Beige Planet Mars

From TARDIS Index File, the free Doctor Who reference.

Contents 1 Publisher's Summary 2 Characters 3 References 4 Notes 5 Continuity 6 External Links 7 Footnotes

[edit] Publisher's Summary

"Professor Summerfield, your very presence here has raised this hotel's insurance premiums by seven point two percent."

It is the year 2595. Mars, once the distant target of humanity's ambitions in space, has been colonised for five hundred years. To mark the anniversary, the planet's university is holding an academic conference. Naturally, esteemed expert on Martian archaeology Bernice Summerfield is invited to present a paper based on her long career in this field.

But other matters distract Bernice from academia. Decades ago, hostile aliens invaded Mars. At their moment of greatest need, Mars' human population was betrayed by its leader. And although the occupation was swiftly ended, the anger of those who fought to save Mars still runs deep.

So when a veteran of the war is found dead, old wounds are reopened. Bernice finds herself investigating a murder with the least reliable of allies -- and soon discovers that the consequences of the Siege of Mars are far from being ancient history.

[edit] Characters

• Bernice Summerfield

• Benny shags Jason.
• Knows how to dive.
• The last time Benny was on Mars was when she was 24 with a guy named Tim.

• Jason Kane

• Jason shags and has been for at least a little while been having sex with Professor Scoblow.

• Professor Megali Scoblow

• Is a Pakhar.
• Her original Pakhar name was Sk'o'bel'ou.
• According to Jason her tail smells of wood shavings.
• Is Emeritus Professor of Human History at the Santa Diana University on Mars.

• Isaac Deniken

• Skeez & Scoaz

• Professor Elizabeth K. Trinity/Karina Tellassar

• She's a very spry 80 year old.
• Trinity is a Professor and writer of books about Mars, in particular A History of Mars (which Benny claims the author "Treats her readers like morons").
• Tellassar is hated among veterans from the Daleks' attack as the betrayer of Mars.

• Gerald Makhno

• Is a 'fan' of Bernice Summerfield's work.
• Would like to (but doesn't) shag Benny.

• Phillip York & Christina York

[edit] References

• Isaac Deniken asks Benny about Tyler's Folly as he spent some time there.
• Benny and Isaac drink RedStar (Martian Vodka).
• This is the debut of Jason Kane's xenopornography.

• Nights of the Perfumed Tentacle By Jason Kane

• When Benny attends the opening parts of the conference there is a reference to the Fourth Doctor, Romana II and K-9 "She (Benny) negotiated her way past a curly-haired man, his blonde companion and their robot dog."
• Xlanthi are mentioned (in great detail) however the only one that actually appears turns out to be a guy in a high tech suit.
• Benny's sequel to Down Among the Dead Men is still called So Vast a Pile.
• Trinity asks Benny about the Argyre Clan, the nuclear explosion which wiped them out is also mentioned.
• Christina and Phillip York own YorkCorp (which owns most of Mars), but were facing a hostile takeover by the Bantu Corporation.

[edit] Notes

• This novel was written basically because Rebecca Levene told Lance Parkin over lunch that they needed a Benny book in six weeks. ^[1]
• Parkin has noted about the writing of this novel:

  "he (Mark Clapham) had this Benny plot and characters looking for a story and a setting, and I had a Benny story and a setting, but no plot or characters. And we slapped them together and that was Beige Planet Mars. I honestly can't remember who wrote some bits of it. We're on the same wavelength on most things. ...I really enjoyed it, but it was written quickly, it was written when we were both busy with a million other things. And we got to three chapters before the end, and then realised we had not even the slightest clue how to end the book. Which is readily apparent to everyone that's read it."^[2]

[edit] Continuity

• Jason was a prostitute (among other things) before he met Benny in NA: Death and Diplomacy.
• Tyler's Folly appeared in BNA: Down.
• Pakhars first appeared in NA: Legacy.
• The first stages of the Dalek's invasion of Mars were seen in NA: GodEngine.
• The Argyre Clan and the nuclear explosion, and how Benny knows so much about both (is because she was around for most of it) in NA: The Dying Days.
• Tim (Benny's friend) was first mentioned in NA: Lucifer Rising.

[edit] External Links

• Doctor Who Reference Guide - Detailed Synopsis - Beige Planet Mars
• The Whoniverse - The Discontinuity Guide to: Beige Planet Mars

[edit] Footnotes