Christian Cawley's Blog, page 78

Titan Comics’ Tenth Doctor #08 Reviewed!

Philip Bates is a writer at Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews - All the latest Doctor Who news and reviews with our weekly podKast, features and interviews, and a long-running forum.

And so we come to the penultimate part of The Weeping Angels of Mons, which sees David Tennant’s Tenth Doctor and his new companion, Gabby Gonzalez in the midst of the First World War – with Weeping Angels on all fronts. And I’ll be sad to see it end.

There can come a point where a story just treads water, filling in for an issue while lining up the endgame. Fortunately, this issue isn’t like that. Instead, it piles on the action, the excitement, the character development, and the ideas. It’s what a comic needs to be.

When we rejoin Gabby, she’s trying desperately not to blink. It’s a gripping start, as she assures the statue that, thanks to staring contests with her brother, it’ll stay just that: a statue. Except the Weeping Angels are an inevitability. They’ll just wait. Of course, she blinks. I won’t spoil what happens, but it’s beautifully presented. Writer, Robbie Morrison and artist, Daniel Indro have worked really well together to create such an atmospheric and playfully directed tale. Morrison plays right into Indro’s hands, leaving space for his pages to breathe.

Sadly, the artist’s Tenth Doctor is still a bit shaky, but there’s progress there. Two particular panels very effectively show this Doctor’s body language. Kudos, too, to colourist, Slamet Mujiono, who balances the tone of each scene well.

Morrison layers on the tension, and plays with the core ideas of the Weeping Angels – particularly them killing you by sending you into the past and then absorbing what potential you had in the ‘present.’ Last issue, it seemed that the trenches were ideal feeding ground for them; this issue, the Doctor realises that it just makes them more desperate, backed up by sound reasoning.

I’ll admit to loving the Angels, and their presence here just reaffirms this. A wrecked Weeping Angel leaping from the smoke is fantastically realised and utterly chilling, as is the idea that they’re using the smoke from artillery bombardment to gain ground.

Then there are great scenes somewhat reminiscent of Father’s Day, sheltering in a church, and Flesh and Stone, in which Captain Fairbairn defends himself against the Angels.

The cliffhanger isn’t perhaps the most gripping, but it’s not bad either, and you don’t really need a further reason to pick up the concluding part of The Weeping Angels of Mons.

They say all good things come to an end, but if Titan keeps this quality up, I can see this series running and running. The Doctor would be proud.

The Tenth Doctor  #8 is out now, priced $3.99.

The post Titan Comics’ Tenth Doctor #08 Reviewed! appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

A Classic/NuWho Mashup Too Far? Jago & Litefoot & Strax in The Haunting

Jeremy Remy is a writer at Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews - All the latest Doctor Who news and reviews with our weekly podKast, features and interviews, and a long-running forum.

Big Finish has announced their most recent in growing line of NuWho characters to enter their ongoing Classic Who audios.

This November, Strax—the Sontaran commander turned nurse/Victorian butler and member of the Paternoster Gang—will join Henry Gordon Jago and George Litefoot in Jago & Litefoot & Strax: The Haunting. Strax suffers an attack and becomes disoriented, causing him to mistake Jago and Litefoot for Jenny Flint and Madame Vastra. (Of course being disoriented is almost an unnecessary plot device, since Strax has regular difficulty differentiating between non-Sontarans or recognizing gender.) Together, they investigate a brain-stealing creature and a haunted house.

I’ll admit I’m cautiously curious about this story. It wouldn’t be the first time a somewhat silly character has trod through the streets of Jago & Litefoot (I’m looking at you, Encore of the Scorchies). Nor is it the first suggestion of the Paternoster Gang existing in the same version of Victorian England as The Talons of Weng-Chiang (The Brilliant Book 2012 claims Vastra was the star of a young Jago’s “Monstre Gathering” act). The biggest concern I have is that we’re entering a new era of Big Finish, one where New Series characters are beginning to cross over into territory that has always been focused on Classic Who.

The narrative quality and consistent entertainment value of Big Finish’s Doctor Who stories (and DW spinoffs) often surpass the revised televised series. But offerings since the announcement, earlier this year, of a revised series of UNIT have regularly included NuWho elements. In addition to UNIT—The New Series, in Classic Doctors, New Monsters the Fifth Doctor will take on the Weeping Angels, the Sixth Doctor the Judoon, the Seventh the Sycorax, and the Eighth the NuWho version of Sontarans; Strax will co-star in a special Jago & Litefoot; River Song will have her own series (The Diary of River Song) and will guest star in the Eighth Doctor’s The Doom Coalition; and Churchill has been given his own Companion Chronicles-style series, The Churchill Years, which will include Kazran Sardick (from A Christmas Carol) and Lilly Arwell (from The Doctor, The Widow and The Wardrobe).

While it is exciting to see Big Finish’s license expanded to provide the ability to address the wider Whoniverse, there is reason for potential concern. One could argue that some of the failures of the revised series are attempts to focus on what Doctor Who “should be.” When the focus is too much on the younger audience, we end up with fart jokes and fat shame (ah, Slitheen). When the focus it too much on the mythology, the Doctor becomes a messiah and love conquers all (even Cybermen and moon-monsters).

The sudden surge of NuWho suggests the immediate and complete merging of Classic and Nu Who “should be.” It would be a shame to see this negatively impact the quality of existing Big Finish products. In particular, the Judoon were a parody version of the Sontarans when they first arrived in Smith and Jones. Whereas the Sontarans (including, and perhaps due to the success of Strax) have eliminated the need for the Judoon, by becoming a parody of their former Classic Who selves. Adding these characters to the Sixth and Eighth Doctor’s adventures and to Jago and Litefoot’s investigations may serve to cheapen otherwise long-running and well-loved series.

Still, with Iris Wildthyme’s return, The Last Adventure of the Sixth Doctor, Romana joining the Fourth Doctor for new adventures, and Frazer Hines continuing to honor his late friend as the Second Doctor, there are several offerings that promise Big Finish will continue to create audio dramas to suit the needs of all Whovians. What do you think? Are you excited for the upcoming NuWho presence in Big Finish audios? Are you approaching it with trepidation? Do you think these audios will offer something new and worthwhile to Classic Who stories? Or, are the NuWho mashups just getting a little silly?

The post A Classic/NuWho Mashup Too Far? Jago & Litefoot & Strax in The Haunting appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Forget Daleks: Are Custard Creams the Doctor and Clara’s Biggest Foe?

Connor Farley is a writer at Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews - All the latest Doctor Who news and reviews with our weekly podKast, features and interviews, and a long-running forum.

In a week that saw controversial reports of no Doctor Who in 2016, and the official press announcement of Reece Shearsmith’s casting and Episode 9 being written by Mark Gatiss, the dedicated Doctor Who news hounds at The Mirror found a less than ordinary story to report amidst the drama of the week’s previous news.

It was reported that the Doctor himself, Peter Capaldi and Jenna Coleman were banned from eating biscuits, particularly custard creams, on set as the producers of the show fear for the main cast’s diet.

The report also clarified that it was in fact Jenna Coleman herself who was responsible for the recent indulgence in the biscuits, as she was the one to get Peter Capaldi hooked on the treats. First signs of a worrying trend was when producers noticed that the actress had ordered heaps of custard creams from catering.

With the producers desperate to keep the 57-year-old Scot and Blackpool born Coleman in shape for the ongoing filming of Series 9, Capaldi’s second in the role. They allegedly decided to take action themselves and ban the actors from eating the biscuits and similar other treats on set.

However, the problem doesn’t seem to want to go away. As it was further reported that Jenna keeps an emergency packet of the biscuits in her dressing room to allow for her and co-star Capaldi to continue snacking heavily whilst on their tiring filming schedule. Luckily, it doesn’t seem to be having much of an effect as they both still look in great shape, with their most recent public appearance in Berlin proving to be quite a informative event on the new series and what to expect.

The team at Doctor Who have since confirmed that the story is not true, and that Capaldi and Coleman are still allowed to indulge in the biscuits while on set.

(Still, at least they’re not addicted to Dalek bread… – Ed)

The post Forget Daleks: Are Custard Creams the Doctor and Clara’s Biggest Foe? appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Reviewed: Terry Nation’s Survivors Series 2

Alex Fitch is a writer at Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews - All the latest Doctor Who news and reviews with our weekly podKast, features and interviews, and a long-running forum.

I watched Survivors at some point when I was young, repeated (I think) on UK Gold, and remember enjoying early episodes when the series really did feel like a fight for survival, a wilderness drama that used the tropes of John Wyndham stories to create a captivating post-apocalyptic narrative. Unfortunately this seemed to get side-lined as the series went on, in favour of repetitive episodes about growing crops and tilling the land, little different from Emmerdale or The Archers. However, with fond memories of the beginning of the original show, I looked forward to the 2008 remake, only to be disappointed by a program that ‘jumped the shark’ by its third episode with stories that seemed contrived and aimed at shock value rather than narrative sense.

With this in mind, I approached Big Finish’s revisiting of the franchise with trepidation, but was delighted to find the first of their box-sets better than any episode of either TV show. Cleverly BF made their first audio serial run in parallel to the 1975 series, introducing new characters, also surviving the viral apocalypse whose predicaments were interesting enough for new listeners who might not have seen the series, but also incorporated the reintroduction of the old characters for listeners who had.

The second box set continues this approach, with a story arc featuring the audio characters Jackie and Daniel, played by Louise Jameson and John Banks being as important (if not more so, because we know the fates of the TV characters, at least until the Big Finish series eventually reaches the end of the TV series) as the likes of Jenny, Greg and Carolyn. The second box set takes place in the gap between series one and two on TV and I’m happy to report that this second audio series is just as good as the first, and only feels slightly disappointing when you reach its conclusion because the running time seems to have gone far too quickly (perhaps because it covers a much shorter period of narrative time, with episodes 2 and 3 happening concurrently when the group split up).

Any worry that Louise Jameson is being overused by Big Finish, as a star of both this and The Omega Factor, is easily dispelled as both series have been excellent so far.

With the continuing needs of the characters including the drive to find more (half decent) humans and resources, and Abby’s quest for her missing son beginning in earnest, this provides an engaging backdrop for the perilous situations they face in these four episodes, including a biblical storm, being trapped below a burning house, an escaped lion and the acts of men worse than all of these challenges. Fans of the TV show and comic book The Walking Dead may know what to expect from the evils of humanity, but even so, this is probably the most shocking and adult release that Big Finish have ever brought out, and it’s interesting that the company is now releasing different series aimed at different age groups – with this, Dorian Grey, Dark Shadows, and The Omega Factor all being ’15 certificate’ horror ranges, while something like Terrahawks is aimed more at (30 something) children.

Genuinely chilling and unnerving – perhaps don’t listen to the series if you’re holidaying in a remote area this Summer – Survivors has quickly become a ‘must listen to release’, and it’s great the gaps between future box sets will be six months rather than a year. Any worry that Louise Jameson is being overused by Big Finish, as a star of both this and The Omega Factor (not to mention Doctor Who and Gallifrey), is easily dispelled as both series have been excellent so far, with the characters she plays being significantly different in each. Indeed, the actress also writes the second episode of this box set, which is as compelling as any of the others and following a ‘Fourth Doctor’ adventure last year written with Nigel Fairs, shows she has a great potential future at Big Finish as a solo writer as well as actress.

Apart from the short duration of the narrative, the only other complaint I’ve have is the treatment of LGB characters in the storyline. When the group reach a settlement populated entirely by women, they’re following an anti-male doctrine so insidious, they’re prepared to murder a baby if it’s born a boy. Elsewhere, the character of Daniel – revealed to be gay in this series (I forgot / missed the hints in series 1) – is depicted as less able to cope with the traumas of survival than his straight counterparts. It’s great that Big Finish have a gay male character as a lead in one of their franchises, but it’s a shame that he reflects a little too much the time period (the 1970s) in the which the original show was made and set.

This complaint aside, Survivors series two is another excellent box set from Big Finish, perhaps continuing the sense that the company is putting more effort in these kinds of releases than individual discs, and comes very highly recommended. Fans of the TV show never found out what happened to Abby and the search for her son, and it seems that Big Finish will be exploring this storyline in their next box set and beyond. I sincerely hope that Big Finish will be able to keep the quality of the series up over the years to come and never jump the shark (which this boxset comes perilously close to, in terms of the various predicaments the group find themselves in) or descends into bucolic banality.

Survivors Series 2 is available from Big Finish in CD and download formats.

The post Reviewed: Terry Nation’s Survivors Series 2 appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Sherlock Christmas Special and Series Longevity Teased By Moffat

Josh Maxton is a writer at Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews - All the latest Doctor Who news and reviews with our weekly podKast, features and interviews, and a long-running forum.

Just how long could Sherlock last?

Pretty much all of us would say (hoping it to be possible), “forever”.

Is it possible though?

With it having only three episodes a season – a thing most fans dread (hey, at least the quality is top-notch) – one could think that it would last a very long time. Speaking to TV critics at a bi-annual panel in Beverly Hills, CA, Moffat says he could see Sherlock “going on for a long while.”

He further addressed this topic:

“I don’t think it will be us that switch it off. I imagine it’ll be down to Benedict (Cumberbatch) and Martin (Freeman.) Obviously we can’t do the show without them, and they’ve always said they’re happy to carry on so long as it’s good.

‘How many years is in a long while?’ Well, Moffat also said that he’d be interested in how Cumberbatch and Freeman would play the characters if they were a bit older:

“I’d like to see them age, not because I’m a sadist. Just because it would be interesting to see them become the more traditional age of those characters, which is in their fifties. They’re much younger than the normal version.”

Benedict and Martin are 39 and 43 years old, respectively. If they were to stay in their roles until they reached their fifties, that means a little over ten more years of Sherlock, if not a little longer. That is, if indeed the actors wanted to keep going for that long.

Obviously, the upcoming Sherlock special, which is set in Victorian London (no Tardis involved here. Sorry Wholock fans), is creating a lot of excitement. Most fans have jumped to the conclusion that it will be a Christmas special, the first for the series. Moffat and his wife have something different to say on the matter:

“We’ve never said it’s a Christmas special,” said Sherlock producer and wife of Steven Moffat, Sue Vertue.

So it’s not a Christmas special… Unless they’re lying. Could they be lying? Who knows? Who… Knows…?

Steven Moffat adds to the comment his wife made by saying:

“It’s probably Christmas-ish. We don’t actually know. We’re not making this up.”

Perhaps it’s a New Years special. That could explain the “Christmas-ish” feeling of the trailer and promotional stills we’ve seen. Let the speculation grow!

Whether or not it’s a Christmas special, Moffat said that while Benedict Cumberbatch “really enjoyed being Victorian Holmes”, Martin Freeman was ready to switch back to the modern-day version of things.

Moffat also commented on how the Victorian atmosphere changed the way the two actors play their characters.

“Sherlock is a little more polished,” Moffat said. “He operates like a Victorian gentleman instead of a posh, rude man. He’s a lot less brattish.”

As for Freeman’s Watson, Moffat described him as being “more uptight” in the special.

How excited are you for Sherlock’s return?

When would you like to see the special air?

The post Sherlock Christmas Special and Series Longevity Teased By Moffat appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

What’s Hiding In the First Doctor Who Series 9 Image?

Katie Gribble is a writer at Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews - All the latest Doctor Who news and reviews with our weekly podKast, features and interviews, and a long-running forum.

So the new promo picture for Doctor Who Series 9 has been released by the BBC and, as with every year, it’s time to spot the series in the image. What’s in the picture (above, or full resolution here) and what could it possibly mean for the Doctor and Clara in the upcoming weeks?

Gallifrey?

An obscure planet hovers in the top left hand corner of the image. But which planet is it? Could it be Gallifrey?

We know that series nine will answer some questions about the Twelfth Doctor’s brief appearance in The Day of the Doctor which saw him join his other selves attempting to save Gallifrey. We know that Gallifrey is out there somewhere, as stated in Death in Heaven during the brief conversation in the plane’s hold:

The Doctor: Gallifrey’s lost in another dimension.

Missy: Yes and no.

The Doctor: Meaning?

Missy: Yes, it’s in another dimension. No, it’s not lost.

And we saw the Doctor at the end of Death in Heaven fly the TARDIS to the galactic coordinates only to find nothing where his home might have been. That scene was one of the most powerful of the series and showed a side of the Doctor that the audience is rarely shown.

There are other arguments for the planet being Gallifrey due to the colour resembling the red tinge of the blazing home of the Time Lords resembling what we saw in The End of Time. Some have argued that the planets transparency represents the fact that it’s lost. Trapped in another dimension which the Doctor is yet to find.

Attire

The character’s clothing. The Doctor’s jacket is making a welcome return but otherwise the Doctor seems to be settling into his rebel phase. The hoodie and scruffy checked trousers bring a casual look to the Doctor who, even in Matt Smith’s time, still had a kind of uniform or set costume. We know that Peter Capaldi has been a Doctor Who fan since the beginning, and we know that he likes to have a big influence on the Twelfth Doctor’s sartorial stylings, so it comes as no surprise to see a pair of checked trousers turning up in his wardrobe, a clear nod to the Second Doctor, Patrick Troughton.

Meanwhile, Clara’s checked dress has been proposed as something that Susan might wear. It’s style is very 60s and is probably just a nod to the show’s past, but could it be more?

Clara

Continuing with the constant Clara Oswald, she is now apparently properly back with the Doctor. Travelling through time and space, in the glory years of their partnership. Just look at the expression on Clara’s face. Will this series bring the long needed fun romp for the Doctor and his companion or will it lead to something all the more sinister?

Pompeii?

The huge explosion and the mountain in the background bring about images of Pompeii.  We know of rumours that the mystery of Peter’s recurring appearances in the Doctor Who universe is likely to be addressed in series nine, and The Fires of Pompeii would obviously fit into the group of episodes which need to be explained. As we know, before he was cast as the Doctor, Peter played Roman merchant Lucius Caecilius Iucundus opposite David Tennant in the season four episode. Will this mystery be solved in series 9? Only time will tell.

The Rest…

What else can you see in the picture? What other secrets does it hide? Whatever is this?

All I know is that this little teaser has made me so much more excited for the show and 19th September can not come soon enough!

The post What’s Hiding In the First Doctor Who Series 9 Image? appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

RTD & David Tennant Photographed in Cardiff

Christian Cawley is a writer at Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews - All the latest Doctor Who news and reviews with our weekly podKast, features and interviews, and a long-running forum.

In the week in which Doctor Who is rumoured to have a reduced episode count in 2016, and just a week after we discovered the launch of Julie Gardner and Jane Tranter’s Bad Wolf TV, isn’t it just a bit of a coincidence that Russell T Davies and David Tennant should be photographed?

Together?

In Cardiff?

I mean – chuckly – it’s almost as if they’re mounting some sort of takeover bid for the show!

Of course, that can’t be the case, because as we know, David Tennant is involved in Broadchurch Series 3 and Russell T Davies has a lot more drama to write.

But that doesn’t stop us getting all misty eyed at this:

They were SO lovely!!!! pic.twitter.com/Q9Nq4fjmHf

— Katie Jones (@TraviataJones) August 6, 2015

Mind you, if anyone has got a spare razor…

David was also spotted walking around Cardiff Bay:

Tennant just walked past me and nearly gave me a bloody heart attack!

— Adam Orford (@AdamOrford1) August 6, 2015

@QuirkyWhoNerd There he is, with cap and bag.. Hahaha… He had glasses on as well.. pic.twitter.com/cMGcwET6IX

— Adam Orford (@AdamOrford1) August 6, 2015

https://twitter.com/AdamOrford1/statu...

So what do you think? Is David making an appearance in the next series of Doctor Who, perhaps in a return to the events of The Fires of Pompeii? Could Russell be remounting Torchwood with a slight change of key personnel? Perhaps, amazingly, it’s all absolutely nothing to be concerned about?

The post RTD & David Tennant Photographed in Cardiff appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

The Doctor, The Widow and the Wardrobe’s Lily Arwell Joins the Churchill Years

Jonathan Appleton is a writer at Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews - All the latest Doctor Who news and reviews with our weekly podKast, features and interviews, and a long-running forum.

Big Finish continues to emit a steady stream of announcements concerning its projects linked to post-2005 Doctor Who; the latest news being that Holly Earl will reprise her role as Lily Arwell in the forthcoming The Churchill Years box set.

The character first appeared in the 2011 Doctor Who Christmas episode The Doctor, The Widow and The Wardrobe and is now set to return in The Chartwell Metamorphosis, the concluding story of the new four-hour set alongside Ian McNeice as Churchill.

Whilst the character will undoubtedly have had her fans, there may well be others who will have to scratch their heads for a moment before they recall her previous appearance. Producer David Richardson offers some clues as to the rationale for bringing Lily Arwell back:

“If we’ve learned one thing from nearly 52 years of Doctor Who, it’s that meeting the Doctor transforms people’s lives. And Lily’s life has been changed by the events of that Christmas episode – and what follows, as she is called in by the Doctor to help a friend in need. Lily is one of those great companions-that-might-have-been, and here she gets the chance to rise to the fore and fight an alien menace!”

It’s clear that, following news that Danny Horn will once again play A Christmas Carol’s Kazran Sardick in the same box set, Big Finish are working to a plan here, with people who have encountered the Doctor across time and space returning in support of another of his old friends.

Is it possible that this may be taking the return of old characters too far? No criticism of Holly Earl or the character she’s playing, but it’s hard to imagine there was any kind of clamour for Lily to return. It’s perhaps understandable that, having had to wait patiently for a decade to be allowed to feature anything from the new series of Doctor Who, Big Finish should feel excited at the prospect of a run of releases featuring characters and monsters familiar to twenty-first century viewers.

But whilst it’s one thing to have, say, River Song meet the Eighth Doctor or for previous incarnations to do battle with Weeping Angels and Judoon, it’s quite another to have characters who were only ever intended to be one-offs come back. Does it take the spin-off concept too far? As ever, the time to judge will be when The Churchill Years is released in January 2016.

Are you looking forward to this set? Are Big Finish right to bring back so many new series characters and monsters? Let us know what you think!

The post The Doctor, The Widow and the Wardrobe’s Lily Arwell Joins the Churchill Years appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Mike Tucker and The Model Unit – Celebrating Ten Years

Simon Mills is a writer at Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews - All the latest Doctor Who news and reviews with our weekly podKast, features and interviews, and a long-running forum.

Mike Tucker is such a lovely bloke at the head of an incredibly talented team of VFX artists born out of the in-house BBC VFX department and then resurrected as an independent company when the BBC no longer wanted to “do it themselves”.

I had the pleasure of meeting and chatting with him a few years ago at the launch party for the Darksmith Legacy book series and also bumping into him recently at the Bedford Doctor Who Charity Con in May (make sure you go next year – it’s a great, fun, small, and intimate convention!) where he presented his show reel and gave us all a good talking to – in the best possible way, of course. He went into detail about the work they do and told us many entertaining stories – not all of them about Doctor Who, either. He covered Red Dwarf as well as other film and TV shows The Model Unit has worked on.

1st August 2015 marked the tenth anniversary of The Model Unit existing as an entity outside of the BBC and Mike commemorated this occassion with a post to The Model Unit Facebook page summarising those ten years and thanking everyone that works and has worked for him.

The team has won two BAFTA Craft Awards and had many nominations for other awards for their work, which has included, and I quote, “spacecraft and dinosaurs, we’ve destroyed buildings and crashed aircraft, we’ve recreated volcanoes, hurricanes, tornados and tidal waves, we’ve provided effects for shows that had inspired us when we were children, we’ve been involved one of the most successful British films for decades, and we’ve worked alongside some incredibly talented companies and individuals.”

In the past few days he has been reminiscing on the past with a post about the very last effect they created whilst still a part of the BBC, which was the explosion in School Reunion and also the first thing they did as The Model Unit, which was to build the interior of that glorious steampunky telescope seen in Tooth and Claw.

Read Mike Tucker’s Facebook post in full to find out more.

The post Mike Tucker and The Model Unit – Celebrating Ten Years appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Titan Comics’ Ninth Doctor #3 Reviewed

Jeremy Remy is a writer at Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews - All the latest Doctor Who news and reviews with our weekly podKast, features and interviews, and a long-running forum.

Jack and the Doctor escaped the battle between the Unon and the Lect, but Rose fell into the time vortex, her chances of survival slim. Somehow, the Doctor tracked her to Beart-54, which Jack knew as the system containing the Fluren Temporal Bazaar. Rose, alive albeit a little burnt, was working off a debt to the cephalopodic Glom, whose fear of the Lect caught the Doctor’s attention. In the process of purposely angering the locals, the Doctor drew the attention of the Unon and Lect, once again, and this time he is determined to understand who—or what—the warring races are.

The Ninth Doctor #3 is the third part of an ongoing plot, which presents what could be considered a second season of NuWho that could have been—if Eccleston carried on in the role. The battle between the Unon and Lect creates havoc at the Bazaar. In the previous issue, the Temporal Bazaar was the highlight of the story: with illegally trading Hoix and Raxacoricofallipatorians (as seen in the televised series), Blowfish (as seen in Torchwood episode, Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang, and a bit in Nightmare in Silver), a J’arrodic and an Amstron (as seen in The Eternal Dogfight/The Infinite Astronaut—issues 7 and 8 of The Eleventh Doctor comic), and Glom, a cephalopod who measures time in Rels, indicating a potential tie to the Daleks. In this issue, the various species make a run for it, abandoning the Bazaar and attempting to take the TARDIS with them. While the Doctor continues to harass the warring factions most likely to kill him, Jack and Rose attempt to retrieve the TARDIS.

Cavan Scott’s previous work, including his tenure writing strips for Doctor Who Adventures, has often targeted a younger audience and been presented in short strip format. Yet, his Ninth Doctor stories handle the all-ages audience well and have a pace that flows better, arguably, than any of the other Doctor Who stories in the current Titan Comics’ line-up. His dialogue, and interactions between the main characters, highlight the best moments of the Doctor-Rose-Jack run of televised stories, while expanding their arc toward a fully realized TARDIS crew.

It’s great to see Blair Shedd return to carry on his Doctor Who tenure from the IDW run into the new Titan Comics, and Rachel Stott’s art works really well alongside Shedd’s. Still, where Shedd maintains a fairly classic grid format for his pages, Stott expands into a more freeform layout. Together this gives an interesting and engaging appearance to the art. At times, Anang Setyawan’s digital colors can overwhelm the pencils beneath, making it difficult to see the transition between the two artists. This works well, in many ways. Particularly in uniting the overall composition. However, the lack of hard outlines and abundance of highlights may be a disappointment for some comic art traditionalists.

While Weapons of Past Destruction, Part 3 isn’t a standalone issue, readers should be able to easily enter the story, even if they haven’t had a chance to read the previous two issues. Enough clues are provided to the overall plot that comic book veterans will easily find their way. That being said, the story is well worth reading from the beginning, if only to experience this would-be second season of the Eccleston years from the start. Readers new to The Ninth Doctor are in for a treat, and fans of Eccleston’s era will not be disappointed.

This ongoing adventure plays with new stories and adventures, while remaining true to the history it is entering into and the future it is a part of. Keep your eyes open for Bad Wolf references, as well as a glimpse into the mind of the Doctor that includes the image of two previous incarnations—one thought forgotten during this time of his life.

Doctor Who: The Ninth Doctor #3 is out now, priced $3.99.

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