Doom Coalition 3

The third volume of this four-volume series is the strongest so far, which is saying something. At first, it appears to have little connection with the overall plot arc, but that gradually changes as it goes along. And it has River Song in it, for those who want that new-series touch.

* Absent Friends - The first story sees the Doctor and companions arriving in 1990s England to encounter a seemingly minor mystery about mobile phones. The mystery itself is well-crafted, with a number of red herrings, but that's not the strength of the episode. Rather, it's a story about family and loss, involving both Helen and Liv in different ways, the sort of bittersweet story that the new series occasionally does but that the original never did. Of course, some prefer it that way and may regret the almost complete lack of action, but there can be few of us who can't at least identify with what Liv's going through. 5 stars.

* The Eighth Piece/The Doomsday Chronometer - A single two-hour story which is more complex than most typical DW tales. At its heart, it's a MacGuffin hunt, with the central characters searching for parts of something in three different periods of Earth's history. The complexities of time travel feature heavily in this, as one might expect, and it's long enough to allow the mystery of what on Earth this has to do with the plot of the previous two volumes (a lot, as it happens) to unfold slowly. Thomas Cromwell is perhaps over-played as villainous, and Helen and Liv make a mistake near the end that's hard to swallow, but these are the only weaknesses. River Song also jumps into the narrative here, this time using a psychic wimple to disguise her appearance and allow her to properly interact with the Doctor for a change... I assume there will be more of this in later releases. 4 stars.

* The Crucible of Souls - Finally, we discover what this was all about, in a story tying together most of what's happened so far. There's an enormous universe-spanning threat, but that's not anything remarkable in DW and this one isn't notably different from all the others. What's more interesting is the villains' motivations, and how they've set everything up to lead to this outcome. While there's also a fair bit of exposition, there's plenty of action, and the story ends on a dramatic cliffhanger that leads into the final volume. 5 stars.