Land of the Blind (comic story)

The TARDIS arrives in a spaceport on Denossus, but for some reason its engines continue functioning even after it has materialized. As the Doctor, Jamie and Zoe explore their surroundings, a young woman named Anna attempts to destroy the shield generator in the centre of the spaceport, but only manages to attract the attention of the Vortexians who now rule Denossus. The Doctor tries to intervene on her behalf, but the Vortexians politely arrest him and sentence him to five seconds in the Speculum -- an ordeal which normally destroys the victim's mind. Anna's father-in-law, Max, explains to Jamie and Zoe that the Vortexians sealed off the planet from the rest of the Universe twenty years ago, and have ruled it ever since; his son, Anna's husband Luther, was recently placed in the speculum for attempting to destroy the shield generator. The Doctor, however, survives the speculum, and recognizes the force within as the Time Vortex -- which leads him to realise where they really are.

Upon being released by the Vortexians, the Doctor and his friends set up a trap for them, and catch them in mid-transit when Anna lures them by trying to destroy the shield generator again. While the Vortexians are trapped, the Doctor switches off the shield generator's holographic sky- projection to reveal that the spaceport has in fact been removed from real space-time altogether and suspended in the Time Vortex. The Vortexians intend to unite all races in harmony under their rule and had transplanted Denossus into the Vortex as a test of their abilities. They break free of the Doctor's trap and attempt to arrest Anna, but Max deliberately shouts a racial epithet at them, causing them to administer a shock to his nervous system as punishment. But his ageing heart can't stand the shock and he dies, telling the Doctor he knew what he was doing. The Doctor points out that the Vortexians have broken their own moral code by killing Max, and the Vortexians punish themselves by restoring Denossus to its place in the Universe and departing.

Characters[[edit] | [edit source]]

Worldbuilding[[edit] | [edit source]]

Denossus was captured and taken into the space/time vortex by the Vortexians over twenty years prior to the Doctor's arrival.
The Doctor is put on trial.
The Vortexians considers Jamie and Max calling them "sassanachs" to be potentially racist.
"Speculum" is an old word for mirror.
The Doctor captures the Vortexians mid-transmat in a static interference funnel.

Notes[[edit] | [edit source]]

The name, design and background notes for the Vortexians came from Paul Fisher, the winning designer in Doctor Who Magazine's Design a Monster competition. The winner was announced in Doctor Who Magazine 224.
- The runner-up monster designs also had cameos in the same strip. They were the Zrontaks, designed by Richard Burnell, the Insoids, designed by Jason Powdrill and the Pharaohs, designed by Justin Askham.
- This is not the first competition where the winning monster was presented in a Doctor Who comic strip story. TV Action + Countdown ran a Design a Monster competition in 1972 and the winning design, from Ian Fairnington, the Ugrakks, were presented in the Third Doctor strip The Ugrakks.

Continuity[[edit] | [edit source]]

The Doctor and Zoe recognise transmat technology. (TV: The Seeds of Death)

Cameos[[edit] | [edit source]]

Annuals cameo panel.

This story's large crowds feature many cameos, notably featuring several cameos from the early Doctor Who annuals. Lee Sullivan would later draw similar crowd cameos in Bazaar Adventures and Liberation of the Daleks.

The audience close-up in the arena scene in Part 1 includes (from top left to bottom right) a Go-Ray from COMIC: Enter: The Go-Ray ^[+]Loading...["Enter: The Go-Ray (comic story)"], a Monoid from TV: The Ark ^[+]Loading...["The Ark (TV story)"], and a Zrontak and a Pharaoh as runners up in the Design a Monster competition. In the wide-shot of the crowd, a Mechanoid and a Dalek can be seen, as well as what appears to be Michelin Man.
The street crowd in Part 1 includes a Kandalinga Fishman from PROSE: The Fishmen of Kandalinga ^[+]Loading...["The Fishmen of Kandalinga"] and a woman with a Starfleet hoodie. Additionally, an Insoid is seen in the background of one panel in this scene, another Design a Monster runner up.
The arena audience in Part 2 includes a Mechanoid, a Go-Ray, a Menoptera and a Dalek.
A flashback in Part 2 includes a Quark in the background.
The arena audience in Part 3 include a CyberFaction Cyberman, an Ice Warrior, a Zarbi, a Robot Yeti, and RoboCop, as Sullivan had been a frequent artist for a RoboCop comic in the early 1990s.
As the Doctor and friends leave the arena in Part 3, they pass four characters from non-Doctor Who comics, including Mandrake the Magician.
One panel in Part 3 has a crowd entirely of aliens from the Annuals, composed of (from left-to-right):
- A Stagg from PROSE: Terror on Tiro ^[+]Loading...["Terror on Tiro (short story)"]
- Deemon from PROSE: The Sons of Grekk ^[+]Loading...["The Sons of Grekk (short story)"]
- three Ethereals (the third is on the far right) from PROSE: The Cloud Exiles ^[+]Loading...["The Cloud Exiles (short story)"]
- A Baggolt from PROSE: The Cloud Exiles
- A Rostrow from COMIC: Mission for Duh ^[+]Loading...["Mission for Duh (comic story)"]
- A Glacian from PROSE: Justice of the Glacians ^[+]Loading...["Justice of the Glacians (short story)"]
- A dimension-explorer of the Life Force from PROSE: A Thousand & One Doors ^[+]Loading...["A Thousand & One Doors (short story)"]
- One of Queeg's robots from PROSE: Happy as Queeg ^[+]Loading...["Happy as Queeg (short story)"]
- A living matter reservoir from PROSE: The Singing Crystals ^[+]Loading...["The Singing Crystals (short story)"]
- a Kandalinga from PROSE: The Fishmen of Kandalinga ^[+]Loading...["The Fishmen of Kandalinga (short story)"]
- A Korad from Peril in Mechanistria ^[+]Loading...["Peril in Mechanistria (short story)"]
- A Voord, who first appeared in TV: The Keys of Marinus ^[+]Loading...["The Keys of Marinus (TV story)"] but also made an appearance in the annual short story The Fishmen of Kandalinga.
- A Natarl, which appeared on the contents page of The Dr Who Annual, originating in the 1959 film Battle in Outer Space
- The Robot King from COMIC: Robot King ^[+]Loading...["Robot King (comic story)"]
- An insect which appears to be a Zarbi, who first appeared in TV: The Web Planet ^[+]Loading...["The Web Planet (TV story)"] and again in PROSE: The Lair of the Zarbi Supremo ^[+]Loading...["The Lair of the Zarbi Supremo"]
- Both a humanoid Yend and a shapeshifting Yend from PROSE: The Sons of the Crab ^[+]Loading...["The Sons of the Crab (short story)"]
- Two burly Sensorites with their appearance from PROSE: The Monsters from Earth ^[+]Loading...["The Monsters from Earth (short story)"]
- A Kaark from PROSE: The Playthings of Fo ^[+]Loading...["The Playthings of Fo (short story)"].