Thinktwice (comic story)
Thinktwice was a Tenth Doctor comic strip story in Doctor Who Magazine which returned Vessican, Majenta Pryce, to the Tenth Doctor's life. It was significant for the fact that it made Pryce a regular character in the pages of DWM. For the first time since the use of Destrii in The Flood — which is to say, for the first time since the beginning of the BBC Wales series — Thinktwice gave DWM a regular companion created by their staff, rather than one seen on television. It also included references to several of these past "exclusive" companions. Thinktwice also began a loose story arc, onto which Pryce's introductory story, Hotel Historia, was retroactively connected.
Because the story featured the return of a one-off companion, it was possible to compare it to the televised story, Partners in Crime.
Summary
The Doctor arrives at a prison in space, were a machine is taking the minds of others...
Plot
Part 1 (Thinktwice)
An alien woman called Zed tries to wake up Majenta Pryce who is a sleep. She asks her to tell her a story. Majenta does so tells the story of how she was a thief. She stops telling the story, she says she does not know who she is and why she is in Thinktwice prison. The Prisoners are woken up over a tannoy by Jonah Gripton. While Majenta and Zed are having breakfast a squid like alien walks up to them. She eats Zed's launch. Her name is Ceecee, Majenta challenges her and insults her due to her size. She then starts to attack Majenta. She is restrained and taken away by the guards. Majenta is taken to the sick bay and is examined by a DR Smith (The Doctor) She sneaks away a scapel as part of a weapon. Ceecee is taken to a scientist her puts her head under a machine and she lets out an agonising scream. Later in the prison Library a blue skinned woman walks up to the guards and graps his baton. She stuns herself with it and kills herself. Majenta tells Zed not to look. At the labs the scientist says to Flatch a scientist who works there that Ceecee is brain-dead. Jonah the scientsist starts hearing things the voice said Ceecee's mind tasted Sweet. At night Majenta breaks out she kisses goodbye to Zed who is fast asleep. The Doctor climbs into the ventilation shafts his sonic screwdriver is shot by little robots. Majenta finds Jonah's lab he and Flatch find her and he stuns her with his baton. Then her memories are wiped.
Part 2 (Secrets of the Space Gulag)
Majenta is in the machine, with the machine shouting "Mental collapse imminent. Gripton hear a noise in the ventilation shaft, and suddenly, The Doctor jumps out. He is attacked by Mr. Flatch, but the timelord suddenly releases laser spitting robot birds. He rescues Majenta, and they escape. The fugitives go through the kitchens, and The Doctor throws an electrically-charged ladle at the guards who come to arrest them. They then go into the Waste Tanks to get to the TARDIS, which is on the other side of the prison. Back in the Knowsall room, Flatch tells Gripton where the prisoners have gone. But Gripton isn't listneing. He is being contacted by some telepathic aliens, who shout, "WE FEED" Suddenly, all the guards in the room have their minds absorbed. Majenta's roommate, Zed, wakes to find the room empty. She wonders where Majenta is. The Doctor explains to Majenta why he came to Thinktwice, and suddenly, they run into a group of aliens. Flatch and Gripton, the only two survivors, see the monster descending, and they tell Gripton that they want The Doctor's mind. Majenta recognises the aliens, who The Doctor says are braindead. They were taken to Knowsall for a final session. Majenta becomes very angry, telling The Doctor she won't end up like those people. So the Doctor delves into her mind, making her recall her previous encouter with him. When she remembers that The Doctor sent her to Thinktwice, she punches him. But suddenly they are confronted by the creatures, who introduce themselves as the Memeovax. Flatch tells Gripton about the creatures, who calmly says they are unique. Flatch opens the waste tanks, sending The Doctor, Majenta and the Memeovax flying out into space...
Part 3 (Rage against the Machine)
Gripton shoots Flatch. The Memeovax tell the Doctor and Majenta that they were born in the void, they will not die, unlike the two humanoids. The Doctor persuades them to pull him and Majenta in, if he lets them have his mind. They do so, and the Doctor gives them a memory of him and Hemingway drinking and the Hangover from hell, causing the Memeovax to overload. He gives Majenta a TARDIS key, and sends her to the ship. Meanwhile, he allows himself to be captured, and taken to Gripton. He is taken by surprise by Flatch's replacement, Royce, who knocks him unconscious.. In the library, Zed finds Majenta hiding behind a bookshelf. They are attacked by Memeovax, who come in in force. The Doctor has been put into Knowsall, and forces Gripton to tell him why he is doing all this. Gripton tells him that he first met the Memeovax when they absorbed his annoying sister's mind, and they have never left him since. He built Knowsall to sate their appetite, and soon more of the same machines will be all over the cosmos! This conversation has angered Gripton, and he switches on Knowsall. In the library, chaos reigns. Majenta wonders why nobody is fighting back, and Zed tell her it is because of Knowsall. It has wiped their minds, taking the fight out of them. Majenta goes to find The Doctor. The Doctor has no problem with Knowsall, so Gripton turns it up to full power, causing the machine to explode. He sends all the minds back to their owners. Zed is about to be killed by a Memeovax, when she gets her mind back, and remembers her name is Zephyr. She kills the Memeovax that is threatening her. Royce knocks Gripton out, and rescues the Doctor. He had found that Flatch had been shot in the back. Majenta runs in, but is grabbed by a Memeovax. The Doctor runs to help, but Majenta becomes angry, and destroys all the Memovax with something unleashed from her mind. The Doctor takes her with him in the TARDIS. The Doctor explains what he did, and how he is worried about whatever it was that came out of Majenta's mind. It's something more powerful than he's ever felt before. Majenta then tells him that she hasn't got her memory back, so she has to stay with him as a patient. They go on, to new adventures...
Characters
Notes
- This story introduces Majenta Pryce as a full-time companion. This marks the first time since the return of Doctor Who to television that a companion has been created for the comic strips, as opposed to having the Doctor travelling solo or with a TV companion.
Continuity
- Majenta Pryce returns, having last appeared in DWM: Hotel Historia.
- Frobisher, Destrii, Izzy Sinclair, Maxwell Edison and Kroton appear in the Doctor's memories on Knowsall.
- Zed returns in The Crimson Hand.
Time line
- No specific information is given as the where this lies in relation to the TV series. Since the Doctor picks up a new companion it is presumably after either DW: The Runaway Bride or DW: Journey's End
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