Doctor Who: Liberation of The Daleks

Doctor Who Magazine Comic Collections #32

by Alan Barnes, Lee Sullivan (Artist)

Picking up from where the the thirteen Doctor's era ended, Liberation of the Daleks is the 14th Doctor's first official adventure. A new regeneration but with a familiar face, this exclusive comic strip collection, sees the return of the Doctor's deadliest enemies-the Daleks! Taken from the pages of Doctor Who Magazine , this 13-part tale bridges the gap between "The Power of the Doctor" and "The Star Beast," tying directly into the new TV series continuity. Also includes behind-the-scenes features and interviews, with insights from series showrunner Russell T Davis, TV script editor Scott Handcock, writer Alan Barnes, and artist Lee Sullivan.

Genres: Doctor Who, Comics, Graphic Novels, Science Fiction, Time Travel

100 pages, Paperback

First published November 23, 2023

About the author

Alan Barnes is a British writer and editor, particularly noted for work in the field of cult film and television. Barnes served as the editor of Judge Dredd Megazine from 2001 until December 2005, during which time the title saw a considerable increase in the number of new strip pages. Among other strips, Barnes originally commissioned The Simping Detective. He also wrote a handful of Judge Dredd stories involving alternate universes or featuring a young Dredd.

He worked for five years at Doctor Who Magazine and progressed from writing strips to becoming joint editor in 1998 and sole editor from 2000 until 2002. He subsequently contributed the ongoing Fact of Fiction series of articles to the magazine. Barnes has also written or co-written a number of Doctor Who audio plays for Big Finish Productions.

He has written a number of books on cult films (including James Bond, Quentin Tarantino and Sherlock Holmes) and his book The Hammer Story, co-written with Marcus Hearn, was nominated for the Bram Stoker Award for Best Non-Fiction in 1997.

Reviews

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

It gets off to a slow start, but quickly picks up pace as everything goes total balls to the wall. It's not necessarily a great story. But it sure is an entertaining one. I can't imagine the upcoming 60th-anniversary specials will do much with anything that happened here. It seems like the kind of Expanded Universe story that's destined to stay firmly on the outskirts of canon. But for what it its, it's a lot of fun.

[Stephen Robert Collins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Set after Tennant steps back into The Tardis before The Tate stories, providing that this blank period for books about the 14th Doctor. You also have the Wild Blue yonder period too. This very funny daleks at 1966 world cup Wonderful graphics and utterly funny and one best graphic novels of 2023. Full of colours and illustrations twists a perfect HAPPY BIRTHDAY 60TH YEAR.

[Stephen Collins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Set after the Doctor regerates into his old body of 10 th again, the 14th Doctor arrives at world cup 1966 or does he?
Daleks, Daleks,and more Daleks trapped new Doctor is trapped, no sonic ,no Tardis and on his own.
Full of action, great art work

[Danny Welch · Rating 5 out of 5]

So it's safe to say the 60th Anniversary celebrations have been unleashed for a while now, but unfortunately, they're nearly at an end as we're about to embark on the final story of the 60th Specials with The Giggle. I've had so much fun seeing David Tennant and Catherine Tate together again, The Star Beast and Wild Blue Yonder have both been brilliant. So I wanted to pick up Liberation of The Daleks before saying goodbye to 14.

The Doctor arrives in 1966 at Wembley Stadium answering a distress signal. When the stadium is attacked by an invasion of Daleks, it seems he has to put a stop to his greatest enemy's plans once more. However something is very wrong, how come The Daleks can't kill him? Who are the mysterious alien time-travelers and is this place even real? The Doctor is about to find himself on an adventure throughout Dalek mythology, but the truth is far more terrifying.

Alan Barnes has written an incredible story that establishes 14 incredibly well, whilst also giving us some answers as to how he lost 13's Sonic and her console room. It's a very intense 100-page story with a terrific original idea at its core. How a story about a Dalek Theme Park hasn't been done before, I have no idea but Alan has done an amazing job bringing such a fun and action-packed story to life.

Overall: I honestly loved this and I'm glad I waited until the story came out altogether as one big comic book release. 10/10

[Matthew Kresal · Rating 4 out of 5]

What was the first adventure to feature David Tennant’s Fourteenth Doctor? If you said last November’s The Star Beast or the short Children in Need skit featuring him, you would only be partially correct. Instead, and in an unprecedented move, the Fourteenth Doctor’s first adventure played out among the pages of Doctor Who Magazine over the course of fourteen months. The resulting story, collected here in the trade paperback, was Liberation of the Daleks and was a proper 60th anniversary tale in its own right.

In part because it features something that the trilogy of TV specials did not: the Daleks. Those quintessential monsters from the series, the ones who put the series on the map sixty years ago in its second ever serial. Whom, despite their role in two of the previous TV anniversary specials, appeared not once on-screen during the anniversary. Perhaps because, well in advance, they’d been appearing here instead.

Honestly, that might not have been a bad thing. As written by Alan Barnes and illustrated by Lee Sullivan (neither strangers to the long running DWM strip), Liberation of the Daleks is told on a grand scale. One that takes the Doctor and the reader from London 1966 amid World Cup fever and into setting across time and space. Taking full advantage of what the comic medium can provide, it’s something that allows them to do things visually that Modern Who with all of its Disney money would struggle to present. It’s a grand scale of storytelling that makes this an utter joy to read.

As does Barnes and Sullivan’s attention to the history of the series and the Daleks. Not just on-screen (though there’s plenty of references back to it, including a humorous cameo from a particular actor if one knows where to look) but particularly from the comics. If the TV specials helped to celebrate Doctor Who’s television history and Big Finish’s Once and Future series its audio legacy, then Liberation of the Daleks is a celebration of the Time Lord’s comic adventures. Not just his but also of his adversary, as Barnes as writer and Sullivan as illustrator call back time and again to their history not only in DWM but the legendary comics of the 1960s. The Daleks may have missed out on being on TV, but they’re well celebrated in this tale.

Indeed, it’s something that makes Liberation of the Daleks feeling perhaps more like an anniversary tale than some of its television counterparts. It is without question a fun romp and one that also links neatly between Power of the Doctor and the Children in Need special. For fans of the Doctor and the Dalek’s printed adventures, it’s certainly well worth seeking out in its collected form.

[William Vaudin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have to say, this feels “nothing” like a 14th Doctor story. For one, it has a plot and characters and theme and a concept and an idea and stakes and is actually about telling a good story instead of just making money and trolling Torys. But there was an empty acknowledgement of the LGBTQ community, it doesn’t affect the story or my opinion of it, but you can’t really do a review of this era of Doctor Who without bringing up pointless politics.
This was definitely better than the 60th Anniversary Specials on TV, but then literally anything would be better than those, even cancerous aids would be better than that. I would have liked to have given this a higher rating than I gave it and if I had stopped reading this a day ago, I would have given it 4 stars rather than 3. This one had a really good idea at its core that I would really like to see explored, but over all it was just kind of all over the place in its execution.
I’ve never liked the idea of the 14th Doctor and in the sick putrid little mind of mine, I don’t consider anything after series 10 to be cannon. So, I wasn’t really expecting this to be any good. I only really bought it because I liked the concept to it, I thought I could put my own biases beside and just enjoy it as its own think. And I did, but only just, if this had the 13th or 15th Doctor in it, I wouldn’t have enjoyed it as much.
But as for the story itself, I think there is a lot to like about it. The idea of a virtual theme park where people can visit all the Dalek’s greatest moments like the war on Spiridon and what not, it a really good idea. And this story is full of great call backs to the history of the Daleks like the TV century 21 comics and even having the cheap looking toys from the 60s in there. And the whole plot point about them using really Kaled mutans as the source of these virtual worlds, only to have them become self-aware and start taking over from within the virtual world, feels very much like what the Daleks would do.
Where it falls apart is in the execution. Instead of just having the virtual world be a computer simulation, they have it so that the virtual world is made of psychoplasm just so the Daleks could be in both the virtual world “and” the real world at the same time, which I just found ridiculous. And you think with a premise like “Dalek Theme Park where you can go through the Dalek’s past conquests” you would have more scenes of the Doctor and the others ending up in past Dalek stories like Remembrance of the Daleks or the Chase. But we get almost none of that and instead we get Daleks at the 1966 world cup for some reason. The only places that the Doctor visits is the TV Century 21 comic world, Spiridon for a brief moment and the Evil of the Daleks world for the last quarter. This comic is only 100 pages, and it spends most of its time focusing on the Doctor’s shenanigans and him being a quirky prick. Also, why were there animal people there? There was no reason for them to be animals and they never explain what they are or where they came from.
This should have been about the Daleks in the virtual world taking the guests as prisoners in the system and the Doctor and friends going through each of the worlds in order to save them. That way, you can spend more time on the individual worlds and show us more of the Dalek’s past. The first 4 parts should have been condensed and everything with the Supreme Dalek in the opening should have been cut as it takes up too much time in the Theme Park World. This really needed a rewrite to give the ideas more focused as it really feels that the writer was just making things up as he went along.
I haven’t seen that much of Alan Barnes’ stuff but what I have seen, I haven’t enjoyed much or even remembered it. This isn’t like some of the other stuff I’ve seen from him, but I can’t tell if it’s an upgrade from what I’ve seen from him or exactly the same. I also didn’t care that much for the art by Lee Sullivan as it felt kind of flat. I’m surprised to see on his Goodreads page that he did the art for the comic book adaptation of Robocop 2, which I never would have guest from reading this.
Overall, I’m glad it only took me 5 days to finished this after the last book I read took me 4 months, but I feel that this book could have been a lot better than it was. If they had gotten a second writer like Paul Cornell or something to handle some of the big ideas of this comic, then I think it would have lived up to its concept. It’s still the best 14th Doctor story I’ve seen but it’s not as good as some of the other Doctor Who comics out there. If I could rate this fairly, then I would give this a 6.5 out of 10.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars alone for fitting a Padam Padam reference into a Doctor Who comic strip.

[Ian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set between 'The Power of the Doctor' and 'The Star Beast' and released as part of the 60th Anniversary celebrations of Doctor Who, this graphic novel features the very first adventure of the freshly-regenerated Fourteenth Doctor (as played by David Tennant).
The Doctor discovers a theme park where psychic projections of Daleks are used for entertainment but it soon becomes clear that even fictional Daleks are dangerous.

I was tragically underwhelmed by the 60th Anniversary Specials (they didn't feel that 'special' to me and just seemed like normal episodes) and so, where previously I was excited to explore this new incarnation of the Doctor, by the time I read this I was feeling a little jaded. Things didn't get off to a great start, with the Daleks initially being nothing more than a punchline here.

However, where this book got interesting was when the fictional Daleks became self-aware and I particularly enjoyed the fact of which type of Daleks it is that initially break free.
You see, if you didn't know, due to the weird licencing rules back in the day, Terry Nation retained the rights to the Daleks and was able to capitalise on Dalekmania by endorsing products which could legally feature the Daleks but weren't allowed any reference to the Doctor. This resulted in an off-brand series of Dalek comics in which the Dalek Emperor is bright gold and has a massive globe for a head. This book, then, serves to crossover those spinoff Daleks back into the Doctor Who universe in an inventive and somewhat meta way.
I also liked that the Doctor is forced to call on the help of various other variants of the Dalek leadership to help him, including the Emperors from the eras of the Second and Ninth Doctors, the Dalek Supremes faced by the Tenth and Eleventh Doctors, among others.

One of the big disappointments for the 60th TV specials was them not featuring the Doctor's most iconic foes at all. This book goes a long way to make up for that shortcoming and definitely serves as a suitable celebration of sixty years of the Daleks in comics (off-brand or otherwise).

* More reviews here: https://fsfh-book-review2.webnode.page *

[Finlay O'Riordan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun way to bridge the gap between Power Of The Doctor and The Star Beast when it was released, getting one chapter per month through DWM. The collected edition feels really nice as well with a great cover and was just generally satisfying to have it all in one place rather than having to go back through my editions of DWM if I wanted to read it all the way through.

It was certainly new and experimental, and it was nice to see the Daleks again since they are all but exterminated from the screen now, and even better still to see them given something actually new. I also really appreciated some of the nods of inclusivity featured here, though I'm sure others may find them "too woke".

The drawback for me is I struggled to like or care about any of the characters other than the Doctor himself. That could be because they're constricted to this comic strip alone, but they just also aren't really important or interesting aside from Georgy, and even she just becomes a bit confusing to follow after a while.

[Andrew Myers · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my favourite of the DWM strips, but 'The Liberation of the Daleks' grew in pace and engagement as it went on. On initial printing, the first couple of pages linking 'The Power of the Doctor' with 'The Liberation of the Daleks' was really exciting.

There are some gorgeous visuals here by Lee Sullivan, especially of the Daleks, but my favourite DWM artist by far remains Martin Geraghty.

I am really enjoying the Fourteenth Doctor's adventure and this little slice of action serves well. My main criticism here is the female character Georgette isn't well-drawn or written and is really quite forgettable for a quasi-companion. She doesn't have the energy of Izzy Sinclair nor the competence and assurance of Fey Truscott-Sade and pales in comparison to similar characters such as Professor Summerfield or Adelaide Brookes.

The action does rachet up towards the end and I did find myself being hooked in eventually.

Nice, but not integral.

[Kaoru · Rating 3 out of 5]

Now that I'm finally reading the story, collected in album format, I'm not surprised that, after an initial boost, the hype around the "first official 14th Doctor story" died down rather quickly. It's an alright enough story, but it goes on longer than it probably should be, and, all things considered, it could have been any Doctor's story. There's nothing in it that ties it to this specific Tennant incarnation, or any other incarnation for that matter.

If you just want a random Who comic to read to fill some time you could do worse than go for this one. But if you expect it to fill some background (as in where the Doctor got his new Sonic Screwdriver or whatever), you can skip it entirely for there's really nothing here.

[Thomas Sherlock · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wasn’t the biggest fan of this run as it came out. The year-long release mixed with shorter episodes (due to a shorter page count, a pandemic economy DWM have unfortunately not reversed) wore my patience thin and by end I was hoping for a conclusion. I bought this collection as I wondered if reading it one sitting would shift my views; and happily it did.

In one sitting this is a manic Dalek epic, jumping from twist to twist and set piece to set piece. It makes for rapid reading and the energy jumps off the page. It’s still far from most meaningful comic DWM has made; but it works far, far better. It’s just a fun read.

So whilst this is far from essential reading, if you’re looking for a bit of extra Fourteenth Doctor content this is well worth a go.

[Tony · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this. Liberation of the Daleks starts directly after the unexpected regeneration of the 13th Doctor (Jodie Whitaker) to the 14th (David Tennant) in the Power of the Doctor and before the Star Beast, the first of the 60th anniversary specials. As the title reveals the Daleks feature heavily in this story. What stands out to me in this is the artwork by Lee Sullivan and having this in large size format gives the full-page artwork that appears throughout this book room to shine.
A good story, great artwork, a great addition to the Doctor Who bookshelf although due to the size I need a bigger bookshelf.

[Seb Hasi · Rating 4 out of 5]

A comic book being the 14th doctor first proper canonical appearance was a fun idea and making it a Dalek story gave it a real anniversary feel. You get daleks from the show and daleks from the decades of comic books, which is all you could as for a story celebrating the shows history. The fourteenth Doctor’s characterisation here is clearly distinct from the tenth Doctor and there’s a generally more positive tone, which makes the story more fun to read through. The fact the story was published in over a dozen different parts is brilliant as each final page of each part has an exciting cliffhanger; keeping you hooked. There’s some brilliant artwork here and the clear crisp colors make it feel very modern but also like a lovely homage to the 60s Dalek comics from way back when. We get lots of continuity references and fan service here and that adds to the fun because instead of being some lazy multi-Doctor story, it follows along our brand new Doctor as he travels through moments that he experienced in different incarnations. There’s plenty to enjoy here for fans new and old, and my only criticism is that it wasn’t a chapter or two longer so we got more Dalek vs Dalek action on top of the time travelling plot.

[Daniela · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like that this picks story picks up right after regeneration and gives us a solid base and understanding as to why the Doctor is so “normal” in the specials.

The concept of the story is crazy. Like not super crazy but when you think that Daleks are basically nazis and the plot revolves around an amusement park dedicated to the Dalek? Yeah, pretty nuts.

I really recommend this to any Doctor Who fans as it’s a quick read and the art is beautiful.

[Alyce Caswell · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a Doctor Who story, this is perfectly serviceable. As a 14th Doctor story, it doesn't work. It feels like 10th with barely any tweaks. I guess it would be hard to get a grasp on 14th's nuances, given how little we have seen of him, but I think Barnes could have done better. I did enjoy the idea of Daleks populating a tourist destination.

Side note - if you, like me, aren't into collecting paperbacks, you can buy the digital version of this book through the Doctor Who Magazine app.

[Rick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Picking up right after the events of The Power of the Doctor this adventure … leaves a lot to be desired. As is usually the case, the magic of Doctor Who does not really translate well into graphic illustration form. Honestly, I was hoping for something more substantial. This was really just a step up from fanfic.

[Sophie Crane · Rating 5 out of 5]

For someone that doesn’t collect the mainline Doctor Who Magazine, having the Liberation of the Daleks comic instalments assembled into one full
book is a welcomed treat. The book is fantastic and bridges the story between The Power of The Doctor (2022 special) and Destination: Skaro (Children In Need 2023 minisode) very well.

Terrific story and fantastic artwork.

[Rhys Causon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel like whatever plot this story was going to have got lost very quickly and then seemed to never grab hold of it again.

One of the lesser Dalek stories I’ve read/listened to/watched. But I’m sure it’s enjoyable for some people.

Granted I know I’m not a huge fan of the comics that were found in Doctor Who Magazine.

[Pigeon · Rating 2 out of 5]

For a comic thats important to the continuity of the 14th Doctor and being a part of the 60th anniversary celebrations it felt pretty convoluted and unremarkable.
This could have been an opportunity to highlight Doctor Who's extended universe thats been consistantly running alongside the show but I guess they didn't wanna.

[Sam Whale · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really fun celebration of Doctor Who's long history with comics featuring Daleks not seen since the 60's. It was really cool how this ties in directly with the 14th Doctor's televised stories and the art by Lee Sullivan was really very lovely.

[Monster X · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love how the conclusion accidentally leads? into the children in need episode featuring the 14th doctor. Overall a good dalek story featuring daleks from the tv series & daleks from comic books, how does that happen? spoilers!

[Bill Doughty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Slight, probably-not-canon fun that does a bunch of the sorts of things that you can only really do in comics, and I'm a sucker for that. Manages just the right amount of callbacks and pastiches without wearing out the ideas' welcome. Insli!

[ValeryVal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ni bueno ni malo, existiendo nada más.

[Mic · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was nice to get a story with the 14th doctor that fills the gap between regeneration and the 60th but it was only ok

[Michaela · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5 ⭐

[Roo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Much more exciting, inventive, and interesting than all the 60th TV specials put together.

[Donavon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great story, really enjoy 14th Dr though here he is even more interchangeable with the 10th than in tv specials.

Absolutely love the pages styled like classic TV Times comic strips.

[Shaun Helsby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great first outing for the Fourteenth Doctor. Finally! A Dalek story with a twist I actually like. Feels a bit rushed though. Still, leads well enough into the Anniversary specials.

[Arthur B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyably bizarre Dalek story. Full review: https://fakegeekboy.wordpress.com/202...