The Phantom Piper Part 5

"We're far from the end."

Writer: Scott Gray
Format: Comic Strip
Released: 8th March 2018
Printed in: DWM 523

Featuring: Twelfth Doctor, Bill

Synopsis

With the Phantom Piper taking Chiyoko and using her to ravage war across Athenia, the Doctor and Alan Turing have a plan of their own. Will they be able to put into fruition before every war in history brings disaster?

Verdict

The Phantom Piper concluded in superb fashion with a fantastic fifth and final part! Firstly though, this looks set to be another great issue of DWM and I have to say I'm a big fan of the new look with the new logo being a part of the pages for the first time. An interview with Michelle Gomez is always something to look forward to as I think she's just fabulous and I'd love to read her thoughts about the Thirteenth Doctor. The Daleks in Milwaukee feature looks extremely intriguing and I am very interested in anything to do with the famed foes at the moment as I will be doing a research project on how they helped Doctor Who's popularity during the 1960s. The Logo-Polis (great name!) feature looks excellent and it's intriguing to see just how much a logo can represent an era. That has been clearly evident in the past and I do like the new one so a run through of the past logos will be good to read. The Season Survey results getting revealed is always something I look forward to and I'm bound to read the Fact of Fiction this month as it covers The Doctor's Wife - one of my all time favourite stories. I am also excited to hear from Chris Chibnall once again as the new series comes ever closer. I'm not a big fan of there being another cosplay article however, I hope that doesn't become a common theme in the magazine. Now, back to the comic and this has been quite a lengthy story and was the longest comic strip to adorn the pages of Doctor Who Magazine in quite some time. I thought the story improved with each and every part and I must say that it was great. The concept behind the Phantom Piper was terrific as I do love any delving into the Dreamspace and I liked the connections with the messaged that had been engraved on the TARDIS for the past few stories. The Piper was using Chiyoko to bring every war in history to Athenia and with the potentiality of the brewing war between the Humans and Galateans, the Phantom Piper would have many a nightmare to feast upon. The way he was defeated was brilliant and I loved that the Doctor and Turing had unknowingly worked on the resolution and worked brilliantly as a team. They goaded the Phantom Piper into shooting at a fake Turing made via the block transfer computation and with that DNA the genius could decode and break the Phantom Piper. It provided the same suffering that Tommy felt and just when it seemed like we would get a happy ending with Alan and Ranesh getting engaged, Fey returned! It's been quite a while since I read a story with her and whilst I haven't yet completed her comic strip run with the Eighth Doctor, I am very intrigued by both her return and her comments. Overall, a fantastic story!

Rating: 9/10