The advent of the Fourteenth Doctor was very exciting to me as a Doctor Who fan – a chance to revisit a previous incarnation of the Doctor, but reimagine them as older, wiser, and more emotionally mature. It’s a shame that he only has three TV episodes though, but it does make me very happy that we’ve also got the comic of his very first adventure – Liberation of the Daleks.
I have always been a fan of the Doctor Who expanded universe. The weird and wacky things that happen in comics, audios, and novels intrigue me, so I am always delighted when these mediums are treated as just as canonical as the TV show. At first I felt that it was kind of strange for the very first Fourteenth Doctor story to be a comic, but after reading it, I felt that it filled the gap perfectly.
The era of the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Doctors feel quite far removed from each other, but Liberation of the Daleks bridges the gap very well. At the start, the Doctor is standing in the exact spot where the regeneration at the end of The Power of the Doctor took place. Throughout the story, he has the same TARDIS interior from the Thirteenth Doctor era, uses her screwdriver, and even makes reference to Sheffield. I understand why they wanted his first TV story to be a little more distinct so that it could be a jumping back in point, but as a fan, I delighted by this comic filling those gaps.
The only real downside, and it’s hard to criticise Alan Barnes for this because he was writing this story before any of the episodes had even been aired, but the Doctor in this story feels more like the Tenth Doctor than the Fourteenth Doctor. It may seem like a minor distinction, but there was quite a difference between these two – here we don’t really see any of the wariness and emotional honesty/intelligence that the Fourteenth Doctor had. There was also only a very minimal reaction to his regeneration, which was a touch disappointing. No other Doctor has just stepped into their new body with no real disorientation.
Besides that, this is a really fun story. It’s about a theme park/interactive museum that is dedicated to the Daleks and is an extremely unique use of the iconic villains. It’s also one of the rare stories where I actually felt bad for them too – even if they are still despicable. It’s impressive that Alan Barnes was able to come up with a totally new story to tell with them, even after all these years.
There are loads of references to classic Dalek stories in this comic too – including the old 60s Dalek comics. I was especially impressed with the way that these were worked into the main continuity of the show (despite being so different) and in a lot of ways, it serves as a kind of celebration of the Dalek’s long history – very much in-line with this story mostly being published during the 60th anniversary year. There’s also a tiny cameo from Spock and Captain Kirk, which delighted me, as I am also a big Star Trek fan.
There’s a lot to like about this comic, and as it is both the longest ever story from Doctor Who Magazine and the Fourteenth Doctor’s post regeneration story, it’s definitely one to read, even if you’re someone who only occasionally dabbles in Doctor Who comics.
Rating: 8.9/10
