A Groatsworth of Wit

"Everybody gets forgotten in the end, Rose. Best to make the most of life while you're still around."

Writer: Gareth Roberts

Format: Comic Strip

Released: December 2005

Printed in: DWM 363-364

Featuring: Ninth Doctor, Rose

Synopsis 

The Shadeys are a race that draws on negative emotions. They choose Robert Greene as a host for power. By manipulating the dying Greene they turn his hatred, bike and jealousy of Shakespeare "up to eleven," giving them enough power to crush the planet. 

Verdict 

A Groatsworth of Wit, an intriguingly named story, was a great little sendoff from the comic strip format for Christopher Eccleston's Ninth Doctor who, despite his small run and tenure in the role, has had some decent outings across the DWM range with the notable highlights being The Love Invasion and The Cruel Sea. But this story stood its ground and showed why it could possibly match the standard of the above stories. I loved the idea of the Shadeys targeting people with excess emotional hatred and it was clear that Robert Greene was full of jealousy towards a certain William Shakespeare. And the Shadeys, interestingly from another dimension where time was a plaything to them, were hoping to exploit the anger and use it for their own power. Now the story worked well for me because Robert Greene was so angry and bitter at being forgetting in the future which helped my understanding of the story because I'd never heard of him. Now, during my GCSE English Literature studies, which I found loathsome, I studied a few Shakespeare texts so despite my utter dislike of the man's works, references and appearances of the great writer in Doctor Who I do welcome. I may not like what he's famous for, but I can respect his work. The build up to the revealing of the Shadeys' appearance didn't overly work well as I think a build up to a villain we've never met, who has been named, doesn't really have any effect. I imagine this story inspired the Tenth Doctor TV episode The Shakespeare Code with its obvious similarities. The obvious appearance of Shakespeare himself but the Shadeys were reminiscent of the Carrionites I felt, which I liked because it's brilliant to see the comic stories acknowledge and developed on screen. People annoy me when they question continuity of some formats but surely it's glaringly obvious that, along with the audios and novels, the comic stories are part of continuity. Just take Hunters of the Burning Stone, The Mutant Phase and The Crawling Terror for example. Three amazing stories of which I hold in high regard, but none of them are on TV. Television naturally is the main range but this comic story is a nice of example of ensuring that the rest of formats are acknowledged. Rose was superb in this and I know it's only art but my goodness she looked dazzling. Another similarity with Code there, seeing as Shakespeare hit on both Rose and Martha! Who's the next companion to fall to his charm? The very subtle continuation of the series one arc of 'Bad Wolf' featuring was brilliant and I really did smile upon noticing it. I loved the references in the novels and now here in the comics too, fantastic. The relationship between the Ninth Doctor and Rose was nice to see and due to her apparent love with the Tenth Doctor it's sometimes easy to forget how well she got on with the man who took her away in the TARDIS back in 2005. A clever climax, some good references but maybe the layout could have been better. The ending I liked reading now because of the Doctor's foresight of a time when even he'll be forgotten, in fact after The Wedding of River Song, he'd ensure that himself. Intriguing. Overall, a good sendoff in the comic format for the Ninth Doctor!

Rating: 8/10