The Stockbridge Horror

"I've neglected the TARDIS for far too long... now it looks like I'm paying the price!"

Writer: Steve Parkhouse 

Format: Comic Strip

Released: November 1982 - April 1983

Printed in: DWM 70-75

Featuring: Fifth Doctor, Shayde

Synopsis 

Further mystery has struck the village of Stockbridge! Local police found an incinerated body in a ditch - but with no sign of fire! 

In a nearby quarry, an impression of the TARDIS was discovered in solid rock, 500,000,000 years old! 

Verdict 

The Stockbridge Horror was another super comic strip adventure to continue my reading of The Tides of Time in tremendous fashion. I didn't expect to be doing a blog entry tonight with an exam tomorrow, but thanks to some great scheduling and quick learning on my behalf, I've been able to read a quite brilliant story that has momentarily taken my mind off of revision. To be fair, exams this year have been considerably less stressful than in my three previous years and with this being my first year of university, that was not something I expected. But whereas exams make up pretty much the whole grade of a GCSE or A-Level qualification, tomorrow's exam only equates for 20% of my core module which accounts for roughly 6.5% of my overall first year mark. So that's considerably less pressure and I think that has allowed me to maintain what has been a brilliantly lengthy daily run of stories. I took a little break from the graphic novel, which I did not expect to do, and whilst I blogged some fantastic stories I was glad to be back reading this collection of comic strips. Once I start a graphic novel I do like to finish it pretty quickly and whilst I have another exam on Thursday, meaning revision will occupy most of time over the next few nights, I will probably stay within its pages over the next couple of nights as long as I can finish up my revision quick enough. However, that of course takes priority ahead of my blog. A graphic novel that has an overlapping story is something I really like, as was the case with Voyager and Oblivion, and after this story it seems this is going to be the case once again here. Even if it ends with this story, which I suspect it might, it's been present and in abundance which is excellent. The references to and continuation from The Tides of Time and Stars Fell on Stockbridge were superb and I like how this story seems to be a direct sequel to the latter. I think it's good to do it directly after because it keeps the memory of recent events prominent for the reader. This story really did jump from location to location with the depths of the TARDIS getting a good look at for the first time really since The Invasion of Time. I really liked that. The impression of the TARDIS in mud over 500,000,000 years old reminded me a bit of The Fires of Vulcan and that story's memory did put a smile on my face I must admit. The Doctor seemed a bit out of his depth in this story which was a surprise but I was glad that Steve Parkhouse kept up with his great characterisation of Peter Davison's Fifth Doctor. The cliffhangers were all very good which, as I always mention, I think is very important. The creature of fire and stone was very intriguing but one thing that I thought let it down was the fact it wasn't named. It's possession of the TARDIS was outstanding though and I think that's a great plot. It worked really well. The cameo of Rassilon was unexpected and although I thought the trial and its ending were a bit rushed, I very much liked it. It wasn't quite what we saw in The War Games or The Trial of a Time Lord but it was still fantastic. Overall, another brilliant comic strip!

Rating: 9/10