United in War- the cover!

So, here it is. The scene is the lounge aboard the Midnight Runner, with the Doctor Ian and Barbara. Susan and Marchor aren’t featured. The picture in the background is the Sculptor galaxy, or at least it’s supposed to be. It looks to me like the Milky way, but in the story it’s NGC 253/Sculptor, which I’ve labelled as Acteon

So what happens? Well, the entire premise of the story is based on the tall tale the Third Doctor tells Jo in Frontier in Space-

DOCTOR: Did I ever tell you the story about how I was once captured by the Medusoids?

 JO: What are they?

 DOCTOR: Medusoids? How can I describe them to you? Well, they’re a sort of hairy jellyfish with claws, teeth and a leg.

 JO: Erk!

 DOCTOR: Anyway, they put me under one of these mind probes things, you see, and tried to get me to tell them where I was going. So, I said I was on my way to meet a giant rabbit, a pink elephant and a purple horse with yellow spots.

 JO: What happened?

 DOCTOR: Well, the poor old machine just couldn’t believe it, had a nervous breakdown.

 JO: And then what happened?

 DOCTOR: Well, they put me under another one of these mind probe things and the same thing happened.

 JO: But you weren’t telling the truth. I mean, you weren’t really going to meet a giant rabbit, a pink elephant and a, what was it?

 DOCTOR: A purple horse with yellow spots. Yes, I was. You see, they were all delegates for the third Intergalactic Peace Conference.

 JO: How did you get away from these things?

 DOCTOR: Well they had to turn me loose eventually.

 JO: Why?

 DOCTOR: They ran out of mind probes.

Third Doctor and Jo Grant- Frontier in Space

I mean, it sounds like a joke, but what actually happened? Tune in at the weekend to find out!

Special thanks to Bob and the The Doctor Who Project team!