Killing Ground (Doctor Who)
Encyclopedia
Killing Ground is a Virgin Publishing original novel written by Steve Lyons and based on the long-running British
science fiction television
series Doctor Who
. It features the Sixth Doctor
and Grant Markham
with the Cybermen.
Details about the Cybermen including the term "CyberNomad" and references to Cyber-history, as well as the character of Hegelia and the Arc Hive from which she operates were originally conceived by David Banks for "Cybermen", a study of the Cybermen both as a concept and a factual possibility and used with Banks's permission.
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 Sixth Doctor
Sixth Doctor
The Sixth Doctor is the sixth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He was portrayed by Colin Baker...
and Grant Markham
Grant Markham
Grant Markham is a fictional character originally created by author Steve Lyons as a new companion of the Sixth Doctor in Virgin Publishing's range of original full-length Doctor Who novels, the Missing Adventures...
with the Cybermen.
Synopsis
The Doctor returns his companion Grant to Agora, the human colony planet where he was born, and upon arrival discovers that Agora has been conquered by the Cybermen, who have enslaved the population and return every three years to take the five hundred fittest humans for conversion in order to add to the Cybermen's galactic army. At the same time, Agora plays host to another time traveller, ArcHivist Hegelia, and her novice research partner, Graduand Jolarr. Hegelia is obsessed with the Cybermen and intends to become one, and she has used the sanctioned excursion of Jolarr as an excuse to meet them and arrange the fulfilment of her ambition. Agoran rebels plan an attack on the Population Control building set up by the Cybermen as a herding centre for conversion selectees with the assistance of Grant, but the Doctor is trapped in a cell inside the building, and the Cybermen are due to return in person within a matter of days.Influences
The design of the Cybermen explicitly described in this story is the design used in the 1975 Doctor Who television serial "Revenge of the Cybermen" as developed by BBC costume designer Prue Handley.Details about the Cybermen including the term "CyberNomad" and references to Cyber-history, as well as the character of Hegelia and the Arc Hive from which she operates were originally conceived by David Banks for "Cybermen", a study of the Cybermen both as a concept and a factual possibility and used with Banks's permission.