Uninvited Guest

"The games are what we live for."

Writer: Warwick Gray
Format: Comic Strip
Released: March 1994
Printed in: DWM 211

Featuring: Seventh Doctor

Synopsis

The Eternals are celebrating the ending of another game and heralding in the start of a new one. Their party is in full swing before an unwelcome visitor starts playing a guilt trip on the hosts. Will his tale be the end of him?

Verdict

Uninvited Guest was a great little story and a very good way to conclude the Emperor of the Daleks graphic novel. It's been a fantastic collection of comic strips featuring two incarnations of the Doctor (when it comes to what I hadn't already read), two companions and its fair share of returning enemies. That theme continued here as the Eternals were back to do battle with the Doctor following Enlightenment. I thought the decision to bring them back was a good one but I'm quite surprised they were only used for a one-part adventure. It was quite short and simple though and it actually worked very effectively. The characterisation of the Seventh Doctor was again excellent and that really has been a big plus for this collection of stories as a whole. There were no companions in this story but where that can sometimes hurt the quality, there was no noticeable deterioration here. The way the Doctor entered the party with such subtlety was terrific and the Eternals were initially in awe of the way he managed to close his mind off to them. I found it quite interesting that it appeared that the Doctor came to this party with the pure intention of making the Eternals mortal rather than the usual occurrence of the TARDIS randomly landing somewhere where danger or an enemy lurks. The intentions of the Doctor were clear and the way he tried to make the Eternals feel guilty with their game was brilliant. I really liked the flashback story and the reference to Enlightenment but soon they grew tired of the Doctor's games. There was only one game for them but the Doctor would soon see that things changed. It was quite refreshing and just plainly different to the usual formula of Doctor Who that it seemed like there was no real threat to anyone we knew. The Doctor simply just intruded on a party, threatened those he had previously encountered, and then took from them their most prized ability. It was unclear just what it was that the Doctor used to allow the Space-Time Vortex to get a feel of the Eternals but whatever it was, they got a taste and the Eternals no longer existed outside of Time. They would now age and their immortality was destroyed. Imagine coming to terms with that! The Doctor took everything from them and ensured that they could no longer play God. It was intriguing and quite shocking but excellent at the same time. Overall, a very good comic strip!

Rating: 8/10