Doctor Who‘s Centenary Special, “The Power of the Doctor,” brought back David Tennant as the Fourteenth Doctor – and his adventures are continuing in the most delightful way thanks to Doctor Who Magazine. Doctor Who is the world’s longest-running science-fiction TV series, and its fandom is one of the most devoted. Doctor Who Magazine‘s comic strip has been released since 1979, usually featuring the Doctor of the day but often accompanied by original companions.
Doctor Who Magazine hasn’t always tied in to the TV series particularly well, but Russell T. Davies dreamed of changing that when he relaunched the show in 2005. He originally planned the Doctor Who comic strip to show the Eighth Doctor’s regeneration, telling the story of how Paul McGann turned into Christopher Eccleston. “For so many years the strip had been ignored, or relegated by the fans to second- or third- or fourth-best after the novels, the audio dramas, the sweet cigarette cards, etc,” editor Clayton Hickman recalled in an interview in Panini’s The Complete Eighth Doctor Comic Strips: Vol. 4. The plans fell through, which proved to be for the best in the end, because Steven Moffat later used the gap between McGann and Eccleston to introduce John Hurt’s War Doctor. But Russell T. Davies is returning to the TV series, and it seems this time he’s getting his chance to work closely with the Doctor Who Magazine team.
Doctor Who Magazine #584 contains the first part of a comic strip that picks up straight after the end of “The Power of the Doctor,” in which Jodie Whittaker’s Thirteenth Doctor mysteriously regenerates into David Tennant’s Fourteenth Doctor. Written by Alan Barnes and featuring art by Lee Sullivan, it will run through the next 12 issues, telling the story of the Fourteenth Doctor’s first hour. “From day one, I wanted to increase ties between the show and the magazine,” Davies notes in an interview accompanying the strip. “I love it when we’re in sync!“
Doctor Who Magazine’s Comic Strip Is A Must For Whovians
The Doctor Who franchise has a proud history of transmedia, as demonstrated in the “Time Lord Victorious” event. In the past it’s been difficult for the TV show to tie into this directly, however, because the BBC is a public services broadcaster and operates under certain constraints. As Davies explained the May 2005 issue of Doctor Who Magazine, “We are happy for you to enjoy the Doctor off-screen and read the novels, but we must never make that purchase necessary. If you had to buy a BBC novel in order to understand the plot as transmitted on BBC1, then we would be breaking the BBC’s guidelines.” The new strip is clearly filling a gap Davies has deliberately left in his narrative, but next year’s 60th anniversary specials won’t require having read it to make sense. The model being followed is similar to that traditionally used by Star Wars, a logical next step for Doctor Who.
The interesting question is whether this is all readers will get of the Fourteenth Doctor ahead of next year’s 60th anniversary specials, or whether there will be yet more. “Why not use the H*** out of this wonderful Fourteenth Doctor while we have the chance,” Davies asks in Doctor Who Magazine #584. That raises the possibility his adventures will continue in some of those other mediums – the novels and audio-dramas. That would be a truly fantastic way to celebrate Doctor Who‘s 60th anniversary, and it would fill a year-long gap in the scheduling. Hopefully this is the beginning of a bold new era for Doctor Who transmedia.
