Tesseract (comic story)

Tesseract was the third part of the story arc begun in Doctor Who (2009) #1. It was divided into two chapters: "Time Smash" and "Implosion".

Summary
While the Tenth Doctor gives his new companions, Emily Winter and Matthew Finnegan, a tour of the TARDIS, the vessel is invaded by a number of dimension-hopping aliens. The Advocate places doubt into Matthew Finnegan's mind about the Doctor's morality, while the Tef'Aree have much the same effect upon Emily Winter. Meanwhile, the proximate cause of the invasion — the breech of the TARDIS by the Acari spaceship —forces the TARDIS interior to rearrange itself. Because the Doctor is psychically linked to the TARDIS, this trauma causes the Doctor to undergo temporary mental instability and his past selves begin to bleed through. Only by disengaging from the Acari ship and quickly restoring the proper console room will the Doctor's tenth persona fully reassert itself.

When Emily finds the right console, order is restored. But the Doctor's superphone rings before they can enjoy their victory. Martha Jones calls with an urgent appeal for the Doctor to return to Earth and help UNIT solve a mysterious new problem. ..

Characters

 * The Doctor
 * Matthew Finnegan
 * Emily Winter
 * Acari soldiers
 * The Advocate
 * Gizou posing as Acari soldier
 * Tef'Aree
 * Martha Jones

Continuity

 * The Doctor says the TARDIS is "full of old console rooms", evoking The Masque of Mandragora, where the secondary console room was introduced. It perhaps also implies that all the old console rooms seen throughout the years still exist within the TARDIS. Indeed, at one point the Doctor goes to a part of the TARDIS that strongly resembles the JNT-era interior. At another, he goes into the Cloister Room, as seen in the TV movie. Matthew Finnegan later discovers the First Doctor's console room. Although the later TV episode DW: The Doctor's Wife would confirm that the old console rooms had been archived, it contradicts this story by establishing that the Doctor wasn't aware of this fact (it's possible he lost this memory during his regeneration). It doesn't contradict this story at all; The Doctor is shocked that the TARDIS has control rooms that he has not even made yet as well as the old ones.
 * The Doctor's wind-up mouse (DW: The Doctor's Daughter) is used and is mistaken for K9 by the Acari.
 * At one point the Doctor spews quotes from various previous adventures. Whilst in the pool from The Invasion of Time, he recalls precise lines from State of Decay, The Ultimate Foe, and An Unearthly Child. At the same time, he is loitering in the TARDIS pool area seen in The Invasion of Time, and remarks that he thought the area had been jettisoned. The scene is strongly reminiscent of the Fifth Doctor's first moments of consciousness in Castrovalva, wherein snatches of his former selves bleed through.
 * The tribophysical waveform macrokinetic extrapolator is used to disengage the TARDIS from the Acari ship, and the events of DW: Boom Town are referenced.
 * The events of IDW: Silver Scream are referenced.
 * The Doctor refuses to allow Emily to take possession of Jack Harkness' sonic blaster as he says it is reserved for "someone else". (DW: Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead)
 * Adric is mentioned several times, including a reference to his death, which is recalled in detail. (DW: Earthshock)
 * Malcolm Taylor and Captain Magambo are namechecked by Martha Jones. However, Don't Step on the Grass makes it clear that she's no longer a UNIT employee, but "strictly freelance", foreshadowing her statements in The End of Time.
 * Emily arms herself with the Fifth Doctor's cricket bat in the cricket club seen in DW: Castrovalva.
 * Lady Christina de Souza is briefly mentioned, as the Doctor wonders if it is she who is calling him. (DW: Planet of the Dead)

Timeline

 * Tesseract occurs soon — possibly immediately — after IDW: Fugitive. A reference to Lady Christina confirms what has already been indicated in earlier issues: the whole of this comic series happens at some point after the events of DW: Planet of the Dead.
 * The reference to Jack Harkness' sonic blaster and its destiny with River Song indicates that River hasn't yet met the Doctor for the first time.

Reprint
Reprinted in the IDW graphic novel Tesseract.