Backtime (comic story)

Backtime was a comic adventure of the no-longer-exiled Third Doctor in the pages of Countdown, originally published in 1971.

Summary[[edit] | [edit source]]

The Third Doctor is in London in 1863 when his TARDIS key is stolen by young pickpocket Charlie Fisher. When a policeman finds a 1970s bank note on the Doctor, he finds himself arrested for forgery, but the Doctor and Charlie escape in the TARDIS. They land in Gettysburg, where they meet Abraham Lincoln and rescue the TARDIS from the outlaws George Bamford and Asa Bamford. The Doctor eventually leaves Charlie in Ballarat to start a new life.

Characters[[edit] | [edit source]]

• Third Doctor
• Charlie Fisher
• Abraham Lincoln
• George Bamford
• Asa Bamford
• General Grant
• Magistrate

Worldbuilding[[edit] | [edit source]]

• The Doctor reads a book published in the 19th century called Balloons and Flying Machines.
• The Magistrate sentences Charlie to three months in Bridewell Prison.

Notes[[edit] | [edit source]]

• Oddly, "backtime" is used in the introductory captions as a word meaning the past.
• This story is a "pure historical" featuring no science fiction elements apart from the presence of the Doctor and the TARDIS.
• Parts one and two of the story were in full colour, but the remaining instalments were in black-and-white.

Original print details[[edit] | [edit source]]

(Publication with page count and closing captions)

• TVA 33 (2 pages) More Next Week!
• TVA 34 (2 pages) MORE NEXT WEEK!
• TVA 35 (2 pages) MORE NEXT WEEK!
• TVA 36 (2 pages) TO BE CONTINUED!
• TVA 37 (2 pages) Continued next week!
• TVA 38 (2 pages) [No closing caption]
• TVA 39 (2 pages) A GREAT NEW DR. WHO STORY STARTS NEXT WEEK. DON'T MISS IT!

Continuity[[edit] | [edit source]]

• The Doctor has travelled into the past, as he said he would do at the conclusion of his last adventure. (COMIC: The Celluloid Midas)
• The Doctor once again claims to have built his TARDIS. (TV: The Chase)
• Though this is the first time he's met him in-person, the Doctor had watched Abraham Lincoln deliver the Gettysburg Address on the Time-Space Visualiser during his first incarnation. (TV: The Chase)

External links[[edit] | [edit source]]

• Backtime at the Doctor Who Reference Guide