Doctor Who Ongoing

Doctor Who Ongoing is a monthly comic book by the American publisher IDW Publishing, which launched in July 2009. The cover title is simply Doctor Who, but it is solicited to comic shops as Doctor Who Ongoing to differentiate it from a series of one-shots that debuted simultaneously, as well as other Doctor Who titles published by IDW.

Overview
Whereas previous IDW releases have been limited-run story arcs (except for reprint series), or standalone one-shots such as The Time Machination, Doctor Who Ongoing, as the title suggests, is intended to be a long-term ongoing series, mixing multi-issue arcs with single- or two-part stories. Initially written by Tony Lee, IDW announced in February 2009 that it is planning the series to run for at least 18 issues, announcing that the New York Comic Con that the 18th issue, presently scheduled for publication in December 2010, will feature the start of original comic book adventures featuring the Eleventh Doctor. (By contrast, Doctor Who Magazine has announced that the current series of Tenth Doctor comic strip adventures will end in early 2010 following the conclusion of The Crimson Hand.)

In February 2010 IDW modified its schedule slightly, with the Tenth Doctor's adventures now scheduled to end with issue #16, scheduled for publication in December 2010, with the Eleventh Doctor storylines beginning in 2011.

Initially, the series is focusing on the adventures of the Tenth Doctor, pairing him with new characters created for the comic book, much like the 2009 specials. During the summer and early fall of 2009 IDW published standalone one-shots featuring Donna Noble and Martha Jones, but it is not yet known whether any previously established companions will appear in Ongoing. Beginning with issue #6 (published in mid-December 2009), the Doctor began travelling with two companions created for the comic book, Matthew Finnegan and Emily Winter, and the same issue contained a line of dialogue confirming that the stories take place in the post-Journey's End time frame.

It has not yet been announced whether Doctor Who Ongoing will be available outside of North America in magazine form, however graphic novel omnibuses have been announced for UK publication in 2010.

Stories

 * 1) Silver Scream (2 parts)
 * 2) Fugitive (4 parts)
 * 3) Tesseract (2 parts)
 * 4) Don't Step on the Grass (4 parts)
 * 5) Final Sacrifice (4 parts)

In a Newsarama interview, Tony Lee said "We do have stand alone stories set on colony worlds, Lovecraftian horrors in Oxford, UNIT in modern day Greenwich, and a two parter set in the TARDIS." Some of these stories have come to pass, such as the latter referencing Tesseract.

Continuity

 * In an interview with Comic Book Resources, Tony Lee said that the Tenth Doctor's adventures in the ongoing are most likely set directly before the final two specials. Lee confirmed that this is where he personally sets them in his Newsarama interview. This view is supported by the Children in Need preview of The End of Time, Part One, which revealed that following The Waters of Mars, the Doctor had many adventures. Tesseract includes a line of dialogue indicating that story takes place after the events of DW: Planet of the Dead.