Doctor Who: The Mark of Mandragora

by Dan Abnett, Paul Cornell, Mark Farmer (Inker)

The Doctor is worried by the statistically significant number of recent alien visitations to Earth, and a chance comment from Ace leads him to the answer; the TARDIS is still infested with energy from the Mandragora Helix, which has been hiding away and growing in strength for years, and is now strong enough to draw the Doctor and other alien species to Earth for some reason. As he and Ace search the TARDIS, they find its corridors warping out of shape around them, and find themselves in the cellar of the Falling Star nightclub in turn-of-the-century London. Captain Muriel Frost and Sergeant Jasper Bean of UNIT have infiltrated the club to look for evidence that its owner, Stranks, is dealing the drug Mandrake. When Stranks finds them, Bean shoots a bouncer through the chest as he and Frost escape, but Stranks transforms the dying man into a monster which pursues them and kills Bean. Frost meets the Doctor and Ace, and together they escape when the Doctor tricks the energy-based monster into shorting itself out on a metal staircase.Back at UNIT HQ, Frost informs the Doctor that alien energy patterns have been detected in samples of Mandrake, and the Doctor suspects that there may be a connection to his own problem, as Mandrake is another word for Mandragora. He, Ace and Frost take a backup team to the nightclub, where they find the cellars full of Mandrake processing facilities, and a massive energy rig in the shape of a double helix. The cellar is now linked directly to the interior of the TARDIS, and the Doctor realises that the Helix is using his ship as a bridge between Earth and the Vortex; however, the strain is too much for the TARDIS, which could blow up at any moment.Stranks captures them all, and reveals that Mandrake is designed to sap its users' willpower, turning them into willing slaves of the Helix. The Helix has been testing the Doctor for some time, setting him against alien enemies on Earth to see how he deals with them, and it is now confident that it can out-think all of his plans. Stranks summons the Helix to Earth, and the youths on the dance floor, all Mandrake users, welcome the energy into their bodies, transforming into energy-monsters. As the Helix's power grows it will consume the Earth and transform it into another energy helix -- and the two combined will form a double helix of pure energy capable of reproducing itself and consuming the Universe. As the critical moment approaches, the Doctor finds himself powerless and hopeless -- until a sudden power surge detonates the power rig, banishing the Helix from Earth once again. The Doctor concludes that the TARDIS finally succumbed to the strain and exploded, but when he and Ace return to UNIT HQ with Frost, the TARDIS is waiting for them. The Doctor realises that it just jolted into gear at last and materialised, breaking the link with Mandragora and saving the world.

Genres: Doctor Who, Graphic Novels, Comics, Science Fiction, Fiction, Comic Book

92 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1993

Reviews

[Travis · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of shorter stories from the Doctor Who magazine. Like most anthologies it can be wildly uneven, but the good stuff more than makes up for the 'blah' stuff. Some clever sci-fi and nice use of Who history.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Train-Flight" has great potential with its pairing of The Seventh Doctor and Sarah Jane, but turns out just to be an overly-slow bug hunt [4/10]. "Doctor Konkerer" is more fast paced, but has no depth to it [4/10]. "Fellow Travellers" gets points for being my Cartmel, but beyond that it's a well-written and well-drawn comic that makes interesting use of the form, even if the story is pretty light [7/10]. Paul Cornell's short story "Teenage Kicks!" is shallow, but is a nice preview of the maturity the New Adventures would bring [7/10]. Finally "The Mark of Mandragora" is a good story with nice continuity [6/10].

[Terrence · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun, yet short, romp through time and space with The Doctor, Sarah Jane, and Ace! Published in 1993, this comic captures the feel and dialog of Sylvester McCoy's Doctor (Number Seven). I enjoyed it and would love to read more.

[T.E. Hodden · Rating 5 out of 5]

A collection of great stories, that benefit from the added colour, and illustrate the breadth of story telling capable of being told in the comics, from eerie spooky tales, through experimental and surreal science fiction, to some classic adventures.

[Alex Wood · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant saga, still remember it now from 90s, love the 7th Doctor and Ace. Really makes Mandragora seem scarey...

[John White · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Reasonable Collection the team behind the artwork did a great job and it holds up to works that would normal cost more. The writing is more varied in quality the structure of each story holds but some of the characterization is confused and the over use of certain phrases, that thickly blast past the line of effective rhetoric and head into the county of annoying and laughably stupid.

But all in all a reasonable collection. Fans of the seventh doctor will enjoy thoroughly or just doctor who fans who felt that McCoy never got a fair crack of the whip. But if you only have a mild curiosity there is probably not quite enough here to appeal and sustain for any length of time.

[Don · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent run of comic strips from DWM. The fact that they originally ran in (I think?) 5-page installments means it's not possible to really develop the story as far as one might like, but it's an enjoyable read nonetheless. More to the point, the production values on this are astonishingly good, even two decades later; the new coloring is gorgeous, and with the credits stripped out from the beginning of each chapter, it's actually pretty hard to tell when the individual strips began and ended. If you can find this for a decent price, it's not a bad buy!

[Glenn · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice collection of materials previously published in Doctor Who Magazine. Three really terrific stories, one featuring the Seventh Doctor in a story with Sarah Jane Smith and two more featuring the Seventh Doctor And Ace. The final story is a somewhat sequel to the Fourth Doctor TV story, The Masque of Mandragora.

[Shaun Collins · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of good, fun little stories set during the Seventh Doctor's era, and featuring his trademark plotting, slightly dark machinations, and relationship with always awesome companion Ace. Very enjoyable.

[Justin K. Rivers · Rating 3 out of 5]

Uneven, short episodes from the 7th Doctor comics. The writing and art isn't bad necessarily, but does not have the space to develop a more mature and satisfying story.

[James Bowman · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fairly solid set of Seventh Doctor comic stories from Doctor Who Magazine. The only complaint I have is the uncharacteristically feeble way the Doctor behaves towards the end of the titular story.

[Seth Mottram · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good