The Fifth Doctor, Nyssa and Tegan arrive in Victorian London where they immediately run into trouble. Nyssa is kidnapped in the British museum whilst the Doctor and Tegan are invited to a party. Why are the rooms already booked for the Doctor at the Savoy? How can Lord Kenilworth's butler Atkins be in Egypt and London at the same time? What is the history of the ancient mummy to be unwrapped at Kenilworth's house? And what has all this got to do with Nyssa? The Doctor's quest for answers leads him across continents and time as an ancient Egyptian prophecy threatens 1990s England. While the Doctor attempts to unravel the plans of the mysterious Sadan Rassul, mummies stalk the night and an ancient terror stirs in its tomb.
It was released in 1996 by author Justin Richards, and later re-released in 2014.
The novel contains examples of:
- Adventurer Archaeologist: The Doctor and Tegan join an expedition to Egypt in the Victorian era as part of their efforts to learn what has happened to Nyssa.
- Batman Gambit: The Doctor defeats the potentially all-powerful Nephthys by exploiting her current state of being essentially mentally handicapped to trick her into trapping herself in a time loop where she will be aged a hundred and forty years with every trip she makes.
- Big Bad Duumvirate: Sadan Rassul and Nephthys are the main villains for this story.
- The Bus Came Back: Lady Ann Cranleigh, who we saw on-screen in Black Orchid (Where she was known as Ann Talbot before her marriage) appears in this story, and the Doctor has her impersonate Nyssa in order to trick Nephthys into travelling back and forth between 1926 and 1996 via her time corridor, thus aging her to death.
- Kill the God: The Doctor manages to trick Nephthys into aging herself to death by replacing Nyssa with Lady Ann Cranleigh who is disguised as an elderly Nyssa, thus making Nephthys think that her aspect of Nephthys has been released when Nyssa seemingly awoke in 1926. Nephythy thus travels back and forth between 1926 and 1996, resulting in her aging to death.
- Mecha-Mooks: Some Osiran Service Robots that we saw in "Pyramids of Mars" appear in this story.
- Rapid Aging: Ultimately, Nephthys is defeated when the Doctor tricks her into doing this to herself; with her mind reduced to an instinctual level, she constantly uses a time machine that causes her to rapidly age a hundred and forty years every time she uses it, incapable of intellectually processing what she's doing to herself until it's too late.
- Sequel Episode: Or rather prequel episode as it ends with Professor Marcus Scarman being introduced to a group of archaeologists.
