THE
WAR MACHINES ( June 25 - July 16, 1966)
BEN'S ADVENTURES ABOARD THE TARDIS
(Guest starring the Doctor, Polly and Jamie!)
(Episode summaries from 30th anniversary special of Doctor Who in Doctor Who Monthly)
THE
WAR MACHINES ( June 25 - July 16, 1966)
(Ave Aud - 5.23m/69th)
The Doctor succeeds in returning Dodo to contemporary Earth but they soon encounter the artificial intellegence known as WOTAN; a computer housed in the newly - opened Post Office Tower in Central London. Dodo falls under the machine's influence and tries to trick the Doctor into becoming one of WOTAN's slaves as well. The plan is foiled and Dodo leaves the Doctor to spend some time recuperating in the country. WOTAN however then unleashes its lethal War Machines onto the streets of London. With the aid of Ben Jackson, a vacationing sailor, and Polly, secretary to WOTAN's creator Professor Brett, the Doctor must overcome the threat of both the machines and the controlling computer. When Britain is at last safe, the Doctor plans to set off alone in the TARDIS but he is soon joined by an inquisitive Ben and Polly. Read Michael's commentary of this story.
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THE SMUGGLERS (September 10 - October 1, 1964)
(Ave Aud - 4.48/94th)
Ben and Polly's first adventure with the Doctor takes them to the seventeenth century Cornish coast. A mysterious message passed on by a churchwarden leads the travellers into intrigue and murder as pirates and smugglers try to locate buried treasure. With Ben and Polly eventually accused of murdering the churchwarden, the Doctor must enlist the help of the local customs and excise men to try and thwart the pirates, led by Captain Pike and the smugglers lead by the local Squire. (Michael Craze's favorite story) See some telesnaps.
******
THE TENTH PLANET (October 8, 1966 - October
29, 1966)
(Ave Aud
- 6.75m/48th)
The TARDIS arrives at Snowcap Base at the South Pole. General Cutler and his scientists are astonished to discover a new planet in space, draining energy firstly from a space shuttle and then from Earth itself. As a second shuttle is launched with Cutler's son aboard, the Earth is visited by the new planet's inhabitants: the Cybermen. Their planet, Mondas, is dying and they have come to steal Earth's energy and convert humans into their own kind. Although the first wave of Cybermen are defeated, more arrive and there ensues a desperate battle to destroy the invaders. On returning to the TARDIS, Ben and Polly are horrified when the already ill and exhausted Doctor declares that his body is worn out. In front of his companions, the old Doctor topples to the floor of his Ship, his face beginning to blur and change...See some telesnaps.
******
THE POWER OF THE DALEKS (November 5 - December 10, 1966) (Ave Aud - 7.8m/47th)
Suspicious of the
newly-regenerated Doctor, Ben and Polly are alarmed to find themselves on
the colony world of Vulcan. Within moments the Doctor has discovered a murdered
Earth official and assumed his identity. As the travellers are taken to the
colony, the Doctor is horrified to learn that their chief scientist, Lesterson,
has discovered a capsule in the mercury swamps containing three Daleks. Lesterson
is determined to reactivate the creatures and use them as servents. The Doctor
warns against this but as his credibility is brought into question by the
political wrangling of the security chief, Bragan, his warnings are not heeded.
Before long the Daleks have established a producution line and the colony
is overun by the murderous aliens. (Ben does not appear in episode 5). See
some telesnaps.
******
BBC PAST DOCTOR ADVENTURE: THE MURDER GAME (written by Steve Lyons)
(A BBC novel said to take place between the televised adventures.)
It is the year 2146. Answering a distress call from the dilapidated Hotel Galaxian, the TARDIS crew discover a games enthusiast is using the hotel to host a murder-mystery weekend. But it seems someone from his motley group of guests is taking things a little too seriously.
While the Doctor, Ben and Polly find themselves joining in the shadowplay, it becomes clear that a real-life murderer is stalking the dark, disused corridors of the Galaxian. But worse than this: there is a sinister force waiting silently in space for events to unfold. A terrible secret is hidden on board the Galaxian, and if it is discovered nothing - least of all murder - will ever be the same again. If this is a game, the stakes just got higher.
******
MISSING ADVENTURE: INVASION OF THE CAT-PEOPLE (written
by Gary Russell) 
(This adventure is one of the Missing Adventures novels said to take place between the televised adventures.)
Earth has been invaded. Twice. Thousands of years ago by a race searching for a new power source. More recently by the galatic marauders known as the Cat-People, who intend to continue the work done by the earlier visitors, with devastating results. The recently regenerated Doctor, along with companions Ben and Polly, teams up with a group of amateur ghost-hunters and a mysterious white witch on a journey that takes them from twentieth-century Cumbria to the Arabian deserts of folklore and Australia 40,000 years in the past. Can the Doctor stop the invaders and disarm the bombs left buried beneath the planet's surface - or have the ancient Aborigines of Australia sung the seeds of their own destruction?
******
THE HIGHLANDERS (December 17, 1966 - January 7, 1967)
(Ave Aud -
7.05m/72nd)
The TARDIS lands near Culloden during the war between England and Scotland. As Bonnie Prince Charlie is defeated, the Doctor, Ben and Polly become embroiled in the machinations of slave traders, run by the crooked English solicitor Grey. The Doctor intends to rescue the slaves and arm them while exposing the wicked Grey to the English redcoats. When the crew are once again reunited, the TARDIS gains a new occupant - the Highlander piper Jamie McCrimmon. (Michael's 2nd favorite story). See some Telesnaps.
******
THE UNDERWATER MENACE (January 14 - February 4, 1967)
(Ave Aud - 7.5m/58th)
The TARDIS lands in an extinct volcano in the latter half of the twentieth century. The travellers are captured by the primitive Atlanteans and taken to the undersea city of Atlantis. There they are to be sacrificed to the goddess Amdo by being fed to sharks. They are rescued by a scientist, Zaroff, who is totally insane and wishes to destroy the world by draining the seas into the earth's core. The Atlanteans however only know him as a benefactor who has promised to raise Atlantis once again. Ben and Jamie are sent to work in the undersea mines while Polly is turned into one of the Atlantean food-servicers: a fish-person. Enlisting some shipwrecked sailors, it is the Doctor's task to convince the Fish People and other Atlanteans to band together and expose Zaroff for the madman he is. (This is Michael's least favorite story). See some telesnaps.
******
THE
MOONBASE (February 11 - March 4, 1967) (Ave Aud - 8.3m/46th)
The TARDIS is drawn to Earth's moon en route to Mars. The TARDIS crew make their way to nearby moonbase but Jamie is injured along the way. The base is a weather control station and before long sabotage and crew illness strike at inopportune moments. The TARDIS crew are suspected but before long the true enemy are exposed. The Cybermen have returned, intending to utilise the moon as the first step in their invasion of Earth. The Cybermen are using the infected moonbase operatives to control the Gravitron, the massive machine that directs the Earth's climate. Polly foils their first attack with a lethal cocktail of plastic solvents, but before long the silver giants attack en masse, marching across the moon's surface and preparing to take absolute control of Earth. See some telesnaps.
******
THE
MACRA TERROR (March 11 - April 1, 1967) (Ave Aud - 8.2m/41st)
The travellers arrive at an Earth colony which is run like a giant holiday camp. The cheerful atmosphere and pleasant society soon makes the TARDIS crew relax but after a while the Doctor suspects all is not as it seems. The Controller appears to be an expressionless image and an apparently crazed man called Medok warns the crew of the Macra, giant crab-like monsters. The Macra are in fact running the colony brainwashing its occupants (including Ben) in to working in their deadly mines to create the poisonous gases they need to survive. As the leaders of the Colony turn against the Doctor and imprison him alongside Medok, it falls to Jamie and Polly to try and rescue him, help Ben recover, and defeat the insidious Macra. See some telesnaps.
******
BBC PAST DOCTOR ADVENTURE: THE ROUNDHEADS (written by Mark Gatiss)
(A BBC novel said to take place between the televised adventures.)
It is December 1648. Although victorious over the Cavaliersin the Civil Wars, the Roundheads are struggling to retain power. Plans are afoot to spirit King Charles from his prison, and the Doctor and his companions become embroiled in the intrigue... Ben finds himself press-ganged and on board a mysterious ship to Amsterdam. Polly is an unwitting accomplice in the plot to rescue the King, and the Doctor and Jamie find themselves arrested and imprisoned in the Tower of London under suspicion of conspiracy. Can the Doctor and Jamie escape, manage to find Ben and Polly and still ensure that history remains on its proper course?
******
THE FACELESS ONES (April 8 - May 13, 1967) (Ave Aud
- 7.4m/49th)
The TARDIS lands at the newly opened Gatwick airport in 1966. Distracted by a plane bearing down on them, the TARDIS crew seperate. Polly witnesses the murder of a policeman but is kidnapped before she can provide evidence. The Doctor tries to convince the Commandant of the mysterious goings-on and Jamie meets Samantha Briggs, whose brother has disappeared after boarding an aeroplane run by Chameleon Tours: the centre of the Doctor's investigations. It transpires that Chameleon Tours is run by a race of extra-terrestrials who have no identity and are stealing the personalities of the kidnapped airport staff and passengers. The Doctor learns of a massive Chameleon space station in orbit where the captives are being held and visits it to rescue everyone. When the danger is over, Ben and Polly realise that it is the very day that they first boarded the TARDIS so use the opportunity to make their farewells. (Ben appears only in episodes 1-2 and 6) See some telesnaps.
Additional Stories (These stories may or may not be canonical, depending on your point of view)
FOOD
FOR THOUGHT (Cartoon that appeared in DWM #218-#220) (written by Nick
Briggs)
(Said to take place between "The Smugglers" and "The Tenth Planet")
The TARDIS lands on Apresar IV, an advanced planet, which appears deserted except for a giant mollusc that promptly absorbs the TARDIS. In the confusion the Doctor and Polly are seperated from Ben who is captured by the robotic servitons. As Ben escapes, the Doctor and Polly witness the landing of Ellis Melthorpe, a native Apresaran and his hired bunch of thugs. Just then the giant mollusc containing the TARDIS reappears and swallows the Doctor. While inside the creature, the Doctor learns from it that Ellis had been brainwashed by the creature into putting his entire race into cryogenix suspension to become food for its offspring. The creatures are defeated by a combination of the Doctor and the sacrifice of Ellis whose self-hatred causes the the creatures to turn on themselves.
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