Saturday, 3 May 2025

Nemesis From Nowhere - Part Two







 

First Doctor - Original release
Daleks (from original Dalek 3 pack)
Mark Seven (Custom Captain Jack)
Kraath (Customs)

The figure of Mark 7 began life as a Series 1 Captain Jack in his RAF uniform. I've added his  bandolier, utility belt and cuff detail in Green Stuff.
His gun is a custom creation using sprue from a model kit and the bendy part of a drinking straw.
Mark's rocket ship is a rubber model ship painted silver, although the paint has mostly flaked off. It has been coloured in photoshop for its blue/yellow and rusted liveries.
The Doctor's cape is made from a circle of black material, draped over his shoulders - no sewing required. This was of course before the Unearthly Child caped Doctor and TARDIS were released.
We didn't even have classic TARDISes at this point, note that I'm using the 2005 RTD version.

I've always been a huge First Doctor era fan and loved the very 60s sci fi turn it took in Season 3 after Verity Lambert left. Plus I always felt there was more mileage in the companion of Sara Kingdom (yes, I do consider her a proper companion)
A DWM article about Terry Nation's planned US Dalek series alerted me to the robotic character Mark 7, part of the Space Security Service. Note, this was long before he appeared in Big Finish audios.
The prospect of a Doctor that has only just developed a 'human' morality from his companions passing that onto a robotic companion was tantalising and that's what I hope to achieve with the Doctor/Mark pairing.

The original 'nemesis' was to have been the Mechanoids but I'd created the Kraath for the previous story and wanted to cement them as a Hartnell monster.
Actually, the very first version of the story featured just the Daleks:
With the war going badly, the Daleks are in retreat but steadfastly hold a seemingly insignificant small planet. As the Doctor and Mark discover though, the Daleks intend to send this planet through time and space and use it as a staging area for an attack on Earth.
With this plan thwarted, Mark accidentally sets the TARDIS in motion as they realise the Daleks are about to launch an even more deadly strike.
My first intention was that the Doctor would be constantly trying to get Mark back home to the year 4005 but that element got dropped in subsequent episodes.




The set for the Dalek ship is based on that from The Dalek Masterplan. The Dalek base scenes were shot back to back with the interior scenes of The Secret of Vega 22, the mini Mark 7 intro story.




The year is 4005, five years after the Dalek Masterplan. In my head cannon, following the exposure of Mavic Chen, the Daleks and humanity begin an all-out war, as alluded to in the many Terry Nation annuals.
In terms of the first Doctor's own timeline, at the time this was posted, I think I'd settled on some time during The War Machines. There is no point in the first Doctor's tenure that he travels alone and certain not between stories.
Certainly, we must be after Masterplan as the Doctor recalls Bret Vyon and Sara Kingdom. I suggest that at some point during The War Machines, with Dodo on Earth, the Doctor is taken out of time (for either The Three Doctors or The Five Doctors) and is now on his way back.




The story was original put online in December 2009 and January 2010.
It was reposted during Series 2 as a classic companion to the new series. Part One was published on 26 April 2025 with part two following on 5 May 2025.