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.
https://llamastranglermarathon.blogspot.com/2025/10/doctor-who-el-mundo-imperfecto.html
DeleteCONTAINS SPOILERS FOR FAN FILM
A review link of the fan film.
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.
The Download link for the 10 Doctors seems to be still working (from my POV, I just need it to load slowly so the link to the chapters work)
DeleteI 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.
For some reason, no one has ever been able to make a mulit Doctor story with every single character and make it work with the exception of Rich Morris' fan made 10 Doctors comic.
ReplyDeleteFan works I highly recommed: the Doctor Who fan film "El Mundo Imperfecto" on YouTube. “batmanmarch” Who Figure adventures series on YouTube (especially his 8th Doctor ones).
ReplyDeleteI’m just thinking about the parallel universe where this comic might have a real episode somehow and people really enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteI know this might seem an unpopular opinon but with all the complex regeneration issues, i am hoping we lessen on multi Doctor stories. I remember in the cinema opening for the 50th, Matt Smith's Doctor jokes about a 100th anniversary special with 46 doctors, but I think that would be one Doctor too many! Plus, I think RTD had a point when he said he felt multi Doctor stories tend to focus on too many characters.
However far they can creatively take the recent regeneration finales, the obvious question is often can they include the returns of past Doctors for the current stories. We had the First Doctor for Twice Upon A Time and Classic Doctors (minus 2, 3 and 4) return for The Power Of The Doctor. And 13 ,return for The Reality War. I would imagine that they should finally take a break from the trend to give the following regeneration finales more significant depth. In reflection of how appealing regeneration finales were beforehand, certainly with all that came in the classic series, this most unique sci-fi alien trait to keep a heroic role going should be sufficiently popular by now to not need to overwhelm the audiences too much.
The comic is absolutely incredible; Rich was only limited by his imagination with the format he took for the story, and used it to create something that some fans may have genuinely considered to be the unofficial 45th anniversary story. The drawings themselves are appealing to the eye and accurately capture the distinct qualities of every Doctor, companion, and enemy. And when I say every, I mean every. Rich took the opportunity to add in references to every era of the show thus far, paying special attention to Classic Who. Every recurring character from the show gets a moment to shine, the plot justifies the necessity of bringing them all together, and with each chapter, the plot seems to exponentially thicken. Plots within plots within plots. Easily my favorite part was Nyssa killing the Master, even if he somehow survived. Either that or the plot point where commander Maxil gets confused for the 6th Doctor. Or Ace and Rose first bickering with each other but ultimately warming up to each other. Or the part where Grace Holloway kisses Romana (LOL). Or the Cybermen converting species other than humans. Or-wait, no, I probably shouldn’t give that one away. Seriously, I don’t even want to say anything more, I think no words can do justice to the comic.
ReplyDeleteThe plot of The Ten Doctors may be better than some television episodes, interestingly enough. There are “edge of the seat” and “behind the sofa” moments, then happiness when our hero (in various forms) comes sweeping in to save the day. There are the epic battles and the hilarious clashes, the heartwarming reunions and goodbyes. The story uses all the emotions and sometimes you forget you’re just looking at a comic.
ReplyDeleteDaniel, I literally finished reading this story again from the archive site and listened to the "This IS GAILFREY" during the scene when the Doctors all link together in mind to create a Doctor of all bits of them when they are breaking 10 out of his Dalek mind and I was amazed when i found the song actually matched incredibly well together with the images!
ReplyDeleteInterestingly enough, I once asked Elliott Crossley (a David Tennant voice impression on YouTube who has acted in many fan audio dramas) whether he heard of this and he revealed he had once been casted to play 10 in a fan made audio version of the TEN DOCTORS COMIC but sadly it never came to fruition. Such a wasted opportunity... especially with the audio fan dramas being popular on YouTube. We could actually use the most popular impression actors on YouTube, or even better, find other voice impressions artists for the other characters. It would make the Ten Doctors comic to life in audio form and just be amazing. Imagine getting Chris Walker-Thomson for 2, Marshall Tankersley for 3, Pete Walsh for 9, Elliott Crossley for 10, and getting Whoever can be the best voices for the remaining Doctors/plus companions and villains. And then have multiple music from every Hartnell to first Tennant era. Well, I can only dream...
I loved this comic! I have it printed out in a polly pocket. The best thing about it was that it actually acknowledged Nyssa’s trauma that the series never did and gave her a little bit of vengeance.
ReplyDeleteI promise this will be the last time I will talk about the subject but I hasten to add (that from my perspective now) when I try to click on a chapter, or refresh it , it just says 503 Service Unavailable
ReplyDeletehttps://doctorwhopaneltopanel.blogspot.com/2023/04/
The other link above (in which someone blogged every chapter over two years) might be the only way to read it now, if the archived link doesn't work for you
Going by the context of the series when this comic was made, I think Rich Morris made a "perfect ending" for the Doctor's character's arc that not even the show writers could be able to understand fully; at his core, the Doctor is truly a God-like being with a cold demeanour, living a dangerous, transient life with no permanent ties. We have seen moments that best reflects his real emptiness and sadness. He failed to defeat the Daleks when he had the chance, he failed to save Gallifrey, he keeps on losing companions, he lost his original home, he lost all of our family... and for what? To save the universe that made us do all that? He just DON'T WANT TO BE ALONE ANY MORE.
ReplyDeleteThat was what it came down to, in the end; in this life he was always aware of his solitude. It had almost been easier when he departed after Gallifrey's destruction; during the time he met Rose, he'd grown used to the silence of his head, and even after he'd learned what he really was he'd been comfortable simply returning to life in the TARDIS, but having to live with those memories, coupled with his regeneration so shortly after the fact. He'd essentially learned what he was missing and lost the century or so of psychological and physiological stability he'd acquired since he'd actually lost it; looking at his past selves at the end of this story, the Doctor was almost amazed that he hadn't been more unstable than he was.
Even if he had recovered somewhat with Rose to give him something to fight for, that didn't change the fact that he had experienced so much hardship at this point of his life...he thought that there was no way anyone else could understand what he went through... thought that there was nothing left for him now but an old ship that sometimes seems to be on the verge of falling apart and a universe that regards him as everything from a legend to a nightmare depending on their prespective.
But there's something he remembered that his previous self had forgotten.
He's not alone; he has the largest family in the whole universe, with friends spreading out across the whole of time and space, reaching out from a battered old blue box to create familial bonds wherever he go and with whoever he meet, regardless of factors such as age, origin, background, or even species.
It's not always perfect, and there are things that they can't give him, but what family is perfect? What matters is that they're there for him, and they accept him and his faults, just as he accepts them and their faults; complete acceptance isn't necessary so long as they're willing to try and understand him.
And that's always the way of it with families, really. The Doctor would proably be remembering some of the few dinners he'd had to attend with Jackie and Mickey after his regeneration made him more open to the idea (Honestly, why did he seem to be finding companions with families more often these days?). They exasperate him, frustrate him, push him to the point where he wish he didn't have to deal with them... and then they show him that they care by doing something for him that he can understand and appreciate, telling him that they can get him even if they don't always show it.
It really one wonders, would he really going to risk the family he found out here, the family that accepted and understood him as who and what he were without asking for more from him than what he were willing to be, the family that never wanted him to be anything more than the Doctor who travels through time and space and sees the universe... for the family that always did nothing but drop him when he didn't do exactly what they wanted him to do with his life?
While one could understand Gailfrey was where the Doctor came from, and the time lords are his people, they have always been cruel to him and Earth has always been his true home.
ReplyDeleteIt’s not like he’s been visiting Earth ever since he left Gallifrey, more than a thousand years ago.
It’s not like he frequently spends loads of time with Humans from Earth.
It’s not like he was forced to live in exile on Earth for several years by the Time Lords.
Before he regenerates, the Third Doctor says to Sarah the TARDIS brought him "home". At the beginning of this incarnation, he hated the fact that he was stuck on Earth. Then, over time, he began to like it and see it as home, to the point that he stayed on it even after his exile had been lifted.
No wonder, later, Sarah Jane Smith once referred to the Doctor's companions as his family, telling the Tenth Doctor, "You act like such a lonely man, but you've got the biggest family on Earth!"
When the Doctor refused to destroy the daleks in his 4th incarnation, he did what he thought was right at the time. Maybe he made the wrong choice when they met, but he made the choice that he could live with, Because sometimes, the strongest thing to do is nothing. The Doctor knows why he couldn't change history, and his answer was that it makes it too complicated if he just change everything; some catastrophes have to happen if anyone is going to learn anything, and changing everything freely just gives us all more power than anyone should have a right to…
It is also nice how the First Doctor says the old saying, that he feels that his future is in good hands, even knowing that his latest two future selfs destroyed their own planet; 9 or 10 wouldn't have asked for fear of seeming petty, but faced with this original version of himself, the one still so bound to the rules of the civilisation he'd abandoned, the First Doctor understands what 9 and 10 did what had to be done to fulfil the principles that even Gailfrey's writers had forgotten,. 1 clearly understands theyve clearly had an interesting life… but he feel prouds to know that he will become 10, and feel certain that he will do the right thing whenever the time comes.
He just saw his past and had to fight the founders of his civilisation and know that there's nothing he can do to change what they're about to go through," Well, it's been rough, of course, but he also realises he made the right choice, as he returns to the TARDIS, the blue box the last representation of what he had been. Maybe some of the Time Lords didn't deserve what happened to them when he chose to end the war, and he'll always regret that he wasn't able to save them when he took action, but after seeing what kind of lengths Gailfrey were willing to go to in order to keep it alive…he accept that he had no choice, If Gallifrey was willing to go that far to survive… it didn't deserve to.
Acknowledging that there was nothing he could have done to save someone might be important, but that didn't mean that he could easily forget what they had been before falling so far…
At the end of this story, the Doctor might still be the last Time Lord, but with his journeys as a means of continuing his legacy, and various companions remaining in his company…In a small way, their company proved that there was still hope for a brighter future, even amid the darkness and chaos he always endured.
He might have destroyed Gallifrey, but moments like this proved to the Doctor that he had made the right choice; humanity's best had pitted themselves against what his enemies's greatest had to offer, and they had prevailed through their willingness to work with each other rather than just trying to kill everything against them.
The home that never understood him had been sacrificed, but he'd saved the home that had taken him in and shown him that he wasn't alone.
The brief moment where Susan says goodbye to the 8th and 10th Doctors, saying to her grandfathers that she hopes he finds another companion soon to keep him on edge because she does not like the thought of him travelling alone, is significant given such a thing never happens in the series. In the Five Doctors, the First reunites with Susan, but we have the awkwardness of there being little time for dialogue which does not advance the plot. Surely these two would have something to say to each other, particularly given the circumstances of their parting? Surely the fifth Doctor and Susan must have things to say to one another? Even in RTD’s second era, Susan only appears for one second in a pointless cameo in a vision (and no, I am not counting any future appearances as that has NOT yet happened!)
ReplyDeleteHere, the expression on the young girl's face when she says goodbye to 8 and 10 indicates that she was fighting her own desire to just avoid a whole conversation to satisfy her immediate curiosity (Not that readers could blame her for her discomfort; the idea of mentioning the Doctor's guilt might lead to questions about what he had to feel guilty about, which would not help her avoid mentioning the destruction of Gallifrey to anyone who shouldn't know about the extent of the details.
But seeing 10, this current future self, seeing that in some ways, he has developed into the strongest, bravest, kindest, noblest man, she sees her grandfather got the potential in him to be far more than what he is at first; he'll save so many people, defy so many monsters and villains...perhaps much like how Susan fled with her grandfather, she realises He never did fit in back home, but she knows her grandfather is not forgetting her former family (again, timeless children was far from a thing then)
I have been in talk with Rich Morris and he says he is still honoured by the acclaim for his story
ReplyDeleteI know Rich mentioned he felt that the 9th was a little out of character, especially with his reaction to Rose being taken away in Chapter two, and when 9 is almost willingly to let Rose by killed by the Daleks in Chapter 8 but I think it matches with 9's traits at this point in time.
ReplyDeleteThe Ninth Doctor is a flawed character, and he makes mistakes, but, when push came to shove and he had to make a choice, he was the man who would always do what he could to prevent the death of innocents.
He may have fallen when faced with evil at times, but he would never back down if there was anything he could do that wouldn't result in more people dying, acknowledging his responsibility while refusing to allow it to put him down.
He'd made a mistake in his relationship with Rose (the moment he seems to hesitately commit to letting her be killed), but they'd all made some mistakes in their friendships in the course of their lives; that was no reason to condemn the Doctor, after all.
I like how the 2.5. Doctor somewhat acts sympathetically at Omega; the other Doctors may have their own long-term agenda, but all Omega had wanted as long as the Doctors knew him was to be free, and he couldn't even have that.
ReplyDelete