No Strings Attached

 

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.

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 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.

The Fate Of The Shimmerlings - Part Two

 

First Doctor (original release)

Mark 7 (Custom/ Captain Jack base figure)

The Leviathan (Custom)

Lihmaha/ Shimmerlings - Star Poet (Sarah Jane Adventures)

Entropa - King Kong Monster set

The Leviathan robot is a wrestler figure with a bottletop for a head and arms replaced with various weapons from other figures.

Mark 7 has a definite progression and this is the next chapter of his story. I wanted him to feel some real emotion and discover the consequences of time travel. This story then is a tragic romance told from the perspective of the companion.

This philosophical argument about being powerless to alter time is a direct steal from The Aztecs.

The inspiration for the Shimmerlings themselves were the Star Poet/ Arcateen figures.

The script was completed on 1 July 2010. To put it in context, I was writing this story as I was writing and filming Pyramid of Traps and Amy Alone, both stories that were posted long after being completed.

At the time, Series 5 (Matt Smith's first series) was on the air.

The Shimmerlings were originally called the Omac. The name was changed during the editing of the story in 2013 to match their ethereal nature.

Shooting began on this story back in 2010 when the script was done but at the time I didn't have a figure in mind for the enemy - originally called Hexapods.

I'd always intended them to be some kind of insect swarm but never really considered how I'd realise them. Inspiration finally hit when I was clearing out my toy cupboard and came across the Skull Island monsters from King Kong, one of which was used in my Indiana Jones story.

The pick-ups of the Entropia were shot in 2013 finally allowing the story to be completed at last.

Note that for the first time in this mini-arc, we use a classic TARDIS, in this case the McCoy TARDIS. The Hartnell Unearthly Child TARDIS was still to be released.

I think this wins the prize for longest AFT edit. Without the Entropia images, I couldn't finish and the story just fell further and further behind others.

It was edited as far as possible in 2013 but by this time the AFT schedule was firmly taken up with the epic Daleks v Cybermen and the 50th Anniversary story The 11 Doctors, so there was no time for the story to even be posted. (see Transmission below).

At the time it was published, it was the final AFT adventure. I considered altering the final frame to remove the cliffhanger but decided to leave it as originally intended.

Where this sits in first Doctor continuity has been discussed and this story offers no further insights. Clearly the Doctor and Mark have had at least one unseen adventure where the Leviathan catches up with them.

Mark's glimpse into the web of time shows a few things that are 'fixed points' such as the Silents using River Song to kill the Doctor and the Dalek Invasion of Earth. I also chucked in an image from Pyramid of Mars and a Cyberman - because they're bound to have done something 'fixed pointy'.

The 

Although completed in 2013, The Fate of the Shimmerlings had to wait to be published. 2013's schedule was taken up with Daleks v Cybermen and the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary. 

One reason for its delay was because I was waiting to see what (if any!) 60s figures would be released. The short answer was none, though of course we've since had Voord, Sensorites and Ian Chesterton!

The AFT stopped regular episodes in early 2014 but this story was published online on 16th November 2015. I think it was partly to celebrate the show's anniversary and partly just to get the story out there.

It was reposted as a companion piece to Series 2 on BBC/Disney+ on 17th and 24th May.

The Fate Of The Shimmerlings - Part One

 

The Trodos Conundrum

 

First Doctor (original release)

Mark Seven (custom Captain Jack)

Trods (customs)

The Trod model is basically a plastic cup with a card lid. The tank treads are foamboard. Silver foil makes the neck piece and arms with paperclip fingers and aerial, and a drinking straw for the shoulder joints and gun. The head is made from Super Sculpy. Two Trod models were made for the story, one of them broke during filming so for some later shots, one Trod appears shorter than the other.

When the Hartnell and Troughton figures were released for the first time in 2009, I started to look for enemies they could fight. Of course, there were the Daleks and Cybermen, but using the same monsters time and again would quickly become repetitive.

Reading some old Doctor Who Classic Comics for inspiration, I was reminded of the Trods - TV comic's answer to the Daleks (before they had the licence to use them!) which battled both the first and second Doctors, along with companions Gillian and John. Not only were they perfect for my stories, they would also be a complete surprise to the reader.

The Trodos Conundrum (originally The Trodos Connection) was written as part two of Enemy of the Cybermen (then called Cybermen v Trods). 

THE TRODS IN TV COMIC

In their first appearance, the Trods are the robotic servants of the humans of Trodos but they have overthrown and enslaved their masters. The Doctor, John and Gillian manage to pull the plug - literally!

For the second outing, the Trods summon the TARDIS back to Trodos and force the Doctor and his grandchildren into a deadly booby-trapped city.

Later, in his second incarnation, the Doctor returns to make peace with the Trods only to find the that Daleks have invaded!

If you can get hold of it, the three main Trod comic stories are collected in Doctor Who Classic Comics issue 8.

Due to the overlap in sets, this story was shot back to back with Enemy of the Cybermen. The TARDIS scenes were completed on 11 Sept 2009 along with those for our previous adventure Nemesis From Nowhere. The scenes inside the Trodos city were shot on 17th September 2009. 

The episode was edited in the week beginning 1 Feb 2010.

The opening shot of Trodos city uses photos I took in Dubai and London's Docklands.

The painting of the Trodos humans was added in post production and features the MicroMan figures of Ras Al Gul (Batman Begins) and Chun Li (Street Fighter). The image was taken for an alternate ending of an AFT Catwoman comic.

As previously discussed, we're probably in Season 3 for Hartnell, certainly post The Dalek Masterplan. This meeting of the First Doctor and the Trods clearly places the comics in an alternative timeline.

As mentioned above, this was originally intended to be posted as part two of Enemy of the Cybermen (part one ends with the surprise reveal of the Trods. This episode was meant to explain what they were.) But I felt Enemy of the Cybermen as an adventure, probably couldn't sustain a two month gap between parts 1 and 2.

So after part 1, The Trodos Conundrum was posted exclusively on Outpost Who in daily format between 22nd and 26th February 2010 before appearing on the main site on 15 March 2010 ahead of Enemy of the Cybermen part 2.

It is now published as part of a weekly First Doctor series, a companion to Series 2 on BBC/Disney+. This adventure was posted on 10 May 2025.