From TARDIS Index File, the free Doctor Who reference.

Christmas on a Rational Planet
Series:	Doctor Who - Virgin New Adventures
Release Number:	52
Doctor:	Seventh Doctor
Companions:	Roz, Chris
Enemy:	the Carnival Queen
Setting:	Woodwicke, New York, 1799 Arizona, 2012
Author:	Lawrence Miles
Publisher:	Virgin Books
Publication:	July 1996
Format:	Paperback Book, ? Pages
ISBN:	ISBN 042620476X
Previous Story:	GodEngine
Following Story:	Return of the Living Dad

Publisher's Summary

‘An end to history. An end to certainty. Is that too much to ask?’

December, 1799. Europe is recovering from the Age or Reason, the Vatican is learning to live with Napoleon, and America is celebrating a new era of independence. But in New York State, something is spreading its own brand of madness through the streets. Secret societies are crawling from the woodwork, and there’s a Satanic conspiracy around every corner.

Roz Forrester is stranded in a town where festive cheer and random violence go hand-in-hand. Chris Cwej is trapped on board the TARDIS with someone who’s been trained to kill him. And when Reason itself breaks down, even the Doctor can’t be sure who or what he’s fighting for.

Christmas is coming to town, and the end of civilization is following close behind...

Characters

• The Doctor
  • Possesses an Amaranth.
  • It's established that the mysterious tattoo seen on the Third Doctor's arm immediately after his regeneration (DW: Spearhead from Space) was in fact a Time Lord mark signifying an exile.

• Roz Forrester
  • Tries to kill who she thinks is Abraham Lincoln's grandfather, thus creating a paradox and making the Doctor find her.

• Chris Cwej
  • Spends most of the novel in the TARDIS being terrorised by the Interface.

• The Carnival Queen

• Grandfather Paradox
  • Is mentioned for the first time.

References

• Genetic Politics Beyond the Third Zone a book by Gustous Thripsted.

• Stattenheim (of the Stattenheim Remote Control) lived in 16th century Berlin.

• On Minyos they cast out the heliomancers from their society.

• Eighth Man Bound first reference to the Doctor in relation to this.

• Astra is a terrible place, like many of Earth's colonies in the 25th century.

• The United States fell sometime in the 21st century.

Notes

• This novel is rumoured to contain a reference to every TV story, albeit some are very obscure (such as Lincoln being a reference to the Chase or the reference to Gallifreyian prisoner tattoos being a reference to either Spearhead from Space or Doctor Who and the Silurians) and require a distinctly critical eye in order to identify them, should the rumour be correct.

Continuity

• EDA: Alien Bodies, Interference - Book One, Interference - Book Two further expand upon the idea of paradoxes and Grandfather Paradox.

• The planet Astra was Vicki and Bennett's destination in DW: The Rescue.

External Links

• Doctor Who Reference Guide - Detailed Synopsis - Christmas on a Rational Planet
• The Whoniverse - The Discontinuity Guide to: Christmas on a Rational Planet