Vortisaur

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Doctor Who race
Vortisaurs
Type Time-sensitive avian reptile
Affiliated with None
First appearance Storm Warning

Vortisaurs are fictional creatures from the Eighth Doctor series of Doctor Who audio plays by Big Finish. Much like the Reapers of the TV series, Vortisaurs are a species of time-sensitive flying reptiles with cosmetic similarities to pterosaurs. They live exclusively in the space-time vortex, the dimension which time machines like the Doctor's TARDIS pass through as they travel from point to point. Vortisaurs are drawn to the chronal distortions radiated by objects traversing the vortex, and occasionally scavenge from ships wrecked and lost in that environment. Their jaws are fixed with sharp teeth; on biting, beyond the physical wound, the chronal energies of the creature age the wound and the surrounding tissue by decades.

The Doctor appears to have extensive training in the handling of Vortisaurs, referring to them as "bloodhounds" and showing a proficiency for handling of the beasts. On at least two occasions he offers anecdotes of his days as a youth, riding Vortisaurs bareback.

In Storm Warning, the Doctor encounters a flock of Vortisaurs scavenging from the hulk of a time ship; his efforts to drive them off, only result in his being attacked himself. Although he manages to retreat to 1930 France, materialising his TARDIS on board the Airship R101, he unknowingly tows one of the creatures along with him, a fact revealed when it begins to attack the airship crew. The Doctor and his new companion Charley use the Vortisaur as a ride to escape the crash of the airship. Charley takes a liking to the Vortisaur, naming it Ramsay after the then-Prime Minister James Ramsay MacDonald. After a few serials of failed domestication attempts, Ramsay is eventually released back into the vortex.

A later story, No More Lies, features bridled Vortisaurs ridden by marauding time warriors; again showing his affinity for the species, the Doctor at one point mounts one of these Vortisaurs, quickly giving it the name "Margaret".

[edit] Appearances