The Shadow in the Glass
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| Author | Stephen Cole and Justin Richards |
|---|---|
| Series |
Doctor Who book: Past Doctor Adventures |
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Release number
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41 |
| Subject | Featuring: Sixth Doctor Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart |
| Set in | Period between The Condemned and Business Unusual |
| Publisher | BBC Books |
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Publication date
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April 2001 |
| Pages | 286 |
| ISBN | |
| Preceded by | Rags |
| Followed by | Asylum |
The Shadow in the Glass is a BBC Books original novel written by Stephen Cole and Justin Richards and based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It features the Sixth Doctor and Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, investigating the apparent resurrection of Adolf Hitler.
The book was a late replacement in the schedule, a result of Gary Russell's Instruments of Darkness being late in its delivery. The Shadow in the Glass was written so as to fit the title Instruments of Darkness, although in the end the title was retained for Russell's book, which was published later in the Past Doctor Adventures series.
As World War II draws to a close, a Russian patrol in the ruins of Berlin finds a circle of Tibetans, dressed in uniforms of the Reich, who have committed suicide with cyanide capsules. Meanwhile, Hitler knows that the end is coming, and chooses to die rather than witness defeat. Himmler has foreseen the end, and after failing to make a deal with the Allies, he flees from the Fuhrerbunker and commits suicide. Hitler brands him a traitor, and tests the cyanide capsule Himmler had supplied to him on his dog Blondi, to be sure that Himmler wasn't trying to slip him a tranquilliser and turn him over to the Allies. On 30 April, Hitler marries Eva Braun in a rushed civil ceremony; the next day, they enter their rooms in the Bunker, while Hitler's adjutant Otto Gunsche stands guard outside. There is the sound of a shot from inside. Eva has taken cyanide, while Hitler has shot himself while biting through his own capsule. Hitler's most trusted doctor declares them both dead, and the bodies are taken to the garden and burned beyond recognition. But why are the Russians subsequently so slow to accept that they have indeed captured Hitler's corpse? And why was there blood on the bed in the next room?
The answers may be related to an event which took place the previous year. In 1944, Flight Lieutenant Smithson shot down an unidentified flying object over the English Channel, and it swerved inland and crashed in the village of Turelhampton. The village was evacuated, and the soldiers detailed to guard the UFO decided to have a look inside... The soldiers went their separate ways after the war; Lassiter died in Europe and Spinney vanished after suffering a nervous breakdown, but in 1955, Sergeant Henderson finally tracks down the third man, Watson. He demands that Watson hand over the glass-disc "souvenir" he took from the wreck, and when Watson refuses, the shadow of an imp emerges from Henderson's own shadow and kills Watson...
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