Moving In

"We have a house guest. Fella called the Doctor."

Writer: Mark Wright

Format: Comic Strip

Released: 22nd September 2016

Printed in: DWM 504

Featuring: Twelfth Doctor

Synopsis 

Jess Collins and her family have a new guest staying in their house... the Doctor. With the TARDIS nothing more than a wooden police box, the Doctor is forced to stay in 1972 until his time machine is repaired.

Verdict 

Moving In was an interesting little comic strip but I must say I thought it could have been improved. I was a little surprised to see that we had a new story in the latest issue of Doctor Who Magazine as there was no usual 'The End' at the bottom of the last page of the last story but that didn't matter too much. I had to quietly amend my blog entry from last month and apply a rating but no harm was done. I've signified that this story does in fact end after just the one part with the magazine's lack of 'part one' after the story title in the contents but I'll get back to the comic strip itself in a little while. With a move back to university and a wait for my student loan to kick in meant that I was once again a little late in purchasing this month's magazine but this definitely does look worth the wait! This issue celebrates the rather ironic golden anniversary of the Cybermen and we really were spoilt for choice when it came to the four collectable covers but my choice was pretty easy and I had to go with the issue showing the Cybermen from The Tenth Planet. The earliest Cybermen remain my favourite design and the cover also displays one from The Moonbase but it was the Cyberman of their debut story that made me pick this cover. It's just brilliant and we even got a little bonus comic segment featuring the Cybermen at the start and end of the magazine. However, that will not be blogged. I've already read Steven Moffat's column and I thought his opinion on K9 was really interesting. The robot dog returning alongside the Twelfth Doctor really would be something quite special but I imagine it's a little late for that now. I'm looking forward to some of the interviews in the magazine and I think with the focus on the Cybermen it just has to be a good issue. The news that The Power of the Daleks will be fully restored in animation isn't exactly new but seeing it mentioned again in the magazine made me very excited and I think this is the first time I've mentioned it in the blog. I can't wait to blog that for the second time but this time around it will be very different from watching recons. Now, back to the comic strip itself and whilst there wasn't much wrong with it, I just felt that nothing much happened and that it was in serious need of an injection of excitement. I think it almost tried to do too much and in doing so somehow achieved too little. The Doctor had temporarily moved in with Jess and her family following the events of The Pestilent Heart and the TARDIS reverting back to a wooden box similarly to what we saw in Father's Day. The Doctor was stuck in 1972 and I thought the characterisation of Peter Capaldi's incarnation was a bit mixed. The conversation with Maxwell about comic books was excellent and their argument over who was the better out of Batman and Captain America was excellent. There was a lot of reflection in the story which was good and I'm intrigued in the relationship between the Doctor and Jess. She certainly has the making of a companion but I don't think she will be with Bill's arrival only around six months away now. The ending was sudden and that's because nothing much happened in terms of a plot. But what we did get was fine it just needed some energy and excitement! Overall, improvement needed but at least the rest of the magazine will be good.

Rating: 7/10