DOCTOR WHO:

THE WITCH HUNTERS

The Reverend Samuel Parris, Minister of Salem, follows three strangers into the forest beyond the village - a forest that is traditionally believed to be the source of much evil. He hears movement through the trees, steps forward and makes a terrible discovery. It is one that will change life in Salem forever.

The TARDIS arrives in Salem Village, Massachusetts, 1692. The Doctor wishes to effect repairs to his ship in peace and privacy, and so his companions - Ian, Barbara and Susan - decide to ‘live history’ for a week or so. But the friendships they make are abruptly broken when the Doctor ushers them away, wary of being overtaken by the tragic events he knows will occur.

Upon learning the terrible truth of the Salem witch trials, Susan is desperate to return - at any price. Her actions lead the TARDIS crew into terrible jeopardy, and her latent telepathy threatens to help the tragedy escalate way out of control...

 

 

 

 

DOWNLOAD WRITING SAMPLE

Although my work has mostly been in the science-fiction/fantasy genre, the flexibility of Doctor Who’s format has allowed me to practise many different styles of writing. In this book, I had the Doctor and his companions caught up in the events of the Salem witch trials of 1692. The story contains no science-fiction elements other than the Doctor himself and his TARDIS; rather, it’s about real people living through terrible events. In this extract, the Doctor tries to justify his decision to keep history intact and allow the Salem ‘witches’ to die, by showing one of their number - Rebecca Nurse - the future.

 

 

 

Anyone familiar with Arthur Miller’s The Crucible will already understand the background to this novel. Lyons has researched the real events to depict a pious people stricken by fear and paranoia, but avoids becoming overtly judgemental ... Lyons applies modern psychoanalysis to the situation, theorising via the Doctor about the mass hysteria and the power of suggestion ... this is an involving, thought-provoking novel.

- Richard McGinlay, Dreamwatch

An astonishing work and the book that thanks to its early placement in the PDA range every single book since has tried hard to live up to ... never before or since has a Past Doctor Adventure provoked me such ... [Lyons] takes the controversial town of Salem and the infamous witch trials as his subject matter. And without the merest hint of supernatural evil he manages to write the most frightening Doctor Who story I have ever read.

I found myself angry as I progressed through this book, angry and bitter because it touches on a subject that is very close to my heart, religious intolerance ... It is made all the more frightening to know that it is human beings that are causing such suffering and that these events truly took place ... This is character drama of the highest order and each and every character springs from the page. Given the horrific backdrop and the unenviable task of writing for genuine historical characters Lyons does a brilliant job of rounding each of them off.

I have never seen Susan better written ... this is her coming of age story where she is forced to deal with her telepathic abilities and understand the cold opinions of her Grandfather ... But as good as Susan is the Doctor is captured even better, for once an agonised soul who is too scared to deny Time its victims. The story beautifully addresses the moral dilemma from The Aztecs (Can the time travellers change the past? What affect on the timelines will it have?) and the Doctor’s brutal opinion on the matter. Despite his compassion that desperately wants to free Rebecca Nurse and the others only he knows the chaos that such actions would cause. The story takes a sensitive look at his plight, trying to convince his friends that their endeavours are fruitless ... and examining his relationship with Rebecca [Nurse], his promises to save her life and his betrayal of that promise as he secures her fate.

There are some disturbing passages in this book, much more so than your average Doctor Who book ... during a church service which Ian, Barbara and Susan are attending there is a level of tenseness that sent shivers down my spine ... The resulting chaos, Susan being hunted through the village and cornered, punched, scratched and almost drowned as they hold her underwater to prove she is a witch remains one of the scariest sequences ever ... Never before has the desperate return to the TARDIS seemed so impossible. The image of the TARDIS burning and the village chanting as the “doorway to hell” is reduced to ashes is a powerful one, a statement of how far things have spiralled out of control.

All this talk of psychological drama and religious madness might lead you to believe this book is difficult to read. As ever Lyons’ prose is effortlessly enjoyable and simple to get through, he captures the dangers with a briskness of touch that never feels underwritten. His dialogue has a touch of poetry to it ... I cannot recommend this book enough. It is a torturing ride for the regulars but manages to bring them out in their full colours. It is a startling, emotional read, unflinching in its content and startlingly adult. It fully deserves its place as the top ranking PDA.

- Joe Ford, Doctor Who Ratings Guide (online)

All I can possibly recommend more strongly than The Witch Hunters is going out to cheer yourself up after reading it. Spellbinding.

- Dave Owen, Doctor Who Magazine