TV Comic

TV Comic
Publisher:	Polystyle Publications, Ltd.
Type:	Magazine
Release date:	1964 - 1979

TV Comic was a weekly magazine published by Polystyle Publications, Ltd. in Britain from 1951 to 1984. It printed Doctor Who strips from 1964 to 1979.

History

Throughout the TV Comic strips, the Doctor was primarily called "Dr. Who" by his companions and the narration. For convenience, the later-established incarnation numbering schema is used on this page to disambiguate between, for instance, William Hartnell's Dr. Who and Patrick Troughton's Dr. Who.

The TV Comic strips are notable for introducing a number of original characters, including companions and aliens. Original companions included the Doctor's grandchildren, John and Gillian, as well as Arnold. As the comic rights to the Daleks were initially held by competing magazine TV Century 21, original villains called the Trods were used in their place; however, in 1967 the Dalek rights reverted to TV Comic, the Daleks were shown to massacre the Trods in The Trodos Ambush.

From the years 1971 to 1973, new Doctor Who comics were instead printed in TV Comic's sister magazine, TV Action/Countdown.

Beginning with TVC 1386 in July 1978, old TV Comic Second and Third Doctor strips were reprinted with new art showing the then-current Fourth Doctor's face. This modification and reuse of pre-existing material continued until TVC 1430 in 1979, when the rights to Doctor Who comics moved to Marvel Comics UK's new magazine Doctor Who Weekly.

The TV Comic run of Doctor Who concluded with TVC 1430 on 11 May 1979.

Comic stories

William Hartnell's Dr. Who

Title	Featuring	Printed in	Released
The Klepton Parasites	John Who and Gillian Who, Kleptons	674-683	9 November 1964-11 January 1965
The Therovian Quest	John and Gillian	684-689	16 January - 22 February 1965
The Hijackers of Thrax		690-692	1 - 15 March 1965
On the Web Planet	John and Gillian, Zarbi	693-698	22 March - 26 April 1965
Untitled	Police officer	696	12 April 1965
The Gyros Injustice	John and Gillian	699-704	3 May - 7 June 1965
Challenge of the Piper		705-709	14 June - 12 July 1965
Prisoners of Gritog		Holiday Special 1965	1 July 1965
TV Terrors	Monica, Buttons, Cuthbert	709	12 July 1965
Moon Landing	John and Gillian	710-712	19 July - 2 August 1965
Time in Reverse		713-715	9 - 23 August 1965
Lizardworld		716-719	30 August - 20 September 1965
Prisoners of the Kleptons	John and Gillian, Kleptons	Annual 1966	1 September 1965
The Caterpillar Men	John and Gillian
The Ordeals of Demeter		720-723	27 September - 18 October 1965
Enter: The Go-Ray		724-727	25 October - 15 November 1965
Shark Bait		728-731	22 November - 13 December 1965
A Christmas Story		732-735	20 December 1965 - 10 January 1966
The Didus Expedition		736-739	22 January - 12 February 1966
Space Station Z-7		740-743	19 February - 12 March 1966
Plague of the Black Scorpi		744-747	19 March - 9 April 1966
The Trodos Tyranny	John and Gillian, Trods	748-752	16 April - 14 May 1966
The Secret of Gemino	John and Gillian	753-757	21 May - 18 June 1966
The Haunted Planet		758-762	25 June - 23 July 1966
Guests of King Neptune		Holiday Special 1966	1 July 1966
The Gaze of the Gorgon
The Hunters of Zerox		763-767	30 July - 27 August 1966
Deadly Vessel		Annual 1967	1 September 1966
Kingdom of the Animals
The Underwater Robot		768-771	3 - 24 September 1966
Return of the Trods	John and Gillian, Trods	772-775	1 - 22 October 1966
The Galaxy Games	John and Gillian	776-779	29 October - 19 November 1966
The Experimenters		780-783	26 November - 17 December 1966

Patrick Troughton's Dr. Who

Title	Featuring	Printed in	Released
The Extortioner	John and Gillian	784-787	24 December 1966 - 14 January 1967
The Trodos Ambush	John and Gillian, Trods, Daleks	788-791	21 January - 11 February 1967
The Doctor Strikes Back	John and Gillian, Daleks	792-795	18 February - 11 March 1967
The Zombies	John and Gillian	796-798	18 March - 1 April 1967
Master of Spiders		799-802	8 - 29 April 1967
The Exterminator	John and Gillian, Daleks	803-806	6 - 27 May 1967
The Monsters from the Past	John and Gillian	807-811	3 June - 1 July 1967
The Tardis Worshippers		812-815	8 - 29 July 1967
Space War Two		816-819	5 - 26 August 1967
Egyptian Escapade		820-823	2 - 23 September 1967
The Coming of the Cybermen	John and Gillian, Cybermen	824-827	30 September - 21 October 1967
The Faithful Rocket Pack	John and Gillian	828-831	28 October - 18 November 1967
Flower Power	John and Gillian, Cybermen	832-836	25 November - 23 December 1967
The Witches	John and Gillian	837-841	30 December 1967 - 27 January 1968
Cyber-Mole	John and Gillian, Cybermen	842-845	3 - 24 February 1968
The Sabre-Toothed Gorillas	John and Gillian	846-849	2 - 23 March 1968
The Cyber Empire	John and Gillian, Cybermen	850-853	30 March - 20 April 1968
The Dyrons	John and Gillian	854-858	27 April - 25 May 1968
Dr. Who and the Space Pirates		859-863	1 - 29 June 1968
Car of the Century		864-867	6 - 27 July 1968
The Jokers		868-871	3 - 23 August 1968
Invasion of the Quarks	John and Gillian, Jamie McCrimmon, Quarks	872-876	31 August - 28 September 1968
The Killer Wasps	Jamie, Quarks	877-880	5 - 26 October 1968
Ice Cap Terror	Jamie	881-884	2 - 23 November 1968
Jungle of Doom	Jamie, Quarks	885-889	30 November - 28 December 1968
Father Time	Jamie	890-893	4 - 25 January 1969
Martha the Mechanical Housemaid		894-898	1 February - 1 March 1969
The Duellists	Quarks	899-902	7 - 28 July 1969
Eskimo Joe		903-906	5 - 26 April 1969
Peril at 60 Fathoms		907-910	3 - 24 May 1969
Operation Wurlitzer		911-915	31 May - 28 June 1969
Action in Exile		916-920	5 July - 2 August 1969
The Mark of Terror		921-924	9 - 30 August 1969
The Brotherhood		925-928	6 - 27 September 1969
U.F.O.		929-933	4 October - 1 November 1969
The Night Walkers	Time Lords	934-936	8 - 22 November 1969

Jon Pertwee's Dr. Who

Title	Featuring	Printed in	Released
The Arkwood Experiments	The Brigadier	944-949	17 January - 21 February 1970
The Multi-Mobile		950-954	28 February - 28 March 1970
Insect		955-959	4 April - 2 May 1970
The Metal-Eaters	The Brigadier, Liz Shaw	960-964	9 May - 6 June 1970
The Fishmen of Carpantha		965-969	13 June - 11 July 1970
Doctor Who and the Rocks from Venus		970-976	18 July - 29 August 1970
Doctor Who and the Robot	The Brigadier	977-984	5 September - 24 October 1970
Trial of Fire		985-991	31 October - 12 December 1970
The Kingdom Builders		992-999	19 December 1970 - 6 February 1971

After TVC 999, the Doctor Who strip moved to Polystyle's new Countdown magazine, which was ultimately called TV Action; it returned to TVC in issue 1133 in 1973.

• 1133-1138: Children of the Evil Eye
• 1139-1147: Nova
• 1148-1154: The Amateur
• 1155-1159: The Disintegrator
• 1160-1169: Is Anyone There?
• 1170-1176: Size Control
• 1177-1183: The Magician
• 1184-1190: The Metal-Eaters
• 1191-1198: Lords of the Ether
• 1199-1203: The Wanderers

Tom Baker's Dr. Who

Note: From Issues 1292 to 1325, the Doctor Who strip is reduced from the usual two pages to one.

• 1204-1214: Death Flower
• 1215-1222: Return of the Daleks
• 1223-1231: The Wreckers
• 1232-1238: The Emperor's Spy
• 1239-1244: The Sinister Sea
• 1245-1250: The Space Ghost
• 1251-1258: The Dalek Revenge
• 1259-1265: Virus
• 1266-1272: Treasure Trail
• 1273-1279: Hubert's Folly
• 1280-1286: Counter-Rotation
• 1287-1290: Mind Snatch
• 1291: The Hoaxers
• 1292-1297: The Mutant Strain
• 1298-1304: Double Trouble
• 1305-1311: Dredger
• 1312-1317: The False Planet
• 1318-1325: The Fire Feeders
• 1326-1333: Kling Dynasty
• 1334-1340: The Orb
• 1341-1347: The Mutants
• 1348-1352: The Devil's Mouth
• 1353-1360: The Aqua-City
• 1361-1365: The Snow Devils
• 1366-1370: The Space Garden
• 1371-1372: The Eerie Manor
• 1373-1379: Guardian of the Tomb
• 1380-1385: The Image Makers

Edited reprints

(mostly Third Doctor stories, these were altered to feature the Fourth Doctor)

• Mighty Midget Doctor Who comic (included with TVC 1292) - Doomcloud
• 1386-1389: The Duellists
• 1390-1396: The Amateur
• 1397-1403: The Magician
• 1404-1408: The Wanderers
• 1409-1415: The Metal-Eaters
• 1416-1423: Moon Exploration (Lords of the Ether)
• 1424-1430: Size Control

Other uses

TV Comic used the Doctor and the Daleks in four known back-up comics, featured in a section titled "Pick of the Jokes." One notable aspect was that these jokes appear to follow licensing restrictions: for instance, Daleks did not appear in these comics until TV Comic obtained permission to put them in comics.

These comics are:

The Doctor fights with a police officer, wanting to get to his TARDIS.

Two Daleks talk, in TV Comic 798.

• TVC 696, the Doctor attempts to get back to the TARDIS, or perhaps just a police box, but is blocked by an officer.
• TVC 740: the Doctor enters a police box, only to find an officer exiting. The Doctor responds "Oops! Sorry! Wrong box!"
• TVC 794: In an otherwise non-Who strip, a child carried a small Dalek on a leash.
• TVC 798: Two Daleks talk, one speaking of their Trans-sister

Special issues

TV Comic

First Doctor

• TV Comic Holiday Special 1965: Prisoners of Gritog
• TV Comic Holiday Special 1966: Guests of King Neptune and The Gaze of the Gorgon

Second Doctor

• TV Comic Holiday Special 1967: Barnabus and Jungle Adventure
• TV Comic Holiday Special 1968: Return of the Witches and Masquerade
• TV Comic Holiday Special 1969: The Champion and The Entertainer

Third Doctor

• TV Comic Holiday Special 1970: Assassin from Space and Undercover

• TV Comic Holiday Special 1973: The One Second Hour (short story)
• TV Comic Holiday Special 1974: Signal S.O.S. (short story)

Fourth Doctor

• TV Comic Holiday Special 1975: The Magic Box (short story)
• TV Comic Holiday Special 1976: Which Way Out? (short story)
• TV Comic Holiday Special 1977: The Sky Warrior

TV Comic Annual

First Doctor

• TV Comic Annual 1966: Prisoners of the Kleptons and The Caterpillar Men
• TV Comic Annual 1967: Deadly Vessel and Kingdom of the Animals

Second Doctor

• TV Comic Annual 1968: Attack of the Daleks and Pursued by the Trods
• TV Comic Annual 1969: The Time Museum and The Electrodes
• TV Comic Annual 1970: Death Race and Test Flight

Third Doctor

• TV Comic Annual 1971: Castaway and Levitation
• TV Comic Annual 1975: Petrified

Fourth Doctor

• TV Comic Annual 1976: Woden's Warriors
• TV Comic Annual 1977: The Tansbury Experiment
• TV Comic Annual 1978: Master of the Blackhole and Jackals of Space
• TV Comic Annual 1979: The Sea Devil and Milena

External links

• TV Comic Strips - First Doctor at the Doctor Who Reference Guide
• TV Comic Strips - Second Doctor at the Doctor Who Reference Guide
• TV Comic Strips - Third Doctor at the Doctor Who Reference Guide
• TV Comic Strips - Fourth Doctor at the Doctor Who Reference Guide