The SS Isle of Capri has already featured in two stories before – Marion and Kristoph spent some time there, and so did Chrístõ and Julia. The ship and its lilac tailed staff, the neutral Vulpesi, were originally created by my friend Prue for her story, Purple Dust, and has proved so popular and irresistible, that I have wanted to use it again and again.

I also wanted another Christopher and Jackie adventure to ring the changes in the New Lords of Time series. Like Torchwood, NLOT is an ensemble cast, now, and it is nice to have the freedom to feature different characters centre stage.

The main feature of the Isle of Capri, of course, is its custom suites. Prue had a forest glade as a featured room. In Marion and Kristoph we had a tropical beach – with purple sand. Julia’s room was based on Swan Lake, Chrístõ’s a Greek Temple, and Penne’s, a Roman Baths. I also introduced the Eiffel Tower observation deck in the Theta Sigma story set on the ship. The fan shaped ballroom-cum-conference room which we don’t see in this story was a collaboration with Prue. The choice of room for Christopher and Jackie was also a collaboration. The design – an Old English Pub was Prue’s idea. I filled in the details of it being based on Jackie’s first honeymoon location and the menu for dinner.

On both previous occasions, the visitors were disturbed by scantily clad entertainment staff. This time, I decided to be a little bit different and it was a wet nurse, for baby Garrick, who turned up. The scene is significant in two respects. It introduces the idea that the staff use these teleports which becomes important later. It also emphasises Jackie’s attachment to Garrick, which is the key theme of the story.

My original plan was that the sudden aging of everyone by a hundred years, killing most of the people on the ship, was an accident, connected to the phenomena outside. By making it sabotage instead, the phenomena becomes pure background and atmosphere. But no matter. The association between cherry brandy and thunderstorms is actually a personal experience which I had wanted to work into a story somehow.

The Blue Star Galaxy is a real place in the universe, incidentally. I don't know a lot about it, other than it exists. It is something that lends itself to science fiction imagining.

The use of peanuts to replace protein and salts in the body after their experience is, of course, something I have to credit to the genius of Douglas Adams, who remembered peanuts in Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy.

I always intended that somebody from the family would come to the rescue by guiding Christopher through a method of reversing the time effect. That it would be Tristie who would do it came as a late decision. I thought it would make a change from either Chris or Davie, or even The Doctor.

http://www.rdwf.org.uk/prue/01_purples.htm

http://www.pearsecom.co.uk/Marion/57iisleofcapri.htm/

http://www.pearsecom.co.uk/thetasigma/94sscrapir.htm