In ancient Mesopotamia the Seventh Doctor and Ace together with Gilgamesh face a mythological Gallifreyan terror – the Timewyrm.

Recorded during the events of The Invasion of Time, the Fourth Doctor's warning concerns a mythical creature known only as the Timewyrm.

After the Doctor restores Ace's memories, the TARDIS lands in ancient Mesopotamia Back in Uruk, two noblemen, Gudea and Ennatum, plot against Gilgamesh.

Gilgamesh attracts unwanted attention, and, to avoid a brawl, Ace sings "The Wild Rover" to entertain the crowd.

The Doctor reveals that the patterns Ishtar is having worked into the walls of the Temple are a kind of massive electronic transmitter which will allow her to control thousands of human minds over vast distances.

The group decides that Gilgamesh, Ace, and Avram will seek out Utnapishtim, while the Doctor, Enkidu, and En-Gula keep an eye on Kish.

Avram, who has been there before, leads them to two "scorpion men", in reality robotic guards designed to repel intruders.

Ace is forced to disarm the guard of his laser gun, to avoid allowing Gilgamesh to be killed in contravention of known Earth history.

The party uses a small boat to travel to the center of the lake to Utnapishtim, who resides in the remains of a vast spaceship.

He confides to Ace that his people will not be able to remain long within their wrecked ship, and that, when they venture out into the world, a destructive war with the humans will be inevitable.

Utnapishtim agrees to help Ace destroy Qataka/Ishtar with a computer virus that will attack Ishtar's cybernetic body.

The Doctor realises that Ishtar has rigged a cobalt bomb, powerful enough to destroy the planet, to explode in the event of her death.

Back on the TARDIS, the Doctor tries to find a way to keep Ishtar's mental processes going after the virus destroys her body.

The Doctor returns everyone to Mesopotamia and assists Utnapishtim in repairing his ship, making sure that the people of Anu can find an uninhabited planet to call their new home.

Due to the presence of a topless teenage prostitute in the novel, Timewyrm: Genesys was the subject of some coverage in UK tabloids.

[6] In Bookwyrm, Anthony Wilson writes that when reading Timewyrm: Genesys, "you realise that the whole thing, setting aside, is an exercise in Doctor Who cliché.

"[7] Elizabeth Sandifer wrote in TARDIS Eruditorum that Timewyrm: Genesys is "a book whose sole claim to being for adults amounts to the fact that Gilgamesh sexually assaults everything in sight and everybody is obsessed with breasts.