Playing House Part 2

"Everything you know will be destroyed."

Writer: George Mann
Format: Comic Strip
Released: 17th November 2016
Printed in: DWC: Tales from the TARDIS 13

Featuring: Twelfth Doctor, Hattie

Synopsis

The Doctor and his new companion are trapped in a dying, mysterious maz of a house where the laws of physics have broken down. As the Doctor fights to save a family cashing in on an ancient promise, the secrets of the house battle to overwhelm him!

Verdict

Playing House concluded in excellent style with this terrific second part of the story! It brought to an end another hugely successful month of adventures from Doctor Who Comic's Tales from the TARDIS and I do hope that there's a treat in store when it comes to the next issue which will be released just ten days before Christmas. That makes it feel very close indeed which means it won't be long at all before the Twelfth Doctor is back on our screens! Of course, he made an appearance in Class and for me personally, I will be rewatching Series 9 very soon but it is now starting to feel like quite some time since the last time we saw him in Doctor Who in The Husbands of River Song. Thankfully though, these comic strips have filled some of the gap along with Doctor Who Magazine's monthly adventure and the quality of this one was once again excellent. I loved the cliffhanger to part one, even if I did see it coming, and I thought its continuation here was very good. Here we were inside another TARDIS... that had been bought at an antique's fair! That is just ludicrously wonderful and Holly would obviously have no idea about the true nature behind her recent purchase. It was dying though and that was dangerous as the Spyrillites were lurking and with the TARDIS leaking artron energy, they would stop at nothing until it was all absorbed which meant danger for the entire planet. The Doctor was very serious in explaining just how deadly a situation they were in and I thought the characterisation of Peter Capaldi's incarnation was once again fantastic. Hattie played the role of companion well and I liked how she was keen to ask questions. I bet the Doctor enjoyed that deep down, even if he didn't want to admit it. I really enjoyed Hattie thinking the Doctor's TARDIS was the only one and she was even more perplexed by the fact that they didn't all look like a police box. The Doctor was understandably reluctant to recall the events of An Unearthly Child in explaining his own machine's appearance which was great. The search for the console room was terrific with Holly's children, who had finally been located along with her husband, leading the way. The artwork surrounding the search and the depiction of the console room itself was superb I must say. I really was impressed. I liked how it bore similarities to the first console room of the Eleventh Doctor but it really just did look good. I was leaning towards giving this story a perfect rating, which would have been my third in succession, but I thought the ending was a tad too easy. I mean it was good and the image of the TARDIS burning up was impressive, but the Doctor just adjusting a few controls doesn't quite completely satisfy me. I was surprised he dropped Hattie back off at the Twist and I now do wonder if we'll see her again. Overall though, a great conclusion to a brilliant story!

Rating: 9/10