The Twelfth Doctor: Year Three Issue 10

Writer: Richard Dinnick

Artist: Francesco Manna

Publisher: Titan Comics 

FC - 32pp
On sale: December 6, 2017

One of the joys found in series ten of Doctor Who was the interplay between the Doctor, Bill, and Nardole. We were finally given a diverse trio of travelers with their own personalities who were able to play off each other masterfully. Instead of some mystery surrounding Bill, she’s just a delightful, spunky, intelligent woman who tests the Doctor by asking the right questions. Sometimes her youth, and Nardole’s insistence the Doctor stick to his vow make Doctor 12 prickly, but it’s a fun sort of prickliness.

    With the anticipation of Jodie Whittaker making her debut this Christmas, there is a bit of melancholy in the fact that this terrific Tardis motley crew will not be returning for series eleven. Luckily, Titan Comics has provided us with more adventures to help season ten fans cope with the loss.

    The Twelfth Doctor Adventures: Year Three, issue ten sets readers right where they want to be - The Doctor, Bill, and Nardole creeping around a drifting spaceship trying to figure out what’s gone wrong. Why would a ship adrift in space not call for help? Although the Doctor should be getting back to Missy and the vault (and Nardole’s protests, he can’t let such a mystery let go uninvestigated.

    The writers with Titan comics continue to impress with their uncanny ability to reproduce character’s voices. Again, Bill sounds like Bill, as does Nardole and the Doctor. This is particularly astonishing given the limited number of episodes writer Richard Dinnick had as source material. From the moment we see everyone in a panel speaking, it feels as though we’ve been dropped into a brand new episode of the series.

    Also very impressive is the artwork of Francesco Manna and the colors of Hi-Fi. The dying ship resembles the set designs of many modern Who ships, primarily the space station from Oxygen. In one fantastic panel in which the Doctor runs through a corridor (naturally) and the red light washing over him temporarily changes the color of his clothes to somewhat resemble Doctor Three’s classic ensemble. Intentional, or not, the effect reminds us that this is the same character.

    The surviving crew of the ship doesn’t get an awful lot to do, but we’re endeared to them immediately. Given their situation (almost everyone is dead, several operational systems are busted, and they will certainly die) and their commitment to helping each other to stay alive, you can’t help but root for them.

Side characters are important in Doctor Who. Unfortunately, they can sometimes be underwritten, or sidelined entirely in favor of overly convoluted plotting, resulting in many of them serving as nothing more than fallen bodies to be counted by the end of the story. Thankfully this is not the case here. Each side character is clearly defined and unique, with a livelihood all their own. All of which, one can assume, will be explored in future issues.

As the final page reveals the dangerous cargo being carried through space, the promise is made of a massive conflict to come.

    The Twelfth Doctor Adventures: Year Three, issue ten offers genuine humor, mystery, and tension, which would have been right at home in series ten.