First Doctor (The Sensorites B&M pack)
Mark 7 (Custom)
Daleks (Character online "The Chase" exclusive)
The Leviathan (Custom)
Earth Control 1 - Cyber Android with Lester (Primeval) head
Earth Control 2 - Raston Warrior Robot with Steven (Primeval) head.
For the two Earthmen, I wanted something kinda 60s looking so I used the Cyber Android and Raston robots, using photoshop to add human heads.
The Leviathan first appeared in The Fate of the Shimmerlings.
It was always my intention that Mark would sacrifice himself to give the Doctor the chance to return to his companions. I wanted to give Mark an emotional send-off. When I stopped doing the regular AFT, this was one of the storylines that was left unfinished.
With the new TV series on the horizon and finding myself with some time on my hands, I decided to run the first Doctor/ Mark 7 series all together and finally finish it off.
I always assumed this would be a two-parter but I've long struggled with bulking out the story. When I realised that to match the TV series (at 8 episodes), I only needed the finale to be a single-parter so it didn't need bulking out at all.
The storyline was finished on 31 March 2025.
The bulk of the images were taken on 10 April, starting with the Dalek control room. I was going to default to the silver Hartnell era Daleks but then remembered the "The Chase" movie style versions. They lend this new episode a bit more colour. I'd already made new gold consoles for the set, which also includes glittery walls, so these Daleks fitted perfectly.
I still haven't decided where we are in the First Doctor's timeline. The Doctor mentions his "friends" so meaning either Dodo and Steven or Ben and Polly. I guess we'll never know.
Given how long the story had been in gestation, the script came very quickly and was finished on 2nd April 2025. The original title was The Final Chapter but the first choice for the title was Mission: Interrupted. I also considered The Boy Who Chose but settled on No Strings Attached, a Pinnochio reference to Mark 7 gaining his autonomy.
The bulk of the images were taken on 10 April, starting with the Dalek control room. I was going to default to the silver Hartnell era Daleks but then remembered the "The Chase" movie style versions. They lend this new episode a bit more colour. I'd already made new gold consoles for the set, which also includes glittery walls, so these Daleks fitted perfectly.
The Dalek corridor came next, which uses beige plastic walls.
The Earth scenes were next using the same white plastic walls I've been using for so many of my stories, this time with coloured paper behind to give them a new look.
Filming concluded with the TARDIS interior. This is the first appearance of the TARDIS astrolabe, westminster clock and astral map - all props I made during lockdown.
The last images to be taken were of the TARDIS and Earth rockets. The rocket is from The Satan Pit.
Note, this is the first time in my Hartnell series that I've been able to use a proper Hartnell TARDIS, this one is from Twice Upon A Time.
The memory disc that Mark gives to the Doctor is actually from a Star Wars Episode 1 Comm Tech chip. When it came to give Mark a gun, I couldn't find the original gun I'd made for him so I armed him with a Cyberman gun from The Invasion, fitting as Sara Kingdom used just such a gun.
The images were edited on 10 April and finished the next day on the 11th. There were a few extra images/ panels that weren't included in the script: namely, an establishing shot of the Leviathan after it appears and a single panel of the Doctor, lamenting that he has to leave Mark behind on page 4.
The images were edited on 10 April and finished the next day on the 11th. There were a few extra images/ panels that weren't included in the script: namely, an establishing shot of the Leviathan after it appears and a single panel of the Doctor, lamenting that he has to leave Mark behind on page 4.
The biggest addition was two panels from Nemesis From Nowhere. It was always the plan that Earth Central send the Leviathan because they mistakenly think the Doctor has taken Mark prisoner. It didn't seem clear enough without the flashback.
Did you spot the typo? Reviewing the story ahead of its publication, I noticed the Doctor says "Oh but what do to?" instead of "what to do" as he ponders his TARDIS trip. I could have changed it but decided to keep it as an homage to William Hartnell's occasional line fluffs.
I still haven't decided where we are in the First Doctor's timeline. The Doctor mentions his "friends" so meaning either Dodo and Steven or Ben and Polly. I guess we'll never know.
When he recalls his memories, Mark mentions the Voord. I did have vague notions and a rough storyline for a Voord adventure so maybe I'll revisit this era some day.
This episode has never been published before and was posted on 31st May 2025.