Review: Doctor Who - New Adventures w/ the 10th Doctor #5

Previously in Issue #4

When last we saw The Doctor and Gabby, they were on the planet Ouloumos, hoping to see one of the best art collections in the galaxy. Instead, they end up running for their lives as the premiere artist, Zhe, has an apprentice who’s just a tad bit jealous.

The Apprentice can split itself in two: the male hunts the Doctor, threatening to kill him, and the female chases Gabby, but ends up bonding with her instead.

Through a lot of technical speak involving AI and block transfer computations, The Doctor figures out that Zhe accidentally created The Apprentice and it became the homicidal blend of her ego and self-doubt. Gabby allowed the female apprentice to connect to her so she could see that Gabby wasn’t a threat. She is later able to use that connection and trust to stop The Apprentice from killing the doctor.

This issue had all of the same elements that made me love issue #4: Gabby’s inquisitive nature and quick thinking makes her the perfect companion, the art is still gorgeous and we’re still getting Gabby’s letters to her best friend. However, I still felt the story lacking and not as compelling as the issue that set it up. The payoff of how The Apprentice came to be just wan’t enough.

The best thing to come out of this issues is Gabby becomes a proper companion. No more of this “one more trip for the road” nonsense. I love seeing this experience through her eyes, and I’m hoping they continue with the diary-style letters each issue.