manages to persuade a number of Draconians
Draconian (Doctor Who)
The Draconians are a fictional extraterrestrial race from the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Their only television appearance to date was in the 1973 serial Frontier in Space. Unlike many "monster" races in Doctor Who, the Draconians were articulate and portrayed as having a...
and Sontaran
Sontaran
The Sontarans are a fictional extraterrestrial race of humanoids from the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, and also seen in spin-off series The Sarah Jane Adventures. They were created by writer Robert Holmes.-Culture:...
s to join his army. The Time lords send him Ensign Vidal, a Gallifreyan, to act as his advisor, a flagship and the title of Supreme Coordinator of the Alliance. As the campaign grows, Ogron
Ogron
Ogrons are a fictional extraterrestrial race from the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. The name may be derived from the mythological ogres....
s, Ice Warrior
Ice Warrior
The Ice Warriors are a fictional extraterrestrial race of reptilian-like humanoids in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. The race originated on Mars, and first appeared in the 1967 serial The Ice Warriors where they encountered the Second Doctor and his...
s and Cybermen
Cyberman
The Cybermen are a fictional race of cyborgs who are amongst the most persistent enemies of the Doctor in the British science fiction television series, Doctor Who. Cybermen were originally a wholly organic species of humanoids originating on Earth's twin planet Mondas that began to implant more...
join the Doctor's forces. After Sylvana is recaptured, Peri is reunited with the Doctor.
Eventually Morbius begins defending the area around Karn, which is where The Doctor plans to defeat him finally. The Doctor leads his army into a ground battle, but Maren initially refuses help in defending the elixir of life but eventually accepts. Morbius then withdraws all his troops from the planets they are protecting and brings them to Karn. After the Doctor's forces are nearly destroyed, a second army arrives, comprising foot soldiers from the planets that the Doctor liberated from Morbius. Morbius's army is destroyed, he is captured, tried and sentenced to death. The survivors of the Doctor's army return to their home planets while Morbius is imprisoned awaiting execution.
Solon unleashes his zombies on Saran and Borusa, but they easily overpower them, and Solon is imprisoned. To avoid a paradox, the Doctor goes to free Solon from his cell, but finds one of Morbius's commanders has already done so, following them to the execution room, he finds Solon removing Morbius's brain. After Solon leaves, the Doctor puts Morbius's body in the vaporisation chamber, and waits for Saran and Borusa to arrive. They then vaporise Morbius's body. The Doctor quietly leaves with Peri. The hospice is abandoned, the Sisterhood retreat to their temple and Solon resumes his experiments until, years later, the Fourth Doctor
Fourth Doctor
The Fourth Doctor is the fourth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC British television science-fiction series Doctor Who....
and Sarah Jane Smith
Sarah Jane Smith
Sarah Jane Smith is a fictional character played by Elisabeth Sladen in the long-running British BBC Television science-fiction series Doctor Who and its spin-offs K-9 and Company and The Sarah Jane Adventures....
arrive on Karn
The Brain of Morbius
The Brain of Morbius is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 3 January to 24 January 1976...
.