1. Chapter 1 by Bad_Dickens [Reviews - 2] (605 words)

2. Chapter 2 by Bad_Dickens [Reviews - 1] (1494 words)

3. Chapter 3 by Bad_Dickens [Reviews - 0] (1166 words)

4. Chapter 4 by Bad_Dickens [Reviews - 1] (1511 words)

5. Chapter 5 by Bad_Dickens [Reviews - 0] (927 words)

6. Chapter 6 by Bad_Dickens [Reviews - 1] (465 words)

7. Chapter 7 by Bad_Dickens [Reviews - 1] (1414 words)

8. Chapter 8 by Bad_Dickens [Reviews - 0] (937 words)

9. Chapter 9 by Bad_Dickens [Reviews - 0] (1374 words)

10. Chapter 10 by Bad_Dickens [Reviews - 1] (1034 words)

11. Chapter 11 by Bad_Dickens [Reviews - 1] (1292 words)

12. Chapter 12 by Bad_Dickens [Reviews - 1] (814 words)

13. Chapter 13 by Bad_Dickens [Reviews - 1] (1099 words)
I forgot to mention that "1900" is a continuation of sorts to "1896," but it isn't apparent how until the very end. Muhahahahaha.

14. Chapter 14 by Bad_Dickens [Reviews - 0] (924 words)

15. Chapter 15 by Bad_Dickens [Reviews - 1] (1226 words)

16. Chapter 16 by Bad_Dickens [Reviews - 2] (1524 words)

17. Chapter 17 by Bad_Dickens [Reviews - 0] (1184 words)

18. Chapter 18 by Bad_Dickens [Reviews - 0] (362 words)

19. Chapter 19 by Bad_Dickens [Reviews - 1] (1257 words)

20. Chapter 20 by Bad_Dickens [Reviews - 2] (888 words)
“1900” is a love letter of sorts to Paris. Having visited all the locations described in this story (even Chartier the restaurant), except obviously the Exposition which no longer exists, I hope it is a sufficient survey of this wonderful and exciting era in the City of Light. I wanted to include the Opéra in the story somehow, but couldn’t find a way in (though that’s another story on its own, and sly Phantom of the Opera fans will see a few references to that story smuggled in). Of course, the whole serial grew out of a throwaway line in “1896” which in turn was bred out of a throwaway line in “1996”—demonstrating the way continuity can get out of hand in a fan’s fevered imagination!

Actually, I’d been thinking about a story involving the Museum d’Histoire Naturelle since I visited there in 2005. The Hall of Extinction was particularly vivid in my mind, and several of the themes about conservation and good intentions going bad have been done before, in the likes of The Last Dodo and “Nightmare in Eden.” Originally I thought it might make a good Fourth Doctor story, but then concluded since he had recently (relatively!) been to Paris with Romana II, and spent a fair amount of time around the turn of the 19th century, I should give the story to another Doctor.

I chose the First Doctor because I’d been watching some of the first stories from 1963, ’64, ’65, and ’66, and I relished the challenge of capturing him. I chose Vicki and Steven because they’re both underused, and I wanted to write for them, too. I seem to set a lot of stories around Expositions/World Fairs (3 or 4 so far), but they’re extremely rich and I’m not alone in this—look at The Clockwise Man by Justin Richards. Loie, of course, is real and was the centerpiece of the 1900 Exposition, now largely forgotten. The Milne-Edwardses did exist, too, as you will find upon researching the history of the Museum d’Histoire Naturelle. Robert Ross was indeed with Oscar Wilde to the end, though I’m sure he didn’t go around shooting friends and breeding animals under the catacombs!

Thank you for reading this far, and I hope you have enjoyed the story. I enjoyed writing it. Wouldn’t it be fun to hear it as an audio or see it on TV? Ah, well.

I am deeply indebted to my sources:

Boyd, James P. The Paris Exposition of 1900. Illustrated. 1900.
Evenson, Norma. Paris: A Century of Change 1878-1978. 1978.
Gosling, Nigel. The Adventurous World of Paris 1900-1914.
Nelson Current, Richard, and Marcia Ewing Current. Loie Fuller, Goddess of Light. 1997.
Obituary (online) for Alphonse Milne-Edwards
Wikipedia articles on Alphonse Milne-Edwards (1835-1900) and Henry Milne-Edwards (1800-1885)

The Oscar Wilde sources used for this and “1896” were Barbara Belford’s Oscar Wilde: A Certain Genius and Merlin Holland’s The Wilde Album.