Signs of Life (comic story)

Part One
Heading back to the TARDIS after taking Martha Jones to see one of The Beatles' early performances in a Liverpool club in 1963, the Doctor finds the area around them is awash with a bright light. He uses his sonic screwdriver to detect that the area is being bombarded by ever-increasing amounts of positively charged ions, the sort of energy used to create a biometric matter transfusion field used in interstellar teleportation. The energy field increases in intensity, focussing around Martha, who disappears in front of the Doctor’s eyes. The Doctor races back to the TARDIS and is able to snatch Martha from the teleport beam and bring her back on board the TARDIS. The Doctor tracks  the beam to the planet Gelezen, which is bad news. Gelezen is a planet with a severe isolationist policy. It has, for thousand of years, been surrounded by an impenetrable time field. It is believed the Gelezens used human DNA as a template for their entire species, from which they created a race of clones. As the Doctor boasts about outwitting the Gelezens the TARDIS shields are overpowered and Martha is taken once more …

Part Two
On the planet Gelezen, Martha is introduced to Dr Skelpa. He explains that Martha has been chosen to replenish the now corrupt DNA pool with fresh genetic material - without which the Gelezens will become extinct. Threatening the Gelezens with the Doctor is laughed off as the Doctor is repeatedly bounced away by the time field protecting the planet – until Martha manages to smash the controls of the Gelezen ancestors' greatest achievement. With the planet’s shield out of action, the Doctor arrives and to the Gelezens' surprise, instead of condemning the Gelezens to extinction and allowing them to use Martha’s DNA (which has added strength from having travelled in time), the Doctor offers up a sample of his own DNA. The Doctor’s DNA is perfect for the Gelezens. It is intelligent and adaptable, capable of replicating the human gene matrix as self regenerating DNA, meaning the new gene sample will always remain fresh – and freeing the Gelezens of the need for constant gene replacement. The self-imposed isolation was both their salvation and their curse for thousands of years. The Doctor and Martha leave the Gelezens to make a better life for themselves.

Named individuals

 * Tenth Doctor
 * Martha Jones
 * Dr Skelpa

Original print details
Publication with page count and closing captions
 * 1) DWA 36 (6 pages) NEXT WEEK – CAN THE DOCTOR SAVE MARTHA? FIND OUT NEXT ISSUE!
 * 2) DWA 37 (6 pages) NEXT WEEK – More adventures next issue!
 * No reprints to date.

Continuity

 * On the question of future events the Doctor imagines how boring life would be if you knew everything about what was going to happen and when. He states "I hate spoilers" a theme echoed by encounters with River Song.
 * The Tenth Doctor would later take Donna Noble to see The Beatles. (DWM: The Time of My Life)
 * The Beatles had also been seen on a Time-Space Visualiser aboard the TARDIS in DW: The Chase

Timeline

 * This story takes place after DWAM: The Last Soldier
 * This story takes place before DWAM: Shipwreck!