The Unheard Voice was the final regular Third Doctor story in TV Action, printed in the magazine's penultimate issue. From here, the Third Doctor would return to TV Comic, TV Action's sister magazine, although TV Action would debut one more story in their 1974 annual. It was later reprinted as a Fourth Doctor comic strip story in the TV Comic Holiday Special 1978.

In its original version, The Unheard Voice was the "Big Story" of TVA 131, meaning it got pride of place on the issue's cover and was the longest story in that issue.

Summary[]

Returning to Earth in normal space, the Doctor's flight is disturbed by a sonic weapon that seems to originate on a remote Scottish island. He lands the TARDIS there to find two seemingly unrelated things: a Ministry of Defence installation and a natural bird sanctuary that seems very much disturbed. At the installation, he is treated as a spy until his identity is confirmed by the Brigadier. He quickly determines that the new defence satellite jointly launched by the British and American defence establishments is malfunctioning, causing sound waves in a range typically only heard by animals. These waves are driving animals crazy around the planet.

Colonel Higgs, the commanding officer of the facility, finally sees that the Doctor is speaking the truth. Since his team of scientists can't correct the satellite from the ground, he comes to the view that the satellite must be destroyed. He confers with his American counterpart, who concurs. The Americans launch a missile to destroy the satellite, but its guidance system is affected by the sound waves emitted by the satellite. The remote detonation button also fails to work, so it's up to the Doctor to take the TARDIS into closer proximity. He blows up the offending machinery, returning Earth's animal population to a state of relative calm.

Characters[]

• Third Doctor / Fourth Doctor
• Colonel Higgs
• Nigel
• Richard
• Old islander
• American officer
• Sergeant Warburton

Worldbuilding[]

• The Doctor tells Colonel Higgs that his identity can be checked with "Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart of UNIT".
• The Doctor's sonic screwdriver can temporarily disrupt other sonic patterns.

Notes[]

• This was the last Doctor Who comic strip published by Countdown in its TV Action banner before the comic strips returned to TV Comic. It ended with the Doctor destroying a satellite at close range, unsure if he would survive — thinking "If I've miscalculated, it's goodbye Doctor. Here goes..." When he successfully did so, the series ended with his thoughts: "So I survive to fight another day."
• The story is a bit of social commentary on the militarisation of space — a real-life issue that grabbed headlines in the early 1970s, alongside coverage of the Apollo program.

Original print details[]

(Publication with page count and closing captions)

• TVA 131 (7 pages) [No closing caption]

Continuity[]

to be added

External links[]

• The Unheard Voice at the Doctor Who Reference Guide

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