Villordsutch reviews Doctor Who: Prisoners of Time #7…
“Our yearlong celebration of Doctor Who’s 50th anniversary continues! The Seventh Doctor takes the spotlight in this issue of a 12-part epic adventure featuring all 11 incarnations of the Doctor! In a 19th-century Scottish castle, a live-in nurse’s concerns about the elderly couple in her care are allayed by a visiting doctor and his curiously modern female companion.“
We’ve reached the end! The end of the of the original Doctor Who TV Series! Sorry not the comics, I should have made that clearer. The show is off for a” never to be seen again” hiatus thanks to a lot of BBC Bastards (mainly looking at you Sir Grade (you Tripods axing sod). A lot of us Who fans or Whovians thought our show had gone and we cried, however elsewhere in the Universe the tales of the Seventh Doctor lived on in comic format.
Daleks, Cybermen and Death’s Head (no really) were only a few enemies that had many tales with the Doctor as we all went about our sad lives wondering where our Lord of Time was now. All we had to do was look on a shelf at WHSmiths. For those lucky enough to know about DWM or DWW or Marvel UK (depending on how you rolled) this month’s issue, which continues the celebration of the 50th Anniversary of Doctor Who, gives us a rather nice chunk of those days gone by.
Landing in Scotland in 1830, the Doctor and Ace appear just in time to assist a house keeper as she feeds the owners who lie in a comatose state. On examining the poor ill souls, the soon to be master of the house Mr Campbell appears wanting an explanation for the Doctor and Ace’s presence in his great aunt and uncle’s home. The Doctor immediately smells something off and probes deep with diamond sharp precision as to what Mr Campbell’s intentions may be. What follows is an energy absorbing alien, some Nitro-9 being used effectively, and the return of an old foe (I’ve actually placed a clue in my review, but I shall not elude anymore incase you work it out).
The story is good and simple with a wee bit of mystery placed in for you to enjoy, except once again the thread that ties this whole ‘Prisoners of Time’ story together is given two sodding panels. I kid you not. Okay, we get a sentence about it from the bad guy of this tale, but that’s it. This issue could have been a reprint with somebody Photoshopping in the final two panels of our elusive Companion Snatcher. I tell you if this bad guy ends up being Captain Jack getting the gang back together for a fabulous disco I’m going to be rather peeved.
Other than my frustration over the lack of expanding the Companion Snatcher’s tale this issue is a corker. The art credited to Kevin Hopwood (2000AD, Warhammer) and Charlie Kirchoff (Doctor Who, Judge Dredd Classics) is spot on, looking fantastic from the Glowing Energy Sapping Alien all the way down to the Doctor’s worry lines. That, mixed with a storming little story created by Scott & David Tipton (Doctor Who/ST:TNG Assimilation 2, Star Trek: Mirror Images), gives you money well spent.
Oh I’ve remembered my other little hate – they’ve given the Doctor his “Question Mark” tank-top, but saying that I should be grateful as they never gave us Bonnie Langford.
You there! Go and buy it.
Villordsutch – Follow me on Twitter.
Originally published July 25, 2013. Updated April 11, 2018.
