It's very funny how all the regenerations of the Master are a little bit scornful and laugh at Master Saxon. Missy is so iconic in this story. And I realy like how they work with Unbound and War Master's.

Ncuti has been an incredible Doctor and it's a great shame and disgrace that this is his last episode. And it is very sad what they did to Omega and Rani, what they did to Belinda and Ruby... Just awful... I hope Russell T Davies is never allowed to join the franchise again

As a Kyivan by birth and an eternal fan of Kyiv, I could not ignore this book from the first moment I heard about it. Imagine that! A novel about the First Doctor in medieval Kyiv, what's not to like for a person who has been a fan of the Doctor for years and how we all always wanted a story about the Doctor's adventures in his native country. And then there's the hometown!

For a relatively long time, I kept this book in my memories with the idea of buying it someday, so after a while my enthusiasm, although it waned, did not disappear. The book was written in 2001, and we can imagine what this means: Kiev instead of Kyiv, notes of Russian historiography, calling Rus' not Rus' or Ruthenia, but russia, as well as the Rusyns or Ruthenians, who are called russians here (that's why I have a little bit of black pen in my book).

Still, the desire to read the Doctor's Kyiv adventures remained, and my girlfriend, a philologist, also piqued my interest in the Kyiv text as a literary phenomenon, so I was interested in looking at this side of the book as well (hehe...).

Impressions of the text

Before I get to the ‘stuffy’ part of this text, I'd like to talk about something simpler - the book itself and my impressions of it!

Bunker Soldiers is a pretty solid historical story about the Doctor, which doesn't really need aliens in the first place. The conflict that drives the plot is good enough without it - the Doctor, Steven and Dodo are stuck in medieval Kyiv because they've flown to the wrong place and are now being held in custody (although to be fair, it's more the TARDIS than them that's being held). All they have to do is get into the TARDIS, but they are under pressure because it is 1240 and the Mongols will soon reach Kyiv.

The driving conflict, as you can see, is quite strong and basically provides a field for movement - the escape and rescue of the Kyivans. The alien strand is rather auxiliary (despite the title of the novel) and exists as a motivating factor for the Doctor and other characters to take more proactive action, encouraging the Doctor to intervene in the course of historical events and try to prevent the Mongols from entering the city, but simply accept surrender to prevent the Mongols from meeting the alien.

And although the sci-fi branch of this novel is not my main focus, I have to admit that it is done in a cool way. Firstly, although the werewolf alien is not an innovative concept, I like the way Martin Day describes its original form. And in general, the text conveys the physical state of an alien soldier (though more like an alien weapon) tired of eternal war very well. In addition, Martin adds a very nice little feature to the ‘bunker soldier’, which sets his methods and habits in a good light against the background of the other antagonists of the Doctor.

Separately, I want to highlight the way Martin Day works with the character in the middle of the text. Periodically, in some chapters, there are parts that look like a military report from a mission, written specifically in a futuristic setting, so you perceive them as flashbacks that are supposed to explain to you how the bunker soldier got to Earth. However, when you start to realise that these ‘reports’ are actually how the alien explains to himself the attacks he is carrying out in medieval Kyiv, it's really very well done.

However, the science fiction branch does not allow its subplots to develop, while the historical branch grows like a small tree:

• The conflict between the Doctor and Steven is based on the fact that the former does not want to interfere in the course of history, while Steven and Dodo want to save the people of Kyiv.
• Forbidden love between the daughter of the councillor Yevgeny, Lesya, and the son of another councillor, Isaac, Naum. The forbiddenness is based on Yevhen's hostility.
• Yevhen's ambition to gain more power in Kyiv, which puts him at odds with almost everyone. He even has a conflict with his own daughter, though not on the basis of power
• betrayal and conspiracy of the Orthodox Church in the person of Archbishop Vasyl
• attempts by the governor Dmytro to do something
• attempts by the Doctor to prevent the Mongols from meeting the alien

And all these subplots develop quite well and come to a logical conclusion. Perhaps only with the exception of Archbishop Vasily's subplot. This branch is quite weak in principle and its meaning barely makes sense. It seems as if the author wanted to add some kind of anti-clerical note to his text (perhaps against the background of the great clericalism of the Middle Ages), but it comes out very weakly and the motivation of the Orthodox Church for betrayal is rather vague.

I would like to single out the active secondary characters, or rather their names and roles and some, perhaps, subconscious things about them. Let's look at these characters:

• Counsellor Isaac's family - all Jews, all positive characters;
• Counsellor Yevhen (in the text Yevhen) - a Rusyn, in the sense of the text a negative character. Thirsty for power, cruel to his daughter, he frames Stephen for a crime he did not commit in order not to expose himself;
• Lesia (in the text Lesia) - Eugene's daughter, a positive character in her relationship with Naum;
• Archbishop Vasyl (in the text Vasyl) - a Rusyn, a negative character, because he is a traitor;
• Taras (in the text Taras) - a Rusyn, a negative character, because he is Eugene's assistant;
• Mykola (in the text Mykola) - a Rusyn, starts as a negative character, ends as a grey character;
• Oleksandr (in the text Oleksandr) - a Rusyn, a positive character, affected by Eugene's ambitions;
• Dmytro (in the text Dmitri) - a Rusyn, a positive character.

So, why did I want to highlight this? If we look at the characters of the Rusyns, almost all those who have a Ukrainian name in the novel are negative characters, with the exception of Lesya and Olexandr. And Mykola, although he later formed some kind of relationship with the Doctor, did not repent of the murder of Stephen and did not confess who gave him the order. So four out of six Ukrainian names belong to negative characters. Instead, we have the almost perfectly good and fair Dmytro, who is called Dmitri throughout the text, in the Russian manner. I don't know if I'm just being overly hyped, or if the author is most likely unconsciously creating a situation that is becoming identical to how Ukrainians were often portrayed in Soviet cinema in the 50s and 60s. When bright Ukrainian characteristics of a Ukrainian were supposed to mean either a comedy character or an enemy of the system, while Russian characteristics (name, language) carried ‘positive’ connotations.

I am not sure that the author creates this situation on purpose. It is logical that in a story about Kyiv, characters should have Slavic names (let's forgot Taras's wife Elizabeth), but I find it a little disturbing that the author gives the ideal character, the voivode Dmitri, a Russian name. While all other active secondary characters (often negative) have names in the Ukrainian manner.

Is this a coincidence, due to the years of Russian and Soviet narratives being fed to the West by Russia, or is it simply the influence of Russia on the Western history of the Slavic peoples, where under this influence, Voivode Dmytro becomes Dmitri? Who knows, but the case is striking.

Aside from all the negative things I've written above (and a couple of comments on historical accuracy, which will be given later), Bunker Soldiers is really not a bad novel. It's not a masterpiece, and it's not the best Doctor story, but it's just a very good solid Doctor story in a historical setting with a fantasy element.

If you're not triggered by the words Kiev, russia, russians and Dmitri in a 2001 text and are willing to overlook some historical inaccuracies, Bunker Soldiers might be a good option to brighten up a couple of your evenings, if you don't have high expectations.

The Kyivan text

So, as I mentioned at the beginning of the article, one of the motivations for me to read this novel was the opportunity to consider whether and how the Kyiv text works in this work, and for those who do not know, this is a small excursion.

The purpose of any urban text is to comprehend the identity of the influence of a particular urban culture on the recipient's consciousness [1]. Within the framework of the Kyiv text, according to Tamara Gundorova: ‘Kyiv has not yet found its own distinct semiotic formula..... The idea of continuity has become a feature of its textuality - the common genealogy of the city is noted, starting with the old grandfather of Kyiv and ending with the organicity of modern Kyiv as a garden of Eden’ [2].

Ibid: "Kyiv's fragmentation is culturally, religiously, ethnonationally and geographically coloured. Russian Kyiv is usually identified with Bulgakov's City, Ukrainian Kyiv with the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy. Historical Kyiv is associated with St Sophia and the Lavra, and geographical Kyiv with Andriyivskyy Descent, which at the same time acts as a metaphysical vector that contrasts the upper and lower city and strings them together on the horizontal expanse of the Dnipro River, as sung by Mykola Gogol. There is Soviet Kyiv with the unfinished square on the site of St Michael's Monastery and Stalin's official Pechersk. There is a bourgeois Kyiv with the memory of Stalin, the Sviatoshyn recreational area, and the ‘Pechersk antiquities’, a gallery of which was described by Nikolai Leskov and which, in his opinion, represented ‘an original type of old Kyivan culture with a Zaporizhzhia twist’. In the end, there is Kyiv with Ukrainian, Russian, and Polish tops."

Adding to the more modern perception of Kyiv, as Bunker Soldiers was written in the early noughties, according to Y. Polishchuk [3]: "Colonial aspects are being re-actualised in contemporary Ukrainian literature, which reflects the reassessment of values that accompanies the process of nation-state building. The city is once again emerging as a centre of ‘historicisation of space’, as the memory of the past not only defines its own identity, but also influences the formation of the collective identity of the wider community."

However, what do we have in the novel itself about the Doctor in Kyiv?

It is obvious that we cannot expect colonial aspects from a British author who does not understand our context. Throughout the text, Kyiv can be perceived as ‘Russian’. Yes, the author writes about Rus', but the use of the terms russia and russians throughout the text creates a completely different picture in the mind of the reader, who most likely does not understand that medieval Rus' is not the same as modern Russia. The use of Kiev instead of Kyiv is also related to this, but here I am more lenient. After all, the work was written in the early noughties, and we didn't exactly use the correct English name for our capital back then.

The only notes of Ukrainian Kyiv are in the Ukrainian names of the supporting characters, and even with them there are problems. Whether to include Sophia of Kyiv in these notes is, in principle, a question.

But the previous two paragraphs have little to do with the Kyiv text as such, and the novel itself. Despite my expectations of a ‘Kyiv story of the Doctor’ and my hopes for a Kyiv text, Bunker Soldiers is not a Kyiv story at all. Yes, the story is set in Kyiv, but Kyiv as a ‘character’ is completely inactive in the novel. Kyiv as such does not exist in the novel. All the actions of the novel take place in locations, let's say, separated from the city, even though they are located in it. Both the house of the governor Dmytro and the catacombs of St Sophia Cathedral are separated from the life of the city, even though it was under the threat of a Mongol attack. Moreover, the presence of the catacombs under St. Sophia's Cathedral in the plot does not mean the active involvement of the cathedral itself, as it is simply present in the background. On the other hand, the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra was not lucky enough to be mentioned in the text at all, as well as other medieval Kyiv monuments.

The streets of Kyiv, if they exist in the text, are as impersonal as possible and do not bear any of the identity of medieval Kyiv, giving the reader not a drop of specific urban culture. Leaving Kyiv as a pale set that exists to fill the stage for a theatrical production about Mongols, aliens, and the game of power.

Which is sad, because writing about medieval Kyiv, Day could have pulled up such identities as city-temple, city-body, city-garden, which are inherent in medieval Kyiv [2] and put it in the face of an existential threat from the Mongol horde. To draw a Kyiv-Rome connection, with a garter about the city's decline and fall under the onslaught of ‘barbarians’. To perceive the latter not as a description of the Mongols, but as a term identical to the terms other/non-Christian (adding the Kyiv-Jerusalem connection based on the sacred dimension and importance of Kyiv).

Historical accuracy

It is obvious that a science fiction novel, especially one by a British author in the early noughties, cannot be expected to be historically accurate. Even the author himself writes in the afterword to Bunker Soldiers:

A bibliography would be out of place here, but it is true to say that Robert Marshall’s Storm from the East was my first port of call for all things relating to the Mongols. Any historical or other errors are, of course, my own — bearing in mind the slippery excuse that the world of Doctor Who is not quite our own.

Also in a short interview on the old Doctor Who website [4]:

Bunker Soldiers essentially evolved out of my interest in the period in general and the Mongols in particular (there was a documentary series called Storm from the East, that I reference in the book, that was especially fascinating). I had come up with something similar before - for a three-part novel about 'season 6b' that the three of us had pitched to Virgin - but that involved werewolves and so on. (Do you detect a running theme here? Nothing's ever wasted.)

I just went back to my original setting and characters and expanded things from there - I wanted a real, epic, Marco Polo-esque feel to everything - and pushed the SF and the monster into the shadows as much as possible.

I was fascinated with the idea of the Mongols - just a bunch of humans - seeming as terrifying and frightening as 'real' aliens to the inhabitants of Kiev. I'd always planned for large elements of it to feel like a straight historical, but with just enough oddness - and some intentionally jarring POV sequences/flashbacks - to keep the reader turning the page.

So it is logical to assume that the author is not necessarily beyond a TV documentary by Robert Marshall in his bibliography for researching the topic.

Nevertheless, I find it interesting to analyse the historical inaccuracies that I have noticed in this novel for two reasons: 1. When else will I have such an opportunity, given that I know the history of my hometown better than the history of the world? 2. It's very interesting to see how foreign authors think about the history of your country in the context of the time of writing and the influences that have been present.

In fact, the main inaccuracies about Kyiv in the plot can be summed up in just two milestones: Voivode Dmytro and St Sophia's Cathedral. But this is understandable, because as mentioned above, the work is not really about Kyiv, its action is located on the pillars of Dmitry's house-catacomb of St. Sophia Cathedral-the Mongol horde. Obviously, the Mongol horde cannot have problems with the historicity of Kyiv, and there is not much truth about the Mongols in the plot.

An inaccuracy about Voivode Dmytro and what follows from it.

I will say right away that there are no problems with the existence of Voivode Dmytro himself, he did sit in Kyiv and led during the Mongol siege in 1240. However, the author has a problem with who put Dmytro at the head of the city.

Martin Day consistently writes that Dmytro was a protege of Prince Mykhailo (Michael) and remained in charge of Kyiv after the prince fled. The author connects Mykhailo and Dmytro to such an extent that he describes in the text how the prince trusted the voivode, although Dmytro did not always agree with him and had conflicts.

Dmitri was a powerful man, whose athletic form complemented the grim authority of his office, but in situations such as this he seemed even more imposing. Isaac had more reason than most to have seen the governor’s humour and warmth when the circumstances so demanded - but he also remembered that Dmitri had never ceased to rigorously pursue what he felt was right, even if that brought him into conflict with Prince Michael. On more than one occasion, he had faced being stripped of office for seeming impertinence, only for the prince to eventually concede that Dmitri had been right all along.

I am Dmitri, appointed by Prince Michael as the one governor of Kiev. I greet you with respect and, I hope, in peace.

The point is that Dmytro was a appointed by and boyar not of Prince Mykhailo of Chernihiv, but of Prince Danylo of Halych. Mykhailo did hold Kyiv, but in 1239 he left the city and really fled, as the Mongols burned his fiefdom, i.e. Chernihiv. Seizing the moment, Danylo Halytskyi occupied Kyiv, and as of 1240 the city was under the rule of Danylo and the Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia. And it was Danylo who appointed Dmytro as Kyiv governor.

Therefore, all the references to Dmytro being appointed by Mykhailo, and even more so, to Mykhailo being able to deprive the voivode of his position, are strange, because he was basically under the rule of another prince and another principality. Just as Batu Khan's words about Mikhail do not make much sense:

We are mindful of your bravery — whereas news of the cowardly flight of Prince Michael and his family has reached even our ears. How dare he leave his people behind to suffer! When we capture him, he will pay a price in keeping with his neglect of his people!

Naturally, after Martin Day ignores the existence of Danylo Halytskyi, the whole Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia is ignored. For, although at the time of the Mongol invasion Prince Danylo himself was in conditional exile and the horde quietly marched through Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia after Kyiv, the paragraph from the novel below is still a complete absurdity.

Kiev was next, less than a hundred miles away. Isaac stared at the awesome path carved by the Mongols through Europe. The principalities of Russia had already fallen, and beyond Kiev lay only the quaking states of Poland, Bohemia, Austria and Hungary. At no point had the progress of the horsemen been even halted; at no battle or capitulation had any knowledge been gained that might assist in future struggles against the horde.

For how could all the Rus' principalities fall and only Kyiv separate Europe from the Mongols, if right behind it was a whole kingdom, of which Kyiv was de jure a part at the time, but was not even the capital! Given that after returning from exile, Danylo Halytskyi would not only regain power in his native principality, but also maintain diplomatic relations with the Golden Horde itself and Batu Khan. So this is quite surprising.

I can only assume that the absence of Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia and Danylo Halytskyi can be explained by the fact that the author somehow used Russian historiography, which puts Prince Michael, who left Kyiv in 1239, in the spotlight, linking Dmytro to him. But these are purely my unverified suspicions based on the fact that among all the characters of the Rus' who bear Ukrainian names, only Dmytri is called Dmitri. However, there is no verification of this thesis, because I do not have the strength to dig into Russian historiography.

Inaccuracy about St Sophia Cathedral

Most likely caused by the fact that the author needed to include the catacombs in the story and tie in the fact that St Sophia Cathedral survived the attack of Batu Khan. And also the fact that, most likely, having no experience of being in Kyiv, he merged St Sophia's Cathedral and Kyiv Pechersk Lavra into one with a drop of hyperbole.

In other words, Martin Day is inventing catacombs under St Sophia's Cathedral! These are not small catacombs:

I finished my descent and examined my surroundings as keenly as the limited light allowed. It seeined that I was in a great, dark space, a void under the cathedral riddled with foundational columns and pillars. I hoped Olexander knew where he was going, and that there was a purpose to his exploration, for surely this was not a place well visited by travellers or guides. It would be easy to get lost in it, and wander in unwitting circles until overcome by exhaustion.

Then he created an intricate system of passages from these catacombs that connected the cathedral and the voivode's house:

I have heard rumours of such tunnels,’ he said. ‘It was considered wise to link the ecclesiastical heart of Kiev to the civic - should a man from one wish to throw himself on the mercy of the men in the other. But the tunnels themselves are known, I am sure, to only a few souls. I have never seen them on any map or design of the city.

And the situation here is not so much that there have never been any catacombs under the cathedral, but that it is not possible to have any catacombs under the cathedral in principle. St Sophia's Cathedral stands on a foundation up to 2 metres deep [5], which actually creates the preconditions for the absence of catacombs.

Another inaccuracy is the use of Latin to denote the language of faith - Christianity, although there is only one such case. However, the use of Latin in the titles of the chapters is natural, most likely due to the author's desire to simulate the important place of faith in the Middle Ages. However, he makes the mistake of extrapolating the Western tradition of Christianity to the Eastern one, for why would the Greek church use Latin in its church service instead of Greek and Church Slavonic? He also adds the mention of incubi by Yevhen, although this knowledge may have some basis, since he may have had some contact with the ‘Latin’ world.

Sources:

1. Лавринович, Л. Б. (2010). Міський текст у сучасній літературі. Актуальні проблеми слов’янської філології, XXIII(1), 310–320.
2. Гундорова, Т. (2013). Романс як архетип київського модерністського тексту. У Київ і слов'янські літератури (с. 217–233). Темпора.
3. Поліщук, Я. (2013). Імагологічний вимір Києва в художній літературі новітньої доби. У Київ і слов'янські літератури (с. 389–399). Темпора
4. BBC - Doctor Who - Martin Day. (б. д.). Wayback Machine. https://web.archive.org/web/20050406223914/http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/news/drwho/2004/09/23/14433.shtml
5. Молочкова, Н., & Ніщук, Л. (2016). Історія будівництва та реставрації «Софії Київської». Світ геотехніки, (2), 12–15.

There's not as much truth for the sake of "Cosmovision" here as you'd expect from an audiodrama about the contest. Yes, all the events take place against the backdrop of the contest itself, there's a Terry Wogan impersonator (Graham Norton's predecessor as British commentator) and even a couple of songs, but it all feels a little lacking. Honestly, I think there are more references to Star Trek (we'll get to that) than to Eurovision. Moreover, in the finale, the Cosmovision turns out to be not what it seemed.

The whole plot revolves around a series of murders at Dark Space 8 station, which are an attempt to disrupt the contest. It is fuelled by the fact that, among other participants, the competition involves representatives of two species - the Golos and the Angvii - who are in a state of war that has been going on for generations and a peace conference between the two states is taking place just as the song contest is taking place, adding to the mix of prejudices, motives and resentments.

And in fact, it's hard... What started as a ‘hee-hee, ha-ha, an audio drama about space Eurovision’ quickly turns into a rather unhappy drama, because you start paralleling it all... Especially given the current context, where on 15 May there will be both the second semi-final of Eurovision and potential negotiations between russia and Ukraine, literally like in Bang-Bang-a-Boom... And that's not even all! In one of the skirmishes between the representatives of the Angvies and the Gholos, the Queen of England and the Gholos, the topic of violation of territorial borders is raised, where the representative of the Angvies says that they entered the planets controlled by the Gholos because they were invited by the natives... And you just listen to this and you're like

So at some point, I decided not to hyper-analise this plotline, because it wouldn't work. Given that the whole audio drama is quite comedic, it wasn't that hard to get distracted. And when I say it's quite comedic, I mean it's very comedic. Just the melody that plays literally after every death, which makes even the death of a character in the plot become a comedic element in itself.

Adding to that specifically comedic references to Star Trek:

• Dark Space 8, in the original Dark Space 8, is an obvious reference to Deep Space 9
• The Doctor makes Star Trek references throughout the audio, for example, asking the guards to get phasers instead of lasers and so on.
• There is a logbook in almost every part of the four, which is very similar to the Star Trek logbook in its manner.
• The past adventures of the station, as recalled by the crew, are suspiciously reminiscent of the plots of some episodes of various Star Trek series.

But they are not the only ones. Among all this, there is also a nod to Babylon 5 and the little-known in Ukrainian circles British Space: 1999. It seems that the authors collected all their favourite elements of pop culture and carefully wove it all into the script of the audio story so that in the end it looks organic.

Another obviously comic element is the Doctor's romantic (and apparently not only...) connections in this story. The first one is more normal - the head doctor wants to romance the Doctor. The second is more, um... Strange?

The Doctor is being romanced by Queen Anglia and her species has some kind of special pheromone (???) that makes the chosen ones fall in love with women of that species. And the strange thing is that, judging by the ‘text’, it all goes back to the fact that the Seventh had sex with her... And it's not said directly, but it's so ambiguous that it's a bit of a mess... It's not that I'm against eroticism or the fact that the Doctor has sex (absolutely not), but in Bang-Bang-a-Boom! it's just so strange. Especially given that it's presented in a rather comical way, even though the Doctor is actually being forced into a relationship by chemical exposure (which is horrible! never do that!). And it's all for the sake of rigging the Cosmovision scores...

Also, the titles of the songs mentioned in the audio play, for example, Don't Push Your Tentacle Too Far, flirt a little with strange eroticism. Well, at least My Love is as Limitless as a Black Hole, and I'm Pulling You Over the Event Horizon sounds quite romantic and cool (but not winning, who the hell likes love ballads at Eurovision?).

As for the Doctor and Mel themselves. They're absolute sunshine and a gorgeous chaotic duo, considering that they have to pretend to be other people for almost the entire audio frame - the new head of the station and his pilot, on whose shuttle our protagonists landed right before it exploded. And honestly, this fact adds a great dimension to the jokes, especially for the Doctor, who is getting in good shape and therefore delivers pearls of style:

Not to get involved. Getting involved is my stock and trade. It is very nice uniform, wich I must show of to someone.

Mel's situation is also quite interesting, as she goes from wanting to stay out of the way to being overly active and overly spacialistic towards the voices, because they are not humanoids, and their language is semantically complex and unlike any other language. Therefore, on the basis of the unknown, she immediately begins to suspect their representative, without absolute evidence. Before that, it makes a few more suspicions of others without any reason. In fact, this theme is a great way to show the difference between Mel and the Doctor in their approaches to solving problems. Just like the fake ending of the audio story shows that Mel is still more perceptive than the Doctor, although she suffers from jumping to conclusions.

Mel also has a rather hackneyed line about her friendship with a local super-ultra-mega pop star from Earth, Nicky Newman, whom she knows nothing about because he's from the past. So Nikki hangs out with her and tells her the standard story about how hard it is to be a superstar (and it is really hard, I don't argue), but in 2025 it feels a little bit hackneyed, but camon, the audio is 23 years old, she can do it.

In conclusion, it's a pretty cute (apart from the historical parallels...) humorous audio novel with a lot of references to science fiction and Eurovision, and a light-hearted detective storyline. If you want to sit back and listen to the Seventh Doctor win the Eurovision Song Contest with a game of spoons, this is the audio novel for you.

I always like it when the stories in Doctor Who revolve not so much around the danger to humans from aliens as the danger to aliens from xenophobia and human cruelty. It's always good when a writer wants to improve something in humanity with their script. And so is the xenophobia of the ‘old guard’ of neo-Daleks who have not fully reflected on their past. And that's why I'm excited about this story, but there are some buts... Firstly, I didn't really like the introduction of Kata-Phobus as a cause of xenophobia on both sides, as if trying to justify both humans and Daleks. As if xenophobia can only be introduced by some Big One, and not originate among ordinary people, most homophobes are not homophobes because of Big Brother, slave owners were not racist because of one person, russians hate Ukrainians not because of someone above them, sometimes large groups of people are just imperialists/racists/xenophobes in themselves and hate other groups of people just because, not because someone imposed this idea on them. Secondly, and actually very much related to the previous one, is the comment of the writer in Daleks: The Ultimate Comic Strip Collection Vol.2 about why he hosted Kata-Phobus:

‘People who stir up hatred between groups usually stand outside the conflict. They might be politicians, terrorists or tabloid editors, but their main goal is always to profit from other people's pain’

Because as I said above, no, sometimes groups of people are horrible people just because they are bad people, not because someone imposed it on them.

But beyond all that, I really enjoyed the story and I'm excited about it.

The mini-series follows the adventures of Missy and Master Delgado and was timed to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the Master's appearance in the series. And let me tell you, it's a gorgeous tribute to Master Delgado, to Missy, and to all the other regenerations of this Doctor's companion.

It's a shame Jody Houser, who wrote this miniseries, didn't try harder in Empire of the Wolf, which was supposed to be a celebration of the Eighth Doctor's 25th birthday, but instead focused more on Eleven and Rose than the Eighth. But let's get back to the good stuff.

Hauser didn't reinvent the wheel too much and took a cue from the episode World Enough and Time, where Missy played the role of the Doctor with the Twelfth's permission and supervision. And it's the same here. The Twelfth sends Missy, who plays the role of the Doctor, to get the Master out of prison to help save the world. And this move is absolutely gorgeous! As great as Michelle Gomez's performance as the Doctor is, Jodie Goucher and Robert Ingranata have captured and recreated all the vibe of the comic, her character, her boastfulness and her irony. This is exactly the moment when self-irony and pseudo-breaking of the fourth wall by the character and creators works best. It's a pleasure to read all of Missy's tongue-in-cheek comments about being the Doctor, especially the joke about the Master being a companion and nothing more.

The new Missy the Doctor design by Roberta Ingranata and the interaction between the character and her bow adds an extra twist. To be honest, I am delighted with the ducks on the hat, the huge question mark on the skirt (and Missy's joke about it), and the colour scheme of the whole costume (not only because she wears the colours of the Ukrainian flag, it's really just beautiful). And I have to admit that I laughed out loud when the Master cut Missy's headscarf and she was indignant, ‘how can she be Doctor Who without her spectacular accessories’.

On the other hand, in addition to a very good portrayal of Missy, we have a really good portrayal of the Master Delgado. His interactions with the Doctor/Missy are absolutely incredible, that obsession with the Master killing the Brigadier, I laughed out loud at the comments about the back stabbing and was thrilled when the sword duel started, it was soooo good. Although I do not deny that Master Delgado was not perfectly portrayed from all angles, maybe there were some minimal flaws, but it was done at a high level.

In addition to Missy and Master Delgado, their other regenerations were also covered, but they were not the main focus and served more as a background and subject for commentary and analysis of the current two regenerations. However, this does not mean that they were not handled well. I was delighted that Hauser brought the Child Master, who fought alongside the War Doctor in the Last Time War, into the story. It was a very nice touch. I also giggled at how Missy and Master Delgado describe Master Saxon as their emo phase. And another confirmation that Spy Master is after Missy, not before her.

Similarly, Missy has an interesting dynamic with both the Master and the Twelfth Doctor. And it fits very well with the character's arc in the series itself, where Missy is increasingly worried about her relationship with the Doctor and working on the latter's trust in her. And it's very sweet when, in the comic's finale, she doesn't betray him and motivates her decision to the Master through the prism of trust, not kindness. Although, to be fair, she did try to lecture the Master about change, and I'm pretty sure it came from Missy's heart, not from the need to play the Doctor. But there are also comic moments in this story, where Missy asks the Twelfth not to embarrass her in front of the ‘child’ (Master Delgado is about eight regenerations younger than Missy).

The spine of the plot itself, with the retrieval of the fragment of the Time Key, although not a star from the sky, works and clearly plays its role as a skeleton for the discovery of Missy and the Master. The cameo roles of the Brigadier and the Third Doctor are very good, the references in the plot and art to the events of the series and other Titan comics are nice and well woven into the overall plot. The only ‘but’ I can mention is the appearance of River. She appears suddenly and then disappears just as suddenly. In conclusion, it feels as if she was added solely for the sake of fan service. But it would be a sin not to note that her appearance also gives rise to a couple of very funny dialogues. Humour is, in general, a very strong point of this story.

I'd also like to mention Roberta Ingranata's artwork, which is beautiful. The artist has been assigned to almost all Titan's Doctor Who comics since 2019, and her work is not very smooth in the long run. I had some complaints about her drawing in Doctor Who: The Thirteenth Doctor Year One, and at the same time, I loved her artwork in the 2020 Doctor Who miniseries. So although her run is not very smooth, she made a very good impression in the Missy miniseries.

In general, Doctor Who: Missy is a very well-crafted miniseries with good characters and humour that I would highly recommend everyone to read. Whether you're a fan of Missy, Master Delgado, the other Lords, or the whole franchise, there's something here for you and I hope you enjoy it.

In-Between Times was an exclusive comic for the gang in the Humble Bundle in 2018, which was then added to this collection. It's also a short five-page story about the First Doctor, Susan, Barbara and Ian. And it's a mind-blower! It's a very sweet story about Barbara and Ian's first days in the TARDIS, but the artwork by British artist John Stokes is just wow!

There's nothing wow-y here, but the TARDIS has a beautiful design.

The plot of this backup story originates from another television adventure of the Seventh - The Greatest Show in the Galaxy. But this context is more of a nice bonus for fans of the classics, as this is actually a story about chauvinism with too obvious references to the treatment of Jews in Nazi Germany.

It's honestly not a bad comic for a backup story, definitely not a story that will sell the collection, but it'll do as a bonus.

You know, I can even praise Operation Volcano. Yes, Jones's art is still flat and lacks shadow, but Cartmel's script... Cartmel's script really saves the story. Andrew does a great job with the Seventh Doctor and his mith, which is not surprising because he was the script editor for his era.

So in this mini-series, Andrew returns to his native land again, and brings back some unexpected characters - Ian Gilmore and the ICMG, or The Intrusion Counter-Measures Group. And why do I call this return unexpected? It's simple - this organisation has appeared on TV only once, in the story Remembrance of the Daleks.

The plot revolves around a spaceship that ICMG agents find in the deserts of Australia, but it quickly starts to turn into a hermetic sci-fi thriller like Carpenter's Creature, and then into aliens who somehow rule the world with a focus on nuclear weapons. It's an absolutely gorgeous story where Cartmel masterfully juggles twists, characters, and reader expectations.

I would strongly advise you to read it.

This is the most typical story about the Third. It's as typical as it gets. The only fresh note was the return of Roberto Salamander, who was the villain in the Second Doctor's TV story. But in general, his presence doesn't really change the flow of the story and feels typical.

But if you're a fan of the Third Doctor and his adventures as a scientific advisor to UNIT and want the Master to be active in the story, then you might even like it (although the Master's moves here are typical of Delgado's incarnation). The drawing will not spoil your impression, although it is a bit flat and often lacks depth and shadows, but in general it is normal. It is comfortable to perceive and the plot does not suffer too much.

In general, everything is somewhere like that. It's a really good story, but I can only recommend it to die-hard fans of the Third Doctor and his stories.

I don't even know what to tell you here... Was it not terrible? I'll probably say it wasn't terrible. Williamson's drawing is very so-so, especially when it comes to drawing faces, if it's the Fourth Doctor's or Sarah Jane's face, it's a horror and you can see that the artist drew them from photos without any chance of stylisation, but the situation with the original characters is no better.

From something so good... The plot is not bad, I liked the basis on ancient Greek legends, all these cyclopes and the appearance of the Gorgon Medusa (which does not fit in with the plot of Eye of the Gorgon from The Sarah Jane Adventures, but we are not used to it), but the appearance of Zeus was, of course, a bit too much. It's not that he's a god here, but rather an alien who inspired the Greeks to Zeus and at the same time locked Medusa in the caves of Greece (as if there were no other places in the universe to lock up criminals). In general, it's not a bad story, I wouldn't say I'd praise it as a story about the Eighth, but I don't want to tear it apart either, because it does its unpretentious job.

Although I have a personal problem with the portrayal of Medusa Gorgon, who is simply a bloodthirsty snake who wants to kill everyone. I, on the other hand, support the perception of Medusa's story as a story about accusing a victim of sexual violence and further demonising a woman because of her natural desire for revenge against her rapist. And I'm of the feminist persuasion, so I always have a little problem with stories where Medusa is just a monster who wants blood for blood's sake and kills because why not.

In general, I honestly wouldn't recommend reading this series. The plot is not bad, but it doesn't balance the scales with the bad art, which ruins the whole experience. So it's better to avoid it.

The final story, which actually gave the collection its title.

And it's a strong social fiction with a critique of the oligarchy, moral questions of the ethics of creating clones of oneself in order to transfer one's consciousness into these bodies. And you will say to me: ‘Oh, come on, you're making it sound like these are super fresh topics for 2016’. And yeah, it's not like George Mann is breaking new ground in science fiction, even within the Doctor Who comics, something similar happened in the IDW story Body Snatched in the Doctor Who ongoing (2011). But Mann works very well with these concepts and skilfully draws them into the overall plot of the miniseries. He shows how the Doctor reacts to an oligarchy that believes it has every right to replace the clones' consciousness with its own, and on the other hand, to the clones themselves, who managed to regain their own selves and then became supporters of radical ideas.

And in the middle of this is Josie, who turns out to be a kind of clone herself - a living picture (which she painted herself a couple of episodes ago). And now the slightly off-the-wall rich woman who was used to paint the portrait wants Josie's body back, because she considers her to be her property (although legally she is not, even as a portrait).

And the Doctor, who finds out that Josie has been lying to him about being human. But he still doesn't leave her and stands up for her, because he can't leave his friend

I honestly did not expect such a level of plot, story and climax when I first started reading this series.

In addition to the strong plot, a nice bonus is the very, very ending, when it turns out that it was Twelve and Clara who bought Josie from the sale of the ‘gone mad’ collection after her death, but before her resurrection in the body of a clone. And it was the Twelfth who brought Josie to the mansion and slipped a note into a copy of Jane Eyre to support the Eighth Doctor (but it's possible that he was partly motivated by the paradox, hehe).

Another very good issue with a nice mix of folklore stories about fae with a touch of folk-rock. You know, the Doctor is almost always good at folk-metal stories, I think I'd like to see them more often.

Still, we have a living forest and a guy who is convinced that this thing with the forest is because of the Nix King (something like the king of the elves). After that, we're given a whole legend with kings, pagan sacred places and a special sword. And although in the conclusion it is all explained by aliens, I really appreciated the vibe of stories about the faeries. Another interesting detail was the criticism of the British nobility and the nobility as such through a funny optic: they appropriate the victories and achievements of their subordinates and subjects to pretend that they are the cool and powerful ones, building a clan legend around it.