This is by far the barmiest Doctor Who Magazine comic strip I have read. Some of it may be because as with the TV story Love & Monsters, it features monsters designed by kids as part of a children’s competition. This one is more successful than Love & Monsters, as the quirkier nature of the designs fits the comic medium better.

It concerns a hypnotising cat taking the Doctor to a dance floor where sentient interdimensional banana creatures have beaten Earth world leaders in the medium of dance. Their leader Beattie challenges the Doctor to a dance off: if he wins, they leave. If they win, they take over the Earth.

I’m not sure entirely how I feel about it. It’s certainly entertaining, and it fits the Fifteenth Doctor era like a glove. However, sometimes the silliness is a bit overpowering and removes any sense of jeopardy from the story.

The Fifteenth Doctor #17

'Dance Till You Drop' (2025) from Doctor Who Magazine 614.

While it's cute that Doctor Who Magazine host a children's contest to include their monsters or characters into the stories, it simply doesn't result in a very good story with this comic here unfortunately. It's a lacklustre entry to the solo-15 canon, and I wish we could have had a three-or-four-parter during this gap between Season One and Season Two, but the inclusion of this strip here explains that that wasn't possible and instead we'll likely be seeing another one-shot 15 story next month as well.

Thworping through time and space, one adventure at a time!

“DANCE TILL YOU DROP: A TRIPPY BUT SHALLOW COMIC DETOUR”

Dance Till You Drop is a six-page Doctor Who Magazine comic strip featuring a solo Fifteenth Doctor adventure set in 1970s New York. Accompanied by a talking, hypnotising cat, the Doctor must outdance a group of one-eyed, yellow, dance-inducing giant potato aliens in order to save the world. If that premise sounds bizarre, that’s because it absolutely is.

The story’s main gimmick is that both the cat and the aliens were designed by children as part of a magazine contest. While this is a fun idea in principle, it results in characters that feel incredibly one-note, with little in the way of depth or development. The short format doesn’t help, leaving no room to explore them beyond their initial quirks.

A TALKING CAT AND MINION-LIKE ALIENS

Doctor Who has had its fair share of memorable talking animals—Frobisher the shape-shifting penguin being one of the most beloved—but this hypnotic cat fails to reach the same heights. It feels like a weaker version of the Cheshire Cat, all self-confidence and smug remarks but without much else to make it stand out. Meanwhile, the potato-like aliens are an odd mix of goofy and unsettling, coming across as off-putting rather than entertaining. Their design evokes comparisons to the Minions, but without the same level of charm.

A TRIPPY BUT DISJOINTED EXPERIENCE

The story itself is as wild as its premise suggests, but it doesn’t quite come together. The art is serviceable, capturing the psychedelic, disco-infused setting well enough, but the dialogue is stilted and doesn’t quite capture the essence of Ncuti Gatwa’s Doctor. His usual energy and charm don’t translate well onto the page, making his characterisation feel slightly off. The New York setting is also largely wasted, serving as little more than a vague backdrop rather than a fully realised environment.

📝VERDICT: 4/10

While Dance Till You Drop is an amusingly surreal concept, it ultimately feels too shallow and disjointed to be truly memorable. The characters lack depth, the story never fully embraces its potential, and the Doctor himself doesn’t quite feel like himself. A fun but forgettable detour in Doctor Who Magazine’s comic lineup.

There’s some cute ideas here. I am a big believer in comedic one shots, so am happy to see the, going strong in DWM. The issue with this one though is that the ending is a bit abrupt. Perhaps one more page to flesh out the idea could have done it.

I found this strip to just be very confusing and odd. That is, until I read the accompanying article explaining how Beatie and the Hypnotising Cat came from a children's competition, and that the strip was partially written at a convention, taking audience suggestions. With this context, the strip is fine. It's nothing too special. The concepts are a bit odd and slightly incongruous, but, combined with some nice artwork, the strip is alright.