The Pictures of Josephine Day (comic story)

The Pictures of Josephine Day
Doctor:	Eighth Doctor
Companion(s):	Josie
Main enemy:	Living paintings
Main setting:	Wales
Key crew
Publisher:	Titan Comics
Editor:	Andrew James
Writer:	George Mann
Cover by:	Alice Zhang
Designer:	Rob Farmer
Artist:	Emma Vieceli
Colourist:	Hi-Fi
Letterer:	Richard Starkings, Jimmy Betancourt
Release details
Printed in:	8D 1
Release date:	4 November 2015
Cover date:	November 2015
Format:	Comic
Doctor Who: The Eighth Doctor
Next →	Music of the Spherions

The Pictures of Josephine Day was the first story of the Doctor Who: The Eighth Doctor comic book mini-series, published in 2015. It introduced Josie Day, a new companion for the Eighth Doctor.

Summary

The Eighth Doctor has come a long way since he regenerated in the morgue of Grace Holloway's hospital. He has known many friends and fast companions in his life — Charley Pollard, C'rizz, Lucie Miller, Tamsin Drew, Molly O'Sullivan, and many more.

Now travelling alone after an intense period in his long life, the Doctor has returned to his most regular haunt... Earth.

Plot

The Doctor arrives at his cottage as he is searching for a copy of Jane Eyre, and discovers a young artist, Josephine Day has taken up residence, much to the Doctor's curiosity. Things take a bad turn, where Josie's paintings of familiar aliens start coming to life, and acting in a shallow parody of their real versions. It's up to Josie to save the day when the Doctor is captured...

Characters

• Eighth Doctor
• Josie Day
• Mrs Fellowes

References

• The Doctor looks through the house for a copy of Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë.
• Josie's paintings that come to life include Ice Warriors, a Cyberman, Krotons and Witherkins.
• The Artificers of Wrall created Animae particles to animate the illuminations in the holy texts.
• The Doctor was once invited to a party on Lumin's World.

Notes

• This is the first Titan Comics series to feature a classic series Doctor as the protagonist.

The Doctor's cottage in Zeron Invasion.

The Doctor's cottage in The Pictures of Josephine Day.

• The exterior appearance of the Doctor's cottage is almost perfectly recreated from a frame in the 1972 comic Zeron Invasion.
• The title is a play on that of The Picture of Dorian Gray.
• It is Titan's second mini-series to focus on a particular incarnation of the Doctor, following Weapons of Past Destruction.
• The summary page lists many of this incarnation's previous companions, including Charley Pollard, C'rizz, Lucie Miller, Tamsin Drew and Molly O'Sullivan, referencing the Big Finish audio series. It states he has travelled alone after an intense period in his life.
• The Doctor is wearing the same clothes as he is in The Night of the Doctor, apart from the different colours on the ascots.

Continuity

• The Doctor's cottage first appeared in COMIC: The Celluloid Midas.
• The Doctor uses his wooden sonic screwdriver. (AUDIO: Fugitives)
• The Doctor intends to meet Charlotte Brontë at some point. He eventually encountered her in his twelfth incarnation. (COMIC: Unearthly Things)
• The Doctor says that humans "amaze" him. (TV: Doctor Who)
• The Doctor asks the alien, "Take me to your leader." (PROSE: Engines of War, TV: Voyage of the Damned)