The Day at the Doctors (comic story)

The TARDIS materialises on New Hippocrates, a planet home to the "finest medical minds of anywhere". The Doctor tells Clara that they will be able to deduce what illness he is suffering from. She responds by telling him that it's a cold, but he is insistent that it's something far worse. They walk into the hospital's reception, where the receptionist tells the Doctor that it looks like he has a cold. He ignores the receptionist and gives his name, which leaves the receptionist confused, as he thinks the Doctor's claiming to work at the hospital. Frustrated, the Doctor tells Clara to handle the administration.

Now in the waiting area, the Doctor, quite convinced that he's about to regenerate, begins listing ways that he has regenerated in the past. He asks the purple alien sitting next to him what he's at the hospital for, and the alien responds that he has spectrox toxaemia, to which the Doctor comments that he has "done that too". Clara sits next to the Doctor and asks if he's been exaggerating his illness, which offends him. Clara shows that the Doctor is patient 68 in the waiting list. The only problem is that the doctor is currently seeing patient 6.

26 patients later, the duo are bored silly. Clara has begun reading So You've Caught An Alien Disease, and the Doctor is sleeping. Suddenly, they hear someone say "Doctor?", but it's only the receptionist talking to the hospital's doctor. Clara turns to the Doctor and says, "So... TARDIS?". The Doctor agrees.

They go forward in time and end up missing their spot on the waiting list. They then go back to before their number was called and wait some more.

Eventually, patient 67 is called, meaning that there's only one more person to go before it's the Doctor's turn. Unfortunately, that person is Colony Sarff, who is "just a bunch of snakes", meaning he's actually "a thousand patients". It's also at this time that Clara realises she's been holding the card upside-down; the Doctor is actually patient 89!

Finally, the Doctor's number is called and he gets to talk to a professional. The Vinvocci asks if the Doctor has been exposed to any inclement weather recently. The Doctor has flashbacks to some recent adventures: fighting an Ice Warrior, fighting a Yeti, and helping penguins. The medical doctor says, "Yeah, it's a cold".

Characters[[edit] | [edit source]]

Worldbuilding[[edit] | [edit source]]

The Doctor tries to introduce himself as the Oncoming Storm, but is interrupted by a sneeze.
The doctor at the hospital is a Vinvocci.

Notes[[edit] | [edit source]]

The title is a reference to The Day of the Doctor.
Although this story is set before Hell Bent, the Doctor uses the sonic screwdriver that he gained in that story.

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

to be added

Continuity[[edit] | [edit source]]

The Doctor recalls many of the causes of his regeneration in the past: crashing a spaceship into Karn, (TV: The Night of the Doctor) two bouts of radiation poisoning, (TV: Planet of the Spiders, The End of Time), a really big fall (TV: Logopolis) and spectrox toxaemia. (TV: The Caves of Androzani)