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“OPHIUCHUS: OR, A CLOISTERED CONUNDRUM”

Ophiuchus takes the Fifth Doctor and his cramped TARDIS team into the shadowy cloisters of Gallifrey for a tale that promises intrigue and mystery—but ends up feeling like a densely scripted prologue to a story that never quite gets off the ground. With clean artwork and a strong setting, this short comic has the ingredients for something substantial, but the result is more of a missed opportunity than a memorable chapter in The Many Lives of Doctor Who.

A TEAM TOO CROWDED FOR ITS OWN GOOD

Five is joined by Tegan, Nyssa, and Turlough, but it quickly becomes clear that there just isn’t enough narrative space for everyone to shine. Tegan opens the story asking some questions but is swiftly brushed aside for Nyssa to take over the inquisitive role, while poor Turlough might as well not be here at all—he gets nothing to do but stand in the background. This is classic overcrowded-TARDIS syndrome, and it’s felt hard here.

WHO IS OPHIUCHUS AND WHY SHOULD WE CARE?

The titular renegade Time Lord, Ophiuchus, is introduced with ominous flair—robed, brooding, and hiding out from Gallifrey’s authorities. He looks cool and seems dangerous, but we’re never told why. There’s no real backstory, no context, just the suggestion that he’s been evading capture. He ends up more of a visual than a character.

And then comes the odd climax: the companions convince the Doctor to share some of his regeneration energy with Ophiuchus, prompting a gender change and a low-key escape. It’s an unexpected beat that tries to be profound but lands more like a curious shrug—interesting in concept, but undercooked in execution.

IT NEEDED MORE ROOM TO BREATHE

There are glimpses of an intriguing idea here—especially the notion of Time Lord identity, transformation, and escape—but the story doesn’t have enough space to explore them. The dialogue is thick, the plot rushed, and the character dynamics feel more functional than fun. The setting of the Gallifreyan cloisters is atmospheric, and the clean, classical art lends it a dignified tone, but the script doesn't take advantage of any of it.

📝VERDICT: 5/10

Ophiuchus has the right atmosphere and a few intriguing concepts—an enigmatic renegade, regeneration politics, the dusty corners of Gallifrey—but it never builds on them. Tegan and Turlough are sidelined, the villain lacks weight, and the story feels like a first draft for something bigger. Not terrible, but definitely underwhelming. One for completists only.

Ah, we couldn’t keep the streak of improvements coming of course. An entire story of things just happening because Richard said so. The bit at the end where the time lord regenerates into a woman and Nyssa asks about it would make it better, if they actually did something with it and didn’t cut off right after. Like c’mon you’ve got a whole five pages for this! The longest story yet! Could’ve at least used that extra one for some interesting or fun back and forth between characters, but instead we have a whole page of “I’m going to declare for no particular reason whatsoever why I’m here, now the Doctor is going to walk to a wall, which will magically turn out to be the entrance because I said so” and then the time lord renegade doing more expository dialogue and saying “hey doctor we should do this” and the doctor saying “hey we should do this” and then they do this and that’s it. Stories like these make me believe I could be a scriptwriter. They’re very motivating.

Very clean drawings, idem with the colouring. The part where Fivey drinks the regeneration juice or whatever he’s supposed to be doing looks pretty neat (and very silly).