Lords of the Ether (comic story)

Doctor Which?

This story debuted with either the Second or Third Doctor, then was reprinted with the Fourth Doctor. It may have had different companions in the reprint, as well. From an in-universe point of view, it's unclear which Doctor lived through these events.

Lords of the Ether
Doctor:	Third Doctor
Main setting:	The Moon
Key crew
Publisher:	Polystyle
Artist:	Gerry Haylock
Release details
Printed in:	TV Comic 1191-1198
Release date:	12 October - 30 November 1974
Format:	Comic - 8 parts (16 pages)
Printed in:	TV Comic 1416-1423
Title:	Moon Exploration
Release date:	2 February - 23 March 1979
TVC comic stories
← Previous	The Metal-Eaters
Next →	The Wanderers

Lords of the Ether was a Third Doctor comic strip in TV Comic, reprinted with the Fourth Doctor under the name Moon Exploration.

Summary

After a successful moon landing, the crew of the Achilles spot a deep, cylindrical shaft into the lunar surface. On Earth, the Doctor's warning against any exploration of the shaft are ignored. When Major Franklin disappears after descending the tunnel, the mission is aborted. However, as the returning space capsule enters the Earth's atmosphere, the astronauts and it are turned to stone. The Doctor attributes this to fragment of the mineral Crunthel collected by the astronauts from the tunnel floor. Joined by CIA agent Harry Godino, the Doctor travels in the TARDIS to the moon. There they discover that the tunnel leads to the burial chamber of a member of an ancient alien race. Trapped in the tomb, the travellers' only hope of escape is for the Doctor to make contact with the aliens — the Lords of the Ether themselves.

Plot

to be added

Characters

• Third Doctor or Fourth Doctor
• Harry Godino
• Major Franklin

References

to be added

Notes

• The spacesuits worn by the Doctor and Harry are similar to those seen in the ITC science-fiction adventure series UFO (1970-71).
• For some strange reason, the Doctor calls Harry "Joe" in one panel. This error was corrected for the Fourth Doctor reprint.

Original print details

(Publication with page count and closing captions)

• TVC 1416 (2 pages) The Doctor makes a grim discovery soon!
• TVC 1417 (2 pages) A mystery man trails the time-traveller soon!
• TVC 1418 (2 pages) Has the Doctor made the wrong decision?
• TVC 1419 (2 pages) Will the Doctor's desperate plan work?
• TVC 1420 (2 pages) Next week: stepping into space!
• TVC 1421 (2 pages) What's behind the barrier? See next week!
• TVC 1422 (2 pages) Power of a super-stone next week!
• TVC 1423 (2 pages) A new way-out adventure adventure begins with the Doctor next week!

Continuity

to be added