By Rob McCow

War-Game

The Collector

War-Game first appeared in Doctor Who Magazine #100-101, the May and June issues of 1985. Golden Wonder included it as #3 in their range of crisp based Doctor Who adventures, where it was in full colour, but edited. You lucky people can read the whole black and white affair on 11 October 2007, when you rush to the shops and buy Doctor Who: ‘Voyager’ by Panini Books.

The World Shapers

Script – Alan McKenzie

Art – John Ridgeway

Editor – Ian Rimmer

Fellow Travellers

Popular shape-shifter Frobisher is wearing his traditional Penguin form at the start of this story. Later, he changes to an enormous Conan-style barbarian with pudding-bowl haircut and loincloth, although he retains his good humour. He can grow to double his normal height, but loses this ability when he is injured. It appears that any wound he suffers changes size in proportion with his height.

He isn’t very good at three-dimensional chess. Although he is fond of his penguin form, his legs are very short and he doesn’t like covering long distances.

The Deal

The Doctor and Frobisher are playing a three-dimensional version of chess on board the TARDIS. Frobisher gets his proverbial kicked, losing twenty-three games. Fed up, he demands that the Doctor land the TARDIS. The nearest planet is Actinon, a sunny world that is home to a primitive civilisation. The Doctor is intrigued when the TARDIS detects traces of electronic activity.

They land a few miles from a settlement, where they are spied on by a hooded man. The Doctor urges Frobisher to change into something less conspicuous than a penguin, but Frobisher is unwilling. They spot a raiding party of barbarians mounted on beasts heading to the settlement, so Frobisher changes form into a barbarian.

The Doctor and Frobisher head to a tavern and try to find information. When they are unable to pay for their drinks, the bar-tender gives them over to be sold as slaves. They are bought by the hooded man, who reveals himself as Achmar, personal advisor to Kaon, Lord of the Seven Provinces. He explains that Vegar the Vengeful has taken Kaon’s daughter captive and they want the help of the Doctor, or more precisely his blue box, to rescue her.

A Blind Date contestant ponders his next question

When the Doctor is bought before Kaon he is forced to kneel. He is astonished to be recognised as a Time Lord but more astonished to learn that Kaon is a Draconian! Kaon orders his servants to leave him and treats the Doctor and Frobisher to refreshments. He explains that his ship crash-landed there years ago and through his formidable strategic skills and great strength in combat, he became a great leader. His wife died giving birth to his daughter, Kara. Kaon soon overcame his disappointment at having a female child and taught her the art of war.

However, Kaon’s old enemy Vegar took Kara hostage. In return he demanded all the lands that Kaon had taken from him. Kaon tells the Doctor that he has a plan to rescue Kara and prevent bloodshed. The Doctor agrees to help Kaon, as it will save lives and in any case Kaon bought the Doctor and Frobisher fair and square.

A good Colin

Without the Doctor’s knowledge, Kaon sends out his army as a decoy to attack Vegar’s stronghold. Meanwhile, Kaon, the Doctor, Frobisher and a number of guards sneak into the stronghold by using the TARDIS. The Doctor quickly realises from the noise of fighting outside that Kaon’s so-called decoy has become a massacre.

The Doctor’s party is attacked by guards and Frobisher suffers a minor injury. Kaon leads the fight as they make their way to the throne room. Vegar quickly dispatches Kaon’s guards, leaving Kaon to duel against him. While they fight, Frobisher rescues Kara. Although Kaon mortally wounds Vegar, Vegar returns the favour. When Kaon turns to greet his daughter, Vegar runs him through with his sword.

Vegar demonstrates his comic timing

The Doctor and Frobisher leave a grieving Kara to contemplate her future.

TV Action

Draconians appeared in the Doctor Who story Frontier in Space, where they formed an uneasy alliance with Pertwee’s Doctor. You’d be uneasy if you were in an alliance with a man who could make you feel like you were 5 years old just by looking at you.

For once, you could actually imagine them attempting this as a TV story! The barbarian planet with its slave auctions and market places are like something out of a Hartnell historical. The beast-riding barbarians would have to exchange their beasts for the terrifying Earth-mammal known as ‘The Horse’ and the actor playing the barbarian Frobisher would be disappointingly skinny, but the rocky landscape could easily be Betchworth quarry.

4-Dimensional Vistas

The artwork is nice, but a bit cluttered in places. Ridgeway copes very well when the Draconian has to deliver about 200,000 words of exposition, splitting the speech bubbles around several flashback panels illustrating the story. The Draconians are spot on, looking every bit as regal as they did on TV. There’s even a marked difference between Kaon as he is now and his younger self.

The bikini clad Draconian female has to be seen to be believed though. I’d have thought she’d been a bit scalier or have a crest or something. Though it seems that the enormous Draconian shoulder armour actually forms part of their bodies.

There’s some very nice detailing in the crowd and fight scenes, such as the insectoid head mounted on the wall of the bar and the people throwing cauldrons and benches from the wall of Vegar’s castle.

End of The Line

After five years of Steve Parkhouse, the comic strip comes down to earth with a little bit of a bump. War Game certainly isn’t a poor story, but it feels quite limited after the pan-dimensional madness of the previous comic strips. The moral of the tale is unsubtle and simplistic. In case you didn’t realise, chess isn’t like real life. Sacrificing people as pawns results in suffering and death.

Roboknight to King's Underarm Manatee twenty-five. An astounding move!

There’s lots of warmth in the relationship between Frobisher and the Doctor. They work wonderfully well together and despite Frobisher’s barbed witticisms, you get the sense that he loves travelling with the Doctor. Unfortunatley, Frobisher is used mostly as comic relief in this story. Frobisher’s growing larger was a poor and confusing use of his shape changing powers. I didn’t get what was happening and had to re-read the page a few times, which has got to be a bad sign.

The Draconians are well represented in comparison with their characters on TV. Almossssst too well – the Draconian sssibilance isssss really annoying. Kaon makes for quite a sympathetic character. Despite being thrown onto an alien world, he has become a leader and made a successful life for himself. He is not driven by lust for power or violence, he only wants to get himself and his daughter home. His flaw is that he is prepared to sacrifice his followers to achieve his ends. This is brilliantly represented by Kaon’s decoy army, which includes a terrified man in outsized armour pretending to be the Draconian. It also leads to a very quiet, poignant ending as Kaon is grieved by his daughter.

This story also features Colin Baker being sold at a slave auction without his shirt. Eep!

Follow That TARDIS!

War Game part one appeared in issue 100 of Doctor Who Magazine. The Magazine also celebrated issue 100 by having it’s only ever interview with Robert Holmes.

The Draconians have previously appeared in the Doctor Who comic, but only in the Absolom Daak backup strip.

The Doctor wears a hat with corks hanging from it in part one. It matches his outfit perfectly by not matching with it at all.

After being sold as a slave, the Doctor retrieves his shirt, tie and jacket. We were spared.

This story was written by Alan McKenzie, one-time editor of the Doctor Who Magazine.

Frobisher’s Barbarian form is a pastiche of the classic comic strip Conan.

Chess is not like real life. You can’t sacrifice people.