Vortis

Vortis, also known as the Web Planet, called the project world by the Gods of Light, was a rogue planet in the Isop Galaxy. It was home to various native insectoid species, including the Menoptera, the Optera, the Zarbi and the larvae guns. The first, second, fourth and fifth incarnations of the Doctor visited this planet.

When the planet entered the Rhumon system, it was named Mallaveria by the Imperium and Planet Twelve by the Rhumon People's Republic. (PROSE: Twilight of the Gods ^[+]Loading...["Twilight of the Gods (MA novel)"])

Astronomical Data[[edit] | [edit source]]

Location[[edit] | [edit source]]

Without a parent sun, Vortis was a rogue planet orbiting the centre of a star cluster, (PROSE: Twilight of the Gods ^[+]Loading...["Twilight of the Gods (MA novel)"]) the Isop Galaxy. (TV: The Web Planet ^[+]Loading...["The Web Planet (TV story)"]) Drifting through space, Vortis later arrived in the Rhumon system. (PROSE: Twilight of the Gods ^[+]Loading...["Twilight of the Gods (MA novel)"])

Rotation[[edit] | [edit source]]

Lacking a sun, Vortis had no seasons or years, though a day could be marked by the rising of the centre of its galaxy as the planet rotated upon its own axis. (PROSE: Twilight of the Gods ^[+]Loading...["Twilight of the Gods (MA novel)"])

Moons[[edit] | [edit source]]

Originally, Vortis had no moons however, the arrival of the Animus attracted several moons into orbit, (TV: The Web Planet ^[+]Loading...["The Web Planet (TV story)"]) of which there were at least four. (PROSE: Twilight of the Gods ^[+]Loading...["Twilight of the Gods (MA novel)"]) These moons included Pictos, (TV: The Web Planet ^[+]Loading...["The Web Planet (TV story)"]) Politicos (GAME: The Orphans of the Polyoptra) and Taron. (PROSE: The Dream ^[+]Loading...["The Dream (short story)"])

Geology[[edit] | [edit source]]

Isocryte was also found in unnatural abundance on the world having been left behind by the "Gods of Light" who had created the planet. (PROSE: Twilight of the Gods ^[+]Loading...["Twilight of the Gods (MA novel)"])

Geography[[edit] | [edit source]]

Vortis was originally covered in flower forests. When the malevolent Animus invaded, the planet changed into a world with a thin atmosphere, low oxygen, natural crag-like rock formations and pools of acid. Locations on Vortis included the Crater of Needles, the Sayo Plateau, (TV: The Web Planet ^[+]Loading...["The Web Planet (TV story)"]) the Sea of Lodos, the Canyon of Spires and Scyon. (PROSE: Twilight of the Gods ^[+]Loading...["Twilight of the Gods (MA novel)"])

Flora and fauna[[edit] | [edit source]]

Although a desolate planet while infested by the Animus, Vortis was usually a vibrant planet, covered in flower forests (TV: The Web Planet ^[+]Loading...["The Web Planet (TV story)"]) Somlos berries were found on the planet. (PROSE: Twilight of the Gods ^[+]Loading...["Twilight of the Gods (MA novel)"])

Animal species found on Vortis included the Menoptera, Zarbi, Optera, larvae guns, (TV: The Web Planet ^[+]Loading...["The Web Planet (TV story)"]) and Myriped, as well as small glowing flying insects. (PROSE: Twilight of the Gods ^[+]Loading...["Twilight of the Gods (MA novel)"])

History[[edit] | [edit source]]

Vortis was created by Bris and Ilex, two Gods of Light, as their student science experiment. They selected Menoptera from an unknown world and transplanted them to the project world via a hyperspatial tunnel. Throught this tunnel, vast amounts of power were funnelled throught to Vortis to prevent the planet from freezing over. Thus, the planet could survive without orbiting a parent star. (PROSE: Twilight of the Gods ^[+]Loading...["Twilight of the Gods (MA novel)"])

The Elder Horrors once dominated life on Vortis. This included Clynex and possibly the Animus. (COMIC: The Naked Flame ^[+]Loading...["The Naked Flame (comic story)"])

Early in the history of Vortis, the Zarbi, led by a queen, fought a war against the Menoptera, forcing them to flee to the moons. An advance scouting party was sent to spy on the Zarbi, where they were attacked by a group of Atlanteans who had crash-landed there. Soon afterwards, the Menoptera discovered and captured the First Doctor, who was making his first visit to Vortis. The Doctor escaped and encountered the Atlanteans, who took him to their ship, having assumed that he was one of them. The Atlanteans escorted the Doctor back to his TARDIS, where a battle between the Zarbi and the Menoptera was being waged nearby. From the TARDIS, the Doctor watched as the Atlanteans were cornered and killed by the natives of Vortis. (PROSE: The Lost Ones ^[+]Loading...["The Lost Ones (short story)"])

A long time afterwards, the native species of Vortis lived in harmony in the flower forests that covered the world. At some point, the malevolent Animus invaded and the planet became barren and lifeless. (TV: The Web Planet ^[+]Loading...["The Web Planet (TV story)"]) The Clynex was also weakened by the coming of the Animus. (COMIC: The Naked Flame ^[+]Loading...["The Naked Flame (comic story)"]) Most of the Menoptera fled to Pictos, while the few that stayed behind evolved into Optera. It was in this situation that the Doctor returned, bringing with him Ian, Barbara and Vicki. After aiding the Menoptera in destroying the Animus, the Doctor hoped that Vortis could once more regain its verdant beauty. (TV: The Web Planet ^[+]Loading...["The Web Planet (TV story)"])

Though reduced to but a tendril, the Animus endured. In this state, it was brought to Earth in the Victorian era by Adam Mitchell. Regrown, the Animus sought to expand its dominion to Earth, summoning an army of Zarbi before Ian Chesterton ran it over with a train, killing it. The Doctor subsequently herded the Zarbi back through the portal to Vortis. (COMIC: Unnatural Selection ^[+]Loading...["Unnatural Selection (comic story)"])

Some years after the death of the Animus, the crystalline Clynex began to revive and drain the energy from its surroundings. The Fourth Doctor and Sarah Jane Smith visited Vortis, where he saved the Menoptera from Clynex (who was attracting them to their deaths) by shattering it with his sonic screwdriver. (COMIC: The Naked Flame ^[+]Loading...["The Naked Flame (comic story)"])

Generations later, the Skirkons came to Vortis, took control of the Zarbi and forced captured Menoptera to mine for Galvinium X until they were once more saved by the First Doctor, this time with assistance from his grandchildren, John and Gillian Who. (COMIC: On the Web Planet ^[+]Loading...["On the Web Planet (comic story)"])

Over time, the forests of Vortis had begun to regrow. Some seventy thousand days after the Animus's defeat, Vortis drifted into the neighbouring Rhumon system and became disputed territory for the Rhumons, who were in the midst of a civil war. During this time the Animus returned, having not been completely destroyed, a seed of it surviving. With the help of the Second Doctor, Jamie and Victoria, the Animus was destroyed again and Vortis eventually was left to regain its beauty. The Rhumons declared Vortis neutral territory and hoped the other Rhumons would learn of this, ending the war and bringing the Rhumon system to peace. (PROSE: Twilight of the Gods ^[+]Loading...["Twilight of the Gods (MA novel)"])

By the 20th century, Vortis had left the Isop Galaxy as a rogue planet and entered the Mutter's Spiral galaxy. The First Doctor discovered that the planet had been engineered by the Zarbi Supremo to travel through space and was near the orbit of Jupiter. He confronted the Zarbi Supremo with the aid of Gordon Hamilton and returned control of the planet to the Menoptera. (PROSE: The Lair of Zarbi Supremo ^[+]Loading...["The Lair of Zarbi Supremo (short story)"])

The Fifth Doctor and Nyssa visited Vortis, where he once again helped the Menoptera deal with the Zarbi. (AUDIO: Return to the Web Planet ^[+]Loading...["Return to the Web Planet (audio story)"])

The Eleventh Doctor instructed his old friend Snorglar to send some of his boys to Vortis in three days time where "a man with a recorder" would "sort out" a debt that the Doctor owed to him, because from the Eleventh Doctor's perspective, he already paid it. (COMIC: The Rise and Fall ^[+]Loading...["The Rise and Fall (comic story)"])

Undated events[[edit] | [edit source]]

While trying to return to Earth, the Ship may have landed on the Web Planet, where he may have undertaken included being rescued by the Menoptera and chased by the Zarbi. (GAME: Journey Back to Earth ^[+]Loading...["Journey Back to Earth (game)"])

References[[edit] | [edit source]]

When remembering his travels with the First Doctor, one of the things that Ian Chesterton recalled was the planet Vortis. (COMIC: Hunters of the Burning Stone ^[+]Loading...["Hunters of the Burning Stone (comic story)"])

The Fifth Doctor told Nyssa that he could imagine relaxing on Vortis, but that he had never had the opportunity to do so. (AUDIO: Return to the Web Planet ^[+]Loading...["Return to the Web Planet (audio story)"])

In 1929, the Eleventh Doctor claimed that Vortis was visible from Earth. (AUDIO: The Hounds of Artemis ^[+]Loading...["The Hounds of Artemis (audio story)"])

Vortis was known to the Drashani Empire. (AUDIO: The Shadow Heart ^[+]Loading...["The Shadow Heart (audio story)"])

In a letter to River Song, the First Doctor stated that he would "[n]ever go back to Vortis" in response to a letter from River which made "frequent references to carousing on a picnic blanket on Vortis." (AUDIO: Expiry Dating ^[+]Loading...["Expiry Dating (audio story)"])