By Rob McCow

Time and Tide

The Collector

Time and Tide waited for everyone who wanted to read it in issues #145-146 of Doctor Who Magazine published in February and March of 1989.

The World Shapers

Script – Richard Alan and John Carnell

Art – Dougie Braithwaite and Dave Elliot

Lettering – Tom Orzechowski

Fellow Travellers

The Worrier is an aging parent on an island that seems to be populated entirely by the young and carefree. He acts as the village elder and is also, to some extent, a scientist. His house is stocked with books and artefacts. The Doctor gains his confidence because it is the Worrier's job to worry about him. His preoccupations are his family, worrying about things and the impending death of everyone on the island.

The Deal

The TARDIS arrives on a coast of the planet Tojana where the Doctor tries to get his bearings. As he looks around the beach an enormous tidal wave washes over him, dragging the TARDIS out to sea and leaving him dazed and semi-conscious on the sand.

He is found by some reptilian aliens, who argue over what he might be. During the argument, one of the aliens casually decapitates another over a simple remark. The Doctor is horrified, but the aliens ignore him and instead argue over whether they can eat their catch at their last supper. They decide that there isn't much meat on the Doctor and so take him to the Worrier – which the Doctor mishears as 'The Warrior'.

The Doctor's anger gets the better of him

At the aliens' village, an old pot-bellied alien with a stick tells the others that they can't eat the Doctor. The aliens ask him why and after dithering for a moment, he says that it is his duty to worry about him. He is the Worrier.

When in doubt, eat

The Worrier takes the Doctor back to his home. The aliens are still going to eat the Doctor, but the Worrier has to worry about it first. The Doctor asks why everyone is so fatalistic and the Worrier explains that they are all going to die. The tides have been coming in closer and closer and tomorrow they will finally swallow the island completely. The people are preparing a last supper. The Worrier's only regret is that he is pregnant and that his baby won't be born in time. The Doctor asks why they haven't built a boat, to which the Worrier simply asks 'What's a boat?'

At the last supper, the Doctor berates the Tojanans for giving up. They still want to eat the Doctor but the Worrier hasn't finished with him yet. A drunken Tojanan throws a sword at the Doctor and knocks his hat off. Another shows him how to do it properly and throws a knife through the first Tojanan's chest. Then a third Tojanan decapitates two others for the shear heck of it.

Heads will roll

The Doctor decides that they are sick and deserve to die. He heads off to build his own boat.

The Worrier eventually follows the Doctor to the beach. The Doctor doesn't know where he's going to go, but he would rather get off the island than drown with everyone else. The Worrier thinks about his unborn baby, then looks back to the village, wondering about his family. He decides to join the Doctor on the boat.

A moment of decision for The Worrier

The seas swallow the island, killing all the inhabitants.

The Doctor and the Worrier row their boat across the sea. They come across the TARDIS floating on the waves. The Worrier realises they are parting company so he gives the Doctor a gift of some food. The Doctor leaves in the TARDIS and the Worrier rows off to find a new island.

TV Action

The fate of the aliens on Tojana is similar to that of the people of Atlantis, which the Doctor witnessed in The Underwater Menace, heard about in The Daemons and witnessed again in The Time Monster.

If this story were made for TV, it would probably feature entirely human characters and be set on a pebble beach rather than a paradise island. Most likely it would have been filmed in February and everyone would have had chillblains.

4-Dimensional Vistas

A brave effort at drawing McCoy this time – we get a consistent look to the character and even though it's not quite right, it at least looks like the same person throughout the story.

The look of the Tojanans and their village is excellent. They appear to be an all-male tribe of primatives, although the fact that the Worrier is pregnant means that determining their sex may be more complicated. Early on we see a tree-like Tojanan with long, leafy tendrils, which implies that there are more than a few types of the creature. Their faces are cartoonish with bulging eyes and beaked mouths that pull expressions that are slightly over the top, but this suits their psychotic nature.

The drowning of the island is well realised. The village is torn to pieces by enormous waves as the Tojanans calmly go about their business. The build up to it is also impressive, with the turbulent sea and constant rain creating an atmosphere of doom on the paradise island.

End of The Line

Here's a story with no particular monsters of villains, chases or gunfights. It has a straightforward message about hope and not accepting what seems inevitable. It's the first entirely character-based story that the comic has really attempted since Lunar Lagoon, which had a similar tropical island setting. It's a lot more successful than that earlier story though.

Time and Tide is set on a crowded island, but is essentially about just one person. The Worrier is a charming yet pitiable character. His concerns for his family and unborn child cut a sharp contrast with the mindless slaughter of those around him. The Tojanans as a whole are one of the most amoral races the Doctor has ever met, even though they have good cause not to care about anything.

One thing that has always bothered me about this story though is that the Doctor leaves the Worrier in something of a pickle. He's on a small raft with little food and if the seas have risen high enough to cover a whole continent, it seems unlikely that there will be any land anywhere. Rather than pontificating about 'finding your island', he should have insisted on giving him a lift in the TARDIS.

Follow That TARDIS!

This story was put together by an entirely new team of writers and artists. Dougie Braithwaite went on to work for DC and 2000AD and John Carnell created and wrote for The Sleeze Brothers.

The Doctor is still looking for Maruthea.

When originally published, two of the pages of the story were printed the wrong way round, which made it look as though the Doctor and the Worrier were still struggling to get onto their raft after the island had been completely submerged.