The Doctor has fallen short of his own ideals and lost more than he bargained for. Abandoned by his TARDIS, all hope seems lost. Former library assistant Alice Obiefune has grown into a courageous hero since her travels with the Time Lord began. With all she’s learned from him, can she now save the Doctor from himself? Meanwhile, John Jones has unlocked his creative abilities after being absorbed by the Entity. Now they have discovered their true potential, can Jones and the Entity help the Doctor to do the same…?

“Symmetry, innit.” So observes Jones towards the end of this issue, which is also the conclusion of the two-part The Comfort of the Good storyline as well as the entire fifteen-issue arc of Titan’s Eleventh Doctor series so far. He has a point – there’s a real sense of things turning full circle in this finale, of what goes around comes around.

The issue begins as the series began – overlooking a grey, rain-lashed graveyard. Last time it was Alice who was racked with despair, and the Doctor who rescued her from that dark place. Now it is Alice’s turn to rescue the Doctor from his despondency. This time it is Alice who tells the Doctor to run. This time it is Alice who observes that the Doctor looks sad.

In fact, all of the Doctor’s friends rally round to help him, as well as each other. The Time Lord learns to move forward (in a lavish double-page spread that references many previous Doctors and title sequences), the Entity is made whole once again, Jones gets his rock-star mojo, and for a moment Alice gets to see… ah, but that would be telling! They give each other what they need, without any ‘help’ from the exploitative Talent Scout. They give these things freely, with kindness, without strings. In just one of this issue’s many punch-the-air moments, the Doctor tells his foe, “We already have everything we want.” You can almost hear Murray Gold’s “I Am the Doctor” music during much of this issue!

On first reading, I was a little disappointed by the leniency shown towards the villain, but on reflection this is a fitting testament to the way in which our heroes operate – with mercy and compassion. With even that small gripe put out of the way, there is nothing to fault this beautiful resolution.

10

Richard McGinlay