Operation Wurlitzer (comic story)

Operation Wurlitzer
Doctor:	Second Doctor
Main enemy:	Dwarfs
Main setting:	Planet of dwarfs Quotron
Release details
Printed in:	TV Comic 911-915
Release date:	31 May - 28 June 1969
Format:	Comic - 5 parts (10 pages)
TVC comic stories
← Previous	Peril at 60 Fathoms
Next →	Action in Exile

Operation Wurlitzer was a TV Comic story featuring the Second Doctor.

Summary

Kurt Wurlitzer is one of the wealthiest property tycoons in the universe. When his son is kidnapped by a group of treacherous dwarfs, he asks the Doctor to help. The Doctor leads a team of specialists on a dangerous mission to rescue young Wurlitzer from an underground cell.

Plot

Jason Wurlitzer, son of one of the universe's wealthiest men, is flying over a strange planet when he is kidnapped by a group of dwarfs. The Doctor arrives, and tries to save him. The dwarfs send the Doctor to deliver the ransom note to his father, Kurt Wurlitzer. Knowing he can't possibly give them the three million tonnes of uranium they're asking for, as they'd be able to build nuclear rockets, Wurlitzer offers to hire any help the Doctor may need to rescue Jason from the dwarfs' confinement.

The Doctor requests three people for his rescue mission: Hik Wellar, the "greatest" big game hunter known, "Fingers" O'Flannegan, "the slickest jail breaker on record", and Professor Neob Frankel from the Advanced Space Travel Institute.

With the professor's special space vehicle from the Institute, they arrive back on the planet of the dwarfs undetected. Making their way through fifty miles of dense jungle, Wellar takes down a giant beast. The team makes their way down to the underground base where Jason is being held, but they are apprehended as Fingers is trying to open a combination lock.

As the group is led to the cells to be held there as well, the Doctor notices spray cans of foam, a substance he remembers the dwarfs using when they took down Jason's plane. It turns into solid bubbles when released. Fingers nicks a canister on orders, and the Doctor immobilises one of the captors. The others follow suit, encasing the dwarfs in bubbles.

Finally, they reach Jason's cell. Fingers gets the cell door open, and the five make their way out, canisters in hand to immobilise those who stood in their way. Jason Wurlitzer was saved.

Characters

• Second Doctor
• Jason Wurlitzer
• Kurt Wurlitzer
• Hik Wellar
• "Fingers" O'Flannegan
• Professor Neob Frankel

Worldbuilding

• Wellar was hunting large creatures on the planet Hargo when he is enlisted to help the Doctor.
• O'Flannegan is being held by the United States government in their maximum security prison, San Quentin, when he was enlisted to help the Doctor.
• Frankel is at the Advanced Space Travel Institute on the planet Zot, working on a mark III inter-planet vehicle when he was enlisted.
• Frankel provides a special rubber space vehicle which cannot be detected, as it's designed to absorb radio waves.

Notes

to be added

Original print details

(Publication with page count and closing captions)

• TVC 911 (2 pages) Next week... Dr. Who captured by the hideous jungle-dwarfs!
• TVC 912 (2 pages) Next week Dr.Who takes his 'specialists' to the Planet of the Dwarfs!
• TVC 913 (2 pages) Don't miss the thrills next week when the tiny task force lands!
• TVC 914 (2 pages) Don't miss next week's episode when the mighty trio are captured!
• TVC 915 (2 pages) A sensational new Dr. Who story starts next week!

Continuity

• The Doctor once again orders a retreat by saying, "Scatter!", just as had done with Ben Jackson, Polly Wright and Jamie McCrimmon at Gatwick Airport. (TV: The Faceless Ones)