The Crimson Hand (comic story)

Synopsis
4039. The Earth has been ravaged by the monstrous Graxnix, but the Doctor has bigger problems. A Chronal Interface leads him back to the present day, where it soon becomes clear that someone is interfering with time...

Plot
The Doctor is in 4039, where the monstrous Graxnix have destroyed London. The Doctor has been captured, and while talking to Boznitz, leader of the Graxnix, he notices a man from the 21st century. He breaks free of the Graxnix to pursue the man - and is led through a Chronal Interface and back to the year 2008. Once there, he quizzes the man - Tony - who tells the Doctor that he's staying in London's famous Hotel Historia. Perturbed by the presence of such easily-accessible time-tech, the Doctor visits the owner of the Hotel, one Majenta Pryce, who, it transpires, is a green-skinned alien. The Doctor uses his psychic paper to pass himself off as a hotel inspector. He's surprised to discover that the Hotel is in appalling disarray, and that many of the rooms are infested with Cro-Magnons, Dinosaurs and the Black Death. But Majenta is not to be swayed - she proudly shows the Doctor the Chronexus 3000 that powers the Chronal Interfaces. Suddenly the Graxnix come through one of the Chronal Interfaces and swiftly resume their rampage. Majenta returns to her office and prepares to pack up and leave - but the Doctor stops her in her tracks. Majenta’s assistant, Fanson, tells of how Majenta was once the proprietor of a successful chain of Hotel Historias, but the chain all-but collapsed during the Time War. The Doctor cajoles Majenta into using the Chronexus 3000 to teleport the Graxnix back to the 41st century - where they find themselves caught outside the timestream, trapped between passing seconds. Back in the present day, Majenta and Fanson are arrested by Cosmic Bailiffs, and the Doctor sets off in his TARDIS.

Characters

 * The Doctor
 * Tony
 * Majenta Pryce
 * Fanson
 * Boznitz
 * Graxnix
 * Cro-Magnons
 * Dinosaurs
 * Cosmic Bailiffs

Continuity

 * Since The Doctor is by himself, it is probably set between Voyage of the Damned and Partners in Crime, since it was published after the final Martha Jones strip, though it could also take place between The Runaway Bride and Smith and Jones or even between Journey's End and The Next Doctor. This is the first DWM comic strip featuring the Tenth Doctor on his own, the second being Thinktwice, and the first non-companion DWM story since the Eighth Doctor strip ''The Curious Tale of Spring-Heeled Jack, published in 2003.
 * The story parallels The Runaway Bride in introducing a character, Majenta Pryce in this case, who is destined to become the Doctor's companion at a later date. Pryce joins the TARDIS as a companion from Thinktwice.

Continuity
to be added

Timeline

 * Hotel Historia occurs after: to be added
 * Hotel Historia occurs before: to be added