Remembrance

"Britzit means Britzit."

Writer: Rob Williams
Format: Comic Strip
Released: 24th August 2017
Printed in: DWC: Tales from the TARDIS 19

Featuring: Eleventh Doctor, Alice

Synopsis

Accused of genocide. Chased across time and space by an undefeatable, indefatigable temporal bounty hunter. Thrown into the terror of the Time War. The Doctor and Alice faced their darkest days and came through (relatively) unscathed. After spectacularly proving the Doctor's innocence, and banishing a race of malignant gods in the process, they've more than earned some downtime. But the universe, as always, has other plans...

Verdict

Remembrance was an excellent story and a great way to kick off the third year of adventures for the Eleventh Doctor and Alice! I do wonder whether the third time is the charm when it comes to my wish of wanting these stories to just have the Doctor and Alice travelling as a pairing for the comic adventures. I do have my doubts as I initially thought I might get it last year before the arrival of the Squire, Abslom Daak and even River Song. Early signs suggest I might be lucky though as there was no hint of anybody else joining them inside the TARDIS for a year of stories. However, we did have to say goodbye to a former companion in the form of Jones which I must admit was unexpected turn of events. He wasn't my favourite of companions during the first year of Eleventh Doctor stories but he was still a companion nonetheless and I liked how shocked and somewhat angry Alice was by the Doctor's reaction, or lack of, to his former companion's death. The Doctor though would explain that for him, as a Time Lord, it was different. Not only had he known so many people in his life but Jones was still out there in the timestream and could be visited at any point. The setting of a futuristic British colony of Britzit-247 was rather humorous and the play on Brexit and the recent referendum on leaving the European Union was very good I must say. Considering the market of these stories is primarily for an American audience I thought that was very well done indeed. The inclusion of Bessie 2 was also a great little inclusion and it certainly did seem to be quite an upgrade to the infamous car of the Third Doctor! It was a monster truck and it somehow seemed to also fit through the TARDIS doors. I'm still not sure how that was feasible, even with dimensional stabilisers, but I am willing to let it pass purely on just how ludicrous it was. I thought the characterisation of Matt Smith's Eleventh Doctor was superb in this comic strip and they really did nail him to a tee. I was very impressed with the dialogue and even the pace of his movement which is actually quite difficult ton achieve in a comic strip story. His relationship with Alice was very good and I liked how it was clear that she was no longer a novice when it came to travelling through space and time. She's been here a while now and has firmly cemented herself as a companion to the Eleventh Doctor and that is clearly on show here. She knew that the Doctor was walking into trap after they arrived at the funeral of Jones and even know the Doctor knew it too, he walked straight into it. Not only that, he was rather excited by it all which was terrific to see. His obsession with pressing big mysterious buttons was fantastic and I liked how he realised he had been on the new planet before. Just last year. Something catastrophic had happened and as he and Alice found the bodies of species with long life spans, the Doctor knew danger was imminent. The cliffhanger was brilliant and I really am intrigued to see what the Scream are all about. They look extremely resemblant of the Silence so I am sure they will have some sort of connection with them and I look forward to finding out just what that is. Things certainly seem quite doomed for the Doctor which is always good in a cliffhanger! Overall, a terrific adventure that would certainly serve as a great jumping on point for any new readers.

Rating: 9/10