Liberation of the Daleks Serviceable 14th Doctor Prelude

Posted in: BBC, Comics, Doctor Who, Review, TV | Tagged: Alan Barnes, bbc, Comics, david tennant, physician who, physician who journal, Lee Sullivan, Panini Comics, russell t davies, Terence Dicks

Doctor Who: Liberation of the Daleks is an official in-canon have a look at the Fourteenth Doctor’s first journey that is satisfactory however inessential.

Published Fri, 17 Nov 2023 07:37:10 -0600

by Adi Tantimedh

Last up to date Fri, 17 Nov 2023 07:39:31 -0600

Article Summary

“Doctor Who: Liberation of the Daleks” comedian is an in-canon prelude to the 14th Doctor’s TV debut.
The story follows post-regeneration Doctor tackling a Dalek World Cup invasion.
The story has a strong plot however lacks depth in character moments and emotional affect.
Trade assortment offers background for TV particular however isn’t a must-read forward of the sixtieth anniversary specials.

We’re shut, very near the return of Doctor Who to TV, beginning with the Children in Need mini-episode on November seventeenth, then “The Daleks in Colour” on BBC4 on Thursday the twenty third earlier than the first of the sixtieth Anniversary specials “The Star Beast” premieres on Saturday the twenty fifth on BBC One and Disney+. But earlier than that, we have had “Liberation of the Daleks,” the first canonical story that takes place proper after the Thirteenth Doctor (Jodie Whittaker) regenerated into the Fourteenth (David Tennant).

Doctor Who: Liberation of the Daleks is a Passable Canonical Comic — “Doctor Who: Liberation of the Daleks” cowl artwork: Panini

“Liberation of the Daleks” is a comic book story initially serialized in Doctor Who Magazine in October 2022, the difficulty that got here out simply as “The Power of the Doctor” aired. The remaining particular left with the Fourteenth Doctor standing on the prime of the cliff, mystified that that they had regenerated into an outdated face, the face of the Tenth Doctor. The shaggy dog story takes place instantly after that. It does not delve into the thriller of why the Doctor has his outdated face and physique again after questioning why earlier than the TARDIS whisks him to the 1966 World Cup, the second of England’s best soccer victory in Sports historical past, solely proper earlier than the fateful aim is scored, Daleks present up and begin blasting away the England gamers, as Daleks do. Now the Doctor has to unravel the thriller of why the Daleks are attacking the 1966 World Cup and whether or not a bunch of time-traveling alien vacationers who need to witness key historic occasions should do with this. Before lengthy, he is tangling with a number of Dalek factions once more, making offers with Emperor Dalek and coping with betrayals and counter-betrayals from all sides, all to distract us from questioning why he seems to be like David Tennant once more. It’s all enterprise as ordinary for a comic book ebook story.

And that is the draw back of the comedian and lots of Doctor Who comedian tales. They’re heavy on plot and fanfiction continuity with a bit of social commentary however hardly anything. It lacks the memorable emotional or character second that sticks in the reminiscence. What higher to kick off the first post-regeneration story than extra Daleks? The writing by Alan Barnes, who has written many tie-in tales, telephones in the story beats like a seasoned professional as a lot as the late Terence Dicks. The artwork by Lee Sullivan, one of the greatest artists to attract Doctor Who comics since the Nineties, is greater than sufficient, however like too many of the comics, spends an excessive amount of time getting the actor’s face proper and never sufficient displaying that Doctor’s character. Tennant’s efficiency as the Doctor was all the time on the verge of a full-on bug-eyed manic freak-out which is what made him enjoyable to observe, however that is not on show in the writing or the artwork in “Liberation of the Daleks.” It’s a wonderfully generic Doctor Who shaggy dog story that does not break any of the present’s lore or continuity. Russell T. Davies has a extra hands-on method with the tie-in materials for the present once more, similar to he did again in the 2000s, so this story has his approval. It leads on to the Children in Need particular, the place The Doctor travels again to Skaro on the daybreak of the Daleks’ creation. Maybe you would possibly get slightly bit of additional background on the story from studying “Liberation of the Daleks,” nevertheless it’s inessential, and you’ll nonetheless perceive what is going on on in the particular brief episode in the event you by no means learn the shaggy dog story that precedes it. Maybe that is all “Liberation of the Daleks” wanted to be: a disposable story to tide us over till the actual story begins on TV.

The chapters of “Liberation of the Daleks” have been collected right into a single commerce that is now out there in the UK and out in the US on November twenty eighth.

Doctor Who: Liberation of the Daleks

Review by Adi Tantimedh

6.5/10

A superbly sufficient and satisfactory “Doctor Who” shaggy dog story that includes everybody’s fan favorite villains the Daleks that is a canonical continuation from the finish of “The Power of the Doctor”. It’s completely effective if inessential, full of plot however missing the memorable character and emotional moments of the present, designed to provide followers a brand new story to tide them over earlier than the sixtieth Anniversary Specials premiere on tv.

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