Briarwood

"It's the trees, father! They're alive!"

Writer: George Mann
Format: Comic Strip
Released: 17th February 2016
Printed in: Titan Comics: The Eighth Doctor #4

Featuring: Eighth Doctor, Josie

Synopsis

1932. Briarwood House. As a jazz party preoccupies the English upper-crust, the Doctor and Josie discover a terrifying secret below the stairs - the servants are beginning to sprout branches! When the forests of Briarwood besiege the house, the Doctor must uncover an ancient ritual and the truth behind an interdimensional sacrifice!

Verdict

Briarwood was another very good Eighth Doctor and Josie comic strip in the pages of the A Matter of Life and Death graphic novel. This is sadly the penultimate story with the pair and things will reach a conclusion next time around but for now, I'm really enjoying this TARDIS pairing. By the events of this story, the pair are more than comfortable with each other and I think that really does aid the telling of a story. The 1932 setting at Briarwood was something I was a fan of but I would like to know how the Doctor managed to win it at an auction. It was a very clever way of including another Doctor in the story as we only saw the back of his head but it was clear that the Twelfth Doctor and Clara were having some sort of recollection for what the former had encountered during his eighth incarnation. I presume he is the culprit behind the to-do list and it would explain the loose familiarity of the handwriting. Ambiguity is often a good thing in Doctor Who and there really isn't the need to know every single detail about what happens. The party was good and fitted in perfectly with what you might expect in interwar Britain. I thought the characterisation of the Eighth Doctor was excellent once with Paul McGann's likeness being well captured for the fourth consecutive story. That really has been a highlight of this graphic novel thus far. Bertie was a decent character and I really liked how he knew what was going on once Julian had revealed that the trees had come alive and murdered Peggy. That was quite a frightening concept but one that I was intrigued by and that's when the story sprung into action. There was an action packed escape into Bertie's safe place and from there he was able to tell the Doctor about the family history secret and the truth of the Nixi King. The resemblances to Game of Thrones with the throne of thorns was brilliant and I liked how any Bingham child doing something bad would bring the Nixi back. They were devastating but Bertie was able to locate the key and after a sacrifice from the Doctor, he and Josie were able to save the day by putting the Nixi King back into stasis. The Nixi were interesting and quite dangerous which was good but they were no match for the Doctor and his friends in the end. The little lead into the finale of this mini-run for the Eighth Doctor was good and I am looking forward to see what they find in space. But overall, this was a great little comic strip adventure.

Rating: 8/10