Four Doctors Part 4

"The Voord made the universe forget they had ever existed."

Writer: Paul Cornell 

Format: Comic Strip

Released: 5th November 2015

Printed in: DWC 2.02

Featuring: Twelfth Doctor, Clara, Eleventh Doctor, Alice, Tenth Doctor, Gabby

Synopsis 

After being caught in the blast of a Continuity Bomb, the Doctors were whisked through a series of alternate timelines, in which they could be trapped forever! They reached a world where the Twelfth Doctor, old and near-mad from loneliness, had been betrayed by Clara. Choosing this timeline in attempt to escape, they fell into a trap. The Old Twelfth Doctor took them to a tiny pocket universe, where the Voord have hidden since the Time War. Worse... the Old Twelfth Doctor is the leader of the Voord!

Verdict 

Four Doctors yet again continued in outstanding fashion with this fantastic fourth part to the story! Prior to reading the story as a whole, this is quite different from what I was expecting I must say. Considering the title has the number 'four' in it, we've only seen a brief glimpse of the War Doctor in part one and he hasn't been seen since which has baffled me I must say! I was expecting a lot more to do with the Time War I must admit but at least we have a lot of linkage and effects from it to make up for that. One thing I wasn't expecting this story was the Voord! And boy have they changed since The Keys of Marinus! That story got a nice mention which was lovely as I think it's the most underrated story of all time. It's just so good. When the Voord made their first reappearance in the pretty recent Early Adventures audio Domain of the Voord, the species went under a bit of a transformation but nothing like the scale that has occurred with them here for this adventure! Of course, this is now much later in the timeline and the effects of the Time War have ravaged things endlessly! Just look at the powers the Voord have acquired here with the group mind. They had gone so far as escaping the universe and creating their own bubble universe of sorts! It was quite a transition and a bold move to go with for a villain who only appeared on screen alongside William Hartnell in just the fifth ever serial. The explanation for the three Doctors not remembering Marinus or recognising the Voord in earlier parts of the story was very good and can be partly seen in my opening quote. I loved the continuation of the narration from Gabby as I think she's just brilliant! She is without doubt the best companion to come out of these comic strip adventures from DWC. She's so perfect with the Tenth Doctor and the artistic narrative style that can be used, as we saw so beautifully in The Arts in Space really is magnificent. I haven't been a huge fan of Alice in her run so far but together with Gabby in this story she was actually really good. All the Doctors being together is just momentous and I love how we're getting it over five parts. I do hope the War Doctor plays a big part in the final instalment though! It had been a while since I read the first three parts of this story so prior to reading this part, which was released over a month ago (I blame university assignments and reading, as well as an incredible trip to Dublin last weekend for the delay) so I reread for refreshment and it certainly helped! I'll be reading the final part tomorrow as I begin the latest issue of DWC, in which I've already read The Other Doctor. The idea of the Voord Twelfth Doctor shaping his own destiny was intriguing and I loved the reasoning for these three incarnations of the Doctor being targeted as they would be the ones who would at some point hope to search for Gallifrey. The comments about the Ninth Doctor were really intriguing as well I must say! I'd love for that incarnation to get his Titan Comics adventures included in DWC! Or I wouldn't be at all unhappy if they created a second comic featuring the Fourth, Eighth and Ninth Doctors - that would be amazing! But for now I'm more than happy with this multi-Doctor story. A lot of action, interesting comments and dialogue and the Doctor from an alternate timeline as the enemy and leader of the Voord! Bravo Paul Cornell. The cliffhanger was superb with the three Doctors and Clara set to have their minds wiped, and Alice was apparently shot dead! That I did not expect but I really did enjoy it. Overall, another fantastic instalment and I look forward to the conclusion tomorrow.