Polystyle Holiday Special Polystyle Holiday Special is an invented name for a loose " series " of three 1970s releases by Polystyle — the " Doctor Who Holiday Specials " 1973 and 1974 and the " Doctor Who Winter Special " 1977 . Publication details . The 1973 and 1974 editions feature the Third Doctor . They contain a mixture of original short stories and comic strips . They have the feel of a " Doctor Who " annual , without the children ' s games and puzzles that are usually present in such books . These editions contain some interesting and rare Polystyle usage of televised characters . Published in the waning years of the Polystyle licence , the 1977 edition couldn ' t be more different . It is reprint - heavy , as reflects the state of the " TV Comic " strip of the late 1970s , and its one original story confuses televised continuity entirely . 1973 . The 1973 volume is quite faithful to " Doctor Who " as it was then being televised . It makes thorough and in - character use of UNIT , the Brigadier and . It contains both a comic story and a short story using the Master . That alone is unusual — most non - televised stories with the Delgado Master being published in the 1990s — but the fact that these came while Roger Delgado was still alive makes them quite extraordinary . As an example of the effort this volume makes to be faithful to television , one story even mentions Mike Yates . He didn ' t actually appear , but it was the only time the the character ever got a namecheck in comics published contemporaneously with the Pertwee era . 1974 . The 1974 special actually does earn the word " special " . It ' s where Sarah Jane Smith — or as Polystyle preferred , Sarah - Jane Smith — makes her comics debut . Until the publication of " In With the Tide " in 2013 , it was also the only appearance Sarah - Jane made alongside the Third Doctor in " Doctor Who " comics . As with the previous year ' s special , UNIT and the Brigadier are back , this time with Sergeant Benton appearing in one story . Moreover , the notion of parallel universe s is explored in " Who ' s Who ? " , which — as an occasional theme of the Third Doctor ' s televised era — further makes this volume feel like a more faithful representation of Pertwee ' s time in the TARDIS than is typical for the ongoing Polystyle comic strip . It is also interesting for having been released during the initial broadcast of " Planet of the Spiders " . It ' s thus a kind of " last hurrah " for the Third Doctor which would have been experienced by many contemporary readers after they knew a new Doctor was on his way . Still , just as with the Second Doctor , Polystyle would stretch out the Third Doctor ' s comic era for months after the televised regeneration . The Third Doctor still had more than six months of life in the pages of " TV Comic " after the publication of this volume . 1977 . The 1977 edition stars the Fourth Doctor and is far poorer in terms of its original offerings . It has no original comics , instead preferring to reprint a number of stories that had originally starred the Third Doctor . As is common to the final years of the Polystyle comic licence , a ( usually poor ) attempt at Tom Baker ' s likeness is merely dropped into the part of the frames previously occupied by Jon Pertwee . Its one contribution to the body of " Doctor Who " fiction is a short story featuring the Fourth Doctor and Leela in Victorian England . Its illustrations are merely photos from " The Talons of Weng - Chiang " , meaning that there aren ' t even original " illustrations " in the 1977 edition , much less comics . Why " Polystyle Holiday Special " ? The somewhat artificial name is necessary because the three editions weren ' t really a part of " any " ongoing publication — despite the claim on the 1977 issue ' s cover that there was some sort of connection to " ( Mighty ) TV Comic " . Thus , " Polystyle Holiday Special " serves to clearly distinguish between these publications and others that are called " Holiday Specials " , such as the " TV Action Holiday Specials " of 1970 and 1971 , and the 1992 Holiday special edition of " Doctor Who Magazine " . In addition , these three volumes are sometimes mistaken for " TV Comic " or " TV Action " " annuals " , but they aren ' t . In the first place , their publication schedule didn ' t match that of a . Not only were they not published for the Christmas market — " holiday " specials being published for summer — but they weren ' t all published at the same time of year . Moreover , both " TV Comic " and " TV Action " had their own , proper annuals — quite separate publications , which contained bits from the full range of properties for whom Polystyle then had a comic strip licence . Thus , these specials were all standalone publications , and weren ' t actually part of " any " series . Still , they are roughly similar publications , by the same publisher , and convenience demands that these effective " orphans " be somehow grouped . Thus , for clarity , they are placed under a name which doesn ' t " quite " appear on the cover or in the indicia of any of the three publications .