The Flood (comic story)

The Flood was the last regular Eighth Doctor comic strip to be published in Doctor Who Magazine. It saw the reappearance of the Cybermen in the strip, as well as several other people from the strip's history.

Had the comic been produced as originally planned, it would have shown the Eighth Doctor's regeneration into the Ninth. Russell T Davies personally asked DWM's staff if they would like to produce the scene and they agreed initially. However, they found no way to remove Destrii without killing her off, which they were unwilling to do. Neither would the BBC allow the strip to feature her travelling with the Ninth Doctor. These factors meant the scene was cancelled and it ended with the Eighth Doctor and Destrii still together.

Summary
The Doctor and Destrii arrive on Earth to find rain falling on a market place, rain that radically alters emotions. It is a test being conducted by the Future Cybermen...

Part one
The Doctor and Destrii arrive in Camden Market, in London, on Earth, in 2005. He is noticed by two MI6 agents. The Doctor and Destrii separate, and while the Doctor sets about browsing and examining the stores, Destrii (with her lack of common interaction with humans) sets about offending everyone, including the owner of a Chinese food stall (called Tony), who soon decides to chase after Destrii when she offends him as well, intent on revenge, his wife Linda warning him to desist, because of his Heart problems. The doctor and Desrtii soon re-unite, just in time for the doctor to see the vengeful stall owner being rendered unconscious by Destrii. The doctor, checking to see if Tony is still in a stable condition, notices his pulse is spiraling out of control, commenting that he's never seen anything like it. The two MI6 agents find the TARDIS, and proceed to tell their superior that all is well, just as a pair of Cybermen emerge from thin air behind them.

Part two
The Doctor and Destrii set up amending the problems they've caused, taking the Tony and Linda to "The World's End" pub for a drink. However, they are being listened to by North, another MI6 agent. While the doctor is distracted by more erratic behavior, North plants a listening device on him and proceeds to walk outside and listen to his conversation. This turns out to be a trap, and Destrii comes up behind him and forces him to sit at the table alongside the doctor and co. While the doctor examines North's devices, Destrii spots two Cybermen walking amongst citizens in the pub (Who cannot be seen by normal eyesight due to "Refraction shields", however Destrii can see more spectrums of light than humans, and so can spot them). She questions who they are, and upon receiving blank faces (as nobody can see them), she notices they're walking towards her. She picks up North's Taser and fires it at the Cybermen, rendering them visible. The doctor recognizes them, and as everyone flees Tony distracts them. as The Doctor and his friends run into an alley, to get to North's transport, Cybermen enter from both exits, cornering them. The doctor says he has a plan, and desperately tinkers and tweaks his sonic screwdriver as the Cybermen close in.

Part three
to be added

Characters

 * Eighth Doctor
 * Destrii
 * The Cybermen
 * North
 * Leighton Woodrow
 * Carter
 * Morris
 * Julie
 * Emily Rice

Bars and pubs

 * The Doctor and Destrii visit The World's End.

The Doctor's items

 * The Doctor uses his sonic screwdriver to confuse a group of Cybermen. It is subsequently destroyed by the Cyberleader.

Individuals

 * North is an MI6 agent.

Scrapped Ideas for the Flood
The graphic novel The Flood reveals that this story was originally going to feature the Eighth Doctor's regeneration into the Ninth Doctor. The magazine passed on this opportunity as they would not have been able to show Destrii's reaction to the regeneration; DWM originally intended for Destrii to travel with the Ninth Doctor in a series of adventures set before Rose, but this idea was vetoed by the BBC, who wanted only Rose Tyler to travel with the Ninth Doctor. As the comics were not able to illustrate the Ninth Doctor at a point before meeting Rose, a regeneration scene would have meant showing the Eighth Doctor changing and then ending on a cliff hanger which could never be revisited. The Eighth Doctor's regeneration and the Ninth Doctor's introductory regeneration would be chronicled in the television stories Night of the Doctor and The Day of the Doctor respectively, and the introduction of the War Doctor, a diversionary incarnation of the Doctor in between these incarnations, fully negated the idea of Paul McGann's Eighth Doctor changing directly into Christopher Eccleston's Ninth, at least in the parent timeline of Doctor Who. Additionally, the writers, unable to give Destrii an exit story and not wishing to kill off her character, left her travels with the Doctor open-ended. Destrii's ultimate fate has yet to be fully expounded on in any media, but was partially touched upon when she finally reappeared much later in the 2016 comic story Stockbridge Showdown to assist the Twelfth Doctor along with several other comic-originated characters, proving she remained alive and that she eventually left the TARDIS.

Continuity

 * The story features the return of MI6 and its director, Leighton Woodrow. They previously appeared in COMIC: The Fallen.
 * Technology from this incident would be used by MI6 to launch themselves into space and create Annabel Lake's suit. (COMIC: Hunters of the Burning Stone)
 * The Cyber-Controller returns, having last been seen in TV: Attack of the Cybermen.
 * The Cybermen again travel through time (TV: Earthshock, Attack of the Cybermen).
 * The Doctor mentions that radiation exposure is a good way to trigger a regeneration. He knows this because that was how the Third Doctor regenerated in TV: Planet of the Spiders. Exposure to radiation would also be the cause of the Tenth Doctor's regeneration. (TV: The End of Time)
 * Cybermen from another universe invade Earth a few years after this attempt in the episodes TV: Army of Ghosts / Doomsday.
 * The Doctor absorbs energy from the Time Vortex again in TV: The Parting of the Ways.
 * The Doctor's blue jacket, which he gained in COMIC: Ophidius, is destroyed, only to be replaced with a green one before the events of AUDIO: Blood of the Daleks.
 * Izzy Sinclair, Maxwell Edison and Grace Holloway have cameo appearances. (TV: Doctor Who, COMIC: Endgame)