The Clockwise War Part 4

"She wants to destroy everything I love."

Writer: Scott Gray
Format: Comic Strip
Released: 28th June 2018
Printed in: DWM 527

Featuring: War Doctor, Fey

Synopsis

The Time War. It's early in the conflict and the Doctor has recruited Fey Truscott-Sade to help him overcome its challenges. She gained a reputation as a legend. She was a dark shadow. But even the Doctor couldn't save her from the Morlontoa's unreality wave. Fey was part of the worst day of the Time War, where the Doctor would be Doctor no more...

Verdict

The Clockwise War continued in quite astonishing fashion with this fantastic fourth part! I'm finally getting somewhat back on track with my reading of Doctor Who Magazine and whilst this blog entry is still a little later than I'd like, I have actually started its content! The interview with Wendy Padbury was a delightful little read and it was crazy to think how much Doctor Who has, and still does, change her life. The way she talked about her relationships with Patrick Troughton and Frazier Hines was lovely to read. I thought the new series update that was so boldly on the cover just being the announcement of a new composer was a little underwhelming, just like the TV trailer that was released during the World Cup Final. It was hardly a trailer but Jodie Whittaker looked mesmerising and I can't wait to see her in action as the Thirteenth Doctor. The Out of the TARDIS feature is one I'm a big fan of and I'm very excited to read it with Carole Ann Ford this month. She's always a lot of fun so that should be good. The interview with Sophie Aldred should also be interesting as I'm hoping it mentions a little of what we can expect from her teaming up with the cast of Class for Big Finish. The New Faces feature should once again be excellent as that really has been a highlight of the previous two issues. The Time Team continues to interest me but I still feel like they're doing too much in each issue. Reading their reactions to stories on Gallifrey should be good though. Galaxy Forum was quite humorous this month with the Twitch craze and Ian's famed 'London, 1965!' line from The Chase seems to have become something of a phenomenon which is great. I'm intrigued also by The Man Who Saved the Doctor article and as a whole, this looks set to be another decent issue. Now, to the comic strip and we finally saw DWM tackle the Time War, and it did so in its earliest days where the War Doctor didn't react to being called by his name. Having Fey alongside him was interesting and I thought it was fantastic to get a snippet of what this incarnation of the Doctor may have been like if he didn't have to tackle the Time War. His personality came through and he seemed to resemble the modern Doctors, which I think is fine. The narration of the Twelfth Doctor was superb and you could tell the events with the Loshann and the Morlontoa still hurt him badly. I thought it was excellent how this story showed us that the Doctor didn't always win, especially in the Time War, and that the ones close to him don't always make it out. I liked that the Sisterhood of Karn were working with the Time Lords against the Morlontoa and the Daleks and the idea of pure reason and chaos being used as weapons was mightily intriguing. The way that the Doctor instructed Fey to kill the parodied Loshann children was horrifying but she did it. And it was for nothing. The Doctor failed and only just made it back to the TARDIS with Ohila but Fey went back for a lost child, and became lost herself. The Doctor was helpless and could only watch her warp out of reality. It was devastating and traumatic and the Doctor refused his name. I like how that has a set origin. Overall, a traumatic but excellent continuation of the story!