Candy Jar Books’ UNIT range kicks off this year with The Vaughn Identity, a sequel to the much-loved Second Doctor serial, The Invasion.

The new original novel is written by the range editor, Tim Gambrell, and picks up where The Invasion left off.

Tim says:

“There’s a lot left open at the end of The Invasion. Tobias Vaughn’s story – and the whole International Electromatics set-up – is very layered and detailed. We see repeatedly in Doctor Who that once the main threat is dealt with the Doctor is quick to leave.”

This new series of books now squarely focuses on UNIT and explores the fall-out from The Invasion, both on a personal and national level, and how the story would have been spun by the government and the press. As the title suggests, the story looks into the background of Tobias Vaughn.

Tim continues:

“As a character, he was in a class of his own – due very much to Kevin Stoney’s bravura performance, but also because of Derrick Sherwin’s script and Douglas Camfield’s direction. We know Vaughn was killed at the end of The Invasion, and left hanging over the railings. I wanted to find a way to get more from the character without pretending that he hadn’t really died on screen, which would have felt like a cop-out. I also wanted to work purely within the situations and concepts that Derrick Sherwin had created, to give my story the sense that it was finishing off, or tidying up any strands left hanging loose after the TV story had concluded.”

Here’s the blurb:

The invasion is over. UNIT has received its baptism of fire. However, the events have left the British government licking its wounds and looking for a scapegoat. UNIT is licking its wounds, also.

The Doctor has vanished, to the annoyance of Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, and the organisation still lacks a scientific advisor. Maybe the introduction of Major Branwell will help ease the pressure.

Meanwhile, life is seemingly good for Isobel Watkins, snapping away with her little black box and loved-up with her dolly soldier, Captain Turner. Not so her uncle, whose involvement with International Electromatics appears to have left him black-listed by the scientific community.

But some of the victims of the recent invasion may not be as dead as originally believed. Such as Tobias Vaughn himself.

With pressure from the government on one side and key people disappearing on the other, the Brigadier and his trusty team find themselves battling the odds once again to protect the world.

And just what is Tobias Vaughn’s secret?

Featuring the UNIT team and other characters from The Invasion, plus characters from The Web of Fear, The Vaughn Identity is a direct sequel to The Invasion and the first of Candy Jar’s new UNIT range of novels.

The Vaughn Identity also looks forward to the series of UNIT books that will follow.

Tim explains:

“We’ve got a wider cast of UNIT regulars to take our books forward. Readers have already been introduced to many of them in the two UNIT Files short story collections (Operation Wildcat, 2022, and Operation Fall-Out, 2023) but The Vaughn Identity allows us to see how they were impacted by the events of The Invasion, making it more of a shared experience. As the first novel of the range, it’s important to introduce and involve new regular characters in the action and the storyline and not simply as an info-dump roll call.”

Some other familiar faces are also appearing, besides the Brigadier and his TV team, as Tim says:

“There are a few minor nods to the Lethbridge-Stewart range, but nothing that would faze new readers. We want this to be a jumping-on point, a fresh start whilst also quietly acknowledging the achievement of the previous range.”

There will be another short Benton Files book, free with the hardback of The Vaughn Identity. More details of that will be available nearer the time.

You can pre-order The Vaughn Identity now from Candy Jar Books.