Top Five Titan Comic Stories: The Thirteenth Doctor (Doctor Who)

*Spoilers.*

When it comes to comic stories from Titan, Thirteen’s tenure is regrettably short. Partway through her televised run, Titan pivoted away from ongoing series for individual Doctors to short miniseries events. As such, Thirteen only has five stories in her line to begin with, plus a starring role in the first miniseries. But even though the pickings were limited, there are still some good stories here.

 

A New Beginning (2018-2019)

Thirteen’s first comic story introduces us to a new recurring baddie: the Hoarder. Stories about obsessive “collectors” who are ruthless in their pursuit of their trophies are nothing new in genre properties—and as someone who’s regularly scoured eBay for out-of-print Who novels or hard-to-find action figures, I suppose I get it. At any rate, the Hoarder is a creepy villain for the fam to face. I also enjoy the Time Agency references, because I feel like that’s a part of Who lore that we’ve never really learned enough about.

 

Hidden Human History (2019)

Creative premise for a story, with the TARDIS landing at different places and times associated with a popular historical podcast. As the fam investigates an alien presence in each setting, the companions geek out over the chance to see the events of these podcast episodes occurring in real life while the Doctor wonders how this is all connected. I also enjoy the new alien creatures we meet here.

 

Old Friends (2019)

So much love. After hearing about them in “The Doctor’s Wife,” we finally get to meet the Corsair! She’s delightfully swashbuckling, and it’s fantastic to see the Doctor interacting with an old Time Lord friend that we the fans have never met before. While obviously not nearly as fraught as the Doctor-Master relationship, things get contentious between these two, and the companions are kind of caught in the middle. Tons of fun, plus it has some good emotion in places.

 

A Little Help from My Friends (2020)

I’m a simple fan. You give me a multi-Doctor story, and no matter what, I’m going to be happy. This one, between Thirteen and Ten, is pretty great! It’s set when Ten and Martha are stranded in 1969 during “Blink.” Love seeing Thirteen and Ten interacting, it’s great to get some nice moments between Thirteen and Martha, and I enjoy the fam trying to run interference.

 

 

Alternating Current (2020-2021)

Another multi-Doctor story featuring Ten and Thirteen, with a massive paradox to boot. For Thirteen’s crew, this story follows directly after “A Little Help from My Friends,” but it actually marks Titan’s switch to miniseries. In this serial, both Doctors are swept up in the paradox and have to work together to solve it. It involves a past TV adventure of Thirteen’s gone wrong, and it leads us to a Rose Tyler who never met the Doctor! Interesting story with excellent character dynamics. And let’s face it, I’m always going to be a sucker for two or more Doctors having to put their heads together.

Single-Line Pitches: The Thirteenth Doctor (Doctor Who)

It’s been a while since I’ve done one of these. One memorable selling point for each of Thirteen’s episodes.

“The Woman Who Fell to Earth” – in which the Doctor goes thrifting for her signature outfit

“The Ghost Monument” – in which Ryan is let down by Call of Duty

“Rosa” – in which the Doctor is not Banksy (or is she?)

“Arachnids in the UK” – in which Ryan saves the day with grime music

“The Tsuranga Conundrum” – in which the Doctor has seen every cast of Hamilton

“Demons of the Punjab” – in which the Doctor never got henna done when she was a man!

“Kerblam!” – in which fezzes are still cool

“The Witchfinders” – in which King James I is in the market for a new protector

“It Takes You Away” – in which a sentient universe is also a talking frog

“The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos” – in which the Doctor takes on a false god

“Resolution” – in which a Dalek builds a casing from scrap parts

“Spyfall: Part One” – in which Ryan doesn’t look anything like Hugh Jackman

“Spyfall: Part Two” – in which four heartbeats are tapped out on a telegraph

“Orphan 55” – in which the Doctor can build anything from scratch

“Nikola Tesla’s Night of Terror” – in which Graham is put on Thomas Edison babysitting duty

“Fugitive of the Judoon” – in which a buried TARDIS comes to light

“Praxeus” – in which the fam divides and conquers on a global scale

“Can You Hear Me?” – in which we see the worst fingers of all time

“The Haunting of Villa Diodati” – in which the Doctor has no time for Lord Byron’s flirting

“Ascension of the Cybermen” – in which the Doctor used to hotwire spaceships as a kid

“The Timeless Children” – in which the Doctor’s best enemy has a secret to share

“Revolution of the Daleks” – in which the Doctor was in space jail

“The Halloween Apocalypse” – in which there’s a mattress in the TARDIS console room to serve as a cushion in the event of daring escapes

“War of the Sontarans” – in which a Sontaran rides a horse

“Once, Upon Time” – in which love is the only mission

“Village of the Angels” – in which Yaz’s police instincts never falter

“Survivors of the Flux” – in which a time-displaced trio fetches their dog

“The Vanquishers” – in which Sontarans are susceptible to chocolate

“Eve of the Daleks” – in which Dan wants to speak to a Dalek’s manager

“Legend of the Sea Devils” – in which Yaz goes on a date at the bottom of the sea

“The Power of the Doctor” – in which the Master goes hog wild in the TARDIS wardrobe

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

*Spoilers.*

It took me a while to come up with this list. As usual, the fault doesn’t lie with Thirteen herself but with some of the lackluster writing during her era. When an episode doesn’t give her much in the way of impressive moments, how’s the Doctor supposed to show that she’s a Big Damn Hero? But I really like all the moments I did pick, which show off a nice range of Thirteen’s capabilities.

 

Figuring Out the Pting’s Motivation (“The Tsuranga Conundrum”)

I love a good “they’re not evil, they’re just…” moment. The Pting has been terrorizing the Tsuranga, causing it critical damage by eating its way through essential systems. Throughout, the characters try to figure out how to fight it before it kills all of them. But in a flash of inspiration, the Doctor realizes it isn’t trying to sabotage the ship. Rather, it feeds on energy and has a ravenous appetite; the damaging it’s causing is just a byproduct. This leads her to her solution, removing the bomb from the ship’s self-destruct mechanism and luring the Pting into the airlock with it. Attracted to the bomb’s energy, the Pting eats it and it denotates inside the Pting’s indestructible stomach—the characters are saved from the explosion, and the now-satisfied Pting can be safely ejected. Not bad at all!

 

Breaking Through to the Solitract (“It Takes You Away”)

The Solitract has tempted multiple people through a door between realities, but its incompatibility with the universe is threatening to collapse the entire plane. The Doctor works to get everyone out, and when Erik refuses to leave (the Solitract has taken the form of his late wife,) she pulls out the old “last of the Time Lords” card to present a more appealing offering, pointing out that the Solitract can only keep one of them and sustain its presence. “I’ve lived longer, seen more, loved more, and lost more,” she tells it. “I can share it all with you.” It’s a classic instance of the Doctor being prepared to sacrifice themselves to save everyone, and this time, it’s at the cost of being cut off from the universe she loves so much. And when she realizes that the Solitract plane is still collapsing, the Doctor is able to reason with the sentient anti-universe, saying, “You are the maddest, most beautiful thing I’ve ever experienced, and I haven’t even scratched the surface. I wish I could stay, but if either of us are going to survive, you’re gonna have to let me go.” Love, love, love.

 

 

Saving the Companions (“Spyfall: Part 2”)

The beauty of time travel: when the Kasaavin whisk the Doctor away and the Master leaves the companions stranded on a crashing plane, the Doctor will have already left a solution for them! Although the scene flips between the companions on the plane and the Doctor alone in the Kasaavin’s dimension, the Doctor encouraging herself by answering her own question, “What would you say to the others if they were here?”, Future Doctor has given the companions all the answers they need. She’s left clues that lead Ryan to instructions she printed for him and placed in a handy seat pocket. Following her directions, the companions lift up a panel in the floor and plug Ryan’s phone into the plane’s computer, so Ryan can control the plane using the app the Doctor created and installed on his phone for him. Oh, and she recorded an in-flight video for them, complete with guidance, reassurance, and jokes! Neat moment.

 

Tricking the Daleks (“Revolution of the Daleks”)

In order to stop an army of mutated Daleks, the Doctor sends out an alert to a ship of Death Squad Daleks, knowing that they’ll focus their energies on exterminating their “impure” brethren rather than attacking the humans. And unlike so many humans who’ve introduced an invasive species to get rid of a particular pest, she has a plan for dealing with the Death Squad Daleks once they’ve done the job for her. She materializes the TARDIS in the sky where they’re swarming and taunts them into following her inside. Once they’re all stuffed into the TARDIS, she appears again, as a hologram this time, and reveals that this isn’t actually her TARDIS. It’s the one the companions used to escape Gallifrey at the end of series 12. She’s disguised it like her own, lured the Daleks inside, and programmed it to fold in on itself before shooting itself into the Void, where it, and the Daleks, will be ripped apart. The Doctor knows how to clean up a mess, that’s for sure!

 

Tag-Teaming to Save the Day (“The Vanquishers”)

When she’s captured by Division, and then attacked by the Ravagers, in an antimatter universe, something goes wonky with time and the Doctor splits into three parts. One remains there with the Ravagers while the other two appear in our universe. Dividing and conquering, the two Thirteens take on the Grand Serpent, the Sontarans, the Daleks, and the Cybermen, while also rescuing various friends in danger and looping in the antimatter Thirteen for crucial intel that will help them deal with the Flux. Teamwork for the win!

Top Five Stories: The Thirteenth Doctor (Doctor Who)

*Spoilers.*

Even if I don’t think the Thirteenth Doctor’s tenure had a chance to reach some of the highs of her predecessors, she still has some very good episodes. Here are my favorites from her. Honor what’s passed, and then onwards and upwards!

 

“Demons of the Punjab” (Series 11, Episode 6)

This is a beautiful human story, set against the backdrop of Partition. It’s a chance for Yaz to come face to face with her family’s past, which is heartbreaking, and Team TARDIS comes up against the devastating fixed point. I really like what we learn about the aliens of the week, and the oneshot characters are nicely fleshed out. Also, the Doctor’s reaction to getting henna done on her hands is so much fun!

 

“It Takes You Away” (Series 11, Episode 9)

Weird but wonderful. This episode has the threat of monsters in the woods, a mirror to another dimension, talking frogs, and so much more! All the companions get some good material to work with, and the Doctor is simply splendid. Thirteen’s first season could be frustrating, but here in the climactic sequence of episode 9, she showed why she is every inch the Doctor—fantastic work by Jodie Whittaker.

 

“Fugitive of the Judoon” (Series 12, Episode 5)

The Chibnall era doesn’t have a lot of episodes that genuinely wow me, but this is one of them. Our heroes land in Gloucester, where they come up against a platoon of Judoon hunting a tour guide who isn’t all she seems. Regardless of what came after with all the Timeless Child stuff, this was great. When the surprise return of a former new Who companion isn’t even the biggest reveal of the episode, you know you’re firing on all cylinders! A very warm welcome to the Nth Doctor, making a bang with her debut.

 

“Once, Upon Time” (Series 13, Episode 3)

As trippy as it is excellent. When the Doctor, Yaz, Dan, and Vinder are thrown into a time storm, the Doctor tries to find a safe spot for all of them to hide in their respective timestreams while she attempts to pull everything back together. Along the way, painful memories are relived/unearthed, Yaz has a scary encounter, and familiar faces pop up in memories where they don’t belong. As we ride the disorienting thread of these individual vignettes, we’re also introduced to Bel, an amazing character who’s equal parts endearing, compassionate, and badass. Her final scene in the episode is gorgeous—I love it so much.

 

“The Power of the Doctor” (Series 13, Episode 9)

Does it always make sense? Not necessarily. Is the plot held together by bits of string? At times. I don’t care. This special does nostalgic fan service so right, features the always-fantastic Sacha Dhawan incarnation of the Master, and offers an emotional sendoff for Thirteen. I cried multiple times when I first watched it, often while I was wearing an enormous fangirl smile. Absolutely lovely.