Voyager (comic story)


 * For other uses of Voyager see Voyager (disambiguation).

Voyager was a Sixth Doctor comic published in Doctor Who Magazine. It introduced the character of Astrolabus and began the Voyager arc.

Summary
The Doctor and Frobisher are on their first trip, but things take a turn for the worst when they meet Astrolabus and the mysterious Voyager.

It Was a Devil Ship... (1)
The Doctor is a prisoner aboard Voyager's "Death-ship". They journey to the edge of the world, and fall off. The Doctor wakes in the TARDIS to find the door has been left open. Outside, he finds his coat draped round a snowman with his umbrella under its arm. He collects them and continues to journey the wastes, considering how he has come to enjoy Frobisher's companionship.

The Doctor meets up with Frobisher and they sight a ship frozen in the ice. The Doctor recognises it as the one from his dream. Boarding it, they find some star charts in the hold and prepare to leave with them when a man enters behind them, threatening the pair with a gun.

The Lighthouse at the End of the World... (2)
The man ties the Doctor to a chair and then makes his escape with the charts. Frobisher goes up on deck and the Doctor quickly frees himself. They watch through a telescope as he makes his escape in an original da Vinci flying machine.

The Doctor and Frobisher return to the TARDIS and follow the man, arriving finally at a lighthouse. The TARDIS picks up powerful energy readings. Outside, the Doctor finds Frobisher has gone into the water. He emerges to regurgitate a fish for the Doctor. Suddenly, a robot-like humanoid appears and advances upon them.

The Lighthouse... (3)
The Doctor tells Frobisher the being is an Automaton, a living soul in a mechanical body. It walks past them and into the sea. The Doctor guesses that it could be connected to a craft Frobisher saw under the water.

The Doctor instructs Frobisher to return to the TARDIS. He peers through the keyhole of the lighthouse and sees the man he chased sitting within. Opening the door with his sonic screwdriver, the Doctor threatens the man with his own gun. However, the man notes the Doctor would not kill him and makes his escape. The Doctor follows and falls, finding himself hanging on to the side of the lighthouse, far above the ground. The man bears over him and suddenly the Doctor finds he is in fact hanging from a table, inside, with his legs safely on the ground. Asking the man who he is, the figure tells him various aliases and then proclaims himself to be legend.

Dreams of Eternity (4)
Astrolabus tells the Doctor the story of Alexandria, a city he helped make great. However, it fell and Astrolabus took to the stars. However, the Doctor identifies him as the thief who stole The Book of the Old Time. The Doctor flees then and finds the world around him transforming.

Running down a winding staircase he sights only a door left among the bland interior. Tentacles come from behind and try to constrict him but he breaks free. With a final effort, he escapes and finds himself in space.

The Final Chapter (5)
The Doctor finds himself back on Earth, in the sea. Inside the TARDIS, Frobisher activates the TARDIS scanner, spots the Doctor in the water and runs to help him. Astrolabus makes him way to the top of the lighthouse and it turns into a rocket. Voyager appears in his ship as the rocket takes off, disappearing into the clouds.

The Doctor finds himself once more on Voyager's ship, at the edge of the world. Again he wakes to find himself on a rocky outcrop with Frobisher. They return to the TARDIS and the Doctor sees Voyager once more, instructing him to return his star charts.

Characters

 * The Doctor
 * Frobisher
 * Astrolabus
 * Voyager

Individuals

 * Frobisher claims to have spent fourteen years as a till in a Walthamstow supermarket.
 * Astrolabus claims to have an appointment in Cathay with Marco Polo.
 * Astrolabus tried to follow Voyager in a skyship, but his efforts were defeated by electro-magnetic storms.
 * King Ptolemy I of Egypt built a lighthouse at Alexandria.

Earth fish

 * The Doctor ponders whether there are angler fish in the waters.

Technology

 * An Automaton is a living soul in a mechanical body.

Foods and beverages from the real world

 * The last time the Doctor left Frobisher alone with the food machine, he nearly filled the console room with Mars Bars.

Entertainment

 * Astrolabus tells the Doctor to pick one of his playing cards.
 * Angered by the Doctor's assertion that he is mad, Astrolabus hits him with a Punch doll.

Continuity

 * Astrolabus stole The Book of the Old Time. (DW: The Deadly Assassin)
 * The First Doctor met Marco Polo and here Astrolabus claims to have an appointment with him. (DW: Marco Polo)
 * Both the First Doctor and Astrolabus also visited Alexandria. (VD: The Book of Shadows)

Timeline

 * This story takes place after DWM: The Shape Shifter
 * This story takes place before DWM: Polly the Glot