Flashback

"Travel within Gallifrey's own time stream isn't allowed..."

Writer: Warwick Gray
Format: Comic Strip
Released: November 1992
Printed in: DWM Winter Special 1992

Featuring: Seventh Doctor, Benny

Synopsis

The Seventh Doctor gives a Benny in Gallifreyan history using a 3D simulation. Some meddling with artron energy leads the way for the Doctor to tell a tale of an encounter between Thete and Magnus, and the pair won't be on the same terms for much longer...

Verdict

Flashback was a very good little story and if it wasn't as short as it was, I do think it would have scored even higher. I really liked the concept and I was immediately happy with Benny wanting to know more about the history of Gallifrey. That's always something I love hearing about and seeing just a glimpse of it here was terrific. The Doctor explaining why travelling into Gallifrey's past is forbidden was intriguing and I thought the argument between Thete and Magnus was very interesting. The story behind the artron ball was good and I liked the idea of the latter wanting to usurp Omega and Rassilon in the history books. I'm not sure if this Emperor of the Daleks graphic novel has altered any of the typing as everything I read about the story referred to the character as 'Theta' but I checked my copy and my eyes had not deceived me as it was certainly typed 'Thete' on more than one occasion. The latter seems to make more sense given the true identity of him but I don't think it matters too much. I was quite surprised to see that Thete was actually the First Doctor and I loved the idea of seeing him on Gallifrey before he decided to depart. What surprised and intrigued me most was to see him in the high ranking robes and collar and that tells us that the Doctor had quite a substantial role on Gallifrey before he decided to travel time and space. I also really enjoyed how the Seventh Doctor didn't reveal to Benny that he was actually Thete and that he was the one who prevented the atron ball, that quite surprisingly turned out to be a living entity, from destruction. I really didn't expect it to come alive but Thete did not seem too surprised and it could explain his desire to prevent Magnus from draining the energy supply. The Seventh Doctor talking about the relationship between Thete and Magnus in the third person was good but it did leave me wondering if he had any regrets about his actions as the events we witnessed were what caused this particular friendship to deteriorate. Could Magnus be the Master perhaps? That's an intriguing theory and one I'd love to see expanded upon but I somehow doubt it'll occur. Overall though, this was a great little comic strip and I'd have loved for it to be longer.

Rating: 8/10