The Doctor faces a pair of sadistic inmates in The Prison Paradox Part Three’s body horror tale
The Doctor’s steady odyssey into the literal heart of darkness that is Pantopolis, a prison orbiting the event horizon of a Black Hole, continues in The Prison Paradox Part Three. It’s here that Blogtor Who began to appreciate the cunning of Dan Watters’ structure for the story. As the Doctor makes his way through the prison to rescue Belinda, each new cell block brings a new threat and a new mini-adventure. It’s a deft way to feature a variety of Doctor Who monsters, old and new. All while cutting straight to the action each issue.
This issue the Doctor and his surviving fellow escapees encounter two of the prison’s most dangerous and gruesome inmates. Gaseous beings who inhabit people’s bodies to take physical form isn’t a new idea; even Doctor Who itself has the Gelth. But there’s something about the approach this issue’s villains take to the trope that’s delightfully grotesque. Slightly reminiscent of Dario Argento’s Demons, only rather more talkative, they sadistically view it as an opportunity to break, shatter, and disfigure the bodies of the possessed.
Another aspect which troubled Blogtor last issue is addressed so playfully in this chapter that it’s now hard to mind. The Doctor himself notes that his ad hoc team of escapees are being “chocolate factoried” as they move from room to room. It’s as good a description as any of The Prison Paradox. So far we’ve repeatedly come to sympathize with these supposed arch criminals, just in time to say farewell, forever.
Later this month, the final issue promises a confrontation with Pantopolis’ most dangerous inhabitant: the Warden himself. By now it’s clear that he’s completely insane. He also holds Belinda’s life in his hands in what’s sure to be a thrilling climax to the series.
Doctor Who: The Prison Paradox 3
Something more terrifying than mere criminals lurks within the space prison of Panotoplis. Can the Doctor and Felik be saved from possession by an evil alien entity and how can a lone Adipose defeat an invisible enemy?
Order your copy now, from your local comic ship or from Forbidden Planet or Titan Comics using the links here.
The adventure concludes with Doctor Who: The Prison Paradox #4 on the 18th of February.
