The Highest Stake (comic story)

The Highest Stake was a Doctor Who Adventures comic story featuring the Tenth Doctor and Heather McCrimmon.

	Tenth Doctor
	Heather
	Lords of Jelsen
	Jelsen
	BBC Magazines
	Moray Laing
	Eddie Robson
	John Ross
	Alan Craddock
	Paul Vyse
	1
	DWA 148
	7 January 2010
	Comic
DWA comic stories
← Previous	We Will Rock You
Next →	Hook, Line and Sinker

Summary

After being captured by the Lords of Jelsen, the Tenth Doctor and Heather McCrimmon are forced into a spaceship race-or-die "game" through the ruined cities of the abandoned planet of Jelsen. Their opponents in matching spacecraft are two young friends, Jossi and Karter, who were captured when they went too close to the planet.

As the two ships race it out, the Lords of Jelsen watch their progress. Pleased, they summon the N-fish — large green stingrays of the sky. The N-fish attempt to trap the ships, but realising their tails are their weakest point and about "as tough as hair", the Doctor and Heather break through. They are followed by the other ship at the Fork of Fate, a corner offering several possible routes.

Trapped ships surround them, hanging like ghost ships. Each has been forced to race... and lose! Avoiding the routes with the ghost ships, the Doctor and Heather take the clear and safe route to the finish line. Fearing the ship behind will become trapped, the Doctor engineers it so both ships cross the line in the same split second.

With a dead heat, the Lords of Jelsen are unsure what to do next. While they ponder their decision, the Doctor uses the distraction to bail out of his ship with Heather. He sends the ship on a collision course with the tower in the city that houses the Lords' capture system. With the system destroyed, all the ships are released. They make their escapes before the Lords can get their act together. Jossi and Karter pick up the Doctor and Heather offers them a lift.

Characters

• Tenth Doctor
• Heather McCrimmon
• Lords of Jelsen
• Jossi and Karter

Worldbuilding

to be added

Notes

• 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.
• This is the second comic strip story in Doctor Who Adventures magazine series to be headed in the opening frame with the caption "The Untold Stories of the Tenth Doctor"; it was printed after the Tenth Doctor's regeneration had been shown on television.
• The story is set without a context, with no explanation as to where the TARDIS is or how the Doctor and Heather came to be on Jelsen and get captured.

Original print details

1. DWA 148 (4 pages) NEXT WEEK! An underwater menace

Continuity

to be added