It’s been 20 years since Russell T Davies revived Doctor Who on BBC One, with Christopher Eccleston as the Ninth Doctor and Billie Piper as his companion, Rose Tyler. Since then, Doctor Who has continued to push storytelling boundaries, resulting in exciting new adventures that couldn’t be achieved during the show’s classic era. Doctor Who has even updated the rules of Time Lord regeneration so that actors like Jodie Whittaker and Ncuti Gatwa could have a shot at playing the titular Doctor.
Though Gatwa departed his role as the Fifteenth Doctor in the Series 15 finale, “The Reality War,” Doctor Who fans have not seen the last of him. Just months after the Fifteenth Doctor battled Archie Panjabi’s The Rani, he is back for a new adventure in Doctor Who: The Prison Paradox. Taking place sometime before the events of Series 15, Episode 6, “The Interstellar Song Contest,” the Titan Comics series by Dan Watters and Sami Kivelä sees Belinda Chandra mistakenly transported to a prison that’s orbiting a black hole. This also sees the Doctor “transport himself” to the prison to rescue his companion.
Titan Comics
Right off the bat, Watters and Kivelä open their story like an actual TV episode. Starting with a shot of space and some expository narration by the Fifteenth Doctor, Watters and Kivelä establish right away what new trouble the infamous Time Lord has got himself into this time. Another thing that really helps this opening sequence set up its main story is the introduction of a few fan-favorite monsters from Davies’ first era as showrunner. This includes one captured Slitheen and one newborn Adipose. Watters and Kivelä even name-drop the Shadow Proclamation to further establish what villains the Doctor and Belinda are dealing with.
Another thing Watters and Kivelä do well is perfectly capture Ncuti Gatwa’s voice and mannerisms as the Doctor. Just like an actual TV episode, The Prison Paradox presents the Doctor as overconfident in his own intelligence to a fault, and knows how to improvise when a situation doesn’t work in his favor. Much of the story’s humor is derived from these moments where the Doctor teases the prison guards (and ultimately, the prison warden) about how in control of the situation he is, even when they think they have the upper hand on him. This also allows the Doctor to gather some unlikely allies with the Slitheen, Adipose, Cyborg, and other prisoners who want to escape the prison.
Titan Comics
The only drawback to this first issue is that the limited page space doesn’t allow for more of the story to be fleshed out before the “to be continued” caption. As such, the first issue of The Prison Paradox reads like the first 10 minutes of a TV episode before the Doctor Who opening credits. This also means that Belinda Chandra is short-changed for a more substantial appearance, with much of the first issue focused on the Fifteenth Doctor showcasing his wit by messing with the prison guards and warden.
Despite not being given much to do in such a small space, Watters and Kivelä still make the most of Belinda by masking her fear with jokes and stories about an Earth that no longer exists. These pages with Belinda are where Kivelä’s art tends to shine the most. Though Kivelä draws dynamic action sequences throughout the comic that perfectly capture the Fifteenth Doctor’s energy (especially when wreaking havoc inside the prison), with Belinda’s pages, he perfectly captures the story’s stakes.
Titan Comics
Kivelä best accomplishes this by juxtaposing Belinda’s nervous facial expressions with the warden’s cooler, yet sinister demeanor. This helps present the warden as more chilling, especially when he reveals the fates of his other “companions” to Belinda with a sinister smile. The fact that he delights in scaring his companions is also captured by Kivelä’s excellent use of shadows, given the villain’s otherwise pale complexion. This setup also helps prepare readers for the Doctor’s future encounter with the warden, especially since readers only get a small taste of what he’s capable of in this first issue. How he fares against the Doctor when they finally come face to face will likely lead to more shocking surprises.
All in all, Doctor Who: The Prison Paradox is off to a strong start. But given that most modern Doctor Who stories are told in one episode (sometimes two), this may be one of those stories that reads better in trade. Even more so, since most comics do not follow a weekly release schedule the way TV shows do. As such, following this story on a monthly basis may prove to be a source of frustration for readers who immediately want to know what happens next, but need to wait four weeks to get the next issue.
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