Planet of Bones (short story): Difference between revisions

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{{title|''{{PAGENAME}}''}}
{{Infobox Story SMW
{{Infobox Short Story|
|image       = PlanetOfBones.png
story name=Planet of Bones|
|series       = [[Doctor Who annual|''Doctor Who'' annual]]
image=[[File:PlanetOfBones.png|250px]]|
|doctor       = Second Doctor
series=[[Doctor Who annual|''Doctor Who'' annual]]|
|companions   = [[Polly Wright|Polly]], [[Ben Jackson|Ben]]
doctor=[[Second Doctor]]|
|setting      = [[Harmony (planet)|Harmony]]
companions=[[Ben Jackson]], [[Polly Wright|Polly]]|
|writer       =  
year=[[Harmony (planet)|Harmony]]|
|read by      = [[Anneke Wills]]
writer=|
|anthology    = The Dr Who Annual 1968
publication=[[Doctor Who Annual 1968]]|
|release date = September 1967
previous story=[[Only a Matter of Time]]|
|prev        = Only a Matter of Time (short story)
next story=[[When Starlight Grows Cold]]|
|next         = When Starlight Grows Cold (short story)
|}}'''''{{PAGENAME}}''''' was the fifth illustrated short story in the [[Doctor Who Annual 1968|1968 ''Doctor Who Annual'']]. It featured the [[Second Doctor]], [[Ben Jackson|Ben]] and [[Polly Wright|Polly]].
}}{{you may|Planet of Bones (comic story)|n1=the Zero X comic story}}
'''''{{StoryTitle}}''''' was the fifth illustrated short story in ''[[The Dr Who Annual 1968]]''. It featured the [[Second Doctor]], [[Ben Jackson|Ben]] and [[Polly Wright|Polly]].


== Summary ==
== Summary ==
[[second Doctor|The Doctor]], [[Ben Jackson|Ben]] and [[Polly Wright|Polly]] land on what appears to be an idyllic world. So peaceful does it seem that Polly immediately dubs it "Heaven". After some exploration, Ben discovers the world is inhabited. [[The TARDIS]] crew go to meet the locals, [[near-Human]]s dressed in what resemble [[Greek]] clothing. They speak musically and stop the Doctor and his companions from bickering with each other. This world, it turns out, is actually named "Harmony", and they wish to ensure the name is accurate.
The [[Second Doctor]], [[Ben Jackson|Ben]] and [[Polly Wright|Polly]] land on what appears to be an idyllic world. So peaceful does it seem that Polly immediately dubs it "[[Heaven (afterlife)|Heaven]]". After some exploration, Ben discovers the world is inhabited. [[The TARDIS]] crew go to meet the locals, [[humanoid]]s dressed in what resemble [[Greek]] clothing. They speak musically and stop the Doctor and his companions from bickering with each other. This world, it turns out, is actually named "Harmony", and they wish to ensure the name is accurate.


At first, the TARDIS crew are amazed at the sumptuous treatment they're accorded. But as the Doctor begins to ask questions about the word, he encounters some nonsensical answers. Their hosts claim not to have either animals or farms. While his [[companion]]s are sleeping, the Doctor determines to figure out how the locals derive their nutirition. What he discovers is a rather gruesome room filled with heads. When his presence is detected by [[Alba]] and [[Sandor]], they tell him that their world once did have animals, but they died out long ago. Now they wait for people to come to their planet, so they can harvest ''them''.  
At first, the TARDIS crew are amazed at the sumptuous treatment they're accorded. But as the Doctor begins to ask questions about the word, he encounters some nonsensical answers. Their hosts claim not to have either animals or farms. While his [[companion]]s are sleeping, the Doctor determines to figure out how the locals derive their nutrition. What he discovers is a rather gruesome room filled with heads. When his presence is detected by [[Alba]] and [[Sandor]], they tell him that their world once did have animals, but they died out long ago. Now they wait for people to come to their planet, so they can harvest ''them''.


Sensing he is in immediate danger, he pulls his [[the Doctor's recorder|recorder]] from his pocket, and begins to play discordant notes on it. The locals are all physically stunned by this disharmony. The Doctor runs to the sleeping quarters to retrieve Ben and Polly. Still using the recorder for protection, the trio manage to find their way back to the TARDIS and depart. Ben and Polly never find out exactly why the Doctor rushed them off the planet, because he judges them "too young" for the awful truth.
Sensing he is in immediate danger, he pulls his [[the Doctor's recorder|recorder]] from his pocket, and begins to play discordant notes on it. The locals are all physically stunned by this disharmony. The Doctor runs to the sleeping quarters to retrieve Ben and Polly. Still using the recorder for protection, the trio manage to find their way back to the TARDIS and depart. Ben and Polly never find out exactly why the Doctor rushed them off the planet, because he judges them "too young" for the awful truth.


== Characters ==
== Characters ==
Line 27: Line 29:
* [[Alba]]
* [[Alba]]
* [[Sandor]]
* [[Sandor]]
== References ==
 
''to be added''
== Worldbuilding ==
* The people of Harmony recently received a batch of automatics from [[Andromeda (galaxy)|Andromeda]].


== Notes ==
== Notes ==
* Like many early ''Doctor Who'' print stories, both comic and prose, the Doctor is referred to as "Doctor Who" or "Dr. Who". The word "doctor" is not even seen as a proper noun here when used on its own to refer to the character.
* Like many early ''Doctor Who'' print stories, both comic and prose, the Doctor is referred to as "Doctor Who" or "Dr. Who". The word "doctor" is not even seen as a proper noun here when used on its own to refer to the character.
* As with other stories in [[Doctor Who Annual 1968|the 1968 annual]], the second Doctor refers to Ben and Polly as "my children", or, individually, "my child", "my girl", or "my boy". Uncharacteristic of the [[Patrick Troughton|Troughton]] Doctor, this seems to be a hold-over from the [[William Hartnell|Hartnell]] interpretation; there was simply too little time between when Troughton took over and this annual had to go to print for the annual's editors to understand Troughton's approach to the role.
* As with other stories in ''[[The Dr Who Annual 1968]]'', the Second Doctor refers to Ben and Polly as "my children", or, individually, "my child", "my girl", or "my boy". Uncharacteristic of the [[Patrick Troughton|Troughton]] Doctor, this seems to be a hold-over from the [[William Hartnell|Hartnell]] interpretation; there was simply too little time between when Troughton took over and this annual had to go to print for the annual's editors to understand Troughton's approach to the role.
* As in other illustrated stories throughout the second Doctor's appearances in [[World Distributors]] annuals, the Doctor is shown here wearing his [[stovepipe hat]] — despite the fact that Troughton had abandoned the hat some eight months before publication.
* As in other illustrated stories throughout the Second Doctor's appearances in [[World Distributors]] annuals, the Doctor is shown here wearing his [[stovepipe hat]] — despite the fact that Troughton had abandoned the hat some eight months before publication.
* The [[Second Doctor]] and [[Ben Jackson|Ben]] have an especially contentious relationship here, perhaps because the Second Doctor is generally characterised throughout [[Doctor Who Annual 1968|this annual]] as being considerably more like the televised [[First Doctor]]. At one point, the Doctor threatens to abandon Ben "in some world filled with loathsome monsters [where] you may begin to feel at home at last." Their extreme discord, however, is a essentially a {{w|plot device}}.
* In [[2024 (releases)|2024]], this story was read by [[Anneke Wills]] for ''[[The Phaser Aliens & Other Stories]]''.


== Continuity ==
== Continuity ==
* The [[second Doctor]] and [[Ben Jackson|Ben]] have an especially contentious relationship here, perhaps because the second Doctor is generally characterised throughout [[Doctor Who Annual 1968|this annual]] as being considerably more like the televised [[first Doctor]]. At one point, the Doctor threatens to abandon Ben "in some world filled with loathsome monters [where] you may begin to feel at home at last." Their extreme discord, however, is a essentially a [[wikipedia:plot device|plot device]].
* The Doctor gives the world the name "Arcady", after an alternate spelling of {{w|Arcadia (utopia)|Arcadia}}. This was also the name of a [[Arcadia (planet)|world]] visited by the [[Seventh Doctor]]. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Deceit (novel)|Deceit]]'') The ''actual'' name of the planet, at least according to its inhabitants, is "[[Harmony (planet)|Harmony]]".
* Polly calls the planet on which they land "Heaven", but she means it metaphorically. [[Heaven]] is, however, an actual [[planet]] in the [[Doctor Who universe|DWU]], visited by the [[seventh Doctor]] and [[Bernice Summerfield]] and, at different times, a base of operations for [[human]]s, [[Draconian]]s and [[Dalek]]s. ([[NA]]: ''[[Love and War]]'', [[BFBS]]: ''[[Death and the Daleks]]'')
* The Doctor suggests the [[Milky Way]] is his home galaxy. This is consistent with later ''Doctor Who'' fiction, but the preferred ''Doctor Who'' term is "[[Mutter's Spiral]]". ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Human Nature (novel)|Human Nature]]'', [[PROSE]]: ''[[Alien Bodies (novel)|Alien Bodies]]'')
* The Doctor gives the world the name "Arcady". Where he gets this name from is unclear, but it shouldn't be confused with [[Arcadia]], a world oft-mentioned by the [[tenth Doctor|tenth]] and [[eleventh Doctor]]s. ([[DW]]: ''[[Doomsday]]'', ''[[Vincent and the Doctor]]'')
* The ''actual'' name of the planet, at least according to its inhabitants, is "[[Harmony (planet)|Harmony]]".
* The Doctor suggests the [[Milky Way]] is his home galaxy. This is consistent with later ''Doctor Who'' fiction, but the preferred ''Doctor Who'' term is "[[Mutter's Spiral]]". ([[NA]]: ''[[Human Nature (novel)|Human Nature]]'', [[EDA]]: ''[[Alien Bodies]]'')
 
== Timeline ==
In broad terms, this story must occur between [[DW]]: ''[[The Power of the Daleks]]'' and ''[[The Highlanders]]''. More precise location is difficult, because there are no continuity references in the story. However, placing it in "table of contents order" of the 1968 annual is reasonable enough. Thus:
* ''Planet of Bones'' occurs after [[DWAN]]: ''[[Only a Matter of Time]]''
* ''Planet of Bones'' occurs before [[DWAN]]: ''[[When Starlight Grows Cold]]''
 


{{TitleSort}}
{{TitleSort}}


[[Category:Second Doctor short stories]]
[[Category:DWAN 1968 short stories]]
[[Category:Stories released in 1967]]
[[Category:DWAN short stories]]

Latest revision as of 00:46, 22 October 2024

RealWorld.png

You may be looking for the Zero X comic story.

Planet of Bones was the fifth illustrated short story in The Dr Who Annual 1968. It featured the Second Doctor, Ben and Polly.

Summary[[edit] | [edit source]]

The Second Doctor, Ben and Polly land on what appears to be an idyllic world. So peaceful does it seem that Polly immediately dubs it "Heaven". After some exploration, Ben discovers the world is inhabited. The TARDIS crew go to meet the locals, humanoids dressed in what resemble Greek clothing. They speak musically and stop the Doctor and his companions from bickering with each other. This world, it turns out, is actually named "Harmony", and they wish to ensure the name is accurate.

At first, the TARDIS crew are amazed at the sumptuous treatment they're accorded. But as the Doctor begins to ask questions about the word, he encounters some nonsensical answers. Their hosts claim not to have either animals or farms. While his companions are sleeping, the Doctor determines to figure out how the locals derive their nutrition. What he discovers is a rather gruesome room filled with heads. When his presence is detected by Alba and Sandor, they tell him that their world once did have animals, but they died out long ago. Now they wait for people to come to their planet, so they can harvest them.

Sensing he is in immediate danger, he pulls his recorder from his pocket, and begins to play discordant notes on it. The locals are all physically stunned by this disharmony. The Doctor runs to the sleeping quarters to retrieve Ben and Polly. Still using the recorder for protection, the trio manage to find their way back to the TARDIS and depart. Ben and Polly never find out exactly why the Doctor rushed them off the planet, because he judges them "too young" for the awful truth.

Characters[[edit] | [edit source]]

Worldbuilding[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • The people of Harmony recently received a batch of automatics from Andromeda.

Notes[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • Like many early Doctor Who print stories, both comic and prose, the Doctor is referred to as "Doctor Who" or "Dr. Who". The word "doctor" is not even seen as a proper noun here when used on its own to refer to the character.
  • As with other stories in The Dr Who Annual 1968, the Second Doctor refers to Ben and Polly as "my children", or, individually, "my child", "my girl", or "my boy". Uncharacteristic of the Troughton Doctor, this seems to be a hold-over from the Hartnell interpretation; there was simply too little time between when Troughton took over and this annual had to go to print for the annual's editors to understand Troughton's approach to the role.
  • As in other illustrated stories throughout the Second Doctor's appearances in World Distributors annuals, the Doctor is shown here wearing his stovepipe hat — despite the fact that Troughton had abandoned the hat some eight months before publication.
  • The Second Doctor and Ben have an especially contentious relationship here, perhaps because the Second Doctor is generally characterised throughout this annual as being considerably more like the televised First Doctor. At one point, the Doctor threatens to abandon Ben "in some world filled with loathsome monsters [where] you may begin to feel at home at last." Their extreme discord, however, is a essentially a plot device.
  • In 2024, this story was read by Anneke Wills for The Phaser Aliens & Other Stories.

Continuity[[edit] | [edit source]]

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