The Parasites (comic story)

 was a Doctor Who Adventures comic strip published in 2012.

Summary
The Doctor, Amy Pond and Rory Williams had landed on a strange alien world that the Doctor is convinced is Earth judging by the stars but are greeted by stocky angry purple creatures armed with weapon sticks. Believing the new arrivals to have angered the “Great Sky Goblins” that are causing the recent earthquakes, Rory is captured to be offered as a sacrifice who is taken to the “Temple at the Edge of the World.” Fleeing to a refinery that is pumping up a fatty white substance from the ground which the locals use for their buildings AND for food, the Doctor and Amy come across one of the creatures that explains they are just frightened that their world is ending. The Doctor, curious about the Edge of the World takes Amy and the creature aboard the TARDIS and takes it straight up and puts it in hover mode so that he can take a picture of the creature’s world – a giant Space Turtle (a Terrapratch). Returning to the ‘planet’ to rescue Rory the creatures see magic pictures taken by the Doctor which show the creatures are parasites on the back of the Terrapratch - a creature that has been weakened by the excessive drilling and is in great pain. The parasites agree to be less greedy and later with the Terrapratch having recovered continues to take them on their way through space with a new understanding of the truth.

Named characters

 * The Doctor
 * Amy Pond
 * Rory Williams

Original print details

 * Publication with page count and closing captions
 * 1) DWA 250 (4 pages)
 * No reprints to date.

Continuity

 * A giant creature floating in space has echoes of the Star Whale seen on television in The Beast Below.
 * The Doctor pilots the TARDIS to appear above the ‘planet’ putting it in hover mode - a manoeuvre seen in several televised stories.