Final Sacrifice

"We can take future technology and use it now."

Writer: Tony Lee
Format: Comic Strip
Released: July-October 2010
Series: Doctor Who (2009) #13-16

Featuring: Tenth Doctor, Emily, Matthew

Synopsis

On a war-ravaged alien world, the Doctor and Emily fight to save Matthew from the Advocate, while avoiding a planetoid civil war and a space-and-time misplaced Edwardian Torchwood, still hunting the Doctor since The Time Machination! Everything leads to this point - but who will die?

Verdict

Final Sacrifice was a very good conclusion to the Tenth Doctor's run in the IDW comic strips! It has been one great big story arc to send him off and whilst there was considerable depth and a lot of tying things up here, I probably would have preferred a more standalone approach as things tend to get very complicated! I just think there needs to be somewhat of a less assumption that the reader remembers perfectly what has gone in previous stories and that can be remedied by some more elaboration about what's going on. Or maybe American-style comic strips just aren't for me, although I have loved the work of Titan Comics! Anyway, seeing the Doctor do battle with the Advocate one last time was fantastic and I loved the dilemma she concocted. It was pure evil. The Doctor had to sacrifice one of his companions or an entire planet. How would he choose between those horrible scenarios? It was a devious scheme and one I absolutely loved, I have to say. I was hugely impressed with it. I would have liked to actually have a story or two between Matthew's decision to join the Advocate and then the Doctor going after him and whilst we did sort of get that in the form of the Old Friend, it wasn't quite enough but I do appreciate the constraints of time and production! I just would have loved to have seen the Doctor and Emily visiting Turlough. The truth that his journal was a fake wasn't exactly a surprise but was a welcomed relief as remembering him that way wouldn't have been an enjoyable legacy. The return of Eliza and Robert following The Time Machination was terrific and I really liked how the former decided to side with the Doctor. The latter was quite berserk in his duty for King and Country as part of Torchwood but Eliza entrusted Captain Jack's good work and the fact that Queen Victoria had knighted him before banishing him. The story of the Tef'Aree was quite astonishing and I loved how the war between the Terror Famers and Soul Free was based around nothing as they were actually the same species from Earth! Kol-Nee-Wah was actually a colony ship and words had been corrupted through time. I love it when that happens and it worked very well here. Finchy playing a crucial role in saving the planet and becoming part of the shield permanently was a noble sacrifice but quite the unexpected end for a character who has changed considerably in these comic strips! Matthew sacrificing himself and taking the Advocate with him to save the planet was what I expected to happen but the Doctor was genuinely hurt by his loss. I thought Emily would have reacted in a worse way though and I was very surprised by how unaffected she was. Her becoming Annabella Primavera was a wonderful addition though as it maintained the fixed point of time as she wasn't supposed to die. Going back to the scenes of her first meeting the Doctor was a lovely moment and brought things terrifically full circle.

Rating: 8/10