In the first "Roseless" adventure since her debut in issue #355, the part of the companion is played by none other than Brigadier Alastair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart (retired).

It marks the first encounter between an RTD-era Doctor and the Brigadier. It's only the second time that an RTD Doctor has encountered a past companion.

Filled with lots of neat continuity touches, and some damned good characterizations, the story portrays the Tenth Doctor's relationship with the Brigadier as quite multilayered one. By turns exhuberent and somber, the Tenth Doctor here relates to the Brigadier much more as a military man than he ever has.

Despite having the ability to draw the Brigadier from any point in his long career, this version of the Brigadier is roughly Nicholas Courtney's current age. Thus, for the Brigadier, the adventure definitely happens sometime after his last appearance in "Battlefield", and possibly after the Big Finish Eighth Doctor story, "Minuet in Hell".

This makes the Brig probably the oldest companion the Doctor has ever had in a story, and the writers don't miss the opportunity to have some fun with the idea. Far more than simple age gags, though, the Brig's age has a character point--somewhat akin to Kirk's age issues in The Wrath of Khan.

While the Doctor Who Magazine comic strip has been, at its worst, little more than an afterthought in the history of Doctor Who tie-ins, "The Warkeepers Crown" continues the recent tradition of providing high quality, series-relevant fiction.

The concluding part of "Crown" goes on sale March 1 in the UK.