The Fires Down Below

Script: John Peel
Art: John Stokes

Short UNIT spin-off about the Quarks (and the Dominators) threatening Earth, first presented as a back-up strip in Doctor Who Monthly #64 in 1982.

At just four pages, my impression before re-reading today was that it would be a bit thin, but it does tell a good story with a beginning, middle and an end, as well as a reasonable amount of action.


Although the original show was still going strong in 1982, licenced spin-offs that didn't feature the Doctor were quite rare, and the chance to behold a 'new' UNIT story was probably a real boon. It's also doubtful whether anyone worried that much about canonicity in those days. I think I just took it in my stride that this was some sort of alternate Who-universe in which all the Marvel strips took place. Today it's rather more complicated, so I try not to think about it too much...

Oh all right, it's set in 1984 while Lethbridge-Stewart is still a Brigadier, so is that before, after or during the yet-to-be-filmed Mawdryn Undead story from 1983???

Still, the UNIT dating controversy aside, (which didn't really exist in 1982, by this world's calendar anyway) it's encouraging that, in 2008, this strip still stands up so well.