The Judas Goatee

"Look like potatoes, think like potatoes, mash like potatoes."

Writer: Si Spurrier

Format: Comic Strip

Released: 30th June 2016

Printed in: DWC: Tales from the TARDIS 08

Featuring: Eleventh Doctor, Alice, Squire, Abslom Daak

Synopsis 

Time to take the fight back to those who have accused the Doctor of horrible war crimes! The TARDIS team needs to break into a remote prison to get the tech that will allow them to pull off an incredible heist... Sounds kind they'll need some expert help!

Verdict 

The Judas Goatee was an excellent comic strip story to continue the second year of Eleventh Doctor adventures very well! I must admit, it was not at all what I was expecting and I'm actually laughing at how they swerved us all with that title! I really did think the Master was going to appear and I was so looking forward to it but it now appears I'm going to have to wait to see him come back. I'm honestly not sure we'll actually see him interact with the Eleventh Doctor, something that was outstanding in The Choice, and my prediction is that we will see some sort of a flashback through Alice on how he framed the Doctor which lead us to the events we saw in The Then and the Now. Speaking of which, I love how that Time War abomination continues to follow the TARDIS through everywhere and when in time and space and I loved that the Doctor was getting very annoyed by it. The characterisation of Matt Smith's Eleventh Doctor was very good which hasn't often been the case in Doctor Who Comic, but I must say the second year of stories has been better for that than was the case in the first. I'm really starting to like Alice more and more and even though I initially wanted her to travel alone with the Eleventh Doctor, the intriguing Time War element that the Squire and Abslom Daak have brought has made things very interesting in this segment of DWC. The relationship that is starting to blossom between Daak and Alice is very interesting and something you would think of as a mismatch but it's clear that, even though they may not want to, they're getting along pleasantly. Alice catching him saving the Rassilon Timeflies was magnificent and it showed us that despite the rough exterior, there was a soft side to our old chainsword happy Abslom Daak. The Squire was very quiet in this comic strip but I liked the moment the dark contrast between the War Doctor and the current incarnation was highlighted with how he (or she?) remembered the Doctor compared to how Alice knows him. The ambiguity of the story title was fantastic with it also referring to the bearded Sontarans! That was not what I expected to see and their appearance really was a welcomed surprise. They're a favourite enemy of mine so to see them here was a real treat. And the fact they had Time War implications was just tremendous! I liked the continuation from Outrun with Alice still getting those flashbacks of the Master's pillar TARDIS and the very interesting 'Exterminhate' that is playing on the mind of the Doctor. The TARDIS quartet really is a conflicting one but weirdly it does seem to be working well. There's still some obvious distrust and a number of unanswered questions but I think that might be part of why it works. I'm liking that the War Doctor continues to get cameos in these stories, especially with them set prior to The Name of the Doctor in which the hidden incarnation of the Doctor was revealed. That renegade Doctor was another ambiguous referenced that the story title was referring to and that was fantastic. But now the hunt is on for the Master and for that the Doctor needed some expert help, so he enlisted River Song! I was not expecting her to show up in the comic strips but the prospect of River doing battle with the Master excites me very much. I already can't wait to see what happens next!

Rating: 9/10