Clara Oswald and the School of Death (comic story)

 was the eighth story of the Doctor Who: The Twelfth Doctor comic series published in 2016. It was the first story of the second year of the series and saw a restart of the issue numbering, with the series now taking place during the events of the ninth series. The story featured the surprise return of the Sea Devils.

Summary
The gothic, sprawling Ravenscaur is the top private school in the UK, educator of the children of royalty, politicians and celebrities, and epicentre of generations of power and influence. When an old friend of Clara's dies at the school under mysterious circumstances, she and the Twelfth Doctor go undercover to investigate.

Part one
Late at Ravenscaur School, Christel Dean is packing up her things, when a piece of chalk lifts up and writes on the chalkboard, "I must not murder my teacher." She runs out of the school, and as she drives away, leaves a voicemail for her friend Clara. A group of students appear in the middle of the road, and Christel swerves into a tree. As the children approach her, she runs onto a bridge, where the water rises and she is attacked by a sea creature.

In 2242, the Twelfth Doctor is being harassed by an alien in the bar of a starliner. He uses the sonic sunglasses to hack into the aliens' jetpacks, sending them flying, and hops into the TARDIS with an extra drink for Clara. When the TARDIS arrives in her flat however, he finds only a note waiting for him.

Arriving at Ravenscaur, Clara reflects on the history of the prestigious institution, while enduring the slimy Mr. Beck's flirting, before the Doctor suddenly pops up, incensed at being left behind but eager at the prospect of going undercover. In Clara's room, the Doctor is brought up to speed on everything before Clara shoves him under the bed when Mrs Mariner, the headmistress, arrives to meet her. The headmistress is a stern, cold woman who makes very clear that Clara's post is conditional before seeing herself out. As the Doctor gets to his feet, Clara remarks that Mariner's eyes were unnerving.

Early the next morning, Beck is overseeing a gruelling physical fitness class before they're drawn off by a woman's scream coming from a damp cave. Within the cave, they find glowing green eggs. When they get too close, the eggs burst, releasing tadpole like creatures that wrap themselves around the humans' heads.

Part two
The next day, despite the strict rules for teachers, Clara tries to connect with her class and expose them to more modern forms of media but only succeeds in sparking a verbal brawl between the students regarding who deserves to attend. When class lets out, Clara is approached by the two misfits, Jack Irvine and Lucy Walker, who recognize her from Christel's photographs. When Clara asks what happened to her, the two quickly take their leave, warning Clara to not go near the water.

At The Slaughtered Whale, the Doctor, in a rather cliché nautical guise, enters the pub and tries to strike up a conversation with the glaring and silent barflies. After getting a mug of water from the bar, the Doctor tries to gleam information from a burly sea captain before he's lifted off the ground. When the Doctor pours his water on the man, his head begins smoking, melting away to reveal green flesh with red fins. As one, the pub telekinetically lifts all manner of weapons and throws them at the Doctor, who deflects them with a stuffed fish before a sonic scream sends him flying out the window, the Doctor jumping into the TARDIS before they can catch him.

The TARDIS materializes in Clara's bathroom, as she's in the bath, and tells her of what he just encountered, saying she was right about something fishy going on. The Doctor does have a theory on who's behind this but if he's right, it means the whole world is at risk. Though Clara is eager to investigate, the Doctor has her stay put, suspecting that Ravenscaur is at the centre of everything, confident that Sonny, the stolen stuffed fish, will watch his back.

The next day, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Daniel Claremont, arrives for a visit. That night, Clara heads deep into the school's lower levels, finding a sealed blast door. Using a sonic screwdriver, that she's held onto ever since their encounter with the Fractures, Clara enters and finds the Prime Minister having dinner with the school board, being very eager to wash away the disgusting human society before dinner is served, live sea creatures. As Clara watches, Lucy and Jack come up from behind, giving away their position but the trio are able to run back to the door before they're caught.

As the three head deeper into the caverns, Clara is told more about how the students seem to change while attending Ravenscaur before a tidal wave floods the cavern, depositing the three in a bright, humid environment. Though Lucy and Jack are caught off-guard, Clara quickly puts together that the environment is artificial, specifically it is designed to simulate Earth's climate 1,000,000 years ago back when dinosaurs ruled the Earth. At that, a voice says that the dinosaurs ruled nothing, that this environment is how Earth is meant to be and what it will be returned to when its true masters reclaim their planet.

For humankind's extinction will come about by the hands of the Sea Devils!

Part three
to be added

Part four
to be added

Characters

 * Twelfth Doctor
 * Clara Oswald
 * Jack Irvine
 * Lucy Walker
 * Christel Dean
 * Mr Beck
 * Mrs Mariner
 * Lucifer van Volk
 * Catriona Stewart
 * Daniel Claremont
 * Kate Stewart
 * Petronella Osgood

The Doctor

 * The Doctor takes a trip to the Rosette of Sirius in 2242. Lucifer van Volk, captain of the Steel Reivers, considers killing him with a firestorm incinerator cannon and a Kronaan laser-ax.
 * The Doctor once ended up conducting the last night of The Proms, where he played the Sex Pistols' version of "God Save the Queen".
 * The Doctor's contact image for Kate Stewart is photo-shopped to give her her father's moustache.

Clara

 * Clara's outgoing voicemail message is, "Hi, it's Clara. I'm either banging my head against a brick wall trying to teach Class 2B Shakespeare, or, y'know, out saving the universe."
 * It is confirmed that Clara attended teacher's college.

Sea Devils

 * Clara notes that Sea Devils are less sophisticated and more savage than Silurians.
 * Sea Devil hatchlings communicate via sonic telepathy.

Original print details
to be added

Continuity

 * The Doctor now uses his sonic sunglasses. (TV: The Magician's Apprentice etc.)
 * While not recognising Lucifer, the Doctor queries whether he knew "a mop-head in a fedora and rainbow scarf", "a skinny chap with electro-shock hair", or "a bow-tied whippersnapper". (TV: Robot, The Parting of the Ways, The Eleventh Hour)
 * The Doctor claims that he gets distracted rather than running off. (TV: Into the Dalek)
 * Clara is said to have used psychic paper to get the job with the school, leading the Doctor to remark that she is acting like him. (TV: Flatline)
 * A teacher shows attraction to Clara, a la Danny Pink, but in a more negative manner and she shoots down his advances (unlike in TV: Into the Dalek).
 * Clara refers to herself as being impossible. (TV: The Name of the Doctor, et al)
 * In keeping with Year Two being set in the Series 9 continuity, the Doctor is now wearing more casual clothes, in particular his hoodie. (TV: Last Christmas)
 * The Doctor once again claims to be a master swordfighter, and fights using an unconventional weapon. (TV: Robot of Sherwood)
 * Clara possesses a sonic screwdriver, which she got from the Doctor during the Fracture invasion. (COMIC: The Fractures)
 * Clara attended teaching college before taking her job at Coal Hill School (TV: The Day of the Doctor). The story does not indicate whether she is still employed by Coal Hill at this point.
 * The Doctor recalls the emergence of the Sea Devils in the English Channel. (TV: The Sea Devils) He notes that it happened in either 1972 or 1982, referencing the UNIT dating controversy.
 * The Doctor tells Mrs. Mariner that he "had a run-in with some intelligent fireballs a while back". (COMIC: The Hyperion Empire)
 * When Kate finds out that the Prime Minister isn't human she remarks, "Not again". (TV: The Sound of the Drums)
 * The Doctor gives Clara and the students a device that boosts their mental abilities. (TV: Hide)
 * The Doctor again refers to an unusual object as a companion and mourns its loss. (TV: The Time of the Doctor)
 * Clara refers to the TARDIS as her home, much as Ace did in TV: Survival.
 * Claremont mentions Scotland's wish to separate from the UK. (TV: The Beast Below)