Blood and Ice Part 2

"I have these dreams... dreams of being someone else... sometimes it's like I've lived a thousand lives in a thousand places..."

Writer: Jacqueline Rayner 

Format: Comic Strip

Released: 30th April 2015

Printed in: DWM 486

Featuring: Twelfth Doctor, Clara

Synopsis 

Clara has some explaining to do after she comes face to face with Winnie, short for Oswin, a fragment of her that was created when she entered the Doctor's timeline on Trenzalore. But things aren't going well for the Doctor himself, as he realises he's come back to the place he first died..,

Verdict 

It's that time again - it's DWM Thursday already! How time is flying, slightly too fast for my liking with A2 exams coming up, and it only seems like last week that I was debating over which cover to get of DWM 485, celebrating the tenth anniversary of Doctor Who's return to our screens for a regular series. This issue is slightly different however with the focus uniquely on a story that didn't appear on our television screens. The issue is going to take us back to Russell T Davies' first ever published Doctor Who story - the novel Damaged Goods which has recently been adapted for audio and will be released in the near future. I'm skeptical about reading the interviews as at my usual glance through, I noticed there was a spoiler warning. I don't own the story in any format but it is one I am eager to find due to who the author is. I'm intrigued to see how Russell T Davies wrote a Classic era story in novelised format, and also how he portrayed Sylvester McCoy's Seventh Doctor. The issue also has an intriguing feature in looking at Doctor Who on Home Video. I'm looking forward to that write up! However, the issue doesn't seem much to shout about when compared with DWM's recent special edition - The Art of Doctor Who. That one really does look incredible. I'm very interested in the promotion of Doctor Who Adventures which has now been taken over by Panini and is a new sister title to DWM. I bought a few issues of DWM around 18 months back and I must say they were pretty awful. Upon a glance, the comic strip adventures look a million times better so I may pick up the first few issues as a trial. We'll see. I think the Carole Ann Ford interview will be a gem of a piece and I might actually try the crossword this issue! But now, to the story that the blog entry is named after. What an outstandingly great second part of Blood and Ice! It was so good I emailed Galaxy Forum my praise. Part one started off well with the fantastic cliffhanger but this was just magic. Upon seeing that Jacqueline Rayner was the writer in the last issue, I knew this was going to be good but she's just exceeded all expectation I had. I absolutely loved how she hid the fact that Winnie was short for Oswin in plain sight! Once it was revealed, I stopped reading for a second and just smiled. It was almost too obvious to notice the fact. I did speculate in my blogging of part one that Winnie may be a fragment Clara that was created in The Name of the Doctor and I was right. We even had a flashback from that very story! With the impossible girl theme somewhat forgotten in series eight, apart from the newspaper advert in Deep Breath, I think it's great how it's continuing in the comic strips. The Doctor and Clara have met a fragment! But that begs the question, why is she here? If the fragments were created to protect the Doctor, then why was she at Snowcap University? Is another Doctor on his way? Or was she just 62 years too late? The Doctor mentioning that their location seemed familiar in part one came full circle here and it was absolutely phenomenal. Again, I think I could have and probably should have worked out where the TARDIS had landed with the Antarctic mentioned and more than one use of 'Snowcap' but the revelation moment was just incredible. The Doctor was back on Snowcap Base! We'd returned to the venue of the Doctor's first regeneration! The flashbacks to The Tenth Planet were astounding with the beautiful image of the first design Cybermen and also the regeneration moment. It lives on! The reaction of the Doctor to finding out where he had arrived was most intriguing. The Doctor almost seemed distressed about remembering his first regeneration. Did he not want to change? I certainly got that impression. Does the Doctor not like being able to regenerate? I think he misses being the First Doctor, after all this time. And that's magnificent. The continuation of the mysterious project sub-zero was good but I did love how gobsmacked Clara was in realising who'd she met. She didn't have an answer. But then Winnie heard about the truth. She was doomed to death and obviously wasn't too pleased! She ran off on a snowmobile and Clara chased after her, but the ice got thin and they both seemed doomed to death as it split and they fell into oblivion... Overall, an outstanding second part and I seriously can't wait for part three!