More actions
Summary
Down in the cellar, the Tenth Doctor and Bob find Presence, a living world-ship who is Absence’s tutor and guardian. Absence is compared to an errant child, behaving without boundaries. A collision damaged the world-ship and separated Absence from Presence. As Absence grows in strength, Presence grows weaker. Soon Absence will consume everything. The Doctor suggests using the TARDIS to boost Presence’s power so that Absence can be contained, but the way to the TARDIS is blocked by the dragon creatures. When the Doctor is struck unconscious by a dragons tail, Bob takes the TARDIS key from his hand and races to the Doctor's 'hut'.
As Bob opens the TARDIS door, Presence draws on the energy and is restored. Like a child, Absence is returned to his guardian and everything is returned to normal, except Bob, who died in the sacrifice he made. The Doctor visits the derelict house as the developers move in. Any buildings to this day built on this site carry a wall plaque of unknown origin stating simply "Bob Manning Lived Here. The man who saved the world".
Characters
References
- The Battles in Time comic strip sought to reinforce the association of its Doctor with the one seen on screen with ‘props’ from the TV series: his blue/brown suit, sonic screwdriver, psychic paper and his intelligent glasses.
Notes
- Supporting the series of collectible Doctor Who trading cards, the magazine carried a regular four page comic strip of the Tenth Doctor’s adventures.
- The limitation of only four pages meant that stories often lacked depth compared to other regular comic strips running at the same time.
- The artwork and colours were bold and bright, reflecting the tone of the magazine and, as did Doctor Who Adventures, reflected the appeal to readers younger than those catered to by Doctor Who Magazine.
- This was the last comic strip in Doctor Who: Battles in Time (Magazine).
- This comic did not have an opening tag.
Original print details
- Instalment, publication with page count and closing captions
- 2/2 DWBIT 70 (4 pages)
- No reprints to date.
Continuity
to be added