Irving Braxiatel

Irving Braxiatel is a fictional character from the Virgin New Adventures — spin-off novels based on the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who. He subsequently became a regular character in novels and audio dramas in the Bernice Summerfield universe. He did not appear in any televised serial, so accordingly some fans do not consider him as a canonical character.

Braxiatel first appeared in the novel Theatre of War by Justin Richards, however the Braxiatel Collection was an art gallery referred to in the Fourth Doctor serial City of Death. In terms of the Doctor's time-line, their first encounter was in the Virgin Missing Adventures First Doctor novel The Empire of Glass by Andy Lane. Braxiatel encountered the Seventh Doctor in Theatre of War and also at the wedding of Bernice Summerfield and Jason Kane in Happy Endings by Paul Cornell.

The Braxiatel collection — renowned for being one of the greatest art galleries in the galaxy — was founded by Irving Braxiatel and located on an asteroid which Braxiatel was rumoured to have won playing cards. It had extensive archaelogical libraries which could be used by Braxiatel's permission. Braxiatel's collection of books contained every book banned by the Catholic church with which he founded the library of St. John the Beheaded, in England.

In The Empire of Glass, Braxiatel became involved with galactic politics. He organised the Armageddon Convention, which he tried to get the Doctor to chair, but by mistake his agents brought a physically similar man. The Convention was not particularly successful, so Braxiatel decided to go back to collecting.

At some point, Braxiatel became the head of the Department of Theatrology at the St. Oscar's University on Dellah. After Benny obtained a post at the archaeology department in 2593, the pair of them became entangled in many adventures.

The Bernice Summerfield novel The Tears of the Oracle by Justin Richards suggests that Braxiatel is the Doctor's brother.

In The End of the World, the Doctor stated that his homeworld had been destroyed and that he was the last of the Time Lords. Whether Braxiatel is still alive is uncertain.

External links

• The Empire of Glass Ebook on the BBC Doctor Who website