Diminutive creatures noted for their insatiable appetite for anything inorganic - especially if it provided them with an energy source. They were reputedly indestructible and could survive in the vacuum of space. One of them once wiped out an entire space fleet. They could be rendered immobile for short periods by staser fire, however, but made for extremely difficult targets.
The Doctor and her companions encountered one when it infiltrated a hospital ship, the Tsuranga, carrying them and a number of patients and staff. The creature began eating its way through the ship's infrastructure, aiming for the anti-matter power core.
An attempt to lure it into an escape pod failed, so the Doctor was forced to devise an alternative scheme. A detonation device was rigged to attract it and it consumed this instead, before being ejected from the vessel through an airlock.
On exploding, the Pting merely absorbed the resulting energy and survived to float away through space.
The Doctor later encountered another member of the species, which she nicknamed "Tiny", on a penal asteroid run by the Judoon.
Appearances: The Tsuranga Conundrum (2018), The Timeless Children (2020), Revolution of the Daleks (2021)
- Though the episode was written by Chris Chibnall, the Pting was actually the creation of writer Tim Price. He had been a member of the writers room for Series 11 but had been unsuccessful in getting a story commissioned. Chibnall liked the alien he had devised, however, and Price agreed he could use it.
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