Nostalgia Corner (comic story)

Nostalgia Corner was the "feature" story of It's Bigger on the Inside!, serving the same purpose as The Test of Time did in The Doctor Who Fun Book, being a longer, more ambitious comic story than the one-page-or-less, parodical cartoons filling out most of the pagecount. A homage to the 1960s TV Comic Doctor Who stories, it starred the little-used TARDIS team of the First Doctor and his grandchildren John and Gillian.

Summary[]

John and Gillian and their grandfather land in Storyland, where they encounter fictional characters brought to life. The time-travellers end up meddling in the events of William Tell's story.

Plot[]

The TARDIS makes a rough landing in Storyland. John and Gillian walk outside, followed by their grandfather, hoping that they're back home at last; John bitterly remarks that he's already starting to become an adolescent. The Doctor recognises their surroundings as Storyland, an observation soon confirmed when they walk past Sherlock Holmes and Robinson Crusoe.

Soon, they happen upon another famous storybook scene, which John recognises: William Tell is being "tested" by the sadistic Governor as an archer, being made to shoot an apple with his crossbow while the apple rests on the head of Tell's son.

The Doctor, introducing himself as "Doctor Who" to the Governor, protests. Before the Governor gets offended, he surprisingly adds that in his opinion, the apple test is too easy and Tell should be made to shoot a grape on his son's head, instead, for a smaller target. Gillian looks away from the unavoidable tragedy — only for Tell's arrow to hit its mark, to no one's greater surprise than Tell's own!

Asked how he did it by his granddaughter, the Doctor explains that what he gave the Governor was one of his new magnetic grapes, which are edible, but also attract any metal for miles. To demonstrate their edibility, the grinning Doctor swallows one, only to then become the point of attraction of the Governor's soldier's weapons, which fly after the time-travellers, forcing them to flee back to the time machine and move on to another adventure!

Characters[]

• First Doctor
• John Who
• Gillian Who
• Sherlock Holmes
• Robinson Crusoe
• The Governor
• William Tell
• William Tell's son

Worldbuilding[]

• The Doctor is trying to return John and Gillian to their home in 1964.
• Sherlock Holmes and Robinson Crusoe are among the denizens of Storyland; they are seen on the trail of the Baskerville Hound and facing off against cannibals, respectively.
• John has read the story of William Tell in his storybook.
• The Doctor invented magnetic grapes.
• Locations with Storyland include Lilliput, Trumpton and Mordor.

Notes[]

• This story is written as a pastiche of the John and Gillian TV Comic stories, complete with the Doctor calling himself "Doctor Who" and a resolution based around an unforeshadowed new invention of Doctor Who's.
• The setting of Storyland is reminiscent of the Land of Fiction as seen in the televised Second Doctor story The Mind Robber. The Doctor states to John and Gillian that they've been here before — which, if one conflates the Land with Storyland, is true from a real-world point of view with regards to Mind Robber, but does not actually allow for the events the Doctor is referencing to be those of The Mind Robber as far as in-universe chronology is concerned.

Continuity[]

• The Second Doctor would once again visit a land where various fictional characters exist and can be interacted with. (TV: The Mind Robber)
• The Doctor meets William Tell. (TV: The Face of Evil, AUDIO: The Settling)
• John and Gillian's home, which they left accidentally aboard the Doctor's TARDIS, was in 1964 England. (COMIC: The Klepton Parasites)