TV Comic

TV Comic was a weekly magazine published by Polystyle Publications, Ltd. in Britain from 1951 to 1984. It printed Doctor Who strips from 1964 to 1979.

History
Throughout the TV Comic strips, the Doctor was primarily called "Dr. Who" by his companions and the narration. For convenience, the later-established incarnation numbering schema is used on this page to disambiguate between, for instance, William Hartnell's Dr. Who and Patrick Troughton's Dr. Who.

The TV Comic strips are notable for introducing a number of original characters, including companions and aliens. Original companions included the Doctor's grandchildren, John and Gillian, as well as Arnold. As the comic rights to the Daleks were initially held by competing magazine TV Century 21, original villains called the Trods were used in their place; however, in 1967 the Dalek rights reverted to TV Comic, the Daleks were shown to massacre the Trods in The Trodos Ambush.

From the years 1971 to 1973, new Doctor Who comics were instead printed in TV Comic's sister magazine, TV Action/Countdown.

Beginning with TVC 1386 in July 1978, old TV Comic Second and Third Doctor strips were reprinted with new art showing the then-current Fourth Doctor's face. This modification and reuse of preexisting material continued until TVC 1430 in 1979, when the rights to Doctor Who comics moved to Marvel Comics UK's new magazine Doctor Who Weekly. The TV Comics run of concluded with TVC 1430 on 11 May 1979.

Third Doctor



 * After TVC 999, the Doctor Who strip was moved to Countdown (ultimately called TV Action) for a couple of years, returning to TVC only in issue 1133.


 * 1133-1138: Children of the Evil Eye
 * 1139-1147: Nova
 * 1148-1154: The Amateur
 * 1155-1159: The Disintegrator
 * 1160-1169: Is Anyone There?
 * 1170-1176: Size Control
 * 1177-1183: The Magician
 * 1184-1190: The Metal-Eaters
 * 1191-1198: Lords of the Ether
 * 1199-1203: The Wanderers

Fourth Doctor

 * 1204-1214: Death Flower
 * 1215-1222: Return of the Daleks
 * 1223-1231: The Wreckers
 * 1232-1238: The Emperor's Spy
 * 1239-1244: The Sinister Sea
 * 1245-1250: The Space Ghost
 * 1251-1258: The Dalek Revenge
 * 1259-1265: Virus
 * 1266-1272: Treasure Trail
 * 1273-1279: Hubert's Folly
 * 1280-1286: Counter-Rotation
 * 1287-1290: Mind Snatch
 * 1291: The Hoaxers
 * 1292-1297: The Mutant Strain
 * 1298-1304: Double Trouble
 * 1305-1311: Dredger
 * 1312-1317: The False Planet
 * 1318-1325: The Fire Feeders
 * 1326-1333: Kling Dynasty
 * 1334-1340: The Orb
 * 1341-1347: The Mutants
 * 1348-1352: The Devil's Mouth
 * 1353-1360: The Aqua-City
 * 1361-1365: The Snow Devils
 * 1366-1370: The Space Garden
 * 1371-1372: The Eerie Manor
 * 1373-1379: Guardian of the Tomb
 * 1380-1385: The Image Makers

Edited reprints
(mostly Third Doctor stories, these were altered to feature the Fourth Doctor)
 * Mighty Midget Doctor Who comic (included with TVC 1292) - Doomcloud
 * 1386-1389: The Duellists
 * 1390-1396: The Amateur
 * 1397-1403: The Magician
 * 1404-1408: The Wanderers
 * 1409-1415: The Metal-Eaters
 * 1416-1423: Moon Exploration (Lords of the Ether)
 * 1424-1430: Size Control

Other uses
TV Comic used the Doctor and the Daleks in four known back-up comics, featured in a section titled "Pick of the Jokes." One notable aspect was that these jokes appear to follow licensing restrictions: for instance, Daleks did not appear in these comics until TV Comic obtained permission to put them in comics.

These comics are:
 * TVC 696, the Doctor attempts to get back to the TARDIS, or perhaps just a police box, but is blocked by an officer.
 * TVC 740: the Doctor enters a police box, only to find an officer exiting. The Doctor responds "Oops! Sorry! Wrong box!"
 * TVC 794: In an otherwise non-Who strip, a child carried a small Dalek on a leash.
 * TVC 798: Two Daleks talk, one speaking of their Trans-sister

First Doctor

 * TV Comic Holiday Special 1965: Prisoners of Gritog
 * TV Comic Holiday Special 1966: Guests of King Neptune and The Gaze of the Gorgon

Second Doctor

 * TV Comic Holiday Special 1967: Barnabus and Jungle Adventure
 * TV Comic Holiday Special 1968: Return of the Witches and Masquerade
 * TV Comic Holiday Special 1969: The Champion and The Entertainer

Third Doctor

 * TV Comic Holiday Special 1970: Assassin from Space and Undercover


 * TV Comic Holiday Special 1973: The One Second Hour (short story)
 * TV Comic Holiday Special 1974: Signal S.O.S. (short story)

Fourth Doctor

 * TV Comic Holiday Special 1975: The Magic Box (short story)
 * TV Comic Holiday Special 1976: Which Way Out? (short story)
 * TV Comic Holiday Special 1977: The Sky Warrior

First Doctor

 * TV Comic Annual 1966: Prisoners of the Kleptons and The Caterpillar Men
 * TV Comic Annual 1967: Deadly Vessel and Kingdom of the Animals

Second Doctor

 * TV Comic Annual 1968: Attack of the Daleks and Pursued by the Trods
 * TV Comic Annual 1969: The Time Museum and The Electrodes
 * TV Comic Annual 1970: Death Race and Test Flight

Third Doctor

 * TV Comic Annual 1971: Castaway and Levitation
 * TV Comic Annual 1975: Petrified

Fourth Doctor

 * TV Comic Annual 1976: Woden's Warriors
 * TV Comic Annual 1977: The Tansbury Experiment
 * TV Comic Annual 1978: Master of the Blackhole and Jackals of Space
 * TV Comic Annual 1979: The Sea Devil and Milena