The Parliament of Fear Part 1

"The Wild West! Real cowboys!"

Writer: Scott Gray
Format: Comic Strip
Released: 27th July 2017
Printed in: DWM 515

Featuring: Twelfth Doctor, Bill

Synopsis

The Doctor gets coordinates a little wrong as his plans to take Bill on a trip to the 76th century ends up with an arrival in the Wild West in 1880s Oklahoma. Cowboys and prophecy seem to be on the cards as the TARDIS pair take up camp, but just what is lurking in the woods? And is it good or bad?

Verdict

The Parliament of Fear began in pretty decent fashion but I would be lying if I said I was overly thrilled with what I read. But more on the comic strip shortly, let me talk about the latest issue of DWM instead. Now I'm nine days late to blogging but I've had a super busy so better late than never! This looks to be a terrific issue with the magazine paying tribute to outgoing showrunner Steven Moffat. He truly has been incredible and has given so much to Doctor Who. Even before he took on the role, he gave us incredible stories like The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances, The Girl in the Fireplace and Blink. But since those three stories he's given us the incredible River Song storyline, introduced two incredible Doctor in Matt Smith and Peter Capaldi and hailed in the fiftieth anniversary of this spectacular show. Not only that, but he gave us a whole new Doctor in the form of John Hurt's War Doctor and he also gave us the Eighth Doctor's regeneration and brought back the Tenth Doctor! And if that wasn't enough, he's bringing back the First Doctor at Christmas! I haven't began to mention the companions and episodes of his era but I really am looking forward to reading what DWM has in store when it comes to paying homage to this true Whovian legend. The interview with the man himself should be very good and I'm also looking forward to the continued interview with Mark Gatiss. The magazine will give us its thoughts on the latter episodes of the latest series which is something I always enjoy reading but I must say that based on the recent issues, I wish it wasn't the same person doing the page reviews for every episode in the DWM Review. The competitions this month are very exciting and I hope I'm lucky enough to win a copy of Classic Doctors, New Monster Vol.2. That looks to be a fantastic little boxset! Public Image is always a good read so I am looking forward to that in this issue to see how the latter episodes did when it comes to the ratings. I am actually yet to read any of the magazine apart from the comic strip but I do hope there is a little bit on Jodie Whittaker's casting as the Thirteenth Doctor. I am sure that we will get more on that next month. And when it comes to the end of an era, it is also time to say goodbye to Tom Spilsbury as editor. I have enjoyed his take on the magazine very much but I am also excited to see how things go with a brand new editor at the helm. This issue of DWM certainly has enough in it to excite me! Anyway, back to the comic strip itself and I thought it was a very basic opening part. It set the premise and established the setting pretty well but I just didn't really find myself invested in the story which was a shame. Of course, this is just the first part of the story so I'm certainly keeping an open mind when it comes to future parts but for now I wasn't too fussed sadly. I didn't think the artwork for Bill was too good which did have a little bit of an effect on the story for me and the Doctor didn't get to talk enough for my liking. The setting seems okay and I liked the story of Seth being rescued by his brother. Totika's warning was good but her sudden change of heart in staying in the camp just seemed off. The cliffhanger didn't make too much sense to me as it was Bill and her friends that were being saved and the threat had nothing to do with characters we should care or know about. I'm not sure why, but I have been really critical with this opening part so I hope the continuation of it impresses me more and changes my opinion!