Fireball Surrenders! (short story)

Fireball Surrenders! was a short story printed in TV Century 21 that contained elements from the Doctor Who universe. Framed as the front page of an in-universe periodical, the titular article made reference to the Fireball XL5 crossover comic The Batmen while smaller pieces tied-in to The Daleks comic story Power Play and the Lady Penelope crossover comic Mr. Steelman.
Notably, coming after The Daleks story Genesis of Evil which had presented itself as a historical account of the Daleks' creation, Fireball Surrenders! explicitly placed the present-day of the series in the 2060s, thereby synchronising The Daleks with the present-day of TV Century 21s shared universe, particularly the Gerry and Sylvia Anderson-created series Fireball XL5 and Stingray. It would retain a concurrent setting with most of the other stories printed in the magazine (joined in 1966 by Thunderbirds and Dateline) until its final instalment, that being The Road to Conflict in 1967.
== Summary ==
Space City is stunned as the news reaches them that Steve Zodiac has surrendered control of Fireball XL5 to the Batmen. This sparks panic and concern throughout the Universe among the crews of space freighters and passenger flights, with a ship of Fireballs specifications capable of doing untold damage in dangerous alien hands. Chief Controller Commander Zero is said to be "far too busy" to speak to reporters at Space City but TV Century 21s article relays from a reliable source that combat ships were placed on Emergency Red as a result of the situation. Later, all further space flights are cancelled.
Elsewhere, TV Century 21s special correspondent in Marineville gives an update on the developing situation there, observing that "nerves are stretched to breaking point" while W.A.S.P. Headquarters prepares itself for action. As the minutes without further contact from the crew of Stingray continue to slowly tick by, Commander Shore and his men simply wait for the attack they are sure is coming.
Meanwhile, a report from the Space Agency indicates that evidence of "a strange saucer shaped craft" entering the atmosphere of Skaro has been picked up on the Electron Displacement Recorder mere hours after the completion of the new Dalek City, with the Dalek Emperor ordering immediate evasive action to tackle the potential threat.
Finally, a "mysterious masked man in black" gains illegal entry into the Dunwell Atomic Research Station by breaking-in. He disables the alarm systems and uses the reactor, before disappearing without a trace. The incident is reported and later detailed on the front page of TV21, which directs its readers to a full colour report on page sixteen.
== Characters ==
* Steve Zodiac
* Commander Shore
* Dalek Emperor
* Masked man in black
* Special correspondent
== Worldbuilding ==
* A full colour report via Video soundscan about the developing situation in Marineville is available on the tenth and eleventh pages of TV Century 21, while colour reports on Fireball XL5 and the Daleks can be seen on the fourth and twentieth pages respectively.
== Story notes ==
* This story is another crossover with Fireball XL5 and Stingray. Notably, it marked the Doctor Who universe's first brush with the Thunderbirds franchise. Despite the fact the series was yet to debut on television at this point, the Lady Penelope comic strip depicted two of its main characters Penelope Creighton-Ward and Parker in events prior to the first episode and it was that which this story tied-in with.
* This story also creates a minor continuity error with regards to the early stages of the Dalek timeline, seemingly born out of the fact that the construction of the Dalek City and the landing of the Krattorians on Skaro both occur in the same part of Power Play. The previous story Genesis of Evil explicitly states that the creation of the Daleks happened "many thousands of years ago" relative to the 2060s, with the building of the Dalek City presumably coming soon afterwards. Future instalments of The Daleks beginning with the Krattorian landing and start of the Daleks' space program in Power Play are set in the present day of the 2060s, leaving plenty of time for stories in which the Daleks are confined to their City with no knowledge of life on other worlds to occur. However, Fireball Surrenders! claims Kest's spaceship landed "only hours" after work was completed on the Dalek City, evaporating this gap.
* The photograph of the Dalek used in this story was taken from a promotional image for the television story The Dalek Invasion of Earth. Although Westminster Bridge and the Houses of Parliament can be seen in the background, from an in-universe perspective this photograph was not taken on Earth because the Daleks did not discover its location until The Road to Conflict.
== Continuity ==
* The article claims Fireball XL5s troubles began "yesterday" when its crew went to the aid of a freighter which was apparently in distress, after which they discovered a new asteroid in hyperspace and were taken prisoner by the Batmen. (COMIC: The Batmen, PROSE: Stingray Attacked!)
* TV Century 21 continued to report on the Fireball crew's struggles against the Batmen after this point. (COMIC: The Batmen, Power Play)
* Battle Stations were called at Marineville when a Titan Terror Fish attacked Stingray while it was escorting a submarine aircraft carrier. (COMIC: Genesis of Evil, PROSE: Stingray Attacked!)
* TV21 also continued to report on the situation involving Marineville and Stingray, which eventually culminated with an attack on Marineville by Titan. (COMIC: Power Play, PROSE: Titan Declares War!, Marineville Waits!)
* The encounter between the Daleks and the Krattorians was another subject which received further documented from TV21, although further updates were provided by the Space News Agency in place of the Space Agency. (COMIC: Power Play, PROSE: Titan Declares War!)
* As revealed in TV21s report, the masked man in black was Roger Lyon. Later reports detailed his kidnapping by Mr Steelman and Lady Penelope's efforts to rescue him. (COMIC: Mr. Steelman, PROSE: Titan Declares War!, Marineville Waits!)
Category:Dalek short stories
Category:Stories set in 2065
Category:TV21 cover stories
Category:1965 short stories
Category:Stories that crossover with non-DWU series