After getting it as a Christmas present, I’m finally actually reading the latest Doctor Who Magazine collected comic release, “Doorway to Hell”, starting with these two stories! The Pestilent Heart is a good little story, and sets up a new and fun status quo going into at least the next few stories. Moving In? … Erm. Yeah. Not so good. Still, let’s take a look!
The Regeneration Marathon comes to an end, fittingly with a story that has heavy ties to the very first regeneration! Peter Capaldi’s great but possibly underused Twelfth Doctor regenerates in a story that feels more like an Epilogue to his run rather than a full-on adventure, but it at least gives his Doctor a good send off, and sets up the next era with a bang (though while simultaneously trashing a previous era…). Let’s take a closer look!
The final season for Peter Capaldi’s Doctor comes to a close with a story featuring not one but two incarnations of the Master, the original Mondasian Cybermen (who I always called “Mondas Cybermen”, so I guess I’ll have to get used to that…), regeneration teases, companion exits and even a cameo from an older Doctor (sort of…) Sounds over-stuffed, right? Surprisingly, with the exception of a few little annoying bits, it’s actually a really good story from start to finish. Let’s take a closer look!
Doctor Who’s 10th (since the revival) series is drawing to a close, but before we begin the big finale we get one last stand alone adventure. This time it’s the old “pseudo historical”, with The Doctor and Bill seeking out the Roman Ninth Legion, who vanished without record. The pair of course find out that an interdimensional, light-eating creature is responsible… I mean, come on historians! It was obvious! Let’s take a look…
The Ice Warriors return to televised Doctor Who for the first time in a few years, and bring with them a new member class of their race: The Ice Queen. A new bit of continuity to an old race, and an ending that directly connects to 70s Who… a good mix there then! But what about the story itself? Well, Victorian era British troops against Ice Warriors… it was good! Let’s take a closer look…
Doctor Who does its first three-parter since, arguably in some people’s minds, the end of Series 3, and in doing so completely breaks my header template… Oh well! The modern three-part stories are roughly the same length as the classic six part stories you got mostly in the 70s, but this is looser than those. Really it feels like a two part story with Extremis serving as a prologue. Either way it was an entertaining story with some good, and new, villains, though the ending felt a tad rushed and cliché. Let’s take a deeper look!
Series 10 marches into a space station set story… with (sort of ) zombies! An odd mix and a not-so-subtle political message make this a good, though flawed, story.
Bill is back to her normal life, but she soon finds out that, somehow, once you’ve befriended the Doctor, even your normal life becomes dangerous and alien. Knock Knock was a really great, self-contained story, let’s take a closer look!
The 12th Doctor and Bill arrive in the past, ticking another time travel checklist box. Speaking of ticking boxes, it’s time for Bill to make the big discovery about the Doctor, and his… seeing people die problem…
The Twelfth Doctor and Bill go on their first journey in the TARDIS and arrive in a future colony… and the proceed to have a friendly chat… for 40 minutes. Then it ends. More details, you say? Okay!
Hogan Reviews 