Matildus

"I have few colleagues... fewer friends... and no family."

Writer: Scott Gray
Format: Comic Strip
Released: 19th October 2017
Printed in: DWM 518

Featuring: Twelfth Doctor, Bill

Synopsis

Following a mysterious symbol being engraved in the side of the TARDIS, the Doctor and Bill head to Cornucopia to try and decipher its meaning. There, they encounter Matildus who isn't dealing greatly with old age. Before anything can be found about the carving, the Doctor discovers that someone sinister is up to no good in the library and needs to be stopped....

Verdict

Matildus was a very good little comic strip adventure! Hurrah! I'm finally doing another blog and whilst it's only been a little more than a week since I did an entry it seems like forever. Things are still super busy with my personal life and university taking up nearly all of my time but here's hoping that can change a little bit in the next couple of months. Sadly, I'm not too confident on that. Anyway, as per usual with the DWM comic strips, I like to take a look at the magazine itself and I have actually read a decent amount of this one prior to blogging. I loved the attention this issue gave to the upcoming release of the Tenth Doctor Adventures - Volume 2 audios as we had some superb interviews with David Tennant, Billie Piper and Camille Coduri. All three love the show and they love working together which I am sure will be reflected when it comes to the trilogy of stories which will be released later this month. I am sure that come Christmas time, whether it's as a gift or by spending some Christmas money, I will acquire the boxset and it will be one I am eager to listen to. I thought the format of the interviews in the issue was very good. They separated the thoughts of each actor whilst making it all feel like one big giant interview for the new audios as a whole. I really can't wait for them. Also in this issue, I read the Time Team for the second consecutive issue which is actually a rarity and reading other people's thoughts on an episode as they watch it really is quite intriguing. This month's highlight centred on The Almost People and I do think that it's a very underrated episode. Galaxy Forum was very good this month and it reminded me of the closure of the Doctor Who Experience which I think is a great shame. I haven't been since the days of the Tenth Doctor but I enjoyed a lot of time there during my childhood and I would love for it to be rehoused somewhere in the near future. I need to catch up on the UNIT audios from Big Finish but the latest release of Encounters is very exciting for me with both a Dalek and Sontaran story! What more could you want? The continuation of the Sylvester McCoy interview is something I am very much anticipating but I also thought that the brief dialogue of the actors who play the Seventh Doctor, Mel, Rose and the Tenth Doctor was wonderful and with them both recording at the same time, the thoughts of a multi-Doctor audio couldn't help but appear in my head. That really would be delightful. I am continuing to enjoy the new editor's take on the magazine and Marcus has made some really brilliantly subtle changes to the magazine that is giving it a slightly different feel which I am a fan of. Now, to the comic strip itself and I thought that it was a good follow up to The Parliament of Fear's conclusion with the TARDIS being engraved with some kind of symbol. The return to Cornucopia was an unexpected treat and Matildus ended up being a fantastic little character. She was curator of the library but she was getting old and sick. The truth about Sashana was a big shock which I liked. Both the Doctor and particularly Bill's characterisation was excellent with the likenesses of Peter Capaldi and Pearl Mackie being captured beautifully. The tease at the end for the next comic strip was a nice touch and it won't be long at all now (hopefully) before I read that one. Overall, a very good comic strip story!

Rating: 8/10