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Out Now: Doctor Who – The Complete History #22

Head to your nearest newsagents because the latest issue of Doctor Who: The Complete History is out right now.
Issue 22 is the third Tenth Doctor volume released, but focuses on tales near the close of David Tennant’s tenure. One of them is a fan favourite; the other… less so. But is better than people say:

Planet of the Dead

The Doctor and a cat burglar are aboard a double-decker bus when it is transported, via a wormhole, to the planet San Helios, which has been left barren by a swarm of alien parasites that are poised to invade the Earth.

The Waters of Mars

Mars, 21st November 2059: the Doctor arrives at Bowie Base One, Mankind’s first outpost on another world. But the Doctor knows that this is the day that the base’s crew will have an ill-fated encounter with the alien Flood, and he is bound to allow history to take its course.

Oh, The Waters of Mars: the finest Doctor Who of 2009, arguably of the Tenth Doctor era (though for me, it’s beaten by The Impossible Planet/ The Satan Pit and maybe Midnight). It’s wonderful, isn’t it? I’m a sucker for a base-under-siege tale.
As for Planet of the Dead, its worst crime is the flying bus. Or maybe letting Lady Christina go off into the sunset. They should’ve had the guts to shove her in jail. I know that makes the Doctor a hypocrite – he did, after all, steal the TARDIS – but it wouldn’t be the first time. Planet of the Dead looks fantastic too. The art inside this issue of The Complete History attest to that.
Of course, the really interesting thing here is that it sounds like The End of Time, the two-part swansong for the Tenth Doctor, will take up a whole volume of the partwork itself!
Doctor Who: The Complete History #22 is out now, priced £9.99 in the UK, or $24.99 in Australia and New Zealand.

Philip Bates

Editor and co-founder of the Doctor Who Companion. When he’s not watching television, reading books ‘n’ Marvel comics, listening to The Killers, and obsessing over script ideas, Philip Bates pretends to be a freelance writer. He enjoys collecting everything. Writer of The Black Archive: The Pandorica Opens/ The Big Bang, The Silver Archive: The Stone Tape, and 100 Objects of Doctor Who.

Out Now: Doctor Who – The Complete History #22

by Philip Bates time to read: 1 min
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