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Doctor Who IDW graphic novels
Doctor Who: Agent Provocateur
The legendary Doctor Who is back, with the first-ever stories created exclusively for the US market!
The Doctor is currently the Tenth Doctor, the last of the Time Lords, survivor of a Great Time War and, along with his loyal friend and companion Martha Jones from London, they stop oppression, darkness, and evil spreading throughout the galaxies. They're also on the hunt for the best chocolate milkshakes in the cosmos… and while they track that down, someone else has the Doctor in their sights. As the very last Time Lord out there, he's highly collectable, to the right people!
The Doctor is currently the Tenth Doctor, the last of the Time Lords, survivor of a Great Time War and, along with his loyal friend and companion Martha Jones from London, they stop oppression, darkness, and evil spreading throughout the galaxies. They're also on the hunt for the best chocolate milkshakes in the cosmos… and while they track that down, someone else has the Doctor in their sights. As the very last Time Lord out there, he's highly collectable, to the right people!
124 pages, Paperback
First published August 20, 2008
2 people are currently reading
324 people want to read
About the author
Gary Russell
197 books171 followersGary Russell is a British freelance writer, producer and former child actor. As a writer, he is best known for his work in connection with the television series Doctor Who and its spin-offs in other media. As an actor, he is best known for playing Dick Kirrin in the British 1978 television series The Famous Five.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews
July 27, 2016
Reading this book was a study of a plot line heading in steady decline toward confusion...
Suddenly you reach the last chapter and you have no idea what is going on...this was poorly executed and organized.
Suddenly you reach the last chapter and you have no idea what is going on...this was poorly executed and organized.
May 27, 2009
I feel like my copy was missing so many pages. Story lines began and then drifted off into the void without mention again. Perhaps they were hoping for a sequel, I don't know. Almost every time a new issue began, it began as though dozens of things had happened since the last issue and the author just didn't want to tell you.
The art was jarring as well, as it changed stylistically from issue to issue. Not that it wasn't good, but when Martha looks like six different people over the course of a hundred-and-something pages, something is a little bit off.
The story line had a lot of potential, but characters were underutilized and the story *line* became just random plot points somewhere along that line. It needed more.
The art was jarring as well, as it changed stylistically from issue to issue. Not that it wasn't good, but when Martha looks like six different people over the course of a hundred-and-something pages, something is a little bit off.
The story line had a lot of potential, but characters were underutilized and the story *line* became just random plot points somewhere along that line. It needed more.
February 4, 2017
This story seemed a bit messy and all over the place. There were aspects I really liked, but we seemed to jump all over the place between each comic. To be honest, I'm not really sure what happened!
February 1, 2024
The art for the first two issues is so distractingly bad, I'm almost in awe. If I were David Tennant or Freema Agyeman, I'd be tempted to sue. (And in Martha's case, honestly, the art isn't just bad, it's racist -- that is not her skin color, sir.)
From there, the artists are switched up and one can pay a bit more attention to the story. Said attention is not, however, remotely rewarded. This is a muddled story with no emotional core; it's not fun or engaging as sci-fi. It's also not fun or engaging as Doctor Who, as neither Ten nor Martha seem like themselves. A total misfire.
From there, the artists are switched up and one can pay a bit more attention to the story. Said attention is not, however, remotely rewarded. This is a muddled story with no emotional core; it's not fun or engaging as sci-fi. It's also not fun or engaging as Doctor Who, as neither Ten nor Martha seem like themselves. A total misfire.
December 19, 2014
This volume reads as if it went through the following process:
1. Somebody got a great idea for a plot and went absolutely hyper about it and complicated it.
2. It was written for 20 chapters, the director's cut version.
3. Somebody else decided to make it artistic (see the breaks in plot between chapters and the random talking to people inside one's head for long pages at the beginning of Chapter 8).
4. The editor said the story would be 8 chapters long - so s/he randomly pulled pages out of the story.
5. Somebody patched everything in a hurry to try to make it make sense.
A lot of confusion everywhere, even if I can tell there was the intention to do some great stuff somewhere in here.
The most baffling part (for me) was on page 55: "Jehovah bless you, Martha Jones... And thank you for second chances..." - a line which Martha doesn't appear to hear, said by a dying cat person who doesn't know her name. What second chance, what, huh, who, what? A Jewish cat person who speaks inaudibly and thanks for second chances it won't get? What... the... hell?
1. Somebody got a great idea for a plot and went absolutely hyper about it and complicated it.
2. It was written for 20 chapters, the director's cut version.
3. Somebody else decided to make it artistic (see the breaks in plot between chapters and the random talking to people inside one's head for long pages at the beginning of Chapter 8).
4. The editor said the story would be 8 chapters long - so s/he randomly pulled pages out of the story.
5. Somebody patched everything in a hurry to try to make it make sense.
A lot of confusion everywhere, even if I can tell there was the intention to do some great stuff somewhere in here.
The most baffling part (for me) was on page 55: "Jehovah bless you, Martha Jones... And thank you for second chances..." - a line which Martha doesn't appear to hear, said by a dying cat person who doesn't know her name. What second chance, what, huh, who, what? A Jewish cat person who speaks inaudibly and thanks for second chances it won't get? What... the... hell?
February 9, 2010
I love everything Doctor Who - but this was disjointed, hard to follow, and not that well written. So it was okay, but not so good.
April 17, 2020
After years of sitting on my shelf collecting dust, it was time to finally return to the first Doctor Who comics I managed to get my hands on. And you know what? It's a decent romp if not a little confusing and tangled up in what it wants to achieve. The overall story and direction make sense although some of the payoffs could have been executed a little better.
The changing artists from issue to issue don't do the overall narrative any favors as far as feeling like a cohesive whole but I like a majority of the art on display. I imagine it won't be as jarring if you read each section with some time inbetween them rather than ripping right through. I won't hold that against the book however.
What struck me the most was the dialogue itself. I got a handful of decent chuckles from the Doctor and Martha quipping at eachother. Perhaps it's most egregious error is how much the plot seems to jump around, leaving little time to linger on one idea. On the contrary, the story flows quick enough but the pacing could be better in some places. This felt especially true during the climax where it seems things are in quite the hurry to wrap up. Not to say that it wasn't all set-up properly, but I felt it lacked some polish.
Each chapter acts as a sort of piece to the greater puzzle with The Doctor and Martha traveling somewhere new for each. (although chapter 1's place seems to be fluff or filler at best, albeit still a fun little story). Perhaps I would have liked a little stronger characterization over the general sense of "ambiguity" with everyone besides the Doctor and Martha.
Like many great DW serials, this is a detective story with sci-fi elements leading to potential universe ending ramifications. Admittedly it feels a bit watered down compared to some offerings in DW media but it's serviceable. :)
The changing artists from issue to issue don't do the overall narrative any favors as far as feeling like a cohesive whole but I like a majority of the art on display. I imagine it won't be as jarring if you read each section with some time inbetween them rather than ripping right through. I won't hold that against the book however.
What struck me the most was the dialogue itself. I got a handful of decent chuckles from the Doctor and Martha quipping at eachother. Perhaps it's most egregious error is how much the plot seems to jump around, leaving little time to linger on one idea. On the contrary, the story flows quick enough but the pacing could be better in some places. This felt especially true during the climax where it seems things are in quite the hurry to wrap up. Not to say that it wasn't all set-up properly, but I felt it lacked some polish.
Each chapter acts as a sort of piece to the greater puzzle with The Doctor and Martha traveling somewhere new for each. (although chapter 1's place seems to be fluff or filler at best, albeit still a fun little story). Perhaps I would have liked a little stronger characterization over the general sense of "ambiguity" with everyone besides the Doctor and Martha.
Like many great DW serials, this is a detective story with sci-fi elements leading to potential universe ending ramifications. Admittedly it feels a bit watered down compared to some offerings in DW media but it's serviceable. :)
April 1, 2023
https://fromtheheartofeurope.eu/agent-provocateur-by-gary-russell-et-al/
This was the first in the IDW series of Tenth Doctor comics, published in 2008. I realised that I have read most of the others in this sequence – The Forgotten, Through Time and Space, Fugitive, Tesseract, and Final Sacrifice. The others are all by Tony Lee and all, to be honest, better. This has six loosely linked stories which don’t really cohere internally and with art which, while very nicely executed, doesn’t always end up looking much like the Tenth Doctor or Martha Jones as we know them. Though I did appreciate the reappearance ot the Cat People from Russell’s long-ago novel. Still, it’s enjoyable enough popcorn for the fannish mind.
This was the first in the IDW series of Tenth Doctor comics, published in 2008. I realised that I have read most of the others in this sequence – The Forgotten, Through Time and Space, Fugitive, Tesseract, and Final Sacrifice. The others are all by Tony Lee and all, to be honest, better. This has six loosely linked stories which don’t really cohere internally and with art which, while very nicely executed, doesn’t always end up looking much like the Tenth Doctor or Martha Jones as we know them. Though I did appreciate the reappearance ot the Cat People from Russell’s long-ago novel. Still, it’s enjoyable enough popcorn for the fannish mind.
November 15, 2024
3.5 stars. I love Martha. She’s my favourite companion and I think they did her dirty in the series because they concentrated too much on her puppy love for the Doctor despite her being one of the only companions who could hold her own with him (and being an ACTUAL doctor). Anywho, liked that this felt like a ton of mini episodes and it gave Martha time to shine. Hated the parts where they made that yearning for the Doctor very apparent. I wish they could have left that out and rewrote her character a bit. Uggghhhh.
November 29, 2018
While this started out strong, the overall story got a bit out of control by the end. Still it was enjoyable and entertaining.
This is also included in the Doctor Who Tenth Doctor Archives Vol. 1.
This is also included in the Doctor Who Tenth Doctor Archives Vol. 1.
February 11, 2018
Collected edition of Titan tenth doctor stories that nicely develops concepts from his era such as the cat people and most Importantly Martha .
February 22, 2025
It got off to a promising start, but it just sort of devolved into being a bit confusing and boring. And it ends just so abruptly. Felt a bit jarring
January 3, 2016
On m’avait bien prévenue que ce tome là était loin d’être le meilleur des comics Doctor Who mais mon amour pour le tout chrono a pris le dessus et je n’ai pas pu résister à commencer par celui là.
Le scénario est très brouillon, je n’ai à peu près rien compris à ce qu’il se passait. J’espère qu’une deuxième lecture arrangera l’affaire.
C’est dommage car on sent quand même que le potentiel est là et le comic permet le développement d’idées qu’il serait impossible de traduire à la télévision.
Il y a quatre dessinateurs différents et ça se voit vraiment, il y a même eu des moments où j’ai eu du mal à reconnaître certains des protagonistes. Et le fait que j’ai parfois pas bien compris leur motivation ne m’a pas vraiment aidée à suivre.
Malgré tous ces défauts, j’ai quand même bien apprécié ce tome, avoir du Doctor Who sous un autre support est toujours très agréable.
Comme pour les livres, à peu près aucune mise en contexte n’est faite, il est donc nécessaire de connaître un minimum l’univers pour pouvoir apprécier cette aventure.
Le scénario est très brouillon, je n’ai à peu près rien compris à ce qu’il se passait. J’espère qu’une deuxième lecture arrangera l’affaire.
C’est dommage car on sent quand même que le potentiel est là et le comic permet le développement d’idées qu’il serait impossible de traduire à la télévision.
Il y a quatre dessinateurs différents et ça se voit vraiment, il y a même eu des moments où j’ai eu du mal à reconnaître certains des protagonistes. Et le fait que j’ai parfois pas bien compris leur motivation ne m’a pas vraiment aidée à suivre.
Malgré tous ces défauts, j’ai quand même bien apprécié ce tome, avoir du Doctor Who sous un autre support est toujours très agréable.
Comme pour les livres, à peu près aucune mise en contexte n’est faite, il est donc nécessaire de connaître un minimum l’univers pour pouvoir apprécier cette aventure.
February 5, 2016
Fan du docteur depuis des années je n'ai pas résisté à l'envie de lire une histoire de ten : mon docteur préféré.
J'attendais beaucoup de cette histoire, étant écrite par Gary Russell je pensais que le comics lui permettrait de réaliser des histoires impossibles à porter à l'écran.
Malheureusement, je n'adhère pas aux illustrations, je n'ai pas retrouvé mes acteurs préférés même si se sont bien les personnalités des personnages difficile de les reconnaître. Les histoires sont pas mal mais sans plus, un peut trop compliquées je trouve. Mettre en place une grande histoire tout le long pour un final décevant n'en valait pas la peine. Et puis je n'ai pas vraiment trouvé le second degré que j'aime tant dans la série.
En bref, un bon comics pas inoubliable, qui n'est pas à la hauteur de mes attentes.
J'attendais beaucoup de cette histoire, étant écrite par Gary Russell je pensais que le comics lui permettrait de réaliser des histoires impossibles à porter à l'écran.
Malheureusement, je n'adhère pas aux illustrations, je n'ai pas retrouvé mes acteurs préférés même si se sont bien les personnalités des personnages difficile de les reconnaître. Les histoires sont pas mal mais sans plus, un peut trop compliquées je trouve. Mettre en place une grande histoire tout le long pour un final décevant n'en valait pas la peine. Et puis je n'ai pas vraiment trouvé le second degré que j'aime tant dans la série.
En bref, un bon comics pas inoubliable, qui n'est pas à la hauteur de mes attentes.
May 3, 2012
By the fourth issue, I had trouble going through. I picked issue 5 and tried to read, gave up, and after a while tried reading again. (I started reading this in March, and look, it's May now!) I just read the first pages of the sixth issue and skimmed through the rest.
The art was the real deal-breaker for me. There were nice 2-page spreads in the last issue, but other than that I didn't like it. I know there are different artists working on each issue, but can they at least make the style more consistent? And the speech balloons. The Doctor usually gives long monologues, especially when explaining stuff, but this doesn't translate well in the comics. There were pages with extremely long balloons - can't they cut into several?. The story was hard to follow as well.
The art was the real deal-breaker for me. There were nice 2-page spreads in the last issue, but other than that I didn't like it. I know there are different artists working on each issue, but can they at least make the style more consistent? And the speech balloons. The Doctor usually gives long monologues, especially when explaining stuff, but this doesn't translate well in the comics. There were pages with extremely long balloons - can't they cut into several?. The story was hard to follow as well.
April 2, 2010
This is very well done. The art is just right, of course it is the lovely David Tennent era. What I am sort of unsure about is this hint that the Doctor appears to be taking Martha on dates. I don't recall getting that impression from the show, but the notion doesn't take anything away from the companionship as I understood it.
The story requires that you be familiar with the Doctor, acquainted with his status as a Time Lord and have some concept of his sonic screwdriver. I would expect Doctor Who fans to squeal over this graphic novel and can't recommend it out of the box to stand alone to anyone unfamiliar with the series. Being a fan, of course, I loved it :)
The story requires that you be familiar with the Doctor, acquainted with his status as a Time Lord and have some concept of his sonic screwdriver. I would expect Doctor Who fans to squeal over this graphic novel and can't recommend it out of the box to stand alone to anyone unfamiliar with the series. Being a fan, of course, I loved it :)
January 15, 2015
I continue to be terribly disappointed with DH comics.
I didn't like the art in this one and the story was iffy. In many parts it didn't make much sense and it seemed as if they left out pages of detail and then just tried to fit it all in as dialog. If the dialog and the pictures aren't going to work well together then just write a book instead of a graphic novel. I kept losing interest because there was a lot more explaining with words and not in a fun way, in a really tedious not needed way. I also can't stand when different artists do different sections of a graphic novel, though I wasn't too much of a fan of any of the art in this one.
I didn't like the art in this one and the story was iffy. In many parts it didn't make much sense and it seemed as if they left out pages of detail and then just tried to fit it all in as dialog. If the dialog and the pictures aren't going to work well together then just write a book instead of a graphic novel. I kept losing interest because there was a lot more explaining with words and not in a fun way, in a really tedious not needed way. I also can't stand when different artists do different sections of a graphic novel, though I wasn't too much of a fan of any of the art in this one.
January 22, 2009
It was a fun one hour read. Not nearly as good as watching an episode though.
The Doctor (an alien from the planet Gallifrey and the last of the Time Lords) and Martha Jones are on a mission. A mission to find the best chocolate milkshake in the universe. But, their quest is interrupted by a group of powerful aliens who, having messed with forces beyond their understanding, have put the whole universe in danger. Can the Doctor and Martha play the aliens deadly game and prevent the universe from being destroyed?
The Doctor (an alien from the planet Gallifrey and the last of the Time Lords) and Martha Jones are on a mission. A mission to find the best chocolate milkshake in the universe. But, their quest is interrupted by a group of powerful aliens who, having messed with forces beyond their understanding, have put the whole universe in danger. Can the Doctor and Martha play the aliens deadly game and prevent the universe from being destroyed?
September 20, 2015
This was pretty bad, honestly. It starts as a series of unconnected stories and tries to merge them into some sort of overarching plot about a big extra dimensional gribblie coming to eat reality. A few bits worked, especially the quest for the perfect milkshake, but all in all the story devolves into a mess. The art doesn't help, since it jumps between many styles. All in all, I really can't recommend this, and it makes me a bit wary of the other IDW Doctor Who comics.
November 8, 2016
Did the writer even watch the show?
This comic book suffers from a complete lack of consistency in terms of dialogue, tone, and particularly personalities (turning Martha into an airhead and The Doctor into a goofball).
Combined with mostly awful artwork (the backgrounds are pretty good but everything else can be written off) make this one of the weakest pieces of Doctor Who content I've ever read.
This comic book suffers from a complete lack of consistency in terms of dialogue, tone, and particularly personalities (turning Martha into an airhead and The Doctor into a goofball).
Combined with mostly awful artwork (the backgrounds are pretty good but everything else can be written off) make this one of the weakest pieces of Doctor Who content I've ever read.
January 14, 2009
I love Doctor Who, and I usually love Gary Russell's novels, but this comic book sucks big time. As I was starting the final issue I put it down in anger and never bothered to read the last few pages. This was a real disappointment. The story is ridiculously convoluted and disjointed, the characterizations are way over the top, and I just stopped caring about the story from pretty much word go.
December 7, 2014
Cartoony art and a story that make little sense, but seems to be part of a bigger story building up to a bigger story that still don't make much sense.
Couple nice moments and ideas are hurt by the writer trying to hard to copy the style of the TV show adds up to a pretty unsatisfying story.
Did like the idea of traveling the universe looking for the perfect chocolate milkshake though.
Couple nice moments and ideas are hurt by the writer trying to hard to copy the style of the TV show adds up to a pretty unsatisfying story.
Did like the idea of traveling the universe looking for the perfect chocolate milkshake though.
January 28, 2011
Great Doctor Who story by story editor Gary Russell with all the Whoisms of the Tennant era of the series. The only real drawback here was the art which was inconsistent and not altogether as great as it should have been for the North American only launch of this series. Still, it was entertaining and I will likely check out more of these by the new writer, Tony Lee.
August 7, 2011
a pretty good written graphic novel. the best one i've read this year? no. i am a fan of Doctor Who, but i feel like this was poorly written compared to the show. it didn't flow as easy. the story lines were all over the place, and seemed to trail off just to add extra pages. i liked some of the drawings although they could of been better.
May 2, 2015
It's always nice to read 10th doctor adventures as he is my doctor. However this one is a little disappointing the differing quality in artwork over the chapters means the story suffers somewhat. And for all the build up these chapters create it's over pretty quickly seemingly at the flick of a sonic switch. It's a good starting point hopefully they will get better.
November 25, 2012
The tenth Doctor and Martha travel across time and space, and something odd seems to be guiding their journey. A wild, smart and fun adventure that perfectly captures the joyous-yet-contemplative tone of the TV-series. Quality sci-fi and wonderful DW fan material, "Agent Provocateur" wins.
February 6, 2012
Good read has to be one of the best Graphic novels to date i really enjoyed it i liked the chemistry between martha and the Doctor and the story and plot was quite good it kept you engaged to keep reading it
January 10, 2013
Russell's story is very unpolished: at times badly paced on and on the edge of incomprehensibility. It did show some promise, but little more. Also, the strict adherence to the speech patterns of the series comes off poorly at times.
December 20, 2007
This is a british t.v show that has been on for 46 years and they have made a few books out of some of the shows. The cover of this one doesn't look like mine but oh well.
September 3, 2008
I didn't care for either the artwork or the story, sad to say. It's a shame...how open this medium could be.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews