TV Action - August 1973

Exactly forty years ago this month, TV Action comic finally came to an end, brining to a close two and a half years of Doctor Who strips.

Doctor Who lived on in TV Comic, it’s home before taking up residence in Countdown in February 1973. It never quite reached the heights seen in Countdown and TV Action, sometimes even rehashing old strips with the latest Doctor’s face pasted over the top!

In issue 129, the letters page has a curious request to see a photo of Azal from The Deamons. The editor kindly obliges to Stephen Thorne’s request. HOLD ON - didn’t Stephen Thorne PLAY Azal???

Later, in the TV Screen Scene page, there is a Spot The Monster quiz with a photo from The Chase. The answer written upside-down at the bottom of the page reveals it to be a Mechanoid!

In issue 130 the Spot The Monster from the previous issue was discussed int he letters page, with reader Walter Bishop thinking the Mirebeast (also from The Chase) was more frightening.

Reader Nicholas Ridley also asked to see a photo of Jo Grant, bemoaning that there hadn’t been a colour photo of her. The editor obliges - with a black and white shot!

In issue 131, a long overdue nod is given to strip artist Gerry Haylock after reader E. Craddock asks to see the faces behind the strips.



Also reader Terry Sims asks if there any female Daleks!




In issue 132 - the FINAL issue of TV Action - there are two hints to the imminent changes afoot. On page 2 there is a trail for a new Doctor Who strip, but in TV Comic.


And on page 15 there is a call to all readers to start buying TV Comic to continue to follow their favourite strips.

Click the issue title to view
the complete comic in PDF format.

Issue 129

Contains comic strips of
Doctor Who -
Dr Who In The Vortex pt 5

art by Gerry Haylock

also UFO, Hawaii Five-O, Droopy, The Persuaders!, Cannon, Dad’s Army, The Protectors

Issue 130

No Doctor Who strip in this issue

also Hawaii Five-O, Mission: Impossible, Alias Smith and Jones, Droopy, The Persuaders!, Cannon, Dad’s Army, The Protectors

Issue 131

Contains comic strips of
Doctor Who - The Unheard Voice

art by Gerry Haylock

also Mission: Impossible, Alias Smith and Jones, Droopy, Cannon, Dad’s Army, The Protectors

Issue 132

No Doctor Who strip in this issue

also The Persuaders!, Mission: Impossible, Alias Smith and Jones, Droopy, Dad’s Army, The Protectors

ORIGINAL 3rd Doctor items on ebay

Over on my other blogs I have been highlighting items on eBay which are either screen-worn costumes or screen-used props.

Things have been thin on the ground for the first three Doctors, and I haven’t spotted anything worth reporting on.

This week however I spotted a one-off item I thought justified sharing, though as you’ll see it’s still not either a screen-worn costume or screen-used prop!

The Sea Devils
Radio Times billing artwork
by Frank Bellamy

SOLD FOR £466.56

This is an original pen drawing by artist Frank Bellamy, who illustrated many Doctor Who listings in the Radio Times throughout the early 70s. Needless to say, this one was drawn to accompany an episode of the Sea Devils!

The illustration itself measures 35mm x 47mm, and it is on a thick board measuring 110mm x 135mm – with a gorgeous crystal clear autograph in the bottom corner.

This has a piece of greaseproof paper above it, and black sugar paper on top of that which I assume was how the artwork was protected in transit to the Radio Times. The greaseproof paper has Dr Who P.20 written on it in red marker. I obtained this from a well known Doctor Who collector in 2003.

And to verify its authenticity, here is the original Radio Times listing, with the artwork on show.

TV Action - July 1973

Exactly forty years ago this month, TV Action comic had The Doctor starting a new adventure, Dr Who In The Vortex.

In issue 126 reader Simon Still wrote in to ask about the origins of The Master.
His Time Lord status is the answer.

In issue 127 reader Andrew Chamberlain wrote in to ask what TARDIS stands for.
Everyone should know that answer!






In issue 128 reader Andrew Hutchinson wrote in to ask why The Doctor likes Earth so much.
A recap of the event of The War Games explains the situation.



Issue 125 and 128 have a half page advert for the 1973 Doctor Who Holiday Special - price 10p!

But the jewel of July 1973 has to be the Droppy / Doctor Who cross-over comic strip!

Click the issue title to view
the complete comic in PDF format.

Issue 125

Contains comic strips of
Doctor Who - Dr Who In The Vortex pt 1

art by Gerry Haylock

also Cannon, Hawaii Five-O, Droopy, Mission: Impossible, Dad’s Army, UFO

Issue 126

Contains comic strips of
Doctor Who - Dr Who In The Vortex pt 2
art by Gerry Haylock

also The Protectors, Hawaii Five-O, Droopy, The Persuaders!, Mission: Impossible, Dad’s Army, UFO

Issue 127

Contains comic strips of
Doctor Who - Dr Who In The Vortex pt 3
art by Gerry Haylock

also Alias Smith and Jones, Hawaii Five-O, Droopy, The Persuaders!, Cannon, Dad’s Army, UFO

Issue 128

Contains comic strips of
Doctor Who - Dr Who In The Vortex pt 4
art by Gerry Haylock

also Mission: Impossible, Hawaii Five-O, Droopy, The Persuaders!, Cannon, Dad’s Army, UFO

TV Action - June 1973

Exactly forty years ago this month, TV Action comic had The Doctor appearing in a one-off 7-page story, The Labyrinth.

After resting for an issue, The Doctor returns in another one-off 7-page adventure titled in a weird prediction of modern Who, The Spoilers!

Issue 120 has a reader’s letter asking for a photograph of Nicholas Courtney as The Brigadier (see left).



Issue 121 123 and 124 run the half-page advert for the 1973 Doctor Who Holiday Special again (see right).

Issue 124 also carries a full page profile of The Brigadier, which would have pleased the letter writer a few issues before.

Click the issue title to view
the complete comic in PDF format.

Issue 120

Contains comic strips of
Doctor Who - The Labyrinth

art by Gerry Haylock

also Cannon, The Protectors, Droopy, The Persuaders!, UFO, Dad’s Army, Hawaii Five-O

Issue 121

No Doctor Who strip in this issue

also Hawaii Five-O, Cannon, The Protectors, Droopy, The Persuaders!, UFO, Dad’s Army, Alias Smith and Jones

Issue 122

Contains comic strips of

also UFO, Cannon, The Protectors, Droopy, The Persuaders!, Mission: Impossible, Dad’s Army, Alias Smith and Jones

Issue 123

Contains comic strips of
Doctor Who - The Spoilers

art by Gerry Haylock

also Cannon, The Protectors, Droopy, The Persuaders!, Mission: Impossible, Dad’s Army, Alias Smith and Jones

Issue 124

No Doctor Who strip in this issue

also The Persuaders!, Cannon, The Protectors, Droopy, Mission: Impossible, Dad’s Army, Alias Smith and Jones

TV Action - May 1973

Exactly forty years ago this month, TV Action comic started a brand new The Doctor adventure, Back To The Sun, having been rested for a number of weeks.

In issue 116, the TV Screen Scene page had a feature about Jon Pertwee’s home life with wife Ingeborg with children Shawn (Sean) and Dariel.





Just below this feature is news of the first three books in the Target novel series.

Issue 119 has a half page advert for the 1973 Doctor Who Holiday Special - price 10p!

Click the issue title to view
the complete comic in PDF format.

Issue 116

Contains comic strips of
Doctor Who - Back To The Sun pt 1

art by Gerry Haylock

also Alias Smith and Jones, Mission: Impossible, Droopy, The Protectors, Cannon, Dad’s Army, Hawaii Five-O

Issue 117

Contains comic strips of
Doctor Who - Back To The Sun pt 2

art by Gerry Haylock

also The Protectors, Mission: Impossible, Droopy, Cannon, Dad’s Army, Hawaii Five-O

Issue 118

Contains comic strips of
Doctor Who - Back To The Sun pt 3

art by Gerry Haylock

also Cannon, Mission: Impossible, Droopy, Hawaii Five-O, UFO, Dad’s Army

Issue 119

Contains comic strips of
Doctor Who - Back To The Sun pt 4

art by Gerry Haylock

also Mission: Impossible, UFO, Droopy, The Persuaders!, Dads Army, Hawaii Five-O

TV Action - April 1973

Exactly forty years ago this month, TV Action comic had The Doctor burst back onto the cover to promote a special self-contained seven-page adventure, The Threat From Beneath, featuring his arch enemies – the Daleks.

The exciting return of the Daleks was short-lived, as Doctor Who was dropped from the comic for the rest of the month.

The return of the strip was trailed in the last copy of the month, issue 115.

Click the issue title to view
the complete comic in PDF format.

Issue 112

Contains comic strips of
Doctor Who - The Threat From Beneath

art by Gerry Haylock

also The Persuaders!, UFO, Droopy, Hawaii Five-O, Dad’s Army, Alias Smith And Jones

Issue 113

No Doctor Who strip in this issue

also Hawaii Five-O, The Persuaders!, UFO, Droopy, The Protectors, Cannon, Dad’s Army, Alias Smith And Jones

Issue 114

No Doctor Who strip in this issue

also UFO, The Persuaders!, Mission: Impossible, Droopy, The Protectors, Cannon, Dad’s Army, Alias Smith And Jones

Issue 115

No Doctor Who strip in this issue

also The Persuaders!, The Protectors, Mission: Impossible, Droopy, Cannon, Dad’s Army, Alias Smith And Jones

TV Action - March 1973

Exactly forty years ago this month, TV Action comic had The Doctor beginning a new adventure in The Glen Of Sleeping, having been rested for a couple of weeks.

In the letters page of issue 109, reader Alan Christopher bemoaned the Yeti, who had not been seen since The Web Of Fear in 1968. The BBC stayed tight-liped, not that there was any news anyway!
The letter was accompanied by a photo of Jon Pertwee from his casting photocall where he is being carried by a Yeti!


The next issue, D Mills of Worcester raised that old chestnut of how come the TARDIS is bigger on the inside!
Rather than address the question head on, the editor cites Einstein and the Apollo space missions with enough smoke and mirrors to dazzle the average reader.

Another letter in the same issue has reader Henryk Jachimcryk of Braintree asking for a photograph of a Sea Devil to use as reference for a mask he wanted to make.
We must remember in those days the use of photographs in publications were at a premium, so were few and far between, and colour images were largely only used on covers or special pull out posters. Reproduction was at the best of times poor.

The next issue carried one of those rare colour photographs from Doctor Who, when Roger Delgardo was the subject of a back cover character profile.

Click the issue title to view the complete comic in PDF format.

Issue 107

Contains comic strips of
Doctor Who -
The Glen Of Sleeping pt 1

art by Gerry Haylock

also UFO, The Protectors, Cannon, Droopy, Alias Smith And Jones, Dad’s Army, Mission: Impossible

Issue 108

Contains comic strips of
Doctor Who -
The Glen Of Sleeping pt 2

art by Gerry Haylock

also Alias Smith And Jones, The Protectors, Cannon, Droopy, Hawaii Five-O, Dad’s Army, Mission: Impossible

Issue 109

Contains comic strips of
Doctor Who -
The Glen Of Sleeping pt 3

art by Gerry Haylock

also The Protectors, Cannon, Droopy, Hawaii Five-O, Dad’s Army, Mission: Impossible

Issue 110

Contains comic strips of
Doctor Who -
The Glen Of Sleeping pt 4

art by Gerry Haylock

also Cannon, The Persuaders!, UFO, Droopy, Hawaii Five-O, Dad’s Army, Mission: Impossible

Issue 111

Contains comic strips of
Doctor Who -
The Glen Of Sleeping pt 5

art by Gerry Haylock

also Mission: Impossible, The Persuaders!, UFO, Droopy, Hawaii Five-O, Dad’s Army