Welcome to ‘The Child of Death’ of the ‘Zorbius’ series by Tim Bradley!

The Ninth Doctor era of ‘Doctor Who’ is very special to me since it was the first time I’d seen the show when it came back on TV in 2005. The first two ‘Doctor Who’ stories I ever saw were ‘Dalek’ and ‘Aliens of London’/’World War Three’. I wanted to reflect that in my writing of this adventure. 🙂

‘The Child of Death’ has mostly everything you know about the Ninth Doctor era in general. As well as Christopher Eccleston’s Doctor, it also has Rose Tyler and Captain Jack Harkness as his companions. And how could I not do a Ninth Doctor tale without featuring Jackie and Mickey in it. 😀

Just for you to know, I wrote this story in 2013 before ‘The Lives of Captain Jack’ audios by Big Finish came out. So, you’ll have to forgive me if I don’t know anything that happened between Captain Jack and Jackie by this stage as I’ve not heard them yet. Hopefully a timey-wimey explanation is provided.

As ‘Dalek’ was the first ‘Doctor Who’ episode I ever saw, I wanted to reflect my memories of watching that episode in ‘The Child of Death’ by featuring a Dalek in it. I know it was sort-of breaking rules before events happen in ‘Bad Wolf’/’The Parting of the Ways’, but hopefully it should be fine. 🙂

I also wanted to set the story after the events of ‘Boom Town’. Rose and Mickey didn’t part with each other on good terms last they met. I wanted to address that and hopefully fill in a gap on why Mickey was able to take Rose back once she’d returned to Earth in ‘The Parting of the Ways’ story. 🙂

In terms of continuing the ‘Zorbius’ storyline, I’ve been able to amend what I’ve written and tie in to the events of ‘The Infinity Planet’ and ‘The Nightmare of the Warrior’ before that. I also hope I’ve set up things that are about to take place in ‘The Forest of Magicians’ with the Tenth Doctor and Donna.

I’ve also made sure to include chips in the adventure. I recall executive producer Julie Gardner saying in the sleeves notes for the music CD of Series 1 and 2 of ‘Doctor Who’ that chips are essential in the new TV show. So, as chips were in the Ninth Doctor era a lot, I’ve included them here in this story. 😀

‘The Child of Death’ was a fun adventure to write, featuring the Ninth Doctor, Rose and Captain Jack. I have fond memories of that era from watching the episodes on DVD. I hope you’ll enjoy my take on the Ninth Doctor, Rose and Captain Jack and how they tackle the Zorbius menace with a Dalek too. 🙂

TIM BRADLEY, September 2020