The Cloud Exiles (short story)

The Cloud Exiles was a short story published in Doctor Who Annual 1967. It featured the First Doctor.

Summary
Dr Who leaves Earth in 2067, but upon arrival, appears to land in the same place he left. He goes outside to investigate but discovers the atmosphere to be unbreathable.

He retrieves his atmospheric density jacket from Tardis and returns to study some unusual clouds, which appear to be glowing. He attempts to take a sample of a cloud but discovers they are living organisms. The cloud envelops him and renders him unconscious.

When he regains consciousness, he is in a laboratory overseen by the cloud creatures, which are known as Ethereals. Dr Who yells at his captors and discovers they are sensitive to loud noise. The Ethereals reveal that they used to have solid bodies, but the Baggolts, their robotic servants, rebelled against them and attempted to vaporise them. The experiment failed, instead leaving the Ethereals in a gaseous form.

To become solid beings once more, the Ethereals plan to use Dr Who as a mould from which to cast their new bodies. As the machine begins scanning him in preparation, Dr Who uses his "super ring" to escape and disables their equipment. Rather than escape, Dr Who plans to help the Ethereals overthrow the Baggolts and regain their solid forms without the need for a mould.

After several hours of work, the Ethereals are successfully returned to their solid forms. With the help of their leader, Mitzog, Dr Who hatches a plan to enter the Baggolt brain-centre disguised as robots.

Upon reaching the capital city of Droog, the disguised Ethereal force is mistaken for a robot mining party and easily slips through the guards. They cut a hole in the central fortress, attracting the attention of the robots, and fend them off as they near the control room of the Baggolts. Dr Who and Mitzog ambush Nalog, the leader of the rebellion, in the control room, and Dr Who sets a switch on the master panel from "Rebellion" to "Peaceful", thus ending the rebellion.

Characters

 * Dr Who
 * Mitzog
 * Nalog

Worldbuilding

 * Dr Who never goes exploring without specimen tubes.

Continuity

 * Dr Who uses his "super ring" to open the lock on the epitomiser cubicle. (TV: The Daleks' Master Plan)
 * Dr Who again wears an atmospheric density jacket. (TV: The Web Planet)