Culture Shock! (comic story)

Summary
Nameless spiderlike invaders are killing the vaguely squidlike Culture by inserting their DNA into the Culture and turning them into nurseries for incubation of more invaders. Fearing that the Culture will be destroyed, the Culture attempts to flee what it terms "the homebody" and enter "the overbody."

Meanwhile the TARDIS lands near a tropical beach. The Doctor exits feeling as is his life has become meaningless and wondering if he should give up his adventures and go home to Gallifrey. He is disturbed from wallowing in self-pity by a telepathic distress call. Running to the water's edge the Doctor sees a small quadrupedal dinosaur that seems to be the source of the distress call. As the dinosaur falls over dead the Doctor learns that the dinosaur is merely "the homebody" of the Culture inside of it and it is the Culture that is telepathically crying out for help rather than the dinosaur.

Deducing that the Culture is a kind of mass mind cell culture and that the invader is actually a virus, the Doctor quickly retrieves a syringe of what he calls "Maxenshudicea." The substance kills the virus and the Doctor places the dinosaur's body into "the overbody," or ocean, thus allowing the Culture to leave the homebody and enter the overbody. This rejuvenates the Culture allowing it to reproduce and continue to live.

Because he was able to save the Culture, the Doctor feels a renewed sense of purpose. He enters the TARDIS stating that he has "people to see, places to go, things to do." The TARDIS dematerializes and the Doctor heads off for yet another adventure.

Characters

 * Seventh Doctor

Continuity

 * The Seventh Doctor is travelling alone, and is muttering to the TARDIS about being "old and useless". This would suggest the story takes place late in this incarnation, perhaps not long before the TV movie, as there is no occasion during the television series that he travels alone, and there is similarly no period established in the Virgin New Adventures for him to be travelling by himself other than just before the TV movie.