The Infinite Corridor

"It's having an effect on both the TARDIS' internal and external dimensions!"

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

Featuring: Tenth Doctor, Gabby, Cindy

Synopsis

With the Tenth Doctor still reeling from the revelation of the TARDIS team's previous adventure, impossible forces are at work inside the TARDIS and Cindy ends up trapped in a bubble universe, with no escape from the infinite corridor in sight...

Verdict

The Infinite Corridor was another excellent comic strip from the Tenth Doctor segment of the wonderful Doctor Who Comic! I have been very impressed with the recent quality of stories from this part of the comic and every single month they just seem to keep things fresh and I think that's the appeal of the comic strip format in having new companions that we did not see during David Tennant's time as the Tenth Doctor on television. Not only that, but considering we're well into the second year of adventures by now, these companions have a great deal of backstory which makes them feel a lot more familiar and having had Cindy join the team after featuring in a few previous stories has just been brilliant. I like how this story saw her take the limelight and I thought the moment where she angrily shouted her annoyance at the Doctor's constant failure to agree with her was superb. She's really coming into her own now and settling as companion and that can only help the story quality. Gabby was in a bit of a backseat position for this story which was absolutely fine as she still managed to interject her excellence. She's still my favourite character to come out of these comics and I think it's going to take someone special to top her! The Doctor still feeling the effects of the recent events in The Wishing Well Witch was very good as it not only added credibility to that story but it's not often we see the Doctor handling his emotions in the way that he did here. The idea of the innards of the TARDIS being attacked is brilliant as it's not something we expect to happen. I mean it happened from time to time in the show's early days with The Mind Robber coming to mind but we've heard the Tenth Doctor describe the TARDIS as indestructible on more than one occasion. The dimensions, both inside and out, being effected was terrific and it obviously did cause a great deal of problem. The cloister bell sounding in a comic strip is a very rare feat so I really enjoyed that here and the danger really was quite imminent! Cindy had actually ended up being thrown into her own little bubble universe and I thought it was mightily intriguing to see the concept of a bubble universe up close and personal. The TARDIS was sustaining many of them and the pressure on her was extortionate. The means of contact between the Doctor, Gabby and Cindy throughout the ship was good and I liked how the latter was seemingly trapped in a corridor full of endless doors. She saw a whole load of horrors, apparently just figments of her imagination, including a dragon! That was quite unexpected. Speaking of which, what came after the immediate story's resolution was most unexpected. The Doctor instructed Gabby to take a huge risk in order to save Cindy and it paid off. But mentions of Anubis were made and we actually saw him feature in some very interesting final few pages. His conversing with Dorothy just didn't seem fitting for the son of Sutekh and why he kept coming to the statue of his father was interesting, but I loved how the eyes of that statue lit up to close the story. Could Sutekh make a return in a modern era story? It sure looks like that could be the case and I am very excited by that prospect! The change of tone from Anubis was very noticeable though and I'm intrigued to see what role he plays in future stories. Overall, a fantastic comic strip that even featured a nice homage to the Fifth Doctor and Tegan's relationship. Very good!

Rating: 9/10