Top Five Doctor Who Magazine Comic Stories: The Eighth Doctor (Doctor Who)

*Spoilers.*

The Eighth Doctor had a really excellent comic run in Doctor Who Magazine, featuring some strong original companions and a lot of inventive stories—because Eight’s televised tenure is so short, it’s all the more welcome to get stories of his in different formats. The comics made the switch from black-and-white to color during his era, and the stories make the absolute most of it. It was tricky to narrow my favorites down to just five, but here’s what I came up with.

 

“Tooth and Claw” (1997)

For starters, this story features the introduction of Fey Truscott-Sade, a great character and brilliant companion. A badass British intelligence agent during World War II, Fey hooks up with the Doctor and Izzy on an aristocrat’s private island, where—what else?—something decidedly sinister is going on. The story combines the sensibilities of a locked-room parlor mystery with the aesthetic of a penny dreadful monster yarn. Super entertaining to follow the twists and turns of this one.

 

“The Way of All Flesh” (2001)

Let’s see here. Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera. Dia de los Muertos. Necrotists. Izzy still reeling from ending up in Destrii’s alien body. All of this is stuff I want! The character work on Izzy here is splendid—I like seeing her struggle to get comfortable in her new skin, and her scenes with Frida really help her on her journey. Meanwhile, the Doctor and Diego go on a wild ghost adventure and give some creepy baddies what for. Love it!

 

“Oblivion” (2002-2003)

Basically, the best of all Eighth Doctor comic worlds. We’ve got Izzy confronting Destrii over switching their bodies, the Doctor calling in Fey to help rescue Izzy from Destrii’s home, and a new planet with a fascinating backstory and eerie baddies. It’s the culmination of a major arc, and everything comes together in a satisfying way. Also, we get the introduction of Jodafra! He’s not in that many stories, but I do enjoy that nefarious royal cat.

 

“Where Nobody Knows Your Name” (2003)

I debated about including this one, not because it isn’t great, but because it’s so short. The Eighth Doctor’s comic run is so good, did I have room for a oneshot? But in the end, nostalgia and feels won out, because here it is. After Izzy leaves the TARDIS, the Doctor is on his own and finds himself in a bar filled with colorful characters. On the face of it, a pretty thin story, but it nicely encapsulates what the Doctor is about, why he travels, and how he keeps going after his companions break his hearts. Really lovely.

 

“Sins of the Father” (2004)

After the Doctor crosses paths with Destrii again, she’s badly injured and he takes her to the Hippocrates Base for treatment. There’s a great setup in this story through the dynamic between the doctors running the base and the eventual baddies, fine food for thought. And all of that is mixed in with Destrii becoming more of a wildcard for good than one for her own selfish reasons, which is nice to see. This story acts as a bridge to get the Doctor and Destrii to the point where she could realistically be his companion. Unfortunately, it wasn’t long after this that the characters were retired in the Doctor Who Magazine comics. It was for a good reason—new Who was beginning, and the comics would be picking up the stories of Nine and Rose—but still a bummer to lose getting more of Eight and Destrii.

Top Five Big Damn Hero Moments: The Eighth Doctor (Doctor Who)

Yes, Eight only has only official televised story in the form of the TV movie. Did that stop me from finding five Big Damn Hero Moments for this delightful, dashing Doctor? No way! Some of Eight’s moments may be a bit smaller and more understated, but there’s still plenty of heroism to go around (spoilers.)

 

Convincing Grace of the Truth (Doctor Who)

Eight spends much of his time immediately post-regeneration trying to get Grace to believe he’s who he says he is, there’s a major crisis happening, and he needs her help to stop it. Grace doesn’t want to believe in the seemingly-impossible things he’s telling her, but the Doctor keeps at it. He gets her to listen to both of his heartbeats and draws on his Time Lord knowledge of her past, refusing to let her be willfully blind to what he’s saying. When he freaks her out and she locks him out, thinking he’s crazy, he shouts his entreaties thorugh the mail slot before offering up clear visual proof of the issue at hand – he steps through the glass of her patio door, proving the molecular stability caused by the Eye of Harmony. Grace still isn’t fully on board, but she can’t ignore what she’s seen with her own eyes and the Doctor is at least able to get her to go along with him.

 

Holding Back the Master (Doctor Who)

The Master’s new body isn’t exactly standard-issue, and the Doctor catches sight of the old snake eyes when the Master’s sunglasses slip momentarily. At the time, he and Grace are trapped in an ambulance with the Master, so the Doctor does one of his favorite things: use a non-weapon to evade the bad guy. As the Master starts literally spitting mesmeric acid (the TV movie, people, I tell you,) the Doctor subdues him with a fire extinguisher, and the Doctor and Grace are able to escape while the Master is indisposed.

 

Getting the Motorcycle (Doctor Who)

One of my favorite scenes from the TV movie and quite possibly the most Doctory thing ever. The Doctor and Grace are stuck in a pile-up and in need of a fast getaway. When they come upon a police officer with a motorcycle, the Doctor distracts the officer with an offer of jelly bellies in order to swipe the cop’s gun and hold himself hostage to get the keys to the motorcycle. I just love that, that the Doctor gets his hands on a gun and uses it to threaten himself instead of others. I also love that, in the middle of this armed standoff, the Doctor takes a moment to give Grace some encouragement, entreating her to believe that he can really do the things he says he can. This scene is Eight in a nutshell, and it’s why I love him.

 

Stealing the Component (Doctor Who)

Classic Doctor Who scenario. There’s an impending catastrophe (reality seems to be breaking down due to the Eye of Harmony) that can only be averted with the aid of a technological MacGuffin (a component from the soon-to-be-unveiled beryllium atomic clock at iTAR,) and the Doctor and his companion need to infiltrate a swanky locale in order to obtain the MacGuffin and prevent the catastrophe. The Doctor is a ton of fun badly pretending to be human just long enough to swipe someone’s security pass, sneak around to access the clock, and perform a surreptitious component-ectomy. Not as flashy or dashing as some of the moments on this list, but it’s infused with Eight’s charm and kookiness, which I always appreciate in my heroes.

 

Escaping the Museum (Doctor Who)

Get yourself a Doctor who can make an exit with panache. After stealing the component, the Doctor gets around the security guard by dropping a bit of future knowledge and offering up another jelly-baby distraction. But the Master is on their tail, and unable to get to the door, the Doctor goes the flashier route – getting to the roof and lowering himself and Grace down by the fire hose, alighting on the hood of a just-arrived police car. I especially like the ways that this scene still displays Eight’s personality, keeping it from being too much of a dashing-hero move. I like that he pulls the fire alarm to “liven things up a bit,” and I love that, when Grace admits to being afraid of heights as they prepare to execute this escape, he cheerfully declares, “So am I!”

Favorite Characters: The Eighth Doctor (Doctor Who)

Eight is the reason I can never hate the TV movie.  Even though goodness knows it’s no prize, without it, he wouldn’t exist.  And for that, I’ll always have an appreciation for it.  Do I wish he could’ve had a better televised adventure?  Of course.  I have yet to get too far into his novels or audiobooks, though I’ve read his comics from both the old Doctor Who Magazine days and the newer ones from Titan.  But for me, even with the TV movie’s questionable quality, it’s still the best place to get my Eighth Doctor fix.

To be fair, things do start off a little shaky, what with the whole morgue-freezer regeneration, the intercuts with Frankenstein, and the cheesy “Who am I?!?”  But once he gets going, Eight is nothing but delightful.  He’s such an exuberant, wholehearted presence – watching him, you really do get the sense that he keeps one of his hearts in each pocket so he can regularly take them out and show them to whoever he meets, whether they ask or not.  I’ve described him before as romantic, and while that is partly due to the nature of his dynamic with Grace, I don’t mean it just like that.  I mean in the way his MO seems to be to sweep people up, like he’s living this magic life and anyone who comes into contact with him for a few moments can touch it; that’s the vibe he gives off.  Granted, virtually all Doctors exude that air of wonder and adventure trailing after them, but Eight is the only one who feels like he probably walks around accompanied by a full orchestral soundtrack to highlight the beauty of life seen through his eyes.

It comes through in big and small moments alike.  Whether he’s delighted by a coincidence (realizing Grace is the same doctor who operated on him as Seven,) joyous in universe-saving victory (defeating the movie’s Big Bad,) or just ecstatic at how well Grace’s ex-boyfriend’s shoes fit him (don’t ask – just watch how happy he is and try not to grin like a fool,) his lust for life is infectious.  He’s a bit of a romantic hero and the tiniest hint of a swashbuckler, but he’s also the same kooky, easily-distracted genius Whovians know and love, and I’d wager he was unlike any leading man who’d ever appeared on FOX before when the TV movie was released in 1996.  From reminiscing about the famous painters he’s met to creating a distraction using jelly babies, he’s every inch the Doctors who came before him even as his brief tenure marks the beginning of something new for the series (there would have never been the Doctor and Rose, not in the way we saw them, without the Doctor and Grace.)

Also, I have to credit the TV movie for what is possibly one of the single most Doctory actions of all time.  When the Doctor and Grace are desperately trying to get somewhere and find their way blocked by an inconvenient police officer, the Doctor, after using the aforementioned jelly babies as a bit of misdirection, swipes the officer’s gun and then takes himself hostage, threatening to shoot himself if the officer doesn’t let them pass.  In recent years, there have been all sorts of grand statements about how the Doctor doesn’t carry guns and always tries to avoid violence, but I don’t know if that philosophy has ever been illustrated as succinctly as it is in that moment.  Eight, when forcing someone’s hand, threatens violence only against himself, depending on the officer’s professional and moral obligation to protect others from harm.  It’s a gorgeous little scene, and every time I see it, I’m a bit startled all over again by just how well it encapsulates so much about the Doctor.