A Wing and a Prayer (comic story)

 was a Doctor Who Magazine comic story released in 2013, starting in issue 462. It is companion Clara Oswald's DWM debut.

Publisher's summary
When a sandstorm forces the TARDIS down in the Iraqi desert in 1930, Clara is overjoyed to meet the legendary Amy Johnson, currently engaged in her bid to become the first woman to fly across the world. But something else is hiding in desert sands. Something small and sinister...

Part 1: A Wing and a Prayer
Amy Johnson is drowning. As she sinks, she remembers that this was how she always thought she would die...

Years earlier (presumably), Johnson is flying her plane through the Iraqi desert. A sandstorm is causing her to lose control of her plane, and she is forced to make an emergency landing on the sands. Securing her plane to ensure that it doesn't blow away, she waits for the storm to end.

Two hours later, the storm is fading. Johnson sees someone or something approaching her from the distance, and pulls out a gun. The figure is revealed to be Clara Oswald, who tells Johnson not to shoot. Upon introducing themselves, Clara is overjoyed to be meeting Johnson, who has long been one of her heroes.

The Doctor soon appears as well, and offers to help Johnson get her plane up and running again, so she can set off once more for Baghdad, where she needs to be by nightfall if she hopes to continue her journey from England to Australia. Meanwhile, Clara notices a mysterious buzzing noise...

The TARDIS materialises in Baghdad. The Doctor explains to Clara about some of the city's history and culture, but she isn't listening - she's incredibly excited about talking to Johnson and finding out more about Johnson's life. Suddenly, Clara stops talking, having just remembered that she knows how Johnson will die - drowning in the Thames Estuary while transporting supplies during World War II. She asks the Doctor if they can warn her, but the Doctor says no, explaining that "history is a delicate tapestry. Historical figures have to be left alone. If their paths are altered then the patterns they've woven will unravel." Clara is saddened by this, but the Doctor reminds her that Johnson is still alive and well at the moment.

The Doctor soon finds what he and Clara have come to Baghdad for - a fez store run by a man named Omar, who expresses anger at the fact that the Doctor's previous fez has been eaten by a slime-frog on the Third Moon of Puggo.

Johnson, meanwhile, lands her plane at the Harrington Aerodrome, and is introduced to the staff there - retired Royal Air Force commander Arnold Bradshaw and mechanics Ted and Kenny. Bradshaw, a stern man with only one arm, displays sexism towards Johnson, who promptly debunks Bradshaw's theories that she doesn't know how her plane works. Bradshaw, irritated, storms off into the distance. After a brief conversation with the mechanics, Johnson leaves as well.

The Doctor is seen at Omar's home, playing a game of backgammon. He is worried that Clara will not follow the advice he gave her about changing history.

Clara meets up with Johnson at the Crown Hotel, and the two of them head up to the hotel's roof for dinner.

Back at the aerodrome, Ted and Kenny prepare to conduct repairs on Johnson's plane, but both are swiftly killed by something emitting the same buzzing noise Clara noticed back in the desert. Kenny manages to call for help before he dies, and Bradshaw enters. Something speaks to him, telling him that he "rages." Bradshaw is unable to see the speaker at first, but upon closer inspection, he sees it - the alien insect Koragatta, who tells him that he seeks "a warrior prepared to face a terrible threat." Bradshaw is initially sceptical that something so small could be so powerful, but Koragatta swiftly proves his power by recreating Bradshaw's missing arm out of sand.

Clara and Johnson converse on the roof of the Crown, discussing the reasons Johnson decided to make her journey around the world. Suddenly, a sandstorm picks up. They watch in horror as the sand forms copies of the two of them. As the sand-people advance menacingly toward them, Clara repeats something the Doctor said earlier: "Sand: bad..."

Characters

 * Eleventh Doctor
 * Clara Oswald
 * Amy Johnson
 * Arnold Bradshaw
 * Ted
 * Kenny
 * Omar
 * Vessalak
 * Koragatta

Continuity

 * The Doctor's fez merchant Omar knows about the destruction of one of the Doctor's fezzes by River Song. (TV: The Big Bang)
 * The Doctor saves Amy from her fate and takes her to Cornucopia to start a new life. (COMIC: The Cornucopia Caper)
 * Amy Johnson will meet the Doctor and Clara again in COMIC: The Blood of Azrael.