Doctor Who: The Fourth Doctor #4 - A Review

The good news is that The Doctor has identified the alien menace that is threatening Victorian London. The bad news is that Sarah Jane has already fallen victim to it! And the worst news is that another alien menace has taken control of The TARDIS in The Doctor's absence!

With this issue, Gordon Rennie and Emma Beeby manage a rather neat trick. Before now they've proven capable of emulating the style and cadence of a classic Tom Baker Doctor Who story. With this issue, they tie the realm of Classic Who into the modern era, with The Doctor making reference to the familiar concepts of "quantum locking" and "fixed points in time" from the newer series. Yet the story still retrains the aura of a Gothic Horror novel that pervaded so much of The Fourth Doctor era. The whole thing is, in a word, brilliant.

Brian Williamson's artwork equals the quality of the writing. Williamson goes beyond simply caricaturing the actors from the show and crafts images of uncanny realism. He also proves capable of designing some truly horrific alien monsters that blend seamlessly into the action.