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.

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.