The Wishing Well Witch Part 1

"It's just a legend."

Writer: Nick Abadzis 

Format: Comic Strip

Released: 22nd September 2016

Printed in: DWC: Tales from the TARDIS 11

Featuring: Tenth Doctor, Gabby, Cindy

Synopsis 

It's Gabby's first trip to the UK, as the Doctor shows her (and her new fellow TARDIS traveller!) around his adopted gaff. But a visit to the countryside swiftly turns into a gothic horror story, as the gang discovers the curse afflicting a small town!

Verdict 

The Wishing Well Witch started off in excellent fashion with this fantastic first part of the story! I really did think it was a brilliant opening part and had exactly what you need in a comic strip's first instalment. The basis of the plot was more than laid out, the TARDIS team were out and about meeting the key characters and the potential threat in the story was both hinted at and then revealed. Sort of. I thought this was a very good start for Cindy as new companion although I was surprised that when given the opportunity to travel in the TARDIS with the Doctor and Gabby, upon the former's invitation, she was a little too interested in his alleged favouritism. Surely Cindy could understand that given all the Doctor and Gabby have been through but I must admit I was surprised to see that present in the very first part of her first story as an official companion. I liked the relationship between Gabby and Cindy but they did seem to fall out a little towards the end of the story and the latter did admit that she wished she could keep quiet sometimes. The pair have gone through a lot in life together through so they'll soon make up, there's no doubt about that. The characterisation of David Tennant's Tenth Doctor was superb and I loved his reaction to finding out that they had arrived in Dewbury. I loved the irony behind Gabby being promised a trip to London given the amount of Tenth Doctor stories that took place there with previous companions. I think it's refreshing though that the genetic setting isn't being used as it can get tiresome sometimes. Randall was a terrific character and his knowledge on the village and the legend of the wishing well witch was fantastic. The area was suffering from a severe case of OCD but I am intrigued by the Doctor's claims that they have been misdiagnosed. I'm sure that will be expanded upon further but the witch herself was very intriguing in her own right. The fact she had seven heads was enough to spark my interest! I enjoyed the references to Cindy, Cleo and the Magic Sketchbook! and the Doctor failing to find anything unusual about Gabby's sketchbook was very interesting, given what she saw through them. I think Ebonite had something to do with that though and mentions of him also sparked a great reference to Medicine Man/Arena of Fear. The continuation from the year one finale of The Fountains of Forever/Spiral Staircase/Sins of the Father was interesting and just a mention of Sutekh in a modern era story is fantastic. But the fortune teller being able to get a warning to the Doctor from Cindy's palms was most interesting. I almost expected that warning to be about Anubis but the reveal of Sutekh's potential return is something I'm very excited about! I'm not sure if this story will have anything to do with it but I'm looking forward to seeing how things pan out. Why is everyone suffering from OCD? The Doctor getting a time trace on the witch is also something that needs further exploration so I look forward to that happening. But for now, a brilliant start to the story!