I.M.O. EXTRA Review: Doctor Who: The Time Machination (IDW Publishing) By Eddie R

A Timey Wimey Adventure.

I must confess. I am a Whovian.

Now I know the majority of you out there just did a collective “HUH?”, but let me explain. Whovian is the name given to the fans of the British cult Sci-Fi series Doctor Who. And from where I come, Dr. Who is very big. It ranks right up there with other well known American Sci- Fi series, and rightfully so. Some say it is one the best written shows of this genre for the small screen in ages, and I tend to agree. So it was only natural for this to translate over to comic books. And I couldn’t be happier.



Doctor Who: The Time Machination is a one shot adventure, set within the adventures of the 10th Doctor. The Actor playing this incarnation of the Time Lord, David Tennant, is leaving the TV series after a successful 4 year run, and this has left fans with a void, wanting more adventures of this version of the Doctor. I am glad to say that this book does not disappoint. This is also the perfect lead into the upcoming Doctor Who monthly title starring the 10th Doctor, by IDW Publishing.

This story opens in London, 1889. With the TARDIS seemingly running out of fuel, The Doctor makes an emergency landing in Victorian England, and enlists the aid of a man who will sometime, in the near future, write one of the most famous Science Fiction novels in the English Language. This man, Herbert George Wells, has had a previous adventure with the Doctor some years before, and the Doctor knows he can trust him with his secret. Soon, Mr. Wells enlists the aid of a man he met recently at a local gentlemen’s club, a sort of Physicist, who seems wise beyond his years. Together, the Physicist and the Doctor try to find a way to refuel the TARDIS without moving it. For you see, a certain group is on the hunt for our beloved Doctor, and he must keep a very low profile. The group is known as the Institute, but fans of the show would know them better as Torchwood.

As we follow the Doctor through this adventure, we find that things do not appear as they seem on many levels. What seems to be a set up turns out to be just a temporal causality loop, set into motion by the Doctor himself. The Doctor is aware he is being misled by someone, who wishes to seek revenge on him for events yet to take place. But the question is, who is just hunting Who?

Once the issue has been resolved and the events of the causality loop have been fulfilled, the Doctor returns to the TARDIS and prepares to depart. He tells his friend Mr. Wells he should write those novels he has always been thinking about. After another chance encounter, which will have a lot of Whovians grinning from ear to ear, Mr. Wells finally agrees to do so, in honour of the Doctor and his travels.

Now, if you excuse me, I have to go watch the 2002 movie version of The Time Machine, by H.G. Wells to see how all this turns out.

8/10

Eddie R
Review Editor