"Weapons of Past Destruction"
Writer: Cavan Scott (has written or co-written a number of Big Finish audios, including all the ones that have "Project" in their titles)
Artist: Blair Shedd (a Joe Kubert School graduate and one of the few American artists to draw several Doctor Who comics stories)
Unlike 10 and 11, Doctor Who #9 doesn't have the kind of gap in his time line where the comics could explore a new and hitherto unknown companion. So the series looks at one gap we can infer from the television series, and that's when the TARDIS crew would have been composed of the Doctor, Rose Tyler and Captain Jack Harkness, just after The Doctor Dances and just before Boom Town. There's room there for them to get chummy and have some of the adventures Rose references to make Mickey jealous (among others). Writer Cavan Scott makes it clear that's where we are with several references to things that happen in The Empty Child et al.
The story he concocts offers up the mystery of a planet gone missing (or destroyed), and two robot(?) factions who, unfortunately, don't give Captain Jack much of a chance to be his lusty, innuendo-crazy self. That's a big missed opportunity as far as I'm concerned, though perhaps the comics are pitched at a generally younger audience, which feels strange to me, given that the show is meant to appeal to all age brackets. There's plenty of humorous banter between the characters nonetheless, plus lots of running and a slightly insane cliffhanger (like all the best Doctor Who stories, eh?). No attempt to characterize Doc9's speech patterns in a Manchester accent, in case you're wondering, which is probably a good idea. You'll just have to add that in. Where the story will take us next is anyone's guess, but it looks like Scott wants to tell a 5-part story over a greater canvas than one location can afford, and it's fun to see the 9th Doctor in locations other than Earth and its orbit (which his series was confined to).
And here's hoping this heralds future mini-series starring the other eight Doctors!
Comments
We know he's visited various disasters through history - the Titanic, Krakatoa and so on - which could just be a quick tour of the tragedy spots in the wake of the end of the Time War.
Everything else - the Shadow Proclamation, the psychic paper and so on, could all have been previously acquired as early as Doc8, but certainly during the WarDoc incarnation.
Audios, comics and novels how found thinner cracks to wedge loads of stories into, mind you (look at Big Finish's Doc5/Peri stories!), so it's doable whatever I may think.
Since we don't return to Gallifrey (and can't) after the Time War, it's really not possible to know how long ago it was from the Doctor's point of view. He's still distraught over what happened, and all other time sensitive creatures are on their own time line somewhere, and know when the Time War INTERSECTED with their time. It would have lasted longer than their own experience and not touched them at every point.
Anyway, I don't think that rule will still be in effect, but it's interesting that they went with Rose. I guess she's just too tied to the Ninth Doctor.
As to the whole "he popped off and had a million adventures during the final scene of 'Rose', I've never bought it. I think it shows more long term thinking that the Doctor ever does. If he is capable of thinking 'why don't I go back and try and convince that girl from before who wouldn't come', he'd be just as well going back and picking up Sarah Jane or someone else."