Four Doctors Part 5

"Your buried fear is stronger than you, Doctor!"

Writer: Paul Cornell 

Format: Comic Strip

Released: 3rd December 2015

Printed in: DWC 2.03

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

Synopsis 

The Old Twelfth Doctor is the leader of the Voord. The Doctors tried to escape him, but failed. Their memories altered, they were thrown back into the Vortex, with no hope but to relive everything they've just experienced, with no chance of altering their ultimate fate. The Doctor-Voord didn't need Gabby or Alice, so ordered them shot on sight. As the pair tried to make it back to the TARDIS, a Voord shot rang out, and Alice fell. And Gabby... Gabby opened the Eleventh Doctor's package of comics, the last she had connecting her to the Doctors - and was gone, with a terrifying cry!

Verdict 

Five Doctors concluded in excellent fashion with this fifth and final instalment of the quite epic adventure from Titan Comics! Doctor Who Comic decided to print the story a little earlier than they should have, skipping a few adventures with each of the Tenth, Eleventh and Twelfth Doctors, but it didn't really spoil anything which was nice and I'm very thankful that DWC, now in its second regeneration, are going to continue with the normal running order. That pleases me very much! I do not lie gaps in my knowledge! The only questions I have raised from them printing this story early is where were Jones and ARC? I'm sure I will soon find out what happens with them and it's just bound to have something to do with SERVEYOUinc. I'll be amazed if it doesn't! Everything else with the Eleventh Doctor has. The style of continuing on exactly from where the cliffhanger to the previous part left off was very good with Gabby having just witnessed Alice die at the hands of the Voord. She had to do something about that but all the Doctors were trapped and all she had was the French comics of the Eleventh Doctor. But they weren't really going to just be comics, were they? Of course not! It was a Weeping Angel! And they could grow! Gabby knows all about those villains that's for sure after the epic encounter in The Weeping Angels of Mons. But how clever was it for the Doctor to find just the right Angel that would send Gabby back to the table meeting of companions that we saw in part one, right at the very beginning of this incredible tale. Gabby confronting Clara, Alice and her past self about the events on Marinus was excellent and I liked the comical method of story advancement and having the Doctors catch up on events. So instead of avoiding Marinus, they headed straight there in typical Doctor fashion. I'm not convinced three really were better than one! Along with the three companions, who were all brilliant throughout, they would surely find the solution. And that they did, after a while. After the continuity bomb went off, they should have chosen the timeline in which River refused to kill the Eleventh Doctor and all of history was happening at once. Once they finally reached the domain of the Voord, the Twelfth Doctor reached the Voord mind and encountered his alternate future self. He was victorious with words as he always is. Clara helped hugely with that and apologised greatly for whatever betrayal she apparently would commit in the future. Would that be the events we saw in Face the Raven and Heaven Sent/Hell Bent? I'm not so sure. I don't think we'll ever see it to be honest and that's how it should be. I was very surprised that we didn't get another glimpse of the War Doctor after he kicked off the story in part one. He was the reason after all for the story getting a number four in the title! I guess some would argue the case that you could use the Voord Twelfth Doctor as his replacement for the latter parts. However, we did get a lovely glimpse of the Ninth Doctor and Rose enjoying their crepes in the French restaurant where all of this started! I do hope we get to see the adventures of this TARDIS pairing from Titan Comics in DWC at some point as I think we should get the lot over here in the UK! The comments were really intriguing though and if there were a billion alternate timelines, I would have placed the Ninth Doctor at the top of the list for possibly being the most un-Doctor like acts. But to me this just confirmed how much Rose meant to the Doctor. He really was fantastic but for even the Twelfth Doctor to acknowledge that really surprised me I must say. Overall though, as a five part story, this was magnificent. I will continue to dispute the accuracy of the title but that's my little problem. I never imagined the Voord returning so that was pretty incredible! I loved how they were ruled by an egomaniacal future Twelfth Doctor! The characterisation of all the Doctors together was just wonderful and even the companions together was just superb. It was never going to disappoint though, was it? Of course not! It excelled to excellency and I now look forward to the rest of the adventures from DWC. 

Rating: 10/10