Vortis Vortis , called the project world by the Gods of Light , was a planet in the Isop Galaxy . It was home to various native insectoid species , including the Menoptera , the Optera , the Zarbi and the larvae gun s . The first , second , fourth and fifth incarnations of the renegade Time Lord known as the Doctor visited this planet . Astronomical Data . Vortis was originally covered in flower forests . When the malevolent Animus invaded , the planet changed into a world with a thin atmosphere , low oxygen , natural crag - like rock formations and pools of acid . ( TV : " The Web Planet " ) Isocryte was also found in unnatural abundance on the world due to the Gods , who transformed the centre of the world into a laboratory . Vortis then journeyed through space until arriving in the Rhumos system before leaving again . History . Vortis was created by Bris and Ilex , two Gods of Light , as their student science experiment . They selected Menoptera from an unknown world and transplanted them to the project world . ( PROSE : " Twilight of the Gods " ) The Elder Horrors once dominated life on Vortis . This included Clynex and possibly the Animus . ( COMIC : " The Naked Flame " ) Early in the history of Vortis , the Zarbi , led by a queen , fought a war against the Menoptera , forcing them to flee to the moons . An advance scouting party was sent to spy on the Zarbi , where they were attacked by a group of Atlantean s who had crash - landed there . Soon afterwards , the Menoptera discovered and captured the First Doctor , who was making his first visit to Vortis . The Doctor escaped and encountered the Atlanteans , who took him to their ship , having assumed that he was one of them . The Atlanteans escorted the Doctor back to his TARDIS , where a battle between the Zarbi and the Menoptera was being waged nearby . From the TARDIS , the Doctor watched as the Atlanteans were cornered and killed by the natives of Vortis . ( PROSE : " The Lost Ones " ) A long time afterwards , the native species of Vortis lived in harmony in the flower forest s that covered the world . At some point , the malevolent Animus invaded and the planet became barren and lifeless . ( TV : " The Web Planet " ) The Clynex was also weakened by the coming of the Animus . ( COMIC : " The Naked Flame " ) Most of the Menoptera fled to Pictos , while the few that stayed behind evolved into Optera . It was in this situation that the Doctor returned , bringing with him Ian , Barbara and Vicki . After aiding the Menoptera in destroying the Animus , the Doctor hoped that Vortis could once more regain its verdant beauty . ( TV : " The Web Planet " ) Some years after the death of the Animus , the crystalline Clynex began to revive and drain the energy from its surroundings . The Fourth Doctor and Sarah Jane Smith visited Vortis , where he saved the Menoptera from Clynex ( who was attracting them to their deaths ) by shattering it with his sonic screwdriver . ( COMIC : " The Naked Flame " ) Generations later , the Skirkon s came to Vortis , took control of the Zarbi and forced captured Menoptera to mine for Galvinium X until they were once more saved by the First Doctor , this time with assistance from his grandchildren , John and Gillian . ( COMIC : " On the Web Planet " ) Over time , the forests of Vortis had begun to regrow . Vortis drifted into the neighbouring Rhumos system and became disputed territory for the Rhumon s , who were in the midst of a civil war . During this time the Animus returned , having not been completely destroyed , a seed of it surviving . With the help of the Second Doctor , Jamie and Victoria , the Animus was destroyed again and Vortis eventually was left to regain its beauty . The Rhumons declared Vortis neutral territory and hoped the other Rhumons would learn of this , ending the war and bringing the Rhumos system to peace . ( PROSE : " Twilight of the Gods " ) By the 20th century , Vortis had left the Isop Galaxy as a rogue planet and entered the Mutter ' s Spiral galaxy . The First Doctor discovered that the planet had been engineered by the Zarbi Supremo to travel through space and was near the orbit of Jupiter . He confronted the Zarbi Supremo with the aid of Gordon Hamilton and returned control of the planet to the Menoptera . ( PROSE : " The Lair of Zarbi Supremo " ) The Fifth Doctor and Nyssa visited Vortis , where he once again helped the Menoptera deal with the Zarbi . ( AUDIO : " Return to the Web Planet " ) The Eleventh Doctor instructed his old friend Snorglar to send some of his boys to Vortis in three days time where " a man with a recorder " would " sort out " a debt that the Doctor owed to him , because from the Eleventh Doctor ' s perspective , he already paid it . ( COMIC : " The Rise and Fall " ) References . When remembering his travels with the First Doctor , one of the things that Ian Chesterton recalled was the planet Vortis . ( COMIC : " Hunters of the Burning Stone " ) The Fifth Doctor told Nyssa that he could imagine relaxing on Vortis , but that he had never had the opportunity to do so . ( AUDIO : " Return to the Web Planet " ) In 1929 , the Eleventh Doctor claimed that Vortis was visible from Earth . ( AUDIO : " The Hounds of Artemis " ) Vortis was known to the Drashani Empire . ( AUDIO : " The Shadow Heart " )