A Crucible of Queens

978-1-80240-710-5

The Doctor and Peri are reunited with an old friend - or is he an enemy? Turlough insists he's changed since they last met. The trouble is, so has the Doctor, and he's not inclined to trust his one-time companion.

As they travel through Stuart England, Medieval France and Viking Denmark, can they forge a new relationship - or will Turlough's secrets force them further apart?

1. The Reckoning by Nev Fountain
When the TARDIS is stranded in the path of a neutron star, the Doctor, Peri and Turlough have to flee. They end up in seventeenth-century London, where another old friend, Christopher Marlowe, is trying to get out of a pact he's made. Marlowe's soul is on the line - but has Turlough also made a deal with the Devil... again?

2. A Crucible of Queens by Lizbeth Myles
In the aftermath of the Battle of Agincourt, the Doctor and Turlough find themselves aligned with opposing factions. Turlough befriends Charles, the Dauphin of France, while the Doctor is tasked with healing his father, King Charles VII. But two powerful women are also in play: the Dauphin's adviser Yolande, Duchess of Anjou, and his estranged mother, Isabeau of Bavaria.

Can the TARDIS crew keep both queens happy - and keep their own heads?

3. The Curse of the Duergar by Julian Richards
Shieldmaiden Hervor braves the ghosts of her ancestors to claim her birthright, the sword Tyrfing. Made by the Duergar, the Dwarf kings of the below, the blade is cursed: once drawn, it must kill. Even the Doctor cannot resist the power of the sword, and to the horror of Peri and Turlough, he is forced to take a life...

1 out of 4 (25.0%) raters say this story requires a previous story.