Saturday 28 May 2016

The Monster foes of Dr. Who

As a child growing up in the 70's my earliest memory of monsters was those foes of Dr Who who beamed through our TV sets weekly on a Saturday night, we may have watched from behind the sofa or the braver a ones with just a cushion to shield their eyes and hopefully hide ourselves from these monster beings but still we were hooked and couldn't miss an episode.

In 2005 the series was once again dusted off and resurrected for a new generation of audience as well as fans of long standing. A long with the good Doctor himself the new series brought back his foes both new and old. Here are just a few of my favourites.

 The Master / Missy

How could a new series not eventually bring back one of the Doctors both oldest friends and well as oldest foe. As another Time Lord from the planet of Gallifrey and therefore also able to regenerate the Doctor and the Master have occasionally been on the same side but mostly they have battled each other through out time. The Doctor on the side of good and the Master on the side of chaos.

Derek Jacobi played the Master first in new generation of Dr Who, he was in just one episode before quickly regenerating in the form of Jon Simm's who brought a fresh evil to the role. As always the Doctor gained the upper hand and it seemed the Master met his end at last but as those of us from the 70's knew, the Master was very apt at reappearing when you least expected it.

The next time we got to meet 'The Master' it became obvious he'd undergone his most dramatic regeneration yet as he came back as 'Missy' with an lovely Mary Poppins themed outfit complete with umbrella yet in her heart was still the love of chaos and a will to create evil havoc rather than sing any jolly songs or jump through chalk paintings.

Foes or Friends? You can never quite tell with The Doctor and The Master / Missy  but they seem forever bound to meet in battle.

The Daleks / Cybermen

No series of Dr Who is ever complete without another outing for two more of the doctors arch villains both made of metal with mutated beings within. They've come along way from the time of the 70's with new outer shells and polished look. The Daleks also acquired a new ability, the one thing a child in the 70's could be comforted by is that Daleks could not climb stairs so going to bed was always safe, yet that safety net has been taken away from a new generation of children as the Daleks had learned how to fly when they came back to our TV screens.


My favourite episode of all has been where these two metal monsters came face to face in the  Battle of Canary Wharf episode. The Daleks rejected the Cybermen's offer of ruling earth between them and they went to battle instead. Leading to these classic exchanges.
  
Cyberman: Our technologies are compatible, though your design is less elegant.
Dalek Thay: Deleks have no concept of elegance!
Cyberman: This is obvious.
 
Cyber Leader: Daleks, be warned. You have declared war upon the Cybermen.
Dalek Sec:This is not war - this is pest control!
Cyber Leader: We have five million Cybermen. How many are you?
Dalek Sec: Four.
Cyber Leader: You would destroy the Cybermen with four Daleks?
Dalek Sec: We would destroy the Cybermen with one Dalek! You superior in only one respect.
Cyber Leader: What is that?
Dalek Sec: You are better at dying.
 
Weeping Angels
Of all the monsters that have returned with the new Dr. Who though it is one of the newer creations that has given rise to the most unnerving of episodes. The Weeping Angles first appeared in the episode of  'Blink' they are also known as The Lonely Assassins. They are as the doctor puts it "The only psychopaths in the universe to kill you nicely". As quantum locked creatures their greatest disguise is also their one weakness. They can not exist when looked at, not by anyone, even their own kind and they turn to stone as a natural defense but look away and they are fast. They kill you by transporting you back in time and then use the energy of  your future life you've lost.

There is no need to be frightened though, because as we all know it's only a TV show and what does it matter that when you go out you suddenly start to notice just how many stone angel statues there are around you. They are only stone after all...aren't they?


"Don't blink. Blink and you're dead. They are fast. Faster than you can believe. Don't turn your back. Don't look away. And don't blink. Good Luck." ~ The Doctor.

http://littlegothichorrors.blogspot.co.uk/2016/05/may-monster-madness-2016.html

This is part of May Monster Madness this year hosted by Emma of Little Gothic Horrors, please visit to see who else is going Monster Crazy this weekend.

Thanks for visiting.

16 comments:

  1. Oh, my sweet Jane, this is just yummy! I love when you put this much love into your narrative. If I didn't already love Doctor Who--monsters foes included--I would definitely fall in love with the show after reading your post. As a matter of fact, I will start re-watching the series. Your awesome post has made me nostalgic. Someone else wrote about the monsters in Doctor Who, but your post oozes a kind of delight that makes the telling sound like a story.

    Love your choice quotes, especially the exchange between the Daleks and Cybermen.

    Happiest MMM! ♥

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  2. Doctor Who has had a whole host of fabulous monsters, but my favourite will always be the Weeping Angels, and 'Blink' is my all-time favourite episode! Thank you so much for joining MMM!

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  3. Oh, I think my earlier comments have disappeared! Anyhoo, The Weeping Angels are my absolute favourite Doctor Who monsters (I have 2 of them sitting on my desk!), and 'Blink' is my favourite episode. All the Whovian monsters are pretty cool though! :D

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  4. Doctor Who has the best monsters of them all. The Cibermen and Daleks will always be my favourites, but there are many others that I love too.

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    1. Thanks for visiting Kara, I love your cookie recipe too.

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  5. I love this post! I love that you added the Master/Missy :)

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    1. Thanks Sylvie, I reckon Missy is a nice twist on the idea of Missy and love her outfit with the Mary Poppins vibe, very ironic.

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  6. I think I'm missing out I never did hop onto the Dr. Who train. I remember my dad watching in the 70's but for some reason I never watched. I do love the image's of the weeping angels.

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  7. Loves me some Dr Who...but that weeping angel storyline put the brakes on my garden statue ideas lol :D XXX

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    1. Thanks Gina, sorry about the garden statuary, maybe just bypass the angels and go for dragons and gargoyles instead. Doesn't matter that they come alive as they make excellent guardians of their territory and family protectors. :)

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  8. I have to have a Dr. Who marathon. I have only seen a couple of episodes. The Weeping Angels are creepy!!! Excellent post!!!

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  9. Science fiction monsters can be very scary! Especially when science fiction is about the bad things humanity is capable of! Although Dr Who is often quite reassuring.

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  10. Great post, love the Dalek and Cybermen quotes!
    The angels are probably the most scary innocuous monsters. As you say; they are everywhere!

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  11. We're big Dr. Who fans around my home. I loved the chance to introduce the series to my kids. It's amazing how far special effects have come since the 80's! LOL, we call Missy, Scary Poppins.

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  12. The Daleks are my favorite foes. A Cyberman will be in my next bot battle though.

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  13. I LOVE this post and completely love Dr Who. The Weeping Angels are by far, my favourite monsters, and who doesn't love a Dalek? :)

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