The First (comic story)

The First was a comic story published in Doctor Who Magazine. It was written by Dan McDaid.

Summary
A trip to the Antarctic Circle proves eventful for the Tenth Doctor and Martha as they find themselves battling to save the human race from the Skith.

Part 1
It is 1915 and a group of men are on a trip to cross Antarctica. As they joke, James Francis Hurley is taking photos. He thinks he has seen something on the screen. All of a sudden some ice tentacles lash out and attack Robert Clark. They grasp him and it swims away. Elsewhere the TARDIS lands and the Tenth Doctor has taken Martha to see the aurora australis. Martha says it looks amazing but the Doctor notices a hole in them, saying that something has come through. All of a sudden they find the are surrounded by the men on the trip. Martha notices Clark's hand has been frozen. They agree to take Martha and the Doctor to their ship, the Endurance. On their way there the Doctor tells Martha that Hurley is a world famous photographer.

When they get to the ship they are interrogated by Ernest Shackleton, who does not believe they're a liability and orders James Wordie to lock them in the hold. Frank Wild shows Ernest a piece of tentacle with a bit of blood on it. The Doctor explores the hold and finds a jar with a green oval-shaped egg inside. The Doctor says that he does not know what will happen to Clark. He says it is nothing good. Meanwhile Ernest and Frank go looking for Clark. Clark, now having two ice hands and glowing eyes, leaps at Ernest but is blocked off. The Doctor, Martha and James escape to find Clark climbing up to the mast. All of a sudden the monster comes back in full form and grabs James by the tentacle.

Part 2
The crew open fire but the bullets won't stop the monster. Martha discovers that the creature is made of ice and the Doctor observes that there is a heart beating inside. The crew then proceed to go on and harpoon the monster hitting it in the eye. Ernest orders it it to leave and it does so.

Later, the Doctor and Dr Macklin are in one of the Endurance's bedrooms. The Doctor suspects that Mr Clark is carrying something in his bloodstream that is rewriting his DNA at a terrifying speed. This will make him inhuman. Ernest walks in and tells the Doctor that he does not want any rubbish poured into his men's heads. He threatens the Doctor that anymore funny business from him and Martha will "feed them to the dogs".

The crew as well as the Doctor and Martha head out, Clark with them but strapped up so that he can not get away. All of a sudden the ice sea monster jumps out on them and a tiny part of its tentacle falls off. The Doctor touches it and ends up communicating with the aliens behind this. He detects that the sea monster is about to explode and it does so, knocking everyone back. The crew pitch their tents. The Doctor and Martha discover that the monster that attacked them was once a whale but the aliens altered its DNA and turned it into ice. Clark is escaping but Frank follows him but gets frostbite when he exhales him with his breath. He runs into a tunnel and he gets Ernest to fetch the others. They enter the cave and find Clark running down. Suddenly three alien heads pop up from out the ground and rise to full form.

Part 3
The crew open fire but the Skith shoot ice shards into their hands. They are brought down to their lair, including Martha and the Doctor. They witness the Mindcore, a device which lets the Skith communicate. It is also the sum of all Skith knowledge. The Skith take the Doctor away to observe his mind. Martha and the crew are tied up. The Skith tell him he will come in a moment. The Doctor wakes up in a room hanging upside down with a red Skith. He soon finds out that is their leader. He tells the Doctor that the Skith are scientists. All of a sudden in the chamber in which Martha and the crew are held a boar creature, called a Byndalk, escapes. The Skith terminate him and say that he was the last of his kind. The Skith then decide to take Martha away for experimentation. Meanwhile the Doctor has his mind scanned and the Skith leader wonders what is going on.

Meanwhile Clark has had his body taken over by the Skith. He heads for the control panel and terminates some of the Skith. They begin to shatter. He gets Ernest, James and Martha free.

The Skith leader plans to take the TARDIS. He beams the Doctor with ice.

Part 4
to be added

Characters

 * Tenth Doctor
 * Martha Jones
 * Ernest Shackleton
 * James Francis Hurley
 * Robert Clark
 * James Wordie
 * Frank Wild
 * Skith Leader
 * Alexander Macklin
 * Skith One

Worldbuilding

 * When the Doctor is showing the Skith his memories, various monsters that he has fought appears to them. Included are Sontarans, Osirans, Robot Mummies, Daleks, Carrionite and a Dæmon.
 * Ernest Shackleton is immune to the psychic paper.
 * The Skith are responsible for the destruction of the Viskili, the Byndalk, and the Mammox.
 * When the Doctor joins the Skith-self, the Leader asks if he is a Daxamite or a Dominator.
 * Shackleton and his crew leave Antarctica for Paulet Island.
 * To hide his identity from the Skith, the Doctor claims to be from Cheltenham, and then lies that his parents were a butcher and a baker.

Original print details

 * (Publication with page count and closing captions)


 * 1) DWM 386 (10 pages) Next: "The Skith Receive You with Pleasure!"
 * 2) DWM 387 (9 pages) Next: The Experiment Begins!
 * 3) DWM 388 (9 pages) Next: The Dead of Winter!
 * 4) DWM 389 (10 pages) The End.

Continuity

 * Martha wears an atmospheric density jacket to protect herself from the cold. (TV: The Web Planet)
 * The Doctors says he "makes a mean omelette". (COMIC: The Lodger)
 * The Doctor to only be "a bit alien", alluding to his eighth incarnation's claim of being half-human. (TV: Doctor Who)
 * Martha reacts with worry to seeing the Doctor frozen, having previously had to freeze him to prevent the Torajii star burning him up internally. (TV: 42)