Prisoners of Time
Prisoners of Time was IDW's story made to celebrate Doctor Who's 50th Anniversary.
Publisher's summary
Issue 1
November 23, 1963: A day that changed the world forever. That day saw the broadcast debut of Doctor Who, which was to become the longest-running science-fiction series on television. And now 50 years later, we pay tribute to one of the greatest pop-culture heroes of all time with this special series, which tells an epic adventure featuring all 11 incarnations of the intrepid traveller through time and space known simply as... the Doctor.
Issue 2
Our yearlong celebration of Doctor Who’s 50th anniversary continues! Oh my giddy aunt! It’s time to break out the recorders, as the Second Doctor takes the spotlight in this issue of a 12-part epic adventure featuring all 11 incarnations of the Doctor!
Issue 3
Mar 20, 2013 Our yearlong celebration of Doctor Who's 50th anniversary continues! "Now listen to me!" It's time to fire up Bessie, as the Third Doctor takes the spotlight in this issue of a 12-part epic adventure featuring all 11 incarnations of the Doctor!
Issue 4
Our yearlong celebration of Doctor Who's 50th anniversary continues! Put on your scarves and munch on some jelly babies, as the fan-favourite Fourth Doctor takes the spotlight in this issue of a 12-part epic adventure featuring all 11 incarnations of the Doctor!
Issue 5
Our yearlong celebration of Doctor Who’s 50th anniversary continues! Brave heart, Whovians, for the Fifth Doctor takes the spotlight in this issue of a 12-part epic adventure featuring all 11 incarnations of the Doctor!
Issue 6
Our yearlong celebration of Doctor Who's 50th anniversary continues! Mmm, I wonder... aha! It is the Sixth Doctor who takes the spotlight in this issue of a 12-part epic adventure featuring all 11 incarnations of the Doctor! As Peri and Frobisher attempt to free the Doctor from an asylum, not one, but two villains are revealed!
Plot
Issue 1
A Cloaked figure studies images of the Doctor in solitude. He reflects on the legacy of the Doctor, as well as what he is capable of. He then notes that the Doctor has always had friends, and that he will have to change that...
The TARDIS arrives is The Royal College of Surgeons in London, England in the year 1868. The First Doctor, Ian, Barbara, and Vicki step out. The group has arrived to meet Thomas Huxley, a friend of the Doctor's and evolution supporter. After attending his lecture, they meet with Thomas. Huxley is happy to see the group, but is soon called away. Thomas explains that he and some of his pupils must go searching the London Undergrounds for a group of missing students. The Doctor convinces him to let them come along.
Some time later, the Doctor, Ian, Barbara, and Vicki arrive at the entrance to the London Undergrounds to help look for the students. They fins a fresh trail of footprints leading to a mysterious passage, covered in webs. Vicki begins suffering from headaches, something which last happened to her on Vortis. Barbara reminds her that they are far away from Vortis and that there can't be a connection. Suddenly, the group finds themselves surrounded by Zarbi.
The group tries to fight them off, but the Doctor suggests against it, saying that going with them is the only way to find the missing students. Ian, Huxley, and the Doctor are split away from the rest of the group, who are given gold mind-control bracelets to wear. At the Doctor's suggestion, Ian and Huxley fight off the Zarbi and the trio escape.
After searching the tunnels, the Doctor finds the Animus, who has reformed itself on Earth to get revenge on the Doctor. The Animus plans to take over Earth with an army of Zarbi drones, but before he can enact his plan he is hit by a train piloted by Ian.
The Doctor uses a portal to send the Zarbi home. After some debate, the Doctor convinces Huxley to keep quiet about what he has seen. Huxley leaves, noting that he hates leaving the Doctor alone. The Doctor notes that the Animus could not have reformed on its own, and that the portal used to bring it here was beyond its technological abilities. The Doctor suggests further investigation to his companions, but is shocked to find them missing.
Issue 2
The Second Doctor, Jamie McCrimmon, and Zoe Heriot land the TARDIS in a shop filled with hundreds of police boxes. They learn from a salesman that they are in a Police Box section of the universal mega-mall, the Frenko Bazaar, where one could buy "just about anything."
There, Jamie is captured by a group of Voraxx traders, who are working with White Robots, who want to sell him on the black market as a slave. Using a T-Mat, the Doctor and Zoe teleport onto the slave ship and rescue Jamie, as well as free all of the prisoners including the Ice Warrior Araxus. As the trio teleported back to the shop, the Doctor is shocked to find his companions missing, having been captured by The Cloaked figure, via the T-Mat.
Issue 3
Liz Shaw recalls the Third Doctor and Sarah Jane Smith back to Earth, explaining that the Brigadier has been acting strange; he is sending UNIT men all around the world in random positions and acting surprisingly violent. The Doctor has soldiers hold him down, and under close inspection discovers he has been taken over by a Remoraxian. He builds a ray that frees the Brigadier from the creature's control and the Brigadier explains what happened.
He explains that he was infected at a UNIT Nautical Research Facility on the coast, and explains that the Remoraxians have taken it over. Not only have the creatures begun taking over people, they have also began to change the weather.
Characters
Issue 1
- Cloaked figure
- First Doctor
- Ian Chesterton
- Barbara Wright
- Vicki Pallister
- Thomas Huxley
- Messenger
- Student with glasses
- Zarbi
- Animus
Issue 2
- Second Doctor
- Jamie McCrimmon
- Zoe Heriot
- Police box salesman
- Giraffe alien
- The Voraax
- Shopper
- Prisoner
- Ice Warriors
- Araxus
- Slave trader
- A Voord
Issue 3
- Third Doctor
- Liz Shaw
- Sarah Jane Smith
- Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart
- Paul
- Richard Nixon
- Cloaked figure
Issue 4
References
- Thomas Huxley is a famous professor and supported the evolution theory created by Charles Darwin.
- The Second Doctor, Zoe, and Jamie arrive at Frenko Bazaar, a famous place where one can buy and sell "just about anything".
- The Frenko Bazaar has a section dedicated entirely to Police boxes, where the TARDIS lands.
- The hat store in the Frenko Bazaar has multiple hats in the front, including a Fez and a Stetson.
Notes
- Issue one is 26 pages total.
- Although issue one was scheduled to be released on 30 January 2013, it was released a day in advance by iTunes.
Continuity
- The cloaked figure closely resembles the decaying version of the Master. He wears a black cloak with a hood, his hands are brown and swollen, and wears what appears to be a sash, all characteristics of the Master, specifically in TV: The Deadly Assassin.
- The cloaked figure studies images of the Doctor and his companions, including images of Rose Tyler, Leela, Romana I, the Brigadier, Jo Grant (including the infamous nude of Katy Manning with a Dalek), Martha Jones, Donna Noble, K9, Sarah Jane Smith, Vicki Pallister, Captain Jack Harkness, Romana II, Charley Pollard, Adric, Ace, Dodo Chaplet, Rory Williams, Amy Williams, Mickey Smith, Liz Shaw, Frobisher, Adam Mitchell, and Ian Chesterton, among others.
- The cloaked figure studies an image of the Seventh Doctor in a hospital whilst discussing the Doctor's ability to regenerate. (TV: Doctor Who)
- The cloaked figure studies images of the Fourth Doctor with Sarah Jane Smith driving away from the TARDIS while in Hollywood; the Roman stone carving of the Tenth Doctor, Donna Noble, and the TARDIS from TV: The Fires of Pompeii; and the TARDIS parked in Cardiff.
- The cloaked figure describes the First Doctor as "a teacher," the Ninth Doctor as "a soldier," the Sixth Doctor as "a madman," and the Tenth Doctor as "the Oncoming Storm." (TV: Parting of the Ways, et. al)
- Issue one served as a sequel to TV: The Web Planet, with the reintroduction of the Zarbi and the Animus.
- Jamie takes note of the size of an item, in this case one of the police boxes on Frenko Bazaar. (TV: The Seeds of Death, The Two Doctors)
- The White Robots appear outside of the Land of Fiction. (TV: The Mind Robber)
- Jamie can very easily manoeuvre through ventilation. (TV: The Two Doctors)
- Zoe mentions T-Mat. (TV: The Seeds of Death)
- In issue two, Jamie and Zoe wear the same outfits they wore in TV: The Krotons and COMIC: Land of the Blind, the latter of which was also drawn by Lee Sullivan.
- Several of the aliens seen at the Frenko Bazaar are from other stories.
- In a crowd shot, a Voord (TV: The Keys of Marinus), two Raxacoricofallapatorians (TV: Aliens of London/World War Three) and a Sontaran (TV: The Time Warrior)
- In one panel, a Fishman from Kandalinga, (PROSE: The Fishmen of Kandalinga) an Atlantean (PROSE: The Lost Ones), two Korad and a Mechanistrian (PROSE: Peril in Mechanistria) are all seen shopping. All were introduced in the Doctor Who Annual 1966.
- An Alpha Centauran could be seen. (TV: The Curse of Peladon)
- The Third Doctor drives the "Whomobile". (TV: Invasion of the Dinosaurs, Planet of the Spiders)
Cover gallery
Issue 1
Issue 1 Alternate cover
Issue 1 Alternate cover
Issue 2
- Second issue prisoners of time.jpg
Issue 2 Alternate cover
Issue 2 Alternate cover
Issue 3
- Prisoners of time 3 1.jpg
Issue 3 Alternate cover
Issue 4
Issue 4 Alternate cover
Issue 4 Alternate cover
Footnotes
