Sorry for the mass posting of reviews, but I have been on a really uncomfortable intercontinental flight (usual issues of cramped seats combined with takeoff two hours late and a very large passenger next to me who overlapped unavoidably into my space).

Anyway, I’ve reached Power of the Daleks in my run through classic Who so it seemed a good time to look at this annual which includes eight stories, two comic strips, two board games, puzzles, and some actual publicity about the new Doctor and his companions Ben and Polly, and some factual pieces (one of which is about Atlantis, which was about to appear on TV; also one of the board games features a visit to Scotland in 1745).

The stories are rather interesting – some of them are distinctly downbeat or just odd in tone. The very last one has the Tardis materialising on H.M.S. Victory at the Battle of Trafalgar, and the Doctor for some reason deciding that he must prevent Nelson’s death (he fails). Very few of the stories come close to Troughton’s characterisation, and a couple read much more convincingly as First Doctor stories. No returning aliens from TV, though again one of the games references “mechanised robots” on the planet Skaro (presumably Terry Nation being tough on the rights to the Daleks again). Lots of good artwork and some excellent colour publicity pictures of Troughton, Craze and Wills. Definitely worth getting hold of.