Sergeant Benton welcomes the newest UNIT member to the team. He warns her about the weirdness factor of meeting the Doctor. Lo and behold, who should arrive…
Sergeant Benton welcomes the newest UNIT member to the team. He warns her about the weirdness factor of meeting the Doctor. Lo and behold, who should arrive…
Oooh…The Doctor looks in a bad mood.
Good stuff! Just a slight niggle, though. A Corporal would never address a Sergeant as ‘Sir’ (panel 4) as he’s not an Officer (or NCO/Warrant Officer). I made that mistake when I was in the military & got shouted at and told “I work for a living!”
Wow, I didn’t expect you to start uploading the new story so soon!
Poor Mopey-Doctor needs cheering up.
Matelot: Aw hell. Thanks. I’ll keep that in mind for the future.
Third Doctor? Excellent! He’s one of my favourites
Yay! New story! Poor Three, he needs an alien invasion to take his mind off things. XD
Yes! The Third’s my favourite. I look forwards to more!
Hmm. So is this set between The Green Death and The Time Warrior then?
A moody Doctor indeed! Looking forward to this!
Matelot: Not necessarily. While that is true of the US Army, it is not always the case. For example, in the US Marines, NCOs are referred to as ‘Sir’. See the boot camp arc from the movie Full Metal Jacket;
“I’m Gunnery Sergeant Hartman, your senior drill instructor. From now on you will speak only when spoken to, and the first and the last word out of your filthy sewers will be ‘Sir’. Do you maggots understand that?”
“Sir, yes, Sir!”
US military traditions may not reflect upon all militaries. For example, while US service members are only required to salute commissioned officers of higher rank (and, of course, return a salute from subordinates), soldiers in the South Korean military are required to salute all other soldiers of higher rank (a Private must salute a Private 1st Class). Similarly, restricting “Sir” to commissioned officers may not be the case in all world militaries.
See also:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir#Use_in_disciplined_services
Julian Tempest: I can only speak from personal experience, having served in the British military, where Warrant Officers are the only NCOs to get called Sir.
YAY!!!! THREE!!!!! and I get to see the Brig too!!!!! AWESOME!!!!
a.
Great start, Rich. I’m guessing that Powell is going to be a one off companion, like Jackson Lake and Astrid (The Next Doctor, Voyage of the Damned). And she is about to find out that the Doctor is the best historian in the universe!
Love the page. I lol’d
Yay Third!
Yay, Third Doctor! Awww, he’s sad that Jo is gone…
Well, having some random nasty thing to deal with should cheer him right up!
Oh, dear, the Doctor doesn’t look happy!
Three!! and Benton! *flails a little* You know how to make a girl’s morning…
The end of the Green Death was always one of the saddest moments in the series to me.I really identified with Pertwee there.The little Corporal is there at just the right time for him(and I’m certain he’ll tell her about the other ‘little corporal’ he met!
THREE!!! YAY!!!
XD Nice beginning.. I can feel this is going to be a great story! I can feel it, I tell you!!
I’m with Percy! Three is my Doctor. I love this era! This *is* between Green Death and Time Warrior? Or is Jo or Sarah Jane around? Or even, gasp, Liz Smith?
Then again, when did he get promoted to Warrant? Eeeee, must go back and rewatch all of Three!
“when did he get promoted to Warrant?”
Episode 2 of Robot, as SJS returns to UNIT after her first encounter wih the Robot at Think Tank IIRC.
Telepwen: If you check the episode guide page (which I updated this morning) and y’know, read the dialogue in the 5th panel, you’ll see that it’s set between “The Green Death” (Jo’s gone) and “The Time Warrior” (Sarah Jane hasn’t arrived yet). So there are no Canon companions in this one (unless you count the UNIT soldiers). Incidently, Liz’ last name was Shaw, if that’s who you’re referring to, and she’s been gone for a while at this point.
Ah, more Doctor Who. Thanks, Rich.
Yes! Pertwee is in da house!
Woohoo a Pertwee story, thank you man! A great way to celebrate the release of the 3rd Doctor action figures!
Splendid! Grumpy Doctor! What a great way to start a rainly Saturday in the Seattle area.
YAYYY, it’s the 3rd Doctor and UNIT! Even better, we get the Doctor right after Jo left. It’ll be interesting to see how he recovers from that, if he does.
“Rainly”: a new expression coined for the weather. I know that the “rain in Spain falls mainly in the plains.” Here in the Seattle area, we don’t have plains. But we do have Mt Rainier. So it’s “mainly Rainly” in WA state.
Julian Tempest: Huh–I’d question the accuracy of that movie, then, since from what I’ve heard the Marines are *source* of the ‘I *work* for a living!’ bit. I’ll double check with the manager at work, though, as he’s a former Marine. I can say with 100% certainty that the US Army view matches that of Matelot’s experiences with the Brit side–you call a non-officer ‘Sir’ in boot/basic, you get chewed.
And a historian? Oh dear–*she’s* in for a brain bending, and a chorus of ‘Everything you know is wrong’ isn’t she..
This looks like it’s going to be very interesting, looking forward to the new page!
*facepalms*
That’s what I get for commenting before caffeine. Of course it’s Shaw.
AND I’m not up on my reading comprehension today.
I’m just going to go slink into a corner and hope no one notices that my stupid is showing. (Especially about the details surrounding my favourite Doctor… it seems I really SHOULD go back and rewatch again. Clearly it’s been too long.)
Awesome. Somehow I knew it would be 3.
Wow, Benton shows he’s a gentleman AND a scholar using the word “paradigm” back in the late 70s. If this had been a 1st Doc story, I’d really be wondering about him, since in the 60s it was only a grammatical term and hadn’t yet been applied to thought patterns.
Great seeing Benton again! It looks like Powell is about to have a memorable introduction
I dont know anything about the military address issue (those serving in the family never mentioned it much at home) but I remember something vaguely about using rank title instead of ’sir’ for Sergeant – drill sergeants in particular
..my spell checker keeps changing how it’s spelled too
Regarding the whole “calling a Non-Com ’sir’” thing, I just did a little research into it . . .
Apparently, the US Marines are one of the few military branches in the world that has their men call NCOs “sir”. This may not be universal, however, and there might be specific Non-Coms in the Marines who still don’t hold to that.
As for the fellah in the comic above, it was a little iffy at first, but I think I’ve got it sussed out. On the strictly technical side, Benton should not be called “sir” here. At this point, he is a plain and simple Sergeant, and in the British military from which this branch of UNIT is pulled, a Sergeant is not called “sir”. If this story had taken place after the switch to the Fourth Doctor, however, it would be appropriate since he’d been promoted to Regimental Sergeant Major – a Warrant Officer rank which is addressed as “sir” despite it still being Non-Com – in Robot, Four’s first full appearance.
However, having said all that technical stuff . . . I don’t think there’s a real problem with the Corporal calling Benton “sir”. UNIT never struck me as being extremely strict or regimented at that point (Ten even called them “a bit more homespun back then” in The Sontaran Stratagem), so while she’d probably not make a habit of it, she might still call Benton “sir” every once in a while without having anyone jump down her throat. Benton doesn’t seem the type to encourage such behavior, but neither does he seem the type to chew someone out for it either. Just like the size of the inside of the TARDIS, he’d just take the improper honorific in stride.
First Page!! No way! I actually believed Rich would keep us waiting a bit before starting!
You know, I suspect Corporal Powell and the Doctor will have a lot to talk about…. (so she’s an historian?)
I love how he knows just from her “Everything’s been routine” comment that she hasn’t met the Doc yet. “Routine” tends to take on a whole different meaning when he’s around.
Is that the Brig in panels 2 & 3? I loved UNIT, especially the Brig and Benton. But, I was never a big fan of 3. But, I will give this a chance.
Nope. The ‘Brig’ hasn’t appeared in the strip yet. The guy in the FG is Benton. The guys in the BG are just background guys. Lethbridge Stewart isn’t the only guy in the 70’s who wore a mustache.
Aha, is that the first local reference? Hunstanton Library! Nice one! Don’t know if they ever issued a “Quarterly” thoug. A quarterly about a library – sounds fantastically boring!!
PoorFollower: LOL! It does, rather! But fortunately for Powell, it’s the Huntington Library Quarterly, a scholarly journal on Early Modern Studies.
So Corporal Powell’s an historian? Interesting set-up. I’d expect it to be an odd sort of speciality in UNIT, but everyone has a hobby. And how many historians would turn down the chance to see history at first hand?
Nice choice of placement – I’d expect there’s a fair bit of scope for adventures between The Green Death and The Time Warrior.
Ahh, so just Three and the UNIT boys. Though Powell probably is, as others have speculated, the temporary companion of this story.
As for the whole non-com thing, this being the Whoniverse, I’m pretty sure Rich and Hilary can get away with it either way.
DJ: “rain in Spain falls mainly in the plains?” Funny to hear that some other countries have sayings about Spain at all, and specially about rain (it’s quite a dry country, snif…)
But as a Spanish, I can confirm rather the opposite: Mountains keep the rain near the coast, while the plains (in the centre of the country) are so dry.
(By the way, our whole Northern coast is cold and rainy: even the Dagon film was made in there).
Not important at all, I know. Just couldn’t help saying it…
I didn’t expect more Dr. Who so soon, Rich!!!!!!!!! Thanks!!!!!!!!
[dies laughing]
nievesg: That’s not a saying, alas, though your explanation was wonderful. It’s a speech exercise meant to teach enunciation, popularized by a song in the movie My Fair Lady.
My Fair Lady – the relevant clip.
The sign on the door the Doctor comes through in the last panel should read either “Canteen”, or “NAAFI”.
But other than that minor niggle, I’m glad to see a new story.
Love the expression on the Doctor’s face BTW.
@ The Creeping Spleen- I thought so to, but a quick look at Wikipedia reveals that the UN use “Commissary” in the same way as the US Army, and what did UNIT stand for in the ’70s?
@ Rich- shaping up nicely. I’d look up the expression “Normal for Norfolk”- those pesky aliens won’t stand out as much there…
Great start to the story R & H!
As for the niggling, can i add one more? Is Powell’s beret folded on the wrong side? i always had mine folded like Benton’s when i was in Air Cadets?
Oh and yeah, Sergeants are Sergeants lol
Mass: You’re probably absolutely right about the beret, and I’ll keep a closer eye on that in future. Unfortunately my error stems from 2 facts. 1: I tried to base her on some fuzzy photographs of background soldiers in some screencaps I took from “The Green Death” and while Benton very clearly has his beret with the patch over the left eye and folded to the right, many of the background extras have them every which way, folded back, folded the other way, the patch sometimes in the middle or way off to one side… and fact #2: I’m left handed and consequently, what feels “natural” to me is often flopped from reality, or should I say, the right-dominated world.
A new adventure so soon? Hurrah!
And I totally missed out on the beret thing. I just thought it was like a woman’s shirt buttoning up on the other side.
I love it! I can’t beleve the adventure of the third doctor! Yah Jon Pertwee!!
Look at this! You’re featured!
http://tardisnewsroom.blogspot.com/2009/10/big-finish-early-releases-and-stalker.html
Hah, neat! Thanks Cleverest Name!
hmm…. I just saw what happens if you hover your cursor over the Stalker archive link on the right sidebar….
Lars: he is always in a bad lookng mood . . .
Love Doctor number three tho.
If you wanna see some cool ANIME, yes ANIME someone did, of the 3rd Doctor, check these links:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqR8A8ecKWo&feature=rec-HM-fresh+div
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPCrGsya1ZI&feature=related
Please oh please oh please Rich, you know how to make a lady impatient! I really wanna see the Brig!!!!
( I know, I’m a pain, but ya know, them uniforms….sigh….)
a.
Matelot — “I _work_ for a living!” It’d be worth a testicle to be there when an officer comes in just as they’re saying that, but you never get a break like that in real life.
rebelrebel — U.N.I.T. used to stand for United Nations Intelligence Taskforce (infering that there were other U.N.I.T. branches around the world, but nothing was ever seen of that in the actual series) . But with the new series, the actual U.N. didn’t want there name associated with the show, so it became Unified Intelligence Taskforce (or Un.I.T., which isn’t as good). Makes we wonder what the comics industry will do when when the U.S. government decides they don’t want “America” being willy-nilly either.
*sigh*
“… being USED willy-nilly either.”
is what I menat to type.
Also, I know that there should be a “their” instead of a “there” earlier in the second paragraph.
Rich — this’ll become self-evident soon enough, I imagine, but I gotta know… is this a Dr. Who continuity-only adventure, or another crossover? The title leads me to Larry Talbot making a possible appearance, or any number of Jack the Ripper expies…
Holy Hannah…More Who!. Is this going to be a “straight” Doctor Who story, or another crossover?
Either way, glad you see you back in the TARDIS again.
Hurray for the 3rd Doctor! First page and it looks like this story will be awesome! As usual.
Yay! My favorite era! Great one, Rich.
Yay! The start of another Doctor Who story.
Okay, I’ve been following your work with the doctors for ages and have never commented, but this has driven me over the edge – That image of the Doctor walking through the door sent me right back to my childhood, watching Jon Pertwee with AWE!
Damn, you are GOOD!!!
My favorite…Three! First beer is on me, Rich.
One comment on the “Sir” thing. While I never served, my uncle did, in the USMC, and he essentially said that the “Sir, yes, sir!” was specifically in boot camp. After all, there is nothing on Earth lower than a boot. However, I can’t say whether they used Sir for NCO’s after they graduated and became Marines.
Hilary: And remember…in Hartford, Harripin and Hampshire, hurricanes hardly ever happen.
Mark: Not for NCOs, but certainly for commissioned and warrant officers.
That is Benton isn’t it?
Was it just me, or did the audience in my head break into applause as The Doctor walked through the door just then? After the 10 Docs was over, I kind of forgot about Rich… woe is me. However, I have re-seen the light, and am back. so you know… yay, and stuff.
I can weigh in with experience (having called a US Marine Sargeant Major “sir” and gotten the “I work for a living” remark as well as “20″ for it…). Drill Instructors are called “sir” in boot camp (thus explaining the refernce from Full Metal Jacket and countless other films), but that’s it for the US and British armed forces—army, navy, marine or air force. Only commissioned officers and warrant officers are called “sir.” NCOs (up to and including Sargeant Majors…) are not.
Maybe it is different in Korea, but that is not really relevant to Brenton or our story here, now is it?
Maybe tha