The Time of My Life was a Doctor Who Magazine comic that featured the Tenth Doctor and Donna Noble. It was Donna's final appearance in the DWM strip.
The comic was made up of several stories that led into each other by the partition of speech. It included a number of nods to the past, with a TARDIS recording and the reappearance of Zyglots. It also saw the Tenth Doctor take Donna to see The Beatles. A nearly identical scene appeared in COMIC: Signs of Life, when the Tenth Doctor took Martha Jones to see the group.
Summary
Donna has been on many great and similar adventures...
Plot
The plot switches from one story to the next, via what the characters say.
First Story
The Doctor and Donna land in a crater - the Doctor wants to show her something and they start climbing the edge of the crater. Donna complains at the temperature, but the Doctor promises that it'll be worth it - Donna replies that it better be ...
Second Story
...Fantastic, exclaims Donna, as she and The Doctor watch the courtship of the Zyglots. The Doctor explains that this event only happens once every five centuries. Donna is fascinated by it, and accuses the Doctor of being a...
Third Story
...show off, which hurts the Doctor, because he thinks that she should be impressed. The Doctor goes over to a window, and they realise they are in a spaceship overlooking London - and Donna notes that one of her neighbours has a swimming pool. They are met by talking dogs who have decided that they will rise up against their human masters. The Doctor tells Donna to get ready to...
Fourth Story
...run, yells the Doctor, as they escape from a menacing forest. Donna sarcastically says that she thought they would wait to be eaten by the trees. They meet up with a group of humans, who tell them that the swamp is a single living organism. They help the travellers ecape - causing Donna to wonder what would have happened if they had not reached them in ...
Fifth Story
..Time?", asks Donna. The Doctor is surprised at her - expecting her to notice that the clock is ticking too slow. Suddenly Donna notices that the clock is speeding up - and suddenly they are menaced by a robot that had disguised itself as a statue. Donna exclaims "Oh my...
Sixth Story
..Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean" is being played at a Beatles concert. Donna calls out to Paul, telling him not to marry Heather. After the concert, she asks John to sign an album for her. The Doctor is not happy, because they haven't released that one yet - in fact, it's the utterly anachronistic "1" compilation CD - but Donna assures him that she won't put it on eBay. They leave the concert and head back to...
Seventh Story
...the TARDIS", he tells her - as they escape from the vampires. Donna refuses to go, asking what would happen if he didn't make it back - and the Doctor explains about Emergency Program One . Donna still doesn't want to go - and threatens the vampires with "a knee in the...
Eighth Story
...Cossacks", exclaims the Doctor - and the pair run through the town to escape. As they run through the town, Donna complains of people trying to kill them. As they hide, they note that the infantry has arrived, but with a mortar - someone must be meddling in...
Ninth Story
..History!", she tells the Doctor, as we find a child-aged Doctor and Donna in a classroom. He explains that they are trapped in a world where they have been trapped by a parasite that is feeding off her embarrassment. The teacher proves this correct by insulting her. The Doctor tells her to look for something that doesn't fit - and she notices the TARDIS. This causes the reality to collapse. Donna is shocked as the Teacher transforms - and calls to the Doctor...
Final Story
..."bet you didn't expect to see me" - said by the voice of Donna. She has recorded a message on Emergency Program One for the Doctor. She states that she did it in case they didn't get to say goodbye properly - and tells him not to worry because it was her choice. She then goes on and tells him to get someone else - not to stop him as she claimed at Christmas - but to show off to, and to keep him going. She has had the time of her life, and thanks the Doctor - before saying Good...
...bye," the Doctor replies.
Characters
References
- The Doctor and Donna see The Beatles.
- Donna gets one of their records signed, although it is a CD of "1" - which is a compilation that was not released until 1995 - instead of one of their 1963 vinyl records: Please Please Me and With The Beatles.
- The Cavern Club is the actual club on Mathew Street in Liverpool where the Beatles got their start and were discovered by Brian Epstein. It has been closed twice but was reopened in 1999.
- Donna takes a risk by telling Paul not to marry Heather - referencing his second wife, Heather Mills, who he married after the death of Linda McCartney after Linda's cancer battle and who was roundly criticised after divorcing him.
- While in Germany, the Beatles actually recorded a rock version of "My Bonnie Lies Over The Ocean", simply called "My Bonnie" - as the Beat Brothers (Record execs thought "Beatles" was too phonetically similar to a German obscenity) - with Tony Sheridan in 1961. It peaked at #5 on West Germany's Hit Parade.
- The humanoid dogs are similar to the other upright animal variations namely: Human Badgers and Catkind.
- The Doctor mentions Emergency Program One. Donna uses a similar device to also record.
Notes
- Rather than show a complete adventure, this comic strip shows parts of many of Donna's adventures that lead into each other via what characters say.
Continuity
- The Zyglots appear. They previously appeared in COMIC: Polly the Glot.
- In Donna's message to the Doctor, she refers to their first meeting in TV: The Runaway Bride.
- The Tenth Doctor took Martha Jones to see The Beatles in COMIC: Signs of Life.
