SEVENTH HEAVEN
Former Who script editor Andrew Cartmel reunites with the Seventh Doctor
After stamping his mark on Doctor Who during his successful stint as script editor on the final three seasons of the Time Lord’s original run, Andrew Cartmel is returning to Sylvester McCoy’s Seventh Doctor with a new Titan Comics mini-series.
“When I was working on the TV show, I deliberately did a reset of the Doctor, restoring the character’s stature, mystery and power,” recalls Cartmel. “He once again became the slightly scary alien enigma he should always have been. At the same time Ace – and her down-to-earth character and backstory – kept the Doctor grounded, and gave the viewers an entry point and a safe place to put their sympathies.”
Alongside Sophie Aldred’s long-standing companion, the three-parter also features several characters (including Professor Rachel Jensen and Group Captain Gilmore) who previously appeared in the episode “Remembrance Of The Daleks”, one of two McCoy storylines originally scripted by Ben Aaronovitch, with whom Cartmel previously collaborated on Titan’s Rivers Of London comics.
“Ben gave us permission to use them and in return he is credited as executive producer,” explains Cartmel, revealing that new story “Operation Volcano” harks back to a British sci-fi classic that actually predates Doctor Who. “Think Nigel Kneale’s Quatermass meets the vintage James Bond movies in a fast-moving adventure story set in 1967 with the Doctor, Ace and co up against a deadly cadre of alien invaders.”
After being constrained in the past by the BBC’s tight budgets, Cartmel appreciated comics’ apparently unrestricted scope. “We’re really only limited by our imaginations,” he says, adding that artist Christopher Jones also enjoyed exploring more of time and space after previously illustrating 2016’s largely earthbound Third Doctor series. “The wonderful thing about this new story is that it shows an entirely new side to Chris’s artwork, as he really gets to show his sci-fi side with alien critters, alien artefacts, alien worlds and mean spaceships!” SJ
The Seventh Doctor is published on 6 June.