Signs of Life (comic story): Difference between revisions

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{{Infobox Comic|
{{title dab away}}
comic name= Signs of Life|
{{real world}}
image= [[Image:Doctor10.jpg|250px]]|
{{ImageLinkComics}}
series= [[Doctor Who comic strip stories]] -<BR> [[Tenth Doctor comic strip stories]]|
{{Infobox Story SMW
number=|
|image= DWA CS 036 SIGNS OF LIFE.jpg
doctor= [[Tenth Doctor]]|
|series = [[DWA comic stories]]
companions= [[Martha Jones]]|
|number=
enemy= |
|doctor= Tenth Doctor
year= |  
|companions= [[Martha Jones|Martha]]
writer= |
|enemy=  
artist= |  
|setting= [[Liverpool]], [[1963]]; [[Gelezen (planet)|Gelezen]]
colourist= |
|writer = Trevor Baxendale
lettering=  |
|artist= [[John Ross]]
editor= [[Moray Laing]]|
|colourist = [[Alan Craddock]]
publication title= [[Doctor Who Adventures]]<br>Issues [[DWA Issue 36|36]]-[[DWA Issue 37|37]]|
|letterer=[[Paul Vyse]]
publication dates= [[16th August|16]] - [[30th August|30]] [[August]] [[2007]]|
|editor= [[Moray Laing]]
publisher= [[BBC Magazines]]|
|publication= [[DWA 36]]-[[DWA 37|37]]
format= Comic 2 parter (12 pages)|
|release date= 16 - 30 August 2007
previous story= [[The Last Soldier ]]|
|publisher= BBC Magazines
next story= [[Shipwreck!]]|
|format= Comic
|epcount = 2
|prev= The Last Soldier (comic story)
|next= Shipwreck! (comic story)
}}
}}
==Summary==
'''''Signs of Life''''' was a ''[[Doctor Who Adventures]]'' comic story featuring the [[Tenth Doctor]] and [[Martha Jones]].
In Liverpool 1963, the Doctor has taken Martha to watch the Beatles who are just starting out, even though he tells her he’s more of a stones fan, the Living Stones of Thurakzima 7, silicon life forms. The Doctor hates spoilers, thinks that life would be no fun if you knew the future all the time. Something is bombing the area with positively charged ions. Using the sonic screwdriver, the Doctor deduces someone is using a biometric matter transfusion field, used for instellar teleportation. The field contracts and makes Martha vanish. The Doctor dashes to the TARDIS hoping to track her via the disruptions in space-time since it is a long range beam. He intercepts the beam and gets Martha back into the TARDIS. The beam came from Gelezen, a planet from which no one ever returns. Thousands of years ago the Gelezen adopted an isolationist police and the planet is surrounded by a time field. What is known about them is a very few facts and rumor. The race there seem to be a clone race, some people say they used human DNA as a template for their entire species. They forcibly extract the deoxyribonucleic acids from humans and transfused them into their own clones. They are DNA vampires. The TARDIS shields are overridden, the beam breaks through and Martha vanishes again!


Clone surgeons of Gelezen have used a long range teleport beam to snatch Martha from the TARDIS. Martha wonders if where she is is Halloween in Holby City. Dr Skelpa introduces himself. He tells her his race is dying after centuries of living in isolation, cut off by a time field. Dr Skelpa claims to know the Doctor. Martha fights off the aliens. The Doctor has tried temporal feedback, space time side step, emergency stop…but the TARDIS cannot get through the time field. Martha grabs a chair and smashes it into the ancient time field machine. The TARDIS appears and the Doctor exits, joking about how he has always told Martha about going on ahead of him and how the aliens look like a sorry bunch with the genetic blues. The Doctor tells Skelpa that the title of Doctor has to be earned, as a good friend of his once told him. He warns that if they have harmed Martha in any way there will be reprisals. A well pitched sonic pulse could shatter every instrument. Skelpa tells him their genetic template is in a state of decay. Martha’s DNA will allow them to live forever…because she is a time traveler. Martha tells Skelpa the Doctor does not do revenge, he will help them. The Doctor will help. Every time the aliens use the teleport beam in time, it causes havoc in the time vortex (and Martha’s stomach). Human DNA is not made to withstand constant re cloning inside a time field. The Doctor uses his own DNA: it is intelligent and adaptable. It can replicate the human gene matrix as a self regenerating DNA in the aliens’ machine. The Doctor experiences some pain and hopes he will get a cup of tea for this. The Doctor tells them if they didn’t live in self imposed isolation, they could have had this a long time ago. The aliens will no longer need to have constant gene replenishment. In the TARDIS, the Doctor tells Martha that sometimes it is the monsters that need saving.
== Summary ==
=== Part one ===
After taking [[Martha Jones]] to see [[the Beatles]] perform in a [[Liverpool]] club in [[1963]], the Doctor finds the area around them brightly lit. [[the Doctor's sonic screwdriver|His sonic screwdriver]] shows the area is bombarded by ever-increasing amounts of positively charged ions. It is the energy used to create a biometric matter transfusion field used in interstellar teleportation. The energy field increases in intensity around Martha, who disappears in front of the Doctor's eyes.


==Characters==
The Doctor races back to the TARDIS. He snatches Martha from the teleport beam and brings her back on board. He tracks the beam to the planet [[Gelezen (planet)|Gelezen]]. This is bad news. Gelezen has a severe isolationist policy. For thousand of years, it has been surrounded by an impenetrable time field. It is believed the [[Gelezen (species)|Gelezens]] used human DNA as a template for their entire species, a race of clones. As the Doctor boasts about outwitting the Gelezens the TARDIS shields are overpowered and Martha is taken again...
*


==Original Print Details ==
=== Part two ===
(Publication with page count and closing captions)
On the planet Gelezen, Martha is introduced to Dr [[Skelpa]]. He says she has been chosen to replenish the corrupt DNA pool with fresh genetic material. Without it the Gelezens will become extinct. The threat of the Doctor is laughed off. He is repeatedly bounced away by the time field protecting the planet — until Martha smashes the controls of the Gelezen ancestors' greatest achievement.
# [[DWA Issue 36]] (6 pages)
# [[DWA Issue 37]] (6 pages)


==Reprints==
With the planet's shield out of action, the Doctor arrives. To the Gelezens' surprise, instead of condemning them to extinction or allowing them to use Martha's DNA (which has added strength from having travelled in time), the Doctor offers up his own DNA. It is perfect for the Gelezens. It is intelligent and adaptable, capable of replicating the human gene matrix as self-regenerating DNA. The new gene sample will always remain fresh and free the Gelezens of the need for constant gene replacement. The Doctor and Martha leave the Gelezens to make a better life for themselves.
* None to date


==Notes==
== Characters ==
* The DWAM comic strip adventures were very much aimed at a younger audience and the artwork and colours was bold and bright reflecting the tone of the magazine..
* [[Tenth Doctor]]
* Self contained one part stories were the norm in the early issues later being expanded to two-parters.
* [[Martha Jones]]
* Dr [[Skelpa]]


==References==
== Worldbuilding ==
''to be added''
* The [[Living Stones]] of [[Thurakzima 7]] were a favourite of the Doctor.


==Continuity==
== Notes ==
''to be added''
* The DWA comic strip adventures were aimed at a younger audience and the artwork and colours were bold and bright, reflecting the tone of the magazine.
* Self contained, one part stories were the norm in the early issues, later being expanded to two-parters for a while before returning to standalone stories.


==External Links==
== Original print details ==
* [http://www.drwho-online.co.uk/DWA/DWA.htm The official BBC Magazine site with cover gallery and news of the latest available issue.]
Publication with page count and closing captions
# [[DWA 36]] (6 pages) NEXT WEEK – CAN THE DOCTOR SAVE MARTHA? FIND OUT NEXT ISSUE!
# [[DWA 37]] (6 pages) NEXT WEEK – More adventures next issue!
* No reprints to date.


{{comic stub}}
== Continuity ==
[[Category:Tenth Doctor comic stories]]
* The Tenth Doctor would later take [[Donna Noble]] to see [[the Beatles]]. ([[COMIC]]: ''[[The Time of My Life (comic story)|The Time of My Life]]'')
[[Category:Doctor Who Adventures comic stories]]
* [[The Beatles]] were seen on a [[Time-Space Visualiser]] aboard the TARDIS in [[TV]]: ''[[The Chase (TV story)|The Chase]]''.
* The Doctor mentions the Living Stones of [[Thurakzima 7]]. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[The Janus Conjunction (novel)|The Janus Conjunction]]'')
{{Tenth Doctor DWA comics}}
 
[[Category:Stories set in 1963]]
[[Category:Stories set in Liverpool]]
[[Category:Tenth Doctor DWA comic stories]]
[[Category:2007 comic stories]]
[[Category:Two part comics]]

Latest revision as of 20:55, 22 January 2024

RealWorld.png

Signs of Life was a Doctor Who Adventures comic story featuring the Tenth Doctor and Martha Jones.

Summary[[edit] | [edit source]]

Part one[[edit] | [edit source]]

After taking Martha Jones to see the Beatles perform in a Liverpool club in 1963, the Doctor finds the area around them brightly lit. His sonic screwdriver shows the area is bombarded by ever-increasing amounts of positively charged ions. It is the energy used to create a biometric matter transfusion field used in interstellar teleportation. The energy field increases in intensity around Martha, who disappears in front of the Doctor's eyes.

The Doctor races back to the TARDIS. He snatches Martha from the teleport beam and brings her back on board. He tracks the beam to the planet Gelezen. This is bad news. Gelezen has a severe isolationist policy. For thousand of years, it has been surrounded by an impenetrable time field. It is believed the Gelezens used human DNA as a template for their entire species, a race of clones. As the Doctor boasts about outwitting the Gelezens the TARDIS shields are overpowered and Martha is taken again...

Part two[[edit] | [edit source]]

On the planet Gelezen, Martha is introduced to Dr Skelpa. He says she has been chosen to replenish the corrupt DNA pool with fresh genetic material. Without it the Gelezens will become extinct. The threat of the Doctor is laughed off. He is repeatedly bounced away by the time field protecting the planet — until Martha smashes the controls of the Gelezen ancestors' greatest achievement.

With the planet's shield out of action, the Doctor arrives. To the Gelezens' surprise, instead of condemning them to extinction or allowing them to use Martha's DNA (which has added strength from having travelled in time), the Doctor offers up his own DNA. It is perfect for the Gelezens. It is intelligent and adaptable, capable of replicating the human gene matrix as self-regenerating DNA. The new gene sample will always remain fresh and free the Gelezens of the need for constant gene replacement. The Doctor and Martha leave the Gelezens to make a better life for themselves.

Characters[[edit] | [edit source]]

Worldbuilding[[edit] | [edit source]]

Notes[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • The DWA comic strip adventures were aimed at a younger audience and the artwork and colours were bold and bright, reflecting the tone of the magazine.
  • Self contained, one part stories were the norm in the early issues, later being expanded to two-parters for a while before returning to standalone stories.

Original print details[[edit] | [edit source]]

Publication with page count and closing captions

  1. DWA 36 (6 pages) NEXT WEEK – CAN THE DOCTOR SAVE MARTHA? FIND OUT NEXT ISSUE!
  2. DWA 37 (6 pages) NEXT WEEK – More adventures next issue!
  • No reprints to date.

Continuity[[edit] | [edit source]]