The Skrawn Inheritance (comic story)
Summary
Part One
The Tenth Doctor and new travelling companion Martha Jones are aboard the luxury astroliner Tritanic cruising the Kolox Nebula on the outer reaches of the galactic rim. The Doctor has ‘mislaid’ the TARDIS and it is not long before they find the ship under attack by a boarding party of warrior class Skrawn (large insectoid creatures armed with a powerful sting that can cause an anaphylactic shock or a long painful death). As the Skawn make their way through the passengers to the bridge the Doctor manages to save the Captains life by goading the Skrawn with talk of their homeworld, the planet Kolox, blown away in temporal spasm and ravaged by the time winds leaving behind the stunningly beautiful Kolox Nebula (also known as the Skrawn Inheritance). The Skrawn aren’t interested in the ‘human filth’ but have come aboard to steal the Tritanic’s experimental time-navigation system – the same time-nav system the Doctor was hoping to use to find the TARDIS! The triumphant Skawn plan to use the system to control the entire Kolox Nebula and reclaim their inheritance and get their revenge…
Part Two
The Skrawn have got what they come for (the time-nav system), and leave the cruise ship Tritanic. As their hiveship leaves, the broken docking seals start to pull the passengers out into space. The Doctor is quick to effect repairs hot-wiring the damaged controls and sealing the bulkhead doors. But the hiveship is moving away and the Doctor (along with Martha), use the onboard teleport ship to land aboard the Skrawn ship, homing in on the TARDIS. Equip with the time-sat nav to help plot a course through the time winds of the nebula AND the TARDIS as well, the Skrawn can control the entire region of space. Using the chronon particles of the nebula, the Skrawn plan to begin the regeneration of their homworld. Whle the Doctor keeps the Skrawn busy Martha takes the Doctor’s sonic screwdriver and thrusting it into the mass of organic control circuitry of the hive ship has the effect of stinging the ship and the Skrawn. Dismantling the time-nav unit and fleeing in the TARDIS back to the Tritanic the Skrawn hiveship is left flying blind once again lost in the nebula. The Doctor is left feeling not in the mood for a holiday cruise.
Named Characters
References
- The fifty-ninth century has a galactic hypernet that teleport controls use to convert people into data streams and send across space.
Notes
- The DWAM comic strip adventures were very much 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.
- Martha Jones makes her first comic strip appearance in DWA.
Original print details
- Publication with page count and closing captions
Publication with page count and closing captions
- DWA Issue 28 (6 pages) CAN THE DOCTOR STOP THE SKRAWN? FIND OUT NEXT ISSUE!
- DWA Issue 29 (6 pages) JOIN THE DOCTOR AND MARTHA FOR AN AMAZING NEW ADVENTURE NEXT ISSUE!
- No reprints to date.
Continuity
- The Doctor is good with hot-wiring controls with his sonic screwdriver and effecting make-shift repairs.
- When Martha asks about how the Skrawn home world of Kolox was destroyed the Doctor briefly refers to what was called the “Time War”.
Timeline
- This story occurs after DWM: Hotel Historia
- This story occurs before DWAM: The Green, the Bad and the Ugly
