From TV Comic #710-712
Published: 1965
A Review by Finn Clark 4/3/05
As a story, almost negligible. Moon Landing (TV Comic 710-712) is the fictional equivalent of those space articles in the World Distributors annuals. It's educational! If you didn't know that the moon has one-sixth gravity and no air to carry your voice, then you will after reading this! It's a scant six pages long and the TARDIS crew doesn't show up until episode two, instead being more a day in the life of two astronauts... except that these are the first men on the moon.
However this story is famous for being one of Doctor Who's rare (nearly) successful prophecies. On 21 July 1969, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the moon in the Apollo 11 module and made history. The names aren't preserved here... instead it's Professor Rawlinson in charge of the project, with the astronauts being Colonel Roberts and Major Simms, but check out the dates. One of the panels shows a newspaper. On 20 July 1970, Roberts and Simms blast off from Earth. Two days later, on 22 July 1970, they land on the moon... in an episode of TV Comic's Doctor Who comic strip published in 1965.
That's a year and a day... and I'd even point out that the 20th and 22nd July actually straddle the correct date of the 21st. (Many years later this was referenced as a piece of ancient history in Wormwood (DWM 266-271), when we're told that the Threshold watched Neil Armstrong landing on the moon.)
That's kinda spooky, but otherwise there's not much to this story. It's six pages of educational bumph dressed up in the guise of fiction, though its brevity lets it sail past pleasantly enough. As a side-note, by now John and Gillian have become sufficiently space-savvy for Gillian to describe the astronauts as "Earthmen". This story was reprinted in DWCC 22 and to be honest it's little more than a curiosity. It's a relaxing break for our heroes, without villains or even any danger. However it's also another example of how the Neville Main era of TV Comic was different.