New Doctor Who comic bridges gap between centenary special and 60th anniversary

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In an unprecedented collaboration, Doctor Who Magazine continues the story from the Doctor Who BBC centenary special The Power of the Doctor — up until the events in the first of three Doctor Who 60th anniversary special.

In thirteen instalments of the magazine’s comic, running until the 12 October 2023 issue, the comic begins with the fourteenth Doctor striding inside the same TARDIS interior used by the thirteenth Doctor — as seen on the cover of Doctor Who Magazine 584.

It’s not long before the TARDIS materializes in a new location and the Doctor encounters familiar foes.

The strip sees the return of writer Alan Barnes and artist Lee Sullivan, coloured by James Offredi, lettered by Roger Langridge and overseen by DWM editor Marcus Hearn.

“From day one, I wanted to increase ties between the show and the magazine,” Doctor Who showrunner Russell T Davies told DWM the day after The Power of the Doctor aired. “I love it when we’re in sync!”

“Right now, we’re in a remarkable one-off year,” Davies continued. “We all know there’s a fifteenth Doctor on the way, so why not use the hell out of this wonderful fourteenth while we’ve got the chance?”

“[This comic strip] also helps to make this concept of the fourteenth Doctor more real. I know how fandom works. A lot of people will be thinking, David’s not the real Doctor, he’s a trick, an illusion, a flashback. But no. He’s real. And DWM can help us underline that.”

Usually a new Doctor wouldn’t appear in other media until they had a full adventure on television, but apparently the rules for this new-old Doctor are different.

Since the set for the thirteenth Doctor’s TARDIS interior was dismantled at Roath Lock Studios in November 2021 before the 60th Anniversary specials began filming at Wolf Studios Wales in May of 2022, the last instalment comic strip will likely cover the transition between the old interior and the new one which the director of the first 60th anniversary special Rachel Talalay told DWM she is looking forward to “showboating.”

When Doctor Who arrives back on television in November 2023, the plot can’t be too far removed from when viewers last saw the Doctor in October 2022. Even though the 13-episode strip will be the longest the magazine has ever run, it will cover just one hour – the first hour of the fourteenth Doctor’s life.

Doctor Who returns November 2023 with three specials celebrating the 60th anniversary of the program.

Doctor Who Magazine 584 is available at newsstands in the UK and by digital issue on Thursday, November 10, 2022.