The Doctor Strikes Back (comic story)

The Doctor Strikes Back
Doctor:	Second Doctor
Featuring:	John, Gillian
Main enemy:	The Supreme
Main setting:	An Dalek out-post, 2135
Key crew
Writer:	Roger Noel Cook
Artist:	John Canning
Release details
Number of parts:	4
Printed in:	TV Comic 792-795
Release date:	18 February - 11 March 1967
Reprinted in:	DWCC 11
Format:	Comic
TVC comic stories
← Previous	The Trodos Ambush
Next →	The Zombies

The Doctor Strikes Back was a TV Comic story featuring the Second Doctor, John and Gillian.

Summary

Part one

The Second Doctor, John and Gillian materialise in a small cave. After checking the TARDIS's Year Meter the Doctor decides that his grandchildren should stay in the cave while he scouts ahead. He walks a short distance and sees a Dalek outpost. Going back to the TARDIS, he decides to get revenge by infiltrating the garrison with his Dalek disguise.

Part two

The Doctor successfully walks into one of their main buildings and hides in the planning room. Several minutes later, he overhears that the planet is rich in the materials Daleks use to reproduce, and that the Dalek Supreme is on his way to supervise the production of these Daleks. The Doctor sneaks into the mines where the Daleks are gathering the material and estimates that they have enough to create 10,000 Daleks. He takes off the top of his disguise to get a better look, and some Daleks see that he is an intruder!

Part three

Luckily, the Doctor's disguise is much faster than the real Daleks. He escapes the Daleks, but they alert the entire outpost to an intruder's presence. The Daleks begin destroying themselves in attempts to find the Doctor. The Dalek Supreme sends a message to all the Daleks to "stop all exterminating at once". This gives the Doctor an idea, and he pinches his nose and impersonates the Dalek Supreme. He sends a message to all the Daleks telling them to destroy themselves. A Dalek enters the room, but the Doctor doesn't notice!

Part four

The Doctor sees the Dalek and shoots him with his disguise. The Daleks obey the Doctor's order and destroy themselves. The Supreme watches this in his flying saucer and is enraged. The Doctor runs to the TARDIS and dematerialises mere seconds before the Supreme obliterates the cave with strike rockets. The Doctor tells John and Gillian, "By crippling the garrison I have struck a devastating blow against the Daleks... There will be many more!".

Characters

• Second Doctor
• John Who
• Gillian Who
• Daleks
• The Supreme

Worldbuilding

• According to the Second Doctor, the Dalek Empire was at its greatest in 2135, having garrisons on almost every planet in the universe.
• The Doctor has a Dalek disguise with a fully functional gunstick.

Notes

• The word "outpost" is incorrectly spelt "out-post" multiple times.
• This story has the first usage of the term "Dalek Empire". Several years after this, Day of the Daleks ^[+]Loading...["Day of the Daleks (TV story)"] would refer to the "Daleks' empire". Early issues of Doctor Who Magazine used "Dalek Empire" in Abslom Daak... Dalek Killer ^[+]Loading...["Abslom Daak... Dalek Killer (comic story)"] and Alien Allies No.2 The Thals ^[+]Loading...["Alien Allies No.2 The Thals (feature)"], with the term gaining traction in further decades with writings of John Peel, the Big Finish Productions Dalek Empire series, and finally Russell T Davies' TV scripts which completely normalized it and created a false sense of it always having been a prominent part of Dalek mythology.

Original print details

(Publication with page count and closing captions)

• TVC 792 (3 pages) Don't miss Dr. Who next week!
• TVC 793 (3 pages) Don't miss Dr. Who next week!
• TVC 794 (3 pages) Don't miss Dr. Who next week!
• TVC 795 (3 pages) "The Zombies", a sensational new Dr. Who adventure starts next week!

Continuity

• The Doctor has taken a proactive approach to dealing with the Daleks after the events of COMIC: The Trodos Ambush ^[+]Loading...["The Trodos Ambush (comic story)"].
• The Doctor utilises the TARDIS laboratory, which had previously appeared in PROSE: The Monsters from Earth ^[+]Loading...["The Monsters from Earth (short story)"].
• The Doctor disguises himself as a Dalek, echoing how the First Doctor hid himself in the Dalek shell at the Space Museum. (TV: The Space Museum)