The Ten Doctors is a webcomic released in single page instalments from 2007 to 2009, on Rich's Comixblog, a site packed full of fantasy comics featuring characters both original and fan-appropriated. Rich Morris, also the author of the extremely popular Yet Another Fantasy Gamer Comic, wrote and illustrated The Ten Doctors on an ad hoc basis, often daily, often not, and at almost 250 pages, with other projects going on alongside it, it's easy to see why it took so long to reach completion. It's also absolutely manic, featuring pretty much every major companion, villain, Time Lord and alien race from televised Doctor Who up till Rich began writing it in 2007.
It sounds like it should be a mess, and while there's the occasional moment where it becomes a little overegged, it actually holds together very well. In fact, it's really rather brilliant. Following it as it was published was in some ways better than reading it now in one big go. While it was hard to remember all the ongoing plot points over the two years it ran, that also meant the odd strands that petered out didn't stand out. Reading it together, it's clear that there was a fair bit of making it up on the run, but that considered, it works incredibly well, especially once it gets all the Doctors to Gallifrey and focuses on the central plot.
Without spoilering it, the story picks up the tenth Doctor after the events of The Runaway Bride, brings in his previous nine incarnations and takes them all over time and space in an elaborate array of plots and counterplots that converge on Gallifrey on the eve of the Time War. This was, of course, long before The Day of the Doctor or any hint of the War Doctor, or any of the events connected to the War, so there's no point trying to make it fit in with what we've seen now. It does, however, tie in beautifully to everything we'd seen up to that point. Given how many characters there are running around, Rich does an amazing job of keeping everyone busy and useful to the plot. While some of the companions are a bit superfluous, pretty much everyone is there for a reason, even if it is just comic relief (and this is a genuinely funny comic, especially for those as steeped in the series' lore as me and Rich).
Some of the best material comes with the interactions between the Doctors. Particularly lovely is Ten's heartwarming reaction to seeing Five, which evokes the classic skit Time Crash in spite of being posted over six months before that was broadcast. Six is as full of himself as ever, rubbing his other selves up the wrong way, none more so than Four, who's fully aware that he's the most popular Doctor ever. Two and Three snipe and snap at each other while the first Doctor retains his position as the venerable old man of the group. Nine has some surprisingly harsh moments, the events of the Time War uncomfortably close for him, while Eight, who remains separate from the others for the bulk of the story, provides sharp relief to his successor. And, in spite of the title, and the time it was written, there are more than ten Doctors taking part. I'm not sure how you'd count them all... the Fourteen Doctors, maybe? There are even some surprising regenerations.
There are some poignant moments, but overall, The Ten Doctors is just bloody good fun. It's a celebration of Doctor Who in all its overcomplicated silliness. A joyous romp by a fan, for fans, illustrated in a charmingly simple yet effective style. Rich and his co-conspirators have released several more Doctor Who related strips over the years, many of them wonderfully unlikely crossovers (James Bond, Forever Knight, Jem and the Holograms!), but this is the best. There's plenty of extra information in Rich's notes and appendices, including a complete Doctor Who timeline listing all the episodes, site comics and multi-Doctor adventures (I helped out a little with that). It doesn't look like the site has been updated much in recent months, but things have started up again just very recently. There's plenty to enjoy on there, but first, download The Ten Doctors. Have fun.
It sounds like it should be a mess, and while there's the occasional moment where it becomes a little overegged, it actually holds together very well. In fact, it's really rather brilliant. Following it as it was published was in some ways better than reading it now in one big go. While it was hard to remember all the ongoing plot points over the two years it ran, that also meant the odd strands that petered out didn't stand out. Reading it together, it's clear that there was a fair bit of making it up on the run, but that considered, it works incredibly well, especially once it gets all the Doctors to Gallifrey and focuses on the central plot.
Without spoilering it, the story picks up the tenth Doctor after the events of The Runaway Bride, brings in his previous nine incarnations and takes them all over time and space in an elaborate array of plots and counterplots that converge on Gallifrey on the eve of the Time War. This was, of course, long before The Day of the Doctor or any hint of the War Doctor, or any of the events connected to the War, so there's no point trying to make it fit in with what we've seen now. It does, however, tie in beautifully to everything we'd seen up to that point. Given how many characters there are running around, Rich does an amazing job of keeping everyone busy and useful to the plot. While some of the companions are a bit superfluous, pretty much everyone is there for a reason, even if it is just comic relief (and this is a genuinely funny comic, especially for those as steeped in the series' lore as me and Rich).
Some of the best material comes with the interactions between the Doctors. Particularly lovely is Ten's heartwarming reaction to seeing Five, which evokes the classic skit Time Crash in spite of being posted over six months before that was broadcast. Six is as full of himself as ever, rubbing his other selves up the wrong way, none more so than Four, who's fully aware that he's the most popular Doctor ever. Two and Three snipe and snap at each other while the first Doctor retains his position as the venerable old man of the group. Nine has some surprisingly harsh moments, the events of the Time War uncomfortably close for him, while Eight, who remains separate from the others for the bulk of the story, provides sharp relief to his successor. And, in spite of the title, and the time it was written, there are more than ten Doctors taking part. I'm not sure how you'd count them all... the Fourteen Doctors, maybe? There are even some surprising regenerations.
There are some poignant moments, but overall, The Ten Doctors is just bloody good fun. It's a celebration of Doctor Who in all its overcomplicated silliness. A joyous romp by a fan, for fans, illustrated in a charmingly simple yet effective style. Rich and his co-conspirators have released several more Doctor Who related strips over the years, many of them wonderfully unlikely crossovers (James Bond, Forever Knight, Jem and the Holograms!), but this is the best. There's plenty of extra information in Rich's notes and appendices, including a complete Doctor Who timeline listing all the episodes, site comics and multi-Doctor adventures (I helped out a little with that). It doesn't look like the site has been updated much in recent months, but things have started up again just very recently. There's plenty to enjoy on there, but first, download The Ten Doctors. Have fun.
Do you think you can do a review of the Doctor Who fan film "El Mundo Imperfecto" on YouTube? It is in Spanish so you have to turn on the captions.
ReplyDeleteI'll check it out. It's been a while since I reviewed a fan film.
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltRxJtp38QE
DeleteTry to add link here.
This fan made story just might be the best multi Doctor story we NEVER had; heck, it is no wonder it could be considered the unofficial 45th anniversary
ReplyDeleteThe downloads page is archived on the Wayback Machine and the big .zip file was also archived: https://web.archive.org/web/20230323113619/https://comics.shipsinker.com/downloads/
ReplyDeleteProbably the only place to legitimately find it if Rich's blog doesn't come back.
Wonderful stuff! Thanks
Deletehttps://doctorwhopaneltopanel.blogspot.com/
DeleteIt also being preserved here.
I know I repeat myself but this comic is *fantastic*. It’s amazing how Rich not only weaves together the stories of dozens of characters and slots them neatly into the overall plot, but also manages to nail the personalities of every memorable character (Doctors, companions, Sabalom Glitz) and cartoonify them so well that most of the characters are instantly recognizable. I read this a few years ago, and had a hard time trying to *not* turning another page (well, loading the next page anyway) in this epic-sized labor of love.
ReplyDeleteDue to mixed feelings (sometimes negative) regarding the Chibnall Era and Second RTD era, I retreat to the Ten Doctors comic by Rich Morris, as it captured not just a time of the first RTD era, but long before the creation of the war doctor and the countless unseen added timeless children incarnations and long before fans become polarised with each other: it is pure nostalgia if anything of a simpler time. The comic somehow manages to keep the first 10 Doctors and their companions busy with a huge storyline that somehow, at least to me, never gets to big to comprehend yet covers basically everyone and everything in the Doctor Who universe up to that point. It's grandiose and yet small at the same time, with the time spent with careful attention to the personalites of the Doctors and friends. With all the weight of a TV multi-Doctor story, you don't usually get to see these sorts of interactions because the bigger plot takes up the runtime. Here, we have time for both. And that's just fantastic
ReplyDeleteit taps into something deeply true for many fans. The Ten Doctors exists in a kind of perfect time capsule: a point in the fandom where the classic series had been lovingly re-evaluated, the modern series under RTD was new and exhilarating, and the future still felt wide open, full of possibility rather than division.
ReplyDeleteIt captures not just the show, but a feeling—of being a fan when it felt more like a shared celebration than a battleground of opinions. Before debates about canon and continuity fractured communities. Before the discourse felt like homework. Before “Doctor Who” became more about “what it should be” and less about “how it made us feel.”
Rich Morris’s comic radiates the joy of the series. It revels in the silly, the sincere, the epic, and the personal, without irony or apology. There’s no need to reconcile timelines, retcons, or canon wars. You just get to love the characters, the stories, and the daft brilliance of it all.
And yes—by the fact he just the official Ten and not having to fold in the War Doctor, or the Timeless Child, or the expanded pre-Hartnell lore—it preserves a continuity that feels both complete and intact. It lets us play in a version of the universe where things made sense enough, and more importantly, felt right.
In that way, The Ten Doctors becomes more than just a fancomic—it becomes a refuge. A reminder of why so many of us fell in love with Doctor Who in the first place: not because it was perfect, but because it was strange and brave and human and fun. And in the middle of fan wars or divisive storytelling choices, it's comforting to know there's still a place you can go where all the Doctors are together, the companions are heroic, and the story is full of heart.
Sometimes, nostalgia isn't about living in the past—it's about remembering the parts of it that still matter.