In this review of Doctor Who: Circuit Breaker #2, the Doctor arrives on Skaro to deliver an artifact, but finds herself having to save the last of the people on the planet.
Doctor Who: Circuit Breaker #2
Writers: Dan Watters and Dulce Montoya
Artists: Sami Kivelä and Roberta Ingranata
Main Cover: Natalia Nipuni
Variant Covers: Kit Wallis, Flops
Page Count: 48 pages
Release Date: August 5, 2026
This review contains spoilers
As Doctor Who: Circuit Breaker #2 begins, The Doctor, on another Black Archive mission to return an artifact to its proper place in time and space, arrives on Skaro, homeworld of the Daleks, expecting to find a destroyed world. Instead, she interrupts a family having a meal outside in a lush environment. They turn out to be the last of the Kaleds and they’re actually in a massive underground bunker made to resemble an undisturbed world.
Soon, the Daleks breach the bunker, set on exterminating everyone within. While the Kaleds fight back, they’re no match for the armor-protected creatures and many perish. The Doctor and a few surviving Kaleds manage to escape to the surface where they come across a Dalek factory.
They’re able to destroy the factory and make it to safety in a different bunker. When the Doctor tries to leave, the artifact won’t let her. She realizes that the artifact’s proper place is with these survivors.
The Doctor is then able to return to the Black Archive lab to ready herself for her next mission.
Analysis
As the Circuit Breaker story event continues, writers Dulce Montoya and Dan Watters return to share another Fugitive Doctor mission. This one is just as entertaining as the first one in Doctor Who: Circuit Breaker #1.
Again, the focus is on a group of people who are dealing with the Daleks. When their leader loses hope and thinks that fighting back is hopeless, the Doctor’s able to show her that isn’t the case. The message of the story is not overly complicated, but it remains an interesting adventure.
As is usually the case with each version of the Doctor, she’s able to help people who are in tough situations. I like the approach she takes in order to do this. In these two stories, the Doctor might not know the full extent of danger she faces with the Daleks, but she doesn’t let that stop her. It’s really a shame this event only includes two comic book issues, as it seems like there are many other missions this Doctor could conduct.
There’s no sighting of the mysterious hooded figure seen in the last issue, but since this event is taking place across multiple forms of media, it’s likely the mystery person has shown up elsewhere. As I’m not following the whole event, I was a little disappointed to not get more information on this person in this latest story.
Sami Kivela is the artist in Doctor Who: Circuit Breaker #2 and Valentina Bianconi remains the colorist. Both provide great visuals. The panels are full of detail, especially when it comes to the Dalek factory. While the panelwork isn’t anything fancy, it does a good job of maintaining a steady, easy to follow flow to the story. There are sections of this issue not overly saturated with dialog, but the illustrations do well with telling the story all on their own.
Final Thoughts
Doctor Who: Circuit Breaker #2 is a simple, but effective entry in the larger Circuit Breaker event. While the overall event does require you to venture into other media, this issue is a self-contained story that’s worth reading. Have fun, comic lovers!
