Writer: Sean Mason

Artist: Silvano Beltramo

Cutaway Comics, out now

It’s years since Pex – with the help of some travellers – saved Paradise Towers. But something is coming…

Cutaway Comics’ latest World of Doctor Who to explore was introduced in Sylvester McCoy’s second story, Paradise Towers, a serial that threw off the trappings of the baggage that had accreted around the Time Lord and started the return of the mysterious traveller in a box turning up and solving problems. It was a sea change for the show, and marked the start of a creative renaissance under the auspices of Andrew Cartmel.

After expanding the mythology around Eric Saward’s Lytton and Orsini, reminding us Eldrad Must Live and of the Nightmare of Eden, Cutaway build on Stephen Wyatt’s original ideas in Sean Mason’s script which instantly makes you feel like you’re in a fresh episode of that serial. There’s a new generation of Kangs, but there are still rezzies and Caretakers… and a General who’s haunted by the past. And someone is talking to Viv in her head…

It’s a strong opener, fulfilling the double job of re-establishing the locale and setting up its own story, and Sean Mason’s script allows Silvano Beltramo’s art (brightly coloured by Andrew Orton) to handle storytelling duties where necessary.

But this is Cutaway, so you don’t expect there just to be one strip. We’re spoiled this time around with two backups. One is a prequel to Paradise Towers, by the same creative team as the main strip – and we get to see someone in the flesh for the first time. The other stays in the Cartmel era, with Graeme Curry’s Happiness Patrol as its core text, with Andrew Orton telling the first of four short tales (think the old DWM back up strips or the 2000AD Future Shocks) which seems to be singlehandedly trying to create a worldwide shortage of the colour pink…

There’s also a packed disc of extras, including commentaries on both TV story and strip, as well as parts of an interview with Cartmel.

Verdict: Another strong package from Cutaway. You might even say it was ice hot… 9/10

Paul Simpson

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