Peril in Mechanistria (short story)

Peril in Mechanistria was the fifth short story published in the Doctor Who Annual 1966.

Summary
During an escape from Skaro, the TARDIS' Space Time Locator mechanism is irreparably damaged. The Doctor, unable to accurately pilot the TARDIS, is simply happy when it lands and decides to rest for the night before exploring his new surroundings.

As he arises and exits the TARDIS the following morning, the Doctor finds that the ground of this mysterious world is made of metal and that there is a strange, throbbing hum in the air. As he investigates the metal terrain, a great robotic beast finds him and the Doctor loses consciousness.

When the Doctor awakes, he finds himself in the company of a number of primitive-seeming humans calling themselves the Korad and calling their world Korad as well. The Doctor learns that this world has no soil or seas or plant life, just machines that the Korad use. When asked where he comes from, The Doctor says too much about the TARDIS before he realises that the Korad are more mechanically savvy than they first appeared. Drako, the leader of this haven (encampment) of Korad mechanics, takes the Doctor prisoner and sends for the Wise Ones from another haven. While he is held, Drako explains that the masters of this world are the machines and that the Korad are only allowed to live because of their usefulness to them. Drako pleads with the Doctor to help plan an escape for the mechanics before the Wise Ones arrive and take the TARDIS for themselves. As the Doctor begins to devise a plan, Beran, one of the Wise Ones, arrives to interrogate the Doctor.

Beran announces that he will examine the TARDIS to learn its secrets before destroying it. When the Doctor objects, Beran informs him that the first law of the Mechanistrians, the formal name for the machine rulers, is that no machine that was not made on the world, which the Wise Ones refer to as Mechanistria, not Korad, is allowed to remain there.

The machines of the world, Beran reveals, house a human brain and among the Wise Ones, who call themselves Mechanistrians, having their brain used in the creation of a new machine is the highest honour. When joined into the machine, a Wise One gains the knowledge of all other machines and a type of immortality.

As Beran finishes his explanation he momentarily lets his guard down and Drako wrests Beran's small gun-like atomizer from him. Drako forced Beran to follow as he and the Doctor headed toward a small aircraft needed to reach the TARDIS. Once in the air, Drako, refusing to shoot Beran, forces him to jump from the craft. Landing close to the TARDIS, Drako turns the atomizer on the Doctor and demands that the Doctor take him back to a time before the Mechanistrians began their rule. The Doctor, at first worried that Drako may attempt to overpower him and take the TARDIS for himself, finally agrees to transport him.

After the trip, the Doctor opens the doors to the world that is known at this time as Korad. Drako exits, kneeling down to feel the grass and looking up to see clouds that no Koran had seen in thousands of years.

The Doctor, accepting Drako's thanks, closes the doors and continues on his journeys.

Characters

 * The Doctor
 * Drako, local Korad leader
 * Beran, Wise One/Mechanistrian

Discontinuity, Plot Holes, Errors

 * The Doctor is referred to throughout the story as Dr. Who.

Continuity

 * Because the Doctor has heard of the Daleks, it seems this story occurs after DW: The Daleks.

Timeline

 * Peril in Mechanistria occurs after DW: The Five Doctors
 * Peril in Mechanistria occurs before DWAN: The Fishmen of Kandalinga