Just War (Doctor Who)

Just War

Author	Lance Parkin
Series	Doctor Who book: Virgin New Adventures
Release number	46
Subject	Featuring: Seventh Doctor Benny, Chris, Roz
Publisher	Virgin Books
Publication date	January 1996
Pages	272
ISBN	0-426-20463-8
Preceded by	Shakedown
Followed by	Warchild

Just War is a novel by Lance Parkin from the Virgin New Adventures. The New Adventures were based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. The novel featured the characters of the Seventh Doctor, Bernice Summerfield (known as Benny), Chris Cwej and Roz Forrester.

The story is set in Nazi Germany-occupied Guernsey, a rare example of part of the British Isles being 'colonised' by another power.

Plot

The Doctor and his companions land in German-occupied Guernsey in 1941 where the Nazis are pursuing a top-secret weapon which could change the course of the war.

Continuity

• The novel features a predecessor to UNIT called "LONGBOW". In a thread on the Usenet group rec.arts.drwho as to what this stood for, Parkin admitted he had only got as far as "League Of Nations Global..." He accepted Chris Schumacher's suggestion of "League Of Nations Global Bizarre Occurrences Watch".
• The novel also depicts Roz's experiences of discrimination as a black woman of African heritage in wartime England. This contrasts with Roz's background as she comes from a gender-equal far future where African nations dominate and is racist in her attitudes to white Europeans.

Notes

Parkin had recently completed an MA and his dissertation thesis was on postcolonial literature. The novel echoes that by showing reversals of familiar colonial perspectives.

Audio adaptation

Just War
Big Finish Productions audio drama
Series	Bernice Summerfield
Release number	5
Featuring	Bernice Summerfield
Writer	Lance Parkin adapted by Jac Rayner
Director	Gary Russell
Producer	Gary Russell
Executive producer	Jason Haigh-Ellery
Length	1 hr 50 mins
Release date	August 1999

In 1999, Just War was adapted by Big Finish Productions into an audio drama starring Lisa Bowerman as Bernice. The plot was changed to fit in with the run of Bernice audio dramas. Big Finish had begun by adapting New Adventure novels from after when Virgin had lost their licence to do Doctor Who stories and the series had focused on Benny. Big Finish also had no Doctor Who licence at the time, but they decided to dramatise two Doctor Who New Adventures, adapting them to remove the Doctor Who references. Thus, the audio adaptation achieves time travel through the use of Benny's Time Rings. The Doctor, Chris and Roz are removed from the narrative, with Jason Kane's role replacing some elements of the parts played by the Doctor and Chris from the novel.

The adaptation was done by Jacqueline Rayner, who adapted most of this first series of Benny audios.

Cast

• Bernice Summerfield — Lisa Bowerman
• Jason Kane — Stephen Fewell
• Oberst Oskar Steinmann — Michael Wade
• Standardtenfuhrer Joachim Wolff — Mark Gatiss
• Ma Doras — Maggie Stables
• Nurse Rosa Kitzel — Nicky Golding
• Private Franz Hutter — Anthony Keetch
• Private Gerhard Flur — Simon Moore

External links

Just War New Adventure

• Just War at the Doctor Who Reference Guide
• The Cloister Library - Just War
• Just War at The TARDIS Library

Just War New Adventure Reviews

• Just War reviews at Outpost Gallifrey
• Just War reviews at The Doctor Who Ratings Guide

Just War Audio Adaptation

• Just War (audio) at the Doctor Who Reference Guide
• Just War (audio) at The TARDIS Library

Just War Audio Adaptation Reviews

• Just War (Audio) reviews at Outpost Gallifrey
• Just War (Audio) reviews at The Doctor Who Ratings Guide