Silver Scream

"After you fail a Leo Miller audition - it's like you never want to act again."

Writer: Tony Lee
Format: Comic Strip
Released: July-August 2009
Printed in: Doctor Who Ongoing (2009) #1-2

Featuring: Tenth Doctor

Synopsis

Still grieving over the events that led to losing Donna as his companion, the Tenth Doctor is following through on her final wish of visiting a Hollywood movie set. Here, the Doctor befriends the man who will become Charlie Chaplin and uncovers a vicious alien plot, but will he face consequences for interfering in a static point in time?

Verdict 

Silver Scream was a very good comic strip story to kickstart a brand new ongoing series of Tenth Doctor adventures from IDW! Now, I'm still reading the second volume of the Tenth Doctor Archives graphic novel, but it seems like a big shift in direction as we now move away from the very successful standalone stories and into what is already clearly a series of some kind. The setting here of 1920s Hollywood was magnificent and I thought it was wonderful how the Doctor was carrying one of Donna's final wishes before her emotional departure in Journey's End. The Doctor meeting Maplin, who would of course go on to become the famed Charlie Chaplin, was terrific and I thought it was quite humorous how he mentioned the times in Maplin's personal future where he would encounter previous incarnations of the Doctor. It seems such a great combination and whilst they actually didn't have too much time on the page together, what we did get worked really well and I was particularly a fan of the silent movie double pages - that was original and fresh and just perfect for the setting and the story itself. It was a lovely nod to cinematic history and it worked very well in the comic strip format. Leo Miller was an intriguing villain and the importance he placed on the auditions was good. He was working with Maximilian Love who appeared to be feeding on the optimism of individuals. That was a very harsh trait to try and alter and take away and the results were hardly surprising. Victims went from being optimistic about their acting future to not wanting to act at all! This was what happened to Emily who became a lovely character and she, along with Matthew, filled the companion role very well for this adventure. I thought the cliffhanger was sublime with the Doctor tied down to a rail track and a train seen in the reflections of his glasses oncoming, but his new friends managed to save him in the nick of time after they'd followed him to see what Miller was up to. The ending was entertaining and full of action which was good, although I'm still not convinced the Doctor would have been happy with Emily firing the gun, even if it was to his aid and not actually shooting any part of someone. The conclusion was very surprising as, after rejecting Emily and Matthew's request to join him in the Doctor, the familiar face of the Shadow Architect flanked by the Judoon showed up and commanded that the Doctor was put on trial for his interference! I look forward to seeing where things go from here. Overall, a great story!

Rating: 8/10