H.M.S. Tardis (short story)

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.

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.

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)