Sunday, 30 November 2008
Saturday, 29 November 2008
Tractators
The Tractators were insect-like in general appearance, somewhat like giant wood lice. Their backs were covered in chitinous shells. Tractators had two long antennae on their head, which they used to control gravity. This power could be extended in the presence of other Tractators, as well as in properly made caverns.
Tractators were normally unintelligent animals, except in the presence of their leader, the Gravis. The Gravis could be identified by its browner skin, external nose and larger ears. The Gravis was the only Tractator who could speak and who controlled the rest of the Tractators. If the Gravis was removed, the Tractators would lose their focus and intelligence.
It is unknown if Tractators actually possessed a true hive mind, though it would seem very possible. The Tractators used scavenged machinery as well as the parts of living beings, as machines. The Tractators originally had more gruesome technology , which was toned down by the production. The Gravis would have used a floating globe-shaped translation device, which would speak for the Gravis, cobbled together from metal parts and also a severed Human head.
Sometime before the 20th century, the Tractators invaded Trion. As a consequence, the invasion etched itself into the racial memory of the Trions.
Millions of years later, a group of Tractators came to Frontios, but were stuck there. They waited for 460 years, until a Human ship came close enough to the planet. They made the ship crash using their gravity powers, then left them alone for 10 years in order to rebuild. They then used the asteroid belt in the Veruna System to attack the Humans, killing them and allowing them to use their corpses in their machinery. This continued for 30 years, with most of the Humans not guessing the truth of the matter.
Eventually, the Doctor was caught in the area around Frontios and was pulled in by the Tractators. While trying to help the colonists, the Doctor's TARDIS was ripped apart by the Tractators. The Doctor went in search for the cause of the incidents, and encountered the Gravis. He managed to trick him into repairing the TARDIS while he was inside it, causing him to collapse from the effort and isolating him from the other Tractators.
Tractators were normally unintelligent animals, except in the presence of their leader, the Gravis. The Gravis could be identified by its browner skin, external nose and larger ears. The Gravis was the only Tractator who could speak and who controlled the rest of the Tractators. If the Gravis was removed, the Tractators would lose their focus and intelligence.
It is unknown if Tractators actually possessed a true hive mind, though it would seem very possible. The Tractators used scavenged machinery as well as the parts of living beings, as machines. The Tractators originally had more gruesome technology , which was toned down by the production. The Gravis would have used a floating globe-shaped translation device, which would speak for the Gravis, cobbled together from metal parts and also a severed Human head.
Sometime before the 20th century, the Tractators invaded Trion. As a consequence, the invasion etched itself into the racial memory of the Trions.
Millions of years later, a group of Tractators came to Frontios, but were stuck there. They waited for 460 years, until a Human ship came close enough to the planet. They made the ship crash using their gravity powers, then left them alone for 10 years in order to rebuild. They then used the asteroid belt in the Veruna System to attack the Humans, killing them and allowing them to use their corpses in their machinery. This continued for 30 years, with most of the Humans not guessing the truth of the matter.
Eventually, the Doctor was caught in the area around Frontios and was pulled in by the Tractators. While trying to help the colonists, the Doctor's TARDIS was ripped apart by the Tractators. The Doctor went in search for the cause of the incidents, and encountered the Gravis. He managed to trick him into repairing the TARDIS while he was inside it, causing him to collapse from the effort and isolating him from the other Tractators.
Friday, 28 November 2008
Jagrafess
The Jagrafess, or, to give its full title, The Mighty Jagrafess of the Holy Hadrojassic Maxarodenfoe (AKA Max) was a gigantic, gelatinous creature similar to a slug in shape. Its exact origins are not known, but it was sentient and able to communicate in a series of growls and screeches. It had a life span of about 3000 years, with sharp, vicious teeth and several vestigial eyes. Its metabolic rate, however, meant that it had to be kept at low temperatures to survive. Its first and only appearance to date was in the episode "The Long Game".
The Jagrafess was the supervisor of the mysterious and sinister Editor on board Satellite 5, a space station that broadcast news across the whole of the Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire of the year 200,000. The Editor (who called the Jagrafess "Max" for short) claimed that the Jagrafess had been placed with Satellite 5 some ninety years before by a consortium of interstellar banks. The intent was to use the news broadcasts to subtly manipulate the Empire, retarding its social, economic and technological growth and turning it more inward looking and xenophobic. Control was enhanced by the use of computer chips, installed in every human brain; chips that allowed the users to access the computer systems of the 2001st century, but at the same time allowed the Jagrafess and its cohorts to monitor people's thoughts. In this way, the human race was reduced to slavery without them even realising it.
The Jagrafess was the supervisor of the mysterious and sinister Editor on board Satellite 5, a space station that broadcast news across the whole of the Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire of the year 200,000. The Editor (who called the Jagrafess "Max" for short) claimed that the Jagrafess had been placed with Satellite 5 some ninety years before by a consortium of interstellar banks. The intent was to use the news broadcasts to subtly manipulate the Empire, retarding its social, economic and technological growth and turning it more inward looking and xenophobic. Control was enhanced by the use of computer chips, installed in every human brain; chips that allowed the users to access the computer systems of the 2001st century, but at the same time allowed the Jagrafess and its cohorts to monitor people's thoughts. In this way, the human race was reduced to slavery without them even realising it.
Thursday, 27 November 2008
The Quarks and The Dominators
The Quarks were used on Dulkis by the Dominators to enslave and terrorise the indigenous Dulcian population to ensure the drilling of bore holes through the planet's crust. The Dominators planned to use their technology to fire seeds down the holes which would force the core to erupt, thus providing a new fuel source for their fleet.
The Quarks were rectangular in shape, with four arms: one pair which folded into the body, the other pair being retractable. On the end of each arm was a solitary claw. The legs extended out below the Quark body. The spherical head was visibly divided into octants; the upper four octants formed the sensory hemisphere, which detected changes in light, heat and motion. At five of the corners of the octants were directional crystal beam transmitters (the sixth corner joined with the robot's extremely short neck). Quarks communicated by means of high-pitched sound waves. Their major weakness was a tendency to run out of energy rather quickly.
Wednesday, 26 November 2008
The Monoids
Monoids are a humanoid species that travelled on the Ark with the last of the Humans. The Monoids arrived on Earth long before the Ark went into space. Their own planet was dying and so offered their services in return for a place on the ark. The Monoids took over the Ark and formed a statue of a Monoid, intended it to be a Human, in which they place a bomb intended to destroy the ark after the Monoids have evacuated to the Arks destination, Refusis II.
Tuesday, 25 November 2008
The mechanoids
The Mechonoids were large, spherical robots originally created to serve humans in The Chase. Mechonoids which had been sent to prepare the planet Mechanus for human colonization kept the astronaut Steven Taylor prisoner, since he did not have the Mechonoids' control codes. Daleks, following the TARDIS crew, engaged the Mechonoids in battle. It is unknown which side emerged victorious.
The Mechonoids appear in the Big Finish audio drama The Juggernauts. In this story, Davros adds human nervous tissue to robotic Mechonoid shells to create the Juggernauts of the play's title. The Mechonoids also appear in the comic strip The World That Waits in the 1965 annual The Dalek World.
A feature entitled Dalek Wars in the third issue of Doctor Who - Battles in Time features the Daleks battling the Mechonoids on Mechanus. The Mechonoids shown are computer-generated.
The Mechanoids appeared in the comic TV 21 which featured a strip based on the Daleks, but in which the Doctor did not appear. The Mechanoids are the sworn enemies of the Daleks and a third race, blue-skinned humanoids, have to try and subtly interfere in order to keep the peace and prevent a war.
The Mechonoids appear in the Big Finish audio drama The Juggernauts. In this story, Davros adds human nervous tissue to robotic Mechonoid shells to create the Juggernauts of the play's title. The Mechonoids also appear in the comic strip The World That Waits in the 1965 annual The Dalek World.
A feature entitled Dalek Wars in the third issue of Doctor Who - Battles in Time features the Daleks battling the Mechonoids on Mechanus. The Mechonoids shown are computer-generated.
The Mechanoids appeared in the comic TV 21 which featured a strip based on the Daleks, but in which the Doctor did not appear. The Mechanoids are the sworn enemies of the Daleks and a third race, blue-skinned humanoids, have to try and subtly interfere in order to keep the peace and prevent a war.
Monday, 24 November 2008
Sunday, 23 November 2008
Happy 45th Birthday
On November 23rd 1963, William Hartnell appeared on our black and white TV screens as The Doctor for the first time and to celebrate the BBC have opened up it's archives. The Genesis of Doctor Who
Menoptera
The Menoptra (originally spelled Menoptera) are an intelligent, bipedal insectoid species from the planet Vortis. In appearance, they resemble giant bees, with each Menoptra possessing four large wings. They have yellow and black stripes around their bodies and appear to be around six feet tall, but do not seem to have typical insect body parts (such as mandibles or an abdomen). They appeared in the First Doctor story The Web Planet, by Bill Strutton (1965).
Peaceful and kindly by nature, the Menoptra move in a unique, stylised way and their vocal inflections are stilted. They were very welcoming of the First Doctor, Ian, Barbara, and Vicki; but showed an animosity towards their fellow insectoids, the Zarbi, as well as an abhorrence for the Animus, a hostile alien intelligence that had taken over the originally passive Zarbi and almost all of Vortis. Once it was clear that the Doctor was willing to help them defeat the Animus, they were only too glad to assist in any way they could.
The assumption is that once the Animus was defeated, the Menoptera, Zarbi and the rest of the inhabitants of Vortis were able to live together in peace.
Saturday, 22 November 2008
The Abominable Snowmen
The Yeti of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, although resembling the cryptozoological creatures also called the Yeti, are in actuality alien robots. Their external appearance, that of a huge hairy biped, disguises a small spherical mechanism that provides its motive power. The Yeti serve the Great Intelligence, a disembodied entity from another planet, which tried to form a physical body in order to conquer the Earth. The Yeti are initially a ruse to scare off curiosity seekers, and later form an army serving the Great Intelligence.
The Great Intelligence and its Yeti minions were thwarted twice by the Doctor's second incarnation, played by Patrick Troughton, in the serials The Abominable Snowmen and The Web of Fear. A Yeti was also one of the creatures in the Death Zone featured in The Five Doctors.
The sound effect of a Yeti's roar is created by slowing down the sound of a flushing toilet.
Friday, 21 November 2008
The Xeraphin
The Xeraphin were an ancient species encountered by the Fifth Doctor in the story Time-Flight by Peter Grimwade. Originating from the planet Xeriphas, they possessed immense psychokinetic and scientific powers. The Doctor believed the race to have been wiped out during the crossfire during the Vardon/Kosnax war. Instead, the entire race fled to Earth in an escaping spacecraft. The ship crashed near present day Heathrow some 140 million years ago. When the Xeraphin emerged they built a Citadel to mark their new home but the Xeraphin were so plagued with radiation that they abandoned their original humanoid bodies and transformed into a single bioplasmic gestalt intelligence within a sarcophagus at the heart of the Citadel.
The arrival of the Master coincided with their emergence from the gestalt state when the radiation effects had subsided, and his influence caused the emergence of a split personality of good and evil, each side competing for their tremendous power while yearning to become a proper species once again. The Master, who was stranded on Earth at the time too, succeeded in capturing the Xeraphin as a new power source for his TARDIS. However, the Doctor's intervention meant his nemesis' TARDIS was sent to Xeriphas where events became out of his control.
Before fleeing Xeriphas and the Xeraphin, the Master took with him Kamelion, a Xeraphin war weapon with advanced shape-changing abilities dependent on the will of its controller. Kamelion was freed from the Master and joined the Doctor's TARDIS crew in "The King's Demons".
The arrival of the Master coincided with their emergence from the gestalt state when the radiation effects had subsided, and his influence caused the emergence of a split personality of good and evil, each side competing for their tremendous power while yearning to become a proper species once again. The Master, who was stranded on Earth at the time too, succeeded in capturing the Xeraphin as a new power source for his TARDIS. However, the Doctor's intervention meant his nemesis' TARDIS was sent to Xeriphas where events became out of his control.
Before fleeing Xeriphas and the Xeraphin, the Master took with him Kamelion, a Xeraphin war weapon with advanced shape-changing abilities dependent on the will of its controller. Kamelion was freed from the Master and joined the Doctor's TARDIS crew in "The King's Demons".
Thursday, 20 November 2008
Wednesday, 19 November 2008
The Sisters Of Plenitude
The Sisters of Plenitude were an order of Catkind nuns, devoted towards helping the sick (though they were ready to defend their lives with violence).
One group of the Sisters had a hospital named Pleasure Gardens on New Earth, nearby New New York. This hospital was created before the Humans got there and was created to deal with all their diseases. They had cures for nearly every known ailment and were able to heal their patients with remarkable efficiency. Many of the treatments shouldn't have been discovered for at least a thousand years, according to the Doctor.
Unfortunately, these amazing skills were gained by using thousands and thousands of grown Human clones. They were infected with every known disease and killed if they started to show signs of thought. This was due to the fact that other, more humane methods were too slow to deal with all the diseases. These disease carriers were released by Lady Cassandra and eventually cured by the Doctor. The Sisters were later arrested by the NNYPD for their actions.
Tuesday, 18 November 2008
The Celestial Toymaker
The TARDIS is taken to the surreal Celestial Toyroom by the nefarious Toymaker, an old foe of the Doctor's. Steven and Dodo are forced to play a series of games against increasingly deceitful opponents in order to regain possession of the TARDIS, while the Doctor must solve the complex Trilogic Game in a battle of wits against the Toymaker. If any of them fail, they will be destined to remain in the Toyroom forever, transformed into dolls under the Toymaker's control.
Monday, 17 November 2008
Azal and The Daemons
Azal was the Dæmon from the planet Dæmos that terrorised Devil's End in the Third Doctor story The Dæmons. Summoned by the Master, Azal had a gargoyle, by the name of Bok, as a servant. Azal landed on Earth over a million years ago and did help in the development of mankind. Azal was awakened after an archaeological professor, Professor Horner, who was digging out the cave at Devil's Hump that was a part of Azal's ship. Azal created a heat barrier around Devil's End. Azal had contact with the Master though the ceremony with the Master's coven. The Master wanted Azal's power, but he wanted to give it to the Doctor, but the Doctor refused. Then Azal decided to give the Master his power and destroy the Doctor. Jo Grant told Azal to kill her instead. Azal, not understanding her willingness to give her own life for someone else's caused Azal's power to turn against him and destroyed himself and his ship at the dig at Devil's Hump was destroyed. Things at Devil's End returned to normal, the heat barrier gone and Bok is a normal statue again.
Sunday, 16 November 2008
Morbius
Morbius was a renegade Time Lord from the Doctor's birthplace, Gallifrey. He had been a member of the High Council of Time Lords, and attempted to move the Time Lords' policy towards the rest of the universe from observation to conquest. When the Time Lords rejected him, he formed an army of his own. He promised his followers the secrets of time travel and immortality. Morbius was eventually defeated and executed by his fellow Time Lords for his crimes. However, his brain survived. The remaining organ was taken away by the fanatical scientist Solon, who was planning the resurrection of Morbius.
Saturday, 15 November 2008
Friday, 14 November 2008
Living with Doctor Who
FROM the moment Toby Hadoke leapt out from behind the sofa onstage, one thing was obvious: this guy was committed.The sofa itself was adorned with Doctor Who memorabilia – magazines, DVDs, and a suspicious looking 500-Year Diary – and Toby himself looked the part, draped in Tom Baker-esque clothes, minus, of course, the scarf, which, as the title suggests, had been eaten by moths.more...
Next Doctor Who poll update...
The Poll has had a pleasing amount of success and reader's brainstorms have resulted in my top two faves to be the next Doctor...Simon Pegg and Nick Frost...Doctor and sidekick maybe? Can we do this?
Thursday, 13 November 2008
The Sensorites
Sensorites were a telepathic humanoid race native to the Sense Sphere. They possessed bulbous heads with large black eyes and were extremely sensitive to light and noise. They were normally a peaceful, non-agressive people.
Wednesday, 12 November 2008
Swearing in 1963 - Ooh Er!
Series 1 Episode 1 Part 3 - The Forest of Fear... Ian Chesterton seems to say the F word. Crikey!
Tuesday, 11 November 2008
The Cheetah People
The Cheetah People had the heads of cheetahs and thick, spotted fur. They also have distinctive golden eyes, retractable claws and sharp fangs. They had an excellent sense of smell which they can use to track their prey.
Some of the Cheetah People, like Karra, the Cheetah Person with whom Ace would develop a bond, began as Near-Humans, gradually acquiring cheetah characteristics. Their eyes change to golden feline slits and they develop fangs. Of the Cheetah People seen, only Karra spoke, but she did so without any difficulty. At the moment of her death, Karra lost all her cheetah characteritics.
The Cheetah People generally wore leather and trophies from their hunts, using horses as mounts. They had the ability to teleport from planet to planet, but they can only bring back prey to their homeworld. Similarly, they must have a link to a world, inthe form of an inhabitant of that world to return there.
Cheetah People are a dangerous, but playful, race. They will only go after food which is moving and will attempt to make hunts more interesting. By Human standards they have a vicious way of life and will fight each other over spoils or kill helpless Humans without provocation. They do seem to have some sort of respect for their own dead and will return to a world to come back for their fallen.
Some of the Cheetah People, like Karra, the Cheetah Person with whom Ace would develop a bond, began as Near-Humans, gradually acquiring cheetah characteristics. Their eyes change to golden feline slits and they develop fangs. Of the Cheetah People seen, only Karra spoke, but she did so without any difficulty. At the moment of her death, Karra lost all her cheetah characteritics.
The Cheetah People generally wore leather and trophies from their hunts, using horses as mounts. They had the ability to teleport from planet to planet, but they can only bring back prey to their homeworld. Similarly, they must have a link to a world, inthe form of an inhabitant of that world to return there.
Cheetah People are a dangerous, but playful, race. They will only go after food which is moving and will attempt to make hunts more interesting. By Human standards they have a vicious way of life and will fight each other over spoils or kill helpless Humans without provocation. They do seem to have some sort of respect for their own dead and will return to a world to come back for their fallen.
Monday, 10 November 2008
Sunday, 9 November 2008
Anne Droid
The Anne Droid was a robot who hosted a deadly version of the game show The Weakest Link in 200,100. Anne Droid's design and voiced was based on the original host, Anne Robinson. Anne Droid was equipped with a transmat beam in its mouth that it used to transfer losers to the Dalek Fleet.
The droid was used by the Bad Wolf Corporation aboard the Game Station in 200,100 and was only activated for the live shows of The Weakest Link, any other time always being shut off.
When the Daleks invaded the Game Station, Jack Harkness reprogrammed Anne Droid to fight the Daleks. She transmated three Daleks to an unknown location (possibly back to a Dalek ship), but before she could transmat a fourth, the Dalek blew her head off.
Saturday, 8 November 2008
Tom Baker says...
A Website where Tom Bakers voice reads out movie quotes. From the days when good ole Tom read out text messages to landline phones :-)
Friday, 7 November 2008
Thursday, 6 November 2008
The Ice Warriors
The Ice Warriors are reptilian humanoids, their scaly skin and features usually hidden under heavy armour. They have large, claw-like hands on which are mounted sonic weaponry, and their voices are a highly sibilant whisper due to the different composition of Earth's atmosphere. Two types of Ice Warrior are seen in the series, the rank and file Warriors, and an officer class, which fan lore has christened Ice Lords (with at least one being referred to as a "Lord" on screen). The main difference between the two is the design of their armour, with the Ice Lords wearing a lighter, more flexible version than those of the Warriors.
Wednesday, 5 November 2008
Tuesday, 4 November 2008
The Kraal
Kraals are humpbacked, gargoyle-like humanoids with lumpy grey skin, unusual facial ridges and a rhinoceros-like horn. They generally wear striped tunics.
Monday, 3 November 2008
Sunday, 2 November 2008
Saturday, 1 November 2008
Halloween pumpkin becomes robotic Dalek
A team of scientists, and fully signed up sci-fi geeks, have produced a robotic Dalek pumpkin which can move around and even rotate its 'head.'Robotics expert Huosheng Hu (yes, that makes him Dr Hu) and a team of boffins from University of Essex created the six inch Dalek.
Link