Autopolitical Disorder...

In Autopia.
Who caused it? Yes he did ;-)
Doctor Who: Autopia is another in the series of comics from IDW Publishing. It's a wonderfully "familiar" story. There may be spoilers after this.

It feels like something from TV. John Ostrander (WHY BTW hasn't he written for Who before?) nails the Doctor and Donna's (yes, Donna. First time in an IDW comic, and heralding her continued adventures in stories like Cold-Blooded War coming soon from IDW) voice and crafted a excellent little story, it fits it's 22 odd pages perfectly. There isn't an unnecessary scene or line of dialogue. Even the info-dump at the start from the Doctor fits with his rather garrulous tenth self. The planet they arrive on is a seemingly Utopian one, with robots doing all the work, with diseases cured and life-span expanded considerably.

Who wouldn't want to live there? It even fascinates the Doctor (normally the first one to go looking for snakes in the garden). Who wouldn't want to live there? The slaves, upon whose back the entire society is built. Not people. Not aliens. Robots.
Donna is appalled. The Doctor furious.
Both, sadly, condemned to death.
Naturally.
Applying his wits and Donna's compassion, the Doctor stimulates a revolution, and then when the revolution threatens to turn violent, he puts his foot down, threatening to unleash a virus upon the robots and Donna taking a very human solution to the problem.

Sound familiar doesn't it? It's something that he's been doing for roughly 45 years. Most noticeably in one of my personal favourite stories the Happiness Patrol. It's safe. It's fun. It's (in my opinion) quintessential Who.
Kelley Yates is excellent on art, and Kris Carter a colourful addition to the crew.


A for the art.
A for the story.
Overall A.

So it's time to say good-bye to Outpost Gallifrey...

Shaun Lyon (Administrator royale and all-round nice guy) has said it's "last drinks" for Outpost Gallifrey and the Doctor Who Forum. It's rather a sad time give that for the last decade it's been my "home on virtual range".

But all good things, as they saying goes, must come to an end.

It's been a wild time, for me I graduated high school and entered uni. Graduated that and entered the work force. Got bored with that and went back to uni. And now that is finishing up too.

But the constant in that time was that madly infuriating, wonderfully enlightening place.
The denizens of the Tenth Planet, the debate and discussion section full of Socialists, Republicans, Mormons, Catholics, Atheists, people with mad dreams and constant gripes are people I'm happy to call friends. People who opened my eyes to new ideas and new philosophies. Who shook me out of the intellectual doldrums and mental ruts. Who forced me to justify my opinions and beliefs.
We even got around to talking about Doctor Who, from time to time.

I was there when the eighth Doctor took over the "lead Doctor" duties in the books. I was there when the DVDs started to be released. I was there when Big Finish kicked off. I was there when the rumours began of some bloke called Davies picking up pen to craft a new Doctor. I defended "my Doctor" from people who accused him and his era of being garbage. I reviewed the books as the infamous amnesia arc began. I speculated over the nature of the enemy in the War in Heaven.

Outpost Gallifrey was a great place to be at the end of one century and the beginning of the next.
It will be remembered fondly.