Time & Time Again (comic story)

Time & Time Again was a one-issue comic story in Doctor Who Magazine #207 which celebrated the 30th anniversary of Doctor Who. When published, it was a significant, widely publicised "event". At ten pages, it was longer than the then-standard comic in DWM, and was also originally printed in colour — something that did not regularly occur in DWM until the late 1990s.

Narratively, Time was a celebratory multi-Doctor story, whose panels were filled with many visual references to the past, much like The Five Doctors. As with the earlier Terrance Dicks script, the narrative was less involved in plot and character, and primarily about building a structure that allowed meetings between the various Doctors.

The story took place almost exclusively in an alternate timeline in which the First Doctor had been prevented from leaving Gallifrey by the Black Guardian. However, the story ends back in the "normal" universe, with what is ostensibly a genuine account of the First Doctor and Susan's original departure from Gallifrey. It was the only time in which the event has been depicted in a visual medium, until the series 7 episode The Name of the Doctor.

Summary
The Black Guardian has changed time so that the Doctor never left Gallifrey. This causes chaos amongst the stars. The Doctor must revisit his past and hunt for the Key to Time, which will put time back on track and defeat the Black Guardian.

Plot
The Seventh Doctor, Ace, and Benny decide to visit London in 1993 for a vacation. When they exit the TARDIS they find that the city is in ruins, with various aliens species such as Draconians, Ice Warriors and Zygons roaming the streets. As the TARDIS crew are shot at by a Sontaran, a Sea Devil and a Dalek, the Black Guardian laughs at their misfortune, saying, "Die, Doctor. Die!".

The White Guardian appears behind the Doctor and friends and explains what's going on; the Black Guardian has changed history as revenge for the Doctor foiling his plans. In this new timeline, the First Doctor never left Gallifrey and became President of the Time Lords. The Time Lords now fear the massive Dalek Empire and Earth has been invaded a dozen times for its tactical importance. The Guardian explains that to fix this the Doctor must once again find the segments of the Key to Time. The segments have been dispersed along the Doctor's time track, meaning the TARDIS crew will have to go into the Doctor's past. Benny begins to ask how they'll recognize the segments, but is teleported mid-sentence.

to be completed

Characters

 * Seventh Doctor
 * Sixth Doctor
 * Fifth Doctor
 * Fourth Doctor
 * Third Doctor
 * Second Doctor
 * First Doctor
 * Susan Foreman
 * Bernice Summerfield
 * Frobisher
 * Ace
 * Adric
 * Jamie
 * Zoe
 * Black Guardian
 * White Guardian

Species

 * The first panel of the comic features a Dalek, a Robot Yeti, a Sea Devil, a Silurian, a Zygon, a Draconian, an Ice Warrior, a Cyberman and a Sontaran.
 * Another panel shows a Dalek, a Sontaran, a Cyberman, and a Terileptil.

The Key to Time

 * The Doctor meets his sixth incarnation, who is fishing with Frobisher for gumblejack, and takes the Sixth Doctor's cat badge, the first segment of the Key to Time.
 * The Doctor also takes the TARDIS Instruction Manual from the First Doctor, the second segment of the Key to Time.
 * Bernice meets the Second Doctor, Jamie and Zoe and takes the Second Doctor's stovepipe hat, the third segment of the Key to Time.
 * She also meets the Fourth Doctor whilst in the Eden projection. She takes a jelly baby, another segment of the Key to Time.
 * Ace sword fights the Third Doctor at Sir Reginald Styles' mansion. Ace takes one of the swords, yet another of the segments of the Key to Time.
 * Ace catches a cricket ball that the Fifth Doctor believed he'd hit for six during the Cranleigh Hall match depicted in Black Orchid, the final segment of the Key to Time.

Continuity

 * The White Guardian states that the Black Guardian altered established time as revenge on the Doctor after the events of TV: Enlightenment.
 * The White Guardian sends the Doctor and his companions to search for the Key to Time. (TV: The Ribos Operation)
 * The Third Doctor mentions Sir Reginald Styles. (TV: Day of the Daleks)
 * The Doctor broke up the Key to Time in TV: The Armageddon Factor.
 * The Doctor last encountered the Black and White Guardians during TV: Enlightenment.
 * Bernice meets the Second Doctor during TV: The Mind Robber and the Fourth Doctor during TV: Nightmare of Eden.
 * Ace meets the Third Doctor during TV: Day of the Daleks. She meets Adric and watches the Fifth Doctor play cricket during TV: Black Orchid.
 * The Seventh Doctor saves the First Doctor from an Imperial Dalek just before the events of TV: An Unearthly Child.