The Body Politic

"Our relationship with the Overseers has lasted for hundreds of years."

Writers: Scott & David Tipton 

Format: Comic Strip

Released: August 2013

Series: Prisoners of Time 08

Featuring: Eighth Doctor, Grace

Synopsis 

Our yearlong celebration of Doctor Who's 50th anniversary continues! The Eighth Doctor takes the spotlight in this issue of a 12-part epic adventure featuring all 11 incarnations of the Doctor! After helping him defeat the Master, the Doctor attempts to convince Grace Holloway to join him on his travels, in this untold tale!

Verdict 

The Body Politic was yet another excellent story to continue along the epic Prisoners of Time adventure! I was intrigued before reading to see what they would do with the Eighth Doctor's instalment in this mass story but it was soon resolved on the first page which was very good. This whole overlapping story arc is about the companions the Doctor has travelled with and the positive influence they have had on his life. Without them, the Doctor isn't the same and that's exactly what the mysterious cloaked figure was out to achieve. We now know from Cat and Mouse that he's in league with the Master and we also know, or at least it was hinted, that he is a future companion of the Doctor. The Eighth Doctor didn't seem to recognise the figure so I can only assume that the identity of the man is either a companion from the post-revival era of Doctor Who or perhaps somebody from the Time War. With this entire story airing prior to The Day of the Doctor and it all starting some time before The Name of the Doctor, I don't think the War Doctor or the Time War will play any part in this story. I'd love it if the cloaked figure turned out to be Captain Jack or Rory and it would just be ludicrous for it to somehow be Adam or Mickey but I'm sure things will become clearer soon with only three more stories before all the Doctors join together in the finale. Before all that occurred with the cloak figure though, we actually had an excellent comic strip story. The artwork was a little too childlike for my liking and seemed more suited for a Doctor Who Adventures comic story but I can let that slide when we have an excellent story on hand, and that's exactly what we got which I was delighted with. Bringing Grace back alongside the Eighth Doctor is definitely the right thing to do for this comic adventure because she's the only real character we can associate as a companion of the Eighth Doctor, despite me refusing to accept that she was one, but in this story she certainly did become his companion, even if it was only on a temporary status. The Doctor wanting to show Grace the wonders of the universe was brilliant and I liked how he kind of showed off too much to try and get her become his companion on a permanent status. It would have been great if this was a catalyst for a series of comic adventures with the Eighth Doctor and Grace but I'm more than okay with her just having the one adventure. The references to The Movie were outstanding with the news bulletin confirming the atomic clock would soon be fully repair and returned to its intended function. Things hadn't quite gone to plan on that fatal New Year's Eve before the turn of the millennium. Grace's reaction to seeing the Doctor again was marvellous and I wasn't surprised to see her accept the one trip offer. She didn't like the travelling very much as it disagreed with her stomach and she quickly needed some solid ground. The unnamed planet looked rather country like which was nice and the Doctor and Grace being greeted by Oren was a good start. The Doctor quickly got an idea of what was going on the planet and learned of its history and he didn't like what was going on. The premise was rather similar to The Krotons with the whole ascension to something they didn't know hardly anything about. It turned out that the Overseers were harvesting organs for themselves from those that had the supposedly great honour to ascend because their own bodies were incredibly weak. Even a simple scratch could kill them as was demonstrated when Grace couldn't let them take Oren. She was also out to save Tessa and went some way to achieving that. Her comment about wanting the Doctor to trust her was magnificent. I enjoyed the ending with the Doctor threatening the Overseers that he would be watching to make sure they don't try another scheme like this again. Overall, another superb comic strip! 

Rating: 9/10