The Phantom Piper Part 3

"I am sick of being seen as some kind of leader..."

Writer: Scott Gray
Format: Comic Strip
Released: 11th January 2018
Printed in: DWM 521

Featuring: Twelfth Doctor, Bill

Synopsis

Kings College. The Moon. The Doctor, Bill and Chiyoko venture to the dark side to enlist the help of Alan Turing to decode the mysterious engravings on the TARDIS. A question is to be asked by a very mysterious and powerful force. Can the Doctor stop the Phantom Piper before it's too late?

Verdict

The Phantom Piper continued in excellent fashion with this terrific third part of the story. I am quite surprised that this one has lasted at least four parts now but it does seem that the Twelfth Doctor will be bowing out of the comic strip stories with a bang. This was my first story featuring Peter Capaldi's incarnation since the regeneration in Twice Upon a Time and I am looking very forward to reading all of the features on that episode in this month's magazine. Jodie Whittaker gets her customary 'is the Doctor!' front cover and it really does look magnificent. I can't wait for her series to air and the magazine really does have a sense of changing times. We have the first full interview with her as the Doctor which I can't wait to read and I am also looking very forward to reading Chris Chibnall's first column as showrunner. His thoughts on the series ahead should be most intriguing and I'm looking forward to any hints we might get about Series 11. I am a little surprised that there is no Galaxy Forum this month, in the issue immediately after such a monumental episode, but I do hope to be able to read the thoughts of others on the Christmas Special in next month's magazine. After collecting for a few years, I have finally subscribed to DWM and I'm really not sure why it's taken me such a long time to do so. Rachel Talalay's discussion on the regeneration scene should be excellent as her interviews in the past have been great and I am also looking forward to the Coming Soon feature this month as it previews the seventh series of the Fourth Doctor Adventures as well as the third series of the Diary of River Song. I can't wait for that latter one. The Melody Maker and Maestro features also look to be a good read and even though I had to do some searching and pick this issue up back in my home nation, this looks set to be a stellar issue! Now, to the comic strip and I was glad that we actually got to meet both Alan Turing and the Phantom Piper, both of whom had played big parts in the adventure thus far without showing up. The relationship between the Doctor and Bill continued to be brilliant and I also loved Chiyoko. Her reply to Bill about being an android shaped as a 9-year old was hilarious. The expected revelation that Turing was a Galatean was good and I liked how he was able to decipher the message engraved into the TARDIS. It was revealed to be a question asking 'what gives you the right?' and before an answer could be given the Phantom Piper emerged. Just what she is and can do is yet to be seen but I'm really looking forward to seeing her in action in the fourth part. I would have thought it to be the final part of the story but I seem to notice that the page count for the comic strip has decreased slightly since the change in editor so who knows. Overall though, a great continuation of the story and I look forward to the next issue.