Irving Braxiatel
Template:Doctorwhocharacter Irving Braxiatel or Cardinal 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. Since he did not appear in any televised serial, the canonicity of the character is unclear. In the audio dramas he is voiced by Miles Richardson.
Braxiatel, a Time Lord, first appeared in the novel Theatre of War by Justin Richards, although the Fourth Doctor's companion Romana refers to having heard of the Braxiatel Collection in the 1979 serial City of Death. In terms of the Doctor's time-line, their first portrayed meeting was in the Virgin Missing Adventures First Doctor novel The Empire of Glass by Andy Lane, although they already knew each other. Braxiatel met the Seventh Doctor in Theatre of War and was 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 by 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; he may have acquired these from the Library of St. John the Beheaded in England, or he may have founded the Library. The Library of St. John was featured in the New Adventure All-Consuming Fire by Andy Lane and the Missing Adventure Millennial Rites by Craig Hinton, though neither gives a full account of its origin.
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, although we know that it did outlaw the use of cyberbombs (Revenge of the Cybermen). Braxiatel decided to go back to collecting.
At some point, Braxiatel became the head of the Department of Theatrology at 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. After the destruction of the planet Dellah, Braxiatel invited Benny to join him at the Braxiatel Collection.
The Bernice Summerfield novel The Tears of the Oracle by Justin Richards suggests that Braxiatel is the Doctor's brother. There has been no indication of whether or how the character might relate to events depicted in the 2005 television series revival. (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, which raises the question of whether Braxiatel is still alive.)
Other appearances
Braxiatel also appears, as Cardinal Braxiatel, in the Doctor Who audio drama Zagreus, and in the spin-off series Gallifrey. In these stories, which are set prior to the Bernice Summerfield stories in Braxiatel's timeline, he is a member of the High Council of Time Lords and a confidante of President Romana.
In Gallifrey: The Inquiry, it was revealed that the disastrous test of a timeonic fusion device which destroyed the planet Minyos prompted Braxiatel to begin collecting and preserving historical artefacts in case such widespread destruction ever happened. He also revealed that he had transgressed the Laws of Time by being in contact with his future regenerations.
In Gallifrey: Pandora, Braxiatel became Chancellor, but mere hours later had to use his mind to contain the past and present forms of an ancient Gallifreyan evil known as Pandora. As Pandora would be able to escape if he ever connected to the Matrix or telepathically communicated with another Time Lord mind, Braxiatel had to exile himself from Gallifrey.
External links
- The Empire of Glass Ebook on the BBC Doctor Who website