The Doctor Who fandom have been kept busy during quarantine, with current and former showrunners participating in rewatches and churning out new content to enjoy. It’s been wonderful to see fans come together to support each other in this time of crisis.
The latest reveal came during last week’s global rewatch of the season 3 episodes “Human Nature” and “The Family of Blood,” courtesy of Doctor Who writer Paul Cornell. The two-part episode stars David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor with Martha (Freema Agyeman) as his companion. It revolves around “The Family,” who are thirsty for the Doctor’s blood so they can live forever. He uses a chameleon charm to keep himself hidden, and ensures they do live forever, but on his terms.
Each member of the Family is trapped in a different way: the mother floating around in the galaxy, the father stuck in unbreakable chains, the son working as a scarecrow, and the daughter stuck in every mirror of the world. Cornell explained what becomes of the daughter, Lucy Cartwright, in a five-minute audio story, “The Shadow in the Mirror” that debuted alongside the rewatch. The best part? Lauren Wilson, the actress who played the young girl originally, reads it.
Throughout her time stuck in mirrors, this young girl was visited by many of the Doctor’s reincarnations, asking her to apologize. Once she did, she’d be freed from the shackles of the mirror world.
Of course, Lucy refused to succumb to any such request, until the 13th Doctor showed up. Jodie Whittaker’s Doctor decides enough is enough and lets Lucy out so she can go on to live a normal life.
Was that a bright idea? I’m not so sure it was, but hey, I trust the 13th Doctor.
And if you thought that was all Doctor Who fans got during last week’s global rewatch, think again! We also got a teaser for something called “Time Lord Victorious”. We don’t know a whole lot about it, but we do know enough to start freaking out.
It’s going to be a multi-platform experience: a brand-new Doctor Who story about the Doctors of the past coming together to keep Gallifrey safe from a threat that will will span across comics, magazines, audiobooks and more.
The BBC released some info in a press release:
"Follow several Doctors across space and time as they defend their home planet from a terrible race, this is a story like no other…Time Lord Victorious is a brand-new multi-platform Doctor Who story told across audio, novels, comics, vinyl, digital, immersive theatre, escape rooms and games!Time Lord Victorious will launch in September 2020 over twelve weeks, with products and experiences releasing from September until January 2021."
Looking at the image released by the BBC, it appears the story will involve the Eighth (Paul McGann), Ninth (Christoper Eccleston), and Tenth (David Tennant) Doctors, plus Billie Piper’s Rose Tyler! Um, is anyone else totally nerding out right now?!
"Time Lord Victorious will be set within the Dark Times at the start of the universe, when even the Eternals were young. It features the Eighth, Ninth and Tenth Doctors, traveling across Space and Time as they defend the universe from a terrible race.As well as three Doctors, companion Rose Tyler and monsters including the Daleks and the Ood will feature, plus more to be revealed over the coming months as products are announced."
The Daleks are always a safe bet when guessing what Doctor Who villains we’ll see. There’s nothing more frightening than a loud, resounding “EXTERMINATE!” coming from them, is there?
The scale of this project is impressive. Many companies are involved, including Penguin Random House, BBC Books, Titan Comics, Doctor Who Magazine, Maze Theory, and more.
Time Lord Victorious will be told over the course of 12 weeks starting later this year. How it will present as one cohesive story is beyond me, but I am stoked. Producer James Goss hyped it up good:
"BBC Studios’ Doctor Who licensees have come together to tell an amazing epic – one that’s full of monsters, fun and heart. All strands of the story unite into a mighty patchwork that ranges from one end of the universe to the next. There’s more to be revealed, but the enthusiasm and ideas which the licensees have come up with are breath-taking. It’s going to be such fun."
Like I said, it’s unclear how this is going to be executed, but based on what we know so far, it seems like it’ll require fans to not limit themselves to TV. We might get a portion of it on TV, another in a comic book, and so on. It reminds me of what Star Wars is doing with the upcoming High Republic series.
We don’t have an exact release date for Time Lord Victorious as of yet — apparently it’ll be coming along around September — but rest assured we’ll frantically be checking BBC’s Doctor Who site for updates. All I know is that I see David Tennant smack dab in the middle of the poster, which means he must be a big part of it. Or at least, he better be.
I do have one concern about this, though: How much it will end up costing? I mean, we’re looking at a lot of different mediums here, with each entry in the story presumably sold separately. Luckily, we have a while to start collecting funds. Something tells me we’re going to need them.
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