Who is the Stranger (comic story)
This story debuted with either the Second or Third Doctor, then was reprinted with the Fourth Doctor. It may have had different companions in the reprint, as well. From an in-universe point of view, it's unclear which Doctor lived through these events.
- You may wish to consult
Who is (disambiguation)for other, similarly-named pages.
Who is the Stranger was a Third Doctor TV Action comic strip story, which was reprinted as a Fourth Doctor comic strip story in the 1977 Doctor Who Winter Special.
In its original version, Who is the Stranger was the "Big Story" of TVA 104, meaning it got pride of place on the issue's cover and was the longest story in that issue.
Summary[[edit] | [edit source]]
The Doctor fiddles with the TARDIS console, replacing an element he apparently has previously removed. The act launches the TARDIS. Soon he's at a Parisian museum. Outside, he finds it's a Nazi-controlled Paris. The Gestapo soon descend upon him. As he is without proper papers, they take him away to be questioned by a local pro-Nazi scientist, Professor Schmidt. Schmidt is developing a truth serum with which he hopes to curry Nazi favour by breaking the local Reynard French Resistance cell. He has even higher hopes that it will prove useful in the coming invasion of England.
He tries to use it on the Doctor, slipping it into a glass of champagne, but the Time Lord is too quick for him. The Doctor switches glasses with Schmidt. Soon the Nazi scientist is spilling the plans the Gestapo have for Reynard and his friends. Specifically, Schmidt admits that they have placed a spy amongst Reynard's men.
The Doctor searches for Reynard. The Frenchman and his Resistance fighters are at first dubious of the Doctor's identity. They initially believe him a Nazi spy. He wins them over after a brief fight in which he handles himself impressively. (In the Third Doctor version of the story, the Doctor is drawn to suggest that he's employing Venusian aikido.)
The Doctor proposes that they be captured by the Gestapo. This, he intimates, will flush out the spy amongst them. The leaders of Reynard's group, along with the Doctor, are taken to the Gestapo base, where they are brought before Professor Schmidt. What neither Schmidt nor Reynard's men know, however, is that the Doctor knows precisely how to escape the building, having been there before. The Doctor easily escapes confinement. Soon Reynard's men and he have captured Schmidt. They have Schmidt place a telephone call. He tells his colonel that the invasion of England can proceed. Unbeknownst to the Germans, they've given the plans of this invasion to the British military. Britain will be ready for whatever the Germans can throw at them. Closer to home, Reynard's men firebomb the Gestapo headquarters in Paris — and make sure that Schmidt and his valuable truth serum are sent to London for British and not German use.
Reynard is unable to adequately express his gratitude to the Doctor. All the Time Lord wants in return is a trip back to the Paris museum where his TARDIS awaits...
Characters[[edit] | [edit source]]
Worldbuilding[[edit] | [edit source]]
- As part of a ploy, the Doctor claims to be working directly for Adolf Hitler and that he has come to inspect the Parisian Gestapo and Professor Schmidt's work in particular.
- The Doctor uses "a touch of psychokinesis" to scatter Schmidt's papers, distracting the scientist long enough for the Doctor to switch around the champagne glasses.
- Schmidt has developed a truth serum.
- Schmidt wears a monocle.
Notes[[edit] | [edit source]]
- This was the first of five TV Action's "Big Stories" to feature Doctor Who, all of which were published in black-and-white.
- The "Big Story" in TV Action was a bumper seven-page comic strip story, complete in one issue, featuring one of the action/adventure shows that appeared in the magazine — Doctor Who, Hawaii Five-O, UFO, The Persuaders, The Protectors et al — on a rotating basis; and was heralded by a large colour cover illustration. Because of the length of a "Big Story", it was necessary for one strip to take a break for a few weeks to provide space; Doctor Who taking its turn with the rest. The strip would then return to the more usual serialized format until its turn for a "Big Story" came round again.
- It is sometimes claimed[who?] that this is the story in which the comic Third Doctor — which is to say the Polystyle Third Doctor — regains his full use of the TARDIS. However, this claim traces its origins only to the first panel of the strip, in which the narration caption says, "The Doctor has just replaced the element in his TARDIS when..." The strip gives no indication what "the element" is, nor is "the element" defined in the previous week's strip. He simply replaces a mysterious element to which the readers have never been introduced. In any case, the Doctor has had very good control over his TARDIS for quite some time in Countdown/TV Action, dating back at least as far as the magazine's third story. Given that this story also has a Fourth Doctor version, its placement in the Doctor's personal timestream would be debatable to say the least.
- David Leach was the colourist on the DWCC 19 reprint.
- This story is a "pure historical" featuring no science fiction elements apart from the presence of the Doctor and the TARDIS.
- The strip's title frame featured only the title Who is the Stranger plus an illustration of the Doctor's face, along with a Nazi swastika on a back background, without the words Dr. Who.
Original print details[[edit] | [edit source]]
(Publication with page count and closing captions)
- TVA 104 (7 pages) [No closing caption]
Continuity[[edit] | [edit source]]
to be added
External links[[edit] | [edit source]]
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