Deathworm Morphant

Deathworm Morphant
Biological type:	Serpentine lifeform
Affiliated with:	Morg
First appearance:	Doctor Who
Appearances:	PROSE: The Eight Doctors COMIC: The Fallen PROSE: Prologue PROSE: Forgotten AUDIO: Mastermind

Deathworm Morphants were symbiotic creatures used to survive beyond death. (AUDIO: Mastermind)

History

One account stated that Deathworm Morphants were created by the Morgs and resided on their home planet, (PROSE: The Eight Doctors) while another stated that they were indigenous to the planet Skaro. (COMIC: The Fallen)

After learning about them upon breaking into the Matrix, (PROSE: The Quantum Archangel) the Master used a Deathworm Morphant to survive his execution by the Daleks. He managed to interfere with the Doctor's TARDIS to send it to 30 December 1999. In this form, the Master slithered out of the TARDIS through its keyhole and across the pavement. Later that night, the Master infiltrated the house of an American paramedic named Bruce and slithered down his throat while he was asleep, killing him in the process of gaining a new body. (TV: Doctor Who)

Using a sample of the substance the Master had spat at her, cardiologist Grace Holloway initiated an ambitious project to imbue humans with regenerative abilities, believing it to contain Time Lord DNA. However, it was in fact Morphant genetic material, and therefore contained Morphant DNA. The head scientist of the project, Donald Stark, attempted to add the Morphant's abilities to his own genetic makeup. As he lacked the mental powers of the Master, he failed to retain his own identity and was left a slave to the Morphant's hunger.

Transformed into a huge Morphant dwelling in London sewers, Stark kept insisting he was in full control of himself. He ate people and absorbed their knowledge and identities; this backfired when it turned out that he lacked the ability to suppress the many minds absorbed by the Morphant. Izzy Sinclair nearly fell prey to its carnivorous desires, though upon detecting she had contact with the Doctor, she was left alive as a bargaining chip. The Doctor destroyed the Morphant hybrid by slamming a combat helicopter onto it. (COMIC: The Fallen)

Behind the scenes

• The creature was never named on-screen. It was only called a "Morphant" in the script and in preproduction documentation, but the term was later used in the Doctor Who Magazine comic story The Fallen. The BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures novel The Eight Doctors by Terrance Dicks describes the creature as a "Deathworm". Mastermind gave clarification on the name of the creature, calling it a "Deathworm Morphant", which Planet of Dust later corroborated.