Dreamers of Death (comic story)

Summary
The Doctor takes Sharon to visit old friends on Unicepter IV, where the latest craze is shared dreaming, a process made possible by telepathic animals called slinths. Dream co-ordinator Vernon Allen and his slinth Miki prepare a poetic dream for the Doctor and his friends, but the Doctor hears that Lord Veith and his own entourage recently died during a shared dream and takes precautions just in case. When the dream unexpectedly turns violent, K9 detects the change in the Doctor’s life-signs and breaks his connection to the others, and the Doctor in turn rescues them before the fright causes them all to die of shock. The source of the nightmare turns out to be Miki, who has been feeding on their fear. As Miki flees, reports of similar incidents come in, and the Doctor realizes that the slinths are psychic parasites who have now grown strong enough to attack openly. The slinths form themselves into a group body in the shape of the Devil to generate more terror in their victims, but when the Doctor realizes that the “devil” is also feeding on electrical energy he is able to short it out using an electrical cable and a firehose. The slinths’ gestalt is broken and the security forces are able to mop them up. In the aftermath, Vernon must start a new life without his slinth, and Sharon -- who must also start a new life now that she’s grown up -- decides to remain on Unicepter IV with him.

Characters

 * Fourth Doctor
 * K9 Mark II
 * Sharon
 * Garret Berrace
 * Camilla Berrace
 * Lyan Berrace
 * Karith
 * Slinth
 * Lord Veith
 * Vernor Allen
 * Miki

Continuity
to be added