Tenth Doctor Graphic Novel Vol 4: The Endless Song (Year Two)

Writer: Nick Abadzis

Artists: Eleonora Carlini, Elena Casagrande, & Leonardo Romero

Colorists: Arianna Flotsam & Claudio “SG” Ianniciello

Letterers: Richard Starkings and Comicraft’s Jimmy Betancourt

Publisher: Titan Comics

Summary: The Tenth Doctor and Gabby Gonzalez begin their second year of adventures with three stories: “The Singer Not the Song”, “Cindy, Cleo and the Magic Sketchbook”, and “Medicine Man”.

Story One: The Doctor and Gabby arrive on the Earth Station Presley, A mining platform where humans live a harmonious relationship with gaseous beings called the Shan’tee, which are perceived as living music.

Story Two: Gabby’s friend Cindy and her friend discover a sketchbook that has imprisoned Anubis and Sutekh and are assisted by a familiar person.

Story Three: The Doctor and Gabby are in the Pleistocene Era, attempting to resolve conflict between the Neanderthal and Cro-Magnon.

Review: Unlike the previous volumes, this volume has each story assigned to a different artist. I like this better than the previous volume, as it allows the artwork to be easier to follow. Of the three stories, “The Singer” is the best one. The Shan’tee are a cool concept, and I like that for once, humans are actually having a good relationship with an alien race, rather than an antagonistic one. The second story is too fast, and since it ties into a previous story, it feels out of place. The third story is fine, and really doesn’t feel all that special. I didn’t hate it, though.

Grade: (all three stories combined) C

Special: The Curse of the Fatal Death

Writer: Steven Moffat

Director: John Henderson

Producers: Sue Vertue and Richard Curtis

Summary: The Doctor and his companion match wits with The Master, leading to several regenerations, and The Master forging an alliance with the Daleks. The Doctor is portrayed by, in order of appearance: Rowan Atkinson, Richard Grant, Jim Broadbent, and Joanna Lumley. The companion is Emma, played by Julia Sawalha, who the Doctor is planning to marry. The Master is played by Jonathan Pryce. This special aired as part of Comic Relief and marks the final appearance of Roy Skelton as a Dalek prior to his death.

Review: This special is the first story ever written by Steven Moffat, and would lead to future specials during the Modern Era, airing on “Red Nose Day”. (For those who don’t know, Comic Relief airs annual specials to benefit Britain’s homeless.) The special is a lot of fun. I especially like the ridiculous portrayal from Pryce, and the running gag of both the Master and the Doctor bribing the castle’s architect. If you’d like to watch the special, it can be seen on YouTube.

Grade: A

Special: Scream of the Shalka

Writer: Paul Cornell

Director: Wilson Milan

Producer: Muirinn Lane Kelly

Executive Producers: Martin Trickey, James Goss, and Mario Dubois

Summary: This 6-part story stars Richard Grant as The Doctor, Sophie Okonedo as his companion Alison Cheney, and Derek Jacobi as The Master. The Doctor and Alison arrive in 2003 London, and investigate an alien race called the Shalka, which can emit high-pitched wails. Each episode is between 10-15 minutes.

Review: At the time this episode was aired on the Internet in 2003, BBC was in the process of once again attempting to revive the show. Because they were unable to use Paul McGann’s Doctor, the story instead introduced a new Doctor. While the production was being done, Russell T. Davies was in the process of getting his first run as Executive Producer on the new series. While Davies did watch the story, he felt that Grant was terrible as The Doctor, and eventually cast Christopher Eccleston instead.

I tried not to judge the use of Flash animation too harshly. I’ve seen a few programs using this program that look better (for example My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and Homestar Runner ). This is an early version of Flash, so it hasn’t been perfected. As for the acting, Grant was all right, but I don’t care for Okonedo as Sophie. Her performance seems rather flat. Overall, I thought the story was all right. It’s an interesting glimpse into what might have been.

Grade: C

Dimensions In Time (Children in Need Special)

Writers: John Nathan-Turner and David Elfen

Director: Stuart McDonald

Producer: John Nathan a turned

Summary: Dimensions in Time is a crossover between Doctor Who and the long-running soap opera Eastenders, which is still airing today. The Rani has opened a rift in time to capture all of the Doctor’s lives, trapping them in a time loop.

Review: This special has many problems. My main problem is the episode length. The combined run time of both parts is too short for such a large cast. The previous anniversary specials were given enough time for everyone, but this special only runs for about 20 minutes.

Also, there’s the problem of the Eastenders cast. I don’t know anything about these people. As such, I don’t understand why, of all programs, this is the crossover. It just doesn’t make sense to me.

I don’t think I can recommend this one. It’s just too much of a mess.