The Shape-Shifter by: Steve Parkhouse with art by: John Ridgway and letters by: Annie Halfacree

 

The Shape-Shifter is written by Steve Parkhouse with art by John Ridgway and lettering by Annie Halfacree.  It was released in Doctor Who Magazine issues 88-89 (April-May 1984) and is reprinted in its original form in Doctor Who: Voyager by Panini Books.

 

Let’s talk for a quick moment about Colin Baker as the Sixth Doctor.  Baker would play the role from 1984 to 1986, the shortest time in the role until Paul McGann’s one television film run and Christopher Eccleston’s one year on the show.  Baker as an actor wished to play the role for longer than Tom Baker’s seven year era, but was cut short due to a combination of production troubles at the BBC, a controller who was actively trying to cancel the show, and a perceived lack of viewing figures (the 1985 season was actually healthy in the viewing figures, on par with all of Davison’s run and even higher than about half of Tom Baker’s last season).  The issues began right with Baker taking over the role with John Nathan-Turner’s decision to make the final story of Season 21 the Sixth Doctor’s introduction.  While this may be a good idea on paper, in practice it was disastrous as The Twin Dilemma is often regarded as one of, if not the worst Doctor Who stories.  It also meant that for the majority of 1984 the Doctor Who Magazine strip would have one story to base their portrayal of the Sixth Doctor upon.

 

The Shape-Shifter is the first Sixth Doctor comic strip and it reflects this fact, mainly because for the first installment the Doctor is barely present, only sitting at a restaurant, going back to the TARDIS and finding it invaded by the titular shape shifter, with the rest of the first issue being dedicated to establishing the Whifferdill as a character.  Fans will eventually come to know this character as Frobisher, but here he’s a stereotypical hard boiled detective with a mix of greed, not even named in the story.  He just decides to go off with the Doctor at the end because they make a good team of making a fool out of Josiah W. Dogbolter and they split the money which is fine, it means the plot of the two issues is thin enough that it doesn’t entirely rely on something big.  Writer Steve Parkhouse uses it for some time to understand how he’s going to be writing the Sixth Doctor before launching into a longer adventure, which is a smart decision as there’s plenty of time for things to work.  The Doctor is essentially a supporting character in this specific story which works in this way.  There’s not a lot of time to let things sit, so Parkhouse just gets right down to business and works it out quickly.  This is also the first story to feature art from John Ridgway who would be the permanent artist on the strip for the entirety of the Sixth Doctor’s run and into the Seventh Doctor’s run, a much longer run that Mick Austin or Steve Dillon, meaning that at this point there is going to be consistency in the style.  Ridgway’s style is interesting, it takes some of the dynamic poses of Dave Gibbons’ and combines it with more of the detail of Austin, without the scratchiness that permeated the Fifth Doctor’s run.

 

Overall, The Shape-Shifter is a simple beginning to a new Doctor’s era in the comic strip, but is a lot of fun with an interesting point of view character, a lighter tone, and a break from the longer epics that came before and would come after.  8/10.