H.M.S. Tardis (short story)

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H.M.S. Tardis was the eighth short story and twenty-fourth release exclusively published in The Dr Who Annual 1968 in September 1967 by World Distributors. It featured the Second Doctor, Ben and Polly. It was a rare instance of the Doctor actively trying to change something about the known history of Earth.

	Second Doctor
	Polly, Ben
	The HMS Victory, 21 October 1805
	World Distributors
	One or more of: K. McGarry J. L. Morrissey J. H. Pavey M. Broadley J. W. Elliot Colin Newstead
	One or more of: Walter Howarth David Brian Susan Aspey Peter Limbert
	Science fiction
	24
	The Dr Who Annual 1968
	September 1967
The Dr Who Annual 1968
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Plot

Dr. Who, Ben and Polly land on the HMS Victory during the Battle of Trafalgar. In the lull immediately before the fight with the Redoubtable, they must prove to Flag Captain Hardy they are not spies or deserters. Dr. Who proposes to his companions that they try to do a bit more than that. He tells Polly that he aims to change history, but neither Ben nor she believe he is capable of that. He tries to give Nelson specific advice to avert his death, but, in the end, Nelson dies, anyway. Still, Ben seems to have changed history a tiny bit, by encouraging Nelson to send a message to the whole British fleet: "England expects that every man this day will do his duty."

Characters

• Dr. Who
• Ben Jackson
• Polly Wright
• Lord Admiral Horatio Nelson
• Flag Captain Thomas Hardy
• Tom
• Dickon
• Quartermaster

Worldbuilding

• Excited about the possibilities of the ship they might be on, Ben mentions the Spanish Armada, Drake, the Spanish Main and Morgan the Pirate.
• Napoléon Bonaparte is Emperor of the French.
• The Bucentaure, under Villeneuve, the Redoubtable, and the HMS Royal Sovereign, under Collingwood, are mentioned.
• A battle at the Nile occurred, during which the Indefatigable was lost.

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 but once 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 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 annual, the Doctor is shown here wearing his stovepipe hat.
• The Doctor's stance on changing history seems unusual in the light of The Aztecs, and many historical stories thereafter. Here the Doctor is actively trying to ensure that Nelson will live into old age, instead of being killed in the Battle of Trafalgar. In fact, it's his companions who have to rein in his enthusiasm, which is decidedly jingoistic. He tries to enlist Ben's aid by saying it's "for the good of England" that they save Nelson.
• This is one of the few stories in which Ben plays a dominant role, and in which his naval background is significant to the plot. Ben is in his element here, certainly more than in any televised story, and probably more than in any other story in any medium.

Continuity

• This is the first of two times the Second Doctor has direct contact with Lord Admiral Horatio Nelson. Though this occasion is at the very beginning of the second Doctor's life, the next instance, in PROSE: World Game, came after his trial in TV: The War Games.
• The Doctor would later be present for the Battle of Trafalgar again during his both eleventh (COMIC: Rough Waters) and twelfth incarnations. (COMIC: Ghosts of the Seas)