Government (feature)

Government
Main setting:	11 November 1967 and 11 November 2067
Key crew
Publisher:	City Magazines
Editor:	Alan Fennell
Release details
Printed in:	TV21 147
Release date:	11 November 1967

Government was an instalment of the Then and Now series of features printed in TV Century 21 which contained elements from the Doctor Who universe. A comparison of the different structures of government in 1967 and 2067, it naturally made reference to Unity City, the capital of the World Government in TV21's shared universe, which was first introduced in The Daleks comic story Duel of the Daleks.

Worldbuilding

• Nearly every country and state was subject to different governments and leadership in 1967, with capitalism set against communism and dictatorship set against democracy.
• By 2028, atomic war was "the only effective spokesman not tried" in the struggle to unite the world's powers.
• The skyscraper in Unity City which houses the World Senate is a symbol of world power and of all the lives lost in the battle to achieve it.
• In 2067, with absolute peace and unity a great deal nearer than the denizens of 1967 could ever dream of, the power of government can be concentrated on allying known alien planets with the World Government.
• There were approximately 121 countries in the United Nations in 1967.
• The United Nations building was located in New York in 1967.
• In 2067, all Earth duties are departmentalised under the World President through Supreme Headquarters Earth Forces.

Notes

• This feature strongly suggests that the atomic war started in 2028 was World War III, making it the only known "true" depiction of the conflict in the Doctor Who universe to date. The audio story Frostfire vaugely dated both it and World War IV to before the 25th century while versions of World War III from alternate timelines have been seen in several stories, including the television story Day of the Daleks, the novel The Time Travellers, and the audio story Protect and Survive.
• This feature reuses an illustration of Unity City from the 1966 feature World Government and Space Empire, which covered a similar subject.

Continuity

• Repeating claims from PROSE: World Government and Space Empire, the dictatorships of Bereznik and Tong Vietkin were the only two countries not to join the World Government upon its formation in 2034.
• Bereznik has repeatedly attempted to bring down the World Government, another fact noted in PROSE: World Government and Space Empire, seen in stories such as COMIC: Andromeda Or Die, PROSE: Door of Danger, PROSE: Thieves Steal Million Dollars, COMIC: The Black Ship and COMIC: The Assassination Threat.