The Shape Shifter

"I've been threatened by experts, you know. Cybermen, Ice Warriors, Daleks... BBC Producers..."

Writer: Steve Parkhouse 

Format: Comic Strip

Released: May - June 1984

Printed in: DWM 88-89

Featuring: Sixth Doctor, Frobisher 

Synopsis 

Frobisher, detective extraordinaire, finds himself on his biggest case yet, pursuing the bounty on a man known as the Doctor...

Verdict 

The Shape Shifter was a very good debut for both the Sixth Doctor in comic strip format and Frobisher as the new companion! This comic strip also kicked off my reading of the Voyager graphic novel which I was lucky enough to pick up around about a fortnight ago from a newly discovered shop in the capital. I also picked up Grave Matter for the RRP of just £5.99 which was an added bonus. I was having a somewhat Sixth Doctor and Peri day. Speaking of which, I was very surprised to find that she didn't feature in this story and I was disappointed by her new show. I think that's because I was expecting it from the graphic novel cover (which is wonderfully done I must add) and that I love the pairing of the Sixth Doctor and Peri no matter the format! I loved them on television in Revelation of the Daleks. They were wonderful to listen to together in Mission to Magnus. And they certainly didn't disappoint in prose with Players. The pair just have lovely banter and it's great seeing Peri always bring out the softer side (and sometimes the humorously angered side) of the Sixth Doctor. So my hopes were dashed and I guess I'll have to wait until a story a little later in the graphic novel for her to appear. I'm not sure when I'll get to that though as June is going to be a month of minimal blogging sadly due to my A2 exams which start on Monday. I have 4 hours worth of exams on that day and in between my History and Accounts papers I have to be kept in isolation due to exams clashing! That's time I could be catching up on my Doctor Who! It's been a few days now since I blogged Spare Parts and that's because the revision drive has turned up a notch drastically. I've barely had time for anything else! But my schedule worked out well today in that I was wrapped up by 8.30pm and delved into the graphic novel as a treat. I'm not sure I'll get anything else in neville June 8th (I do severely doubt it) but at least I've got something included for this week! The story was an interesting one and it certainly helped clear up a lot of The Maltese Penguin. I wasn't expecting to see Dogbolter again so quickly after doing that audio though! But here he was with a bounty on the Doctor's head. Judging by the graphic of the Fifth Doctor that appeared in the story I'm assuming the answer can be found in w graphic novel to feature the Fifth Doctor. I liked how they called the regeneration a disguise. Although he seemed to know that the Doctor was a Time Lord but I'm not convinced he knew what that entails. Frobisher's arrival was good and it did give extensive detail on him being a Whifferdill. In other and much easier words - a shape shifter. Some of his forms were rather humorous I must say! I wasn't expecting to see an amalgamation of a pigeon and a telephone! This really did tie in nicely with the aforementioned audio story with Frobisher being a private detective and also the continuation of the mazuma currency. I wasn't overly struck on the amount of narration that came from none of the characters but it told the story in parts, I guess. It did its job. I absolutely loved what you can see in my opening quote! References to three brilliant enemies but then the producers of the BBC are placed in the same line! Ha! That is a quite brilliant reference to the ongoing rumours regarding Doctor Who and Colin Baker at the time this story was printed in Doctor Who Magazine. It's frightening to think that I'll be picking up an issue that is 400 magazines later than when this story was printed in the same magazine's pages! It's kept going all this time. And I do know that DWM was actually out last Thursday but I just haven't had the time to go out and get it. Revision is a pain! However I can't miss out on the Third Doctor figurine so I'll pick those up together hopefully. The climax of this story was decently paced and I found the cliffhanger quite amusing. The Doctor seemed utterly in the grasp of Frobisher, and it's clear he'll be sticking around! 

Rating: 8/10