Companions: Zoe Herriot (Wendy Padbury)

Zoe Herriot (Wendy Padbury)
Quick-witted companion to the Second Doctor.

The Eternals

The Eternals are a race of cosmic beings first introduced in the Doctor Who TV adventure "Enlightenment." One Eternal who called himself Striker explained to the Doctor that he and his people lived outside of time, in the realm of eternity. They considered the mortal inhabitants of the universe to be "Ephemerals", even the Time Lords of the planet Gallifrey. Striker seemed completely unaware of the existence of the Time Lords before meeting the Doctor.

In the story "Enlightenment", the Doctor eventually realized that although the Eternals were powerful enough to manipulate matter, creating objects out of thin air, and read minds effortlessly through telepathy, they lacked imagination and creativity. Thus, they actually depended on "Ephemerals" to keep them active and prevent them from withering away in boredom. Without them, the Eternals had no purpose. This dependence was not something they liked admitting to, however, and they made boasts several times of how they could manipulate the reality around them through sheer force of will. Despite this great power, they deferred to the Guardians of Time, specifically the White Guardian and the Black Guardian who offered the Eternals "enlightenment" if they won a cosmic race. The Eternals captured many Ephemerals to win the race for them, hence accidentally bringing about the attention of the Doctor who immediately saw them as a threat.



Although the Eternals were never again seen in the TV series, they have been mentioned in the new TV series that began in 2005. In the episode "Army of Ghosts," the Doctor mentioned the existence of a "nowhere place" that exists between parallel universes and alternate timelines, saying that his people called it the Void while "the Eternals called it the Howling."

Companions: Victoria Waterfield (Deborah Watling)

Victoria Waterfield (Deborah Watling)
Prim traveller with the Second Doctor

Xoanon

Xoanon was a malevolent artificial intelligence encountered by the Fourth Doctor in The Face of Evil (1977), written by Chris Boucher. Xoanon was inadvertently created by the Doctor on a previous visit to its unnamed planet centuries prior, when he had programmed the computer belonging to a Mordee expedition that had crashed on the planet. The Doctor forgot to wipe his personality print from the computer's data core, and as a result the computer developed multiple personalities, half of them based on the Doctor himself.



For generations, technicians extended Xoanon's capabilities, until it evolved beyond their control and became almost a living creature. It utilised the appearance of the Fourth Doctor, to the extent of having an effigy in the Doctor's image carved out on a cliff-face. Its split personality was reflected in it dividing the expedition into two tribes of technicians (who became the Tesh) and the survey team (the Sevateem), justifying its madness by thinking it was part of an experiment to create a superhuman race, with the Tesh providing mental powers and the Sevateem with their strength and independence. Enslaving the tribes, it earned the name of "The Evil One".

When the Doctor returned to the maddened world and saw the fruits of his mistakes, Xoanon tried to destroy itself and the entire planet rather than be defeated by the Doctor. However, the Doctor managed to remove his personality print from the core, restoring the computer intelligence to sanity and becoming a benign entity to the two tribes. "You have to trust someone eventually," the Doctor says.

Companions: Jamie McCrimmon (Frazer Hines)

Jamie McCrimmon (Frazer Hines)
The Second Doctor's Scottish companion

Vid by Tiel Messingham

The Draconians

The Draconians were ruled by an Emperor, who depended on the great families for support. They were a highly formal race and were known for their adherence to rules and traditions. They believed that rules were made to be followed and would stick to them no matter what. Draconians also had a great respect for authority. Though they were originally male-dominated, after their entrance to the Galactic Federation they later changed their ways in order to show equality. They also believed that men should not show sadness or cry.

Mr. Smith told Luke Smith that Draconia was one of many worlds in the universe which had developed a form of astrology. However, another source alleged that the race commonly known as Draconians had no form of astrology.


The Draconians, like other species in the universe, had a horned god of evil, which the Doctor believed to be the Beast.

During the reign of the fifteenth Emperor (at some point during the 21st century), Draconia was suffering from a plague. The Doctor came to the planet and cured the plague. He was remembered as the form of a painting in the Emperor Palace.

In the 26th century, the expanding Draconian Empire came into contact with the Earth Empire. A misunderstanding during first contact led to the destruction of a Draconian vessel and a brief but devastating war, which ended with the signing of a peace treaty.

Twenty years later, the Master attempted to sabotage the fragile peace, but was thwarted by the Doctor and Jo Grant.

Companions: Polly (Anneke Wills)

Polly (Anneke Wills)
Sixties swinger and companion of the First and Second Doctors.

Musical tribute to some Doctor Who ladies

Companions: Ben Jackson (Michael Craze)

Ben Jackson (Michael Craze)
Sailor who travelled with the First and Second Doctors.

The Rills

Rills were a peaceful and advanced telepathic race. They required ammonia to breathe and were considered hideous in appearance by many humanoid races.

One Rill ship was attacked by a Drahvin ship and the two crashlanded on an uninhabited, doomed planet. The Rills sent out their robot Chumblies to contact the Doctor, who had also arrived on the planet, and convinced him to help them escape the planet.

Theme Music

Companions: Dorothea Chaplet/Dodo (Jackie Lane)

Dorothea Chaplet/Dodo (Jackie Lane)
Chirpy young Londoner who joined the First Doctor by mistake.

Best Christmas Evaaar!

Thanks Smout

Zarbi

The Zarbi appeared in the 1965 First Doctor story The Web Planet written by Bill Strutton, and are an (ant-like) insectoid species, with some characteristics associated with beetles, from the planet Vortis, which were controlled by the power of the Animus. They are roughly eight feet long, and the Menoptra claim, perhaps a little callously, that they are "little more than cattle".



They possess little intelligence but were not at all aggressive until the Animus arrived. They were enslaved to the alien consciousness and considered the butterfly-like Menoptra (with which they once lived peacefully) their mortal enemies. Only they could control the woodlouse-like venom grubs (also known as larvae guns).

They returned to their normal ways after the Animus was defeated by the First Doctor, Ian Chesterton, Barbara Wright and Vicki. It is presumed that the various species on Vortis are now living peacefully together.

Pilot Fish

Described as pilot fish by the Doctor, these Robot Santa Clauses travelled alongside invaders who take anything on the planet of value to them before the main threat (the metaphorical shark) arrives. The Robot Santas are humanoid and dressed up in Santa costumes, but had obviously fake masks. In their first encounter in 2006, they were attracted by the energy being released by the Doctor and wanted that source of energy themselves. (DW: The Christmas Invasion) In the second invasion of 2007, they worked for the Empress of the Racnoss and were helping her in her plans.

These robots were armed with trombones that fired mortar shells, trumpets that fired bullets, tubas that were used as flamethrowers, remote controls that were used to control Robotic Christmas Trees, and possibly more.

The Robot Santas had golden faces (when unmasked), with black robes and hoods. They were armed with guns when under the influence of the Empress of the Racnoss.

Companions: Katarina (Adrienne Hill)

Katarina (Adrienne Hill)
The First Doctor's most tragic companion.

Christmas at the Doctors

His Name is 'The Doctor'

Companions: Steven Taylor (Peter Purves)

Steven Taylor (Peter Purves)
A lost astronaut (and Blue Peter presenter) who threw in his lot with the First Doctor.

1 minute guide

1 minute guide to 2005 series 1 to 4

Companions: Vicki (Maureen O'Brien)

Vicki (Maureen O'Brien)
The First Doctor's second "Granddaughter".

10th Doctor: Babelcolour Tribute: David Tennant

Babelcolour

Companions: Ian Chesterton (William Russell)

Ian Chesterton (William Russell)
The First Doctor's action man.

Back to the start

Original: Coldplay - The Scientist

Dalek Christmas tree

via

Companions:Barbara Wright (Jacqueline Hill)

Barbara Wright (Jacqueline Hill)

A sixties schoolteacher whisked into history by the First Doctor.

The Alzarians

The Alzarians are one of three closely related species on Alzarius. They are nearly identical to Humans, though they can heal faster.


The Alzarians lived in a simple culture with three Deciders as leaders. They believed that they were the descendants of the Terradonians who crash-landed on the planet. Because of this, they attempted to repair the spaceship the Terradonians who crashed in, though they didn't have any driving instructions. In reality, they are actually Marshmen who developed into a more Terradonian form.

I Like the Way You Move

Companions: Susan Foreman (Carole Anne Ford)

Susan Foreman (Carole Anne Ford)
The First Doctor's grandaughter.

Vashta Nerada

Vashta Nerada (literally: the shadows that melt the flesh) are microscopic swarm creatures which, when present in a high enough concentration, are totally indistinguishable from shadows, and use this to their advantage in approaching and attacking prey. They are described as the "piranhas of the air", able to strip their victims to the bone in an instant in high enough densities. The Doctor says that almost every planet in the universe has some, including Earth, and claims that they can be seen as the specks of dust visible in unusually bright light. On most planets, however, Vashta Nerada exist in relatively low concentrations, and are carrion eaters (on Earth, Vashta Nerada are said to subsist largely on roadkill), with attacks on people being comparatively rare (although the Doctor does attribute the seemingly irrational fear of darkness common to many species as a perfectly rational fear of the Vashta Nerada). In the episode "Silence in the Library", an unusually high concentration of Vashta Nerada had completely overrun the 51st century "Library" (an installation covering the surface of an entire planet and apparently containing every book ever written), resulting in the apparent death of everyone inside at the time. Vashta Nerada normally live in forested areas, and reproduce by means of microscopic spores (from which they hatch) which can lay dormant in wood pulp. In the episode "Forest of the Dead", this is revealed to be the reason for their unusual prevalence in The Library, as it is made known that the books and The Library itself were constructed of wood from the Vashta Nerada's native forest feeding grounds.

The Whispering Gallery

Married writing team Leah Moore and John Reppion have been fans of “Doctor Who” for nearly as long as they can remember, so it should come as little surprise that the couple will to try their hand at writing the classic British sci-fi hero for IDW Publishing. CBR News caught up with Moore and Reppion, who told them the idea for the upcoming one-shot “Doctor Who: The Whispering Gallery” came to Moore in a dream. here...

Leah Moore and John Reppion

Weng Chiang

Weng-Chiang is in fact Magnus Greel, a war criminal from the 51st century, whose experiments in time brought him back to 19th Century China. There, his appearance from nowhere prompted his elevation by Chang and his friends to the status of a god. The journey through time has disrupted his molecular structure and Greel needs to feed on the life force drained from human victims, the younger and more vital the better. His precious time cabinet had been lost to him, however, and his travels (aided by a locator) have brought him and his entourage to Victorian London where he has discovered the cabinet to be in the possession of Litefoot.

Infiltrating Litefoot's home with Chang's ventriloquist doll Mr Sin (an advanced computerised children's plaything with the brain of a pig - unfortunately the pig aspect has taken over and it has become unstable and dangerous), Greel retrieves his cabinet and prepares to travel back to his own time, abandoning his long-time worshipper Chang to death in an opium den.

The Autons and Nestene Consciousness

Autons are essentially life-sized plastic dummies, automatons animated by the Nestene Consciousness, an extraterrestrial, disembodied gestalt intelligence which first arrived on Earth in hollow plastic meteorites. Their name comes from "Auto Plastics", the company that was infiltrated by the Nestenes and subsequently manufactured their Auton shells in Spearhead.

Autons conceal deadly weapons within their hands, which can kill or vaporize their targets. The typical Auton does not look particularly realistic, resembling a mannequin, being robotic in its movements and mute. However, more sophisticated Autons can be created, which look and act human except for a slight sheen to the skin and a flat sounding voice.

The Cryons

Inhabitants of the planet Telos. The Cryons were a feminine species adapted to the freezing subterranean conditions of their planet. Telos had been invaded by the Cybermen who had almost wiped the Cryons out.

The Cybermen used the Cryon technology to create vast tombs in which to cryogenically store troops. Humanoid captives working on the sun-drenched surface of Telos were instructed by the Cybermen to plant bombs which would destroy the last vestiges of Cryon civilisation, just as they were beginning to fight back.

The Cryon leader, Flast, sacrificed herself setting off a huge explosion which destroyed the Cybermen citadel completely, leaving Telos free for the Cryons to rebuild.

The Hath

They appear as roughly humanoid fish-like creatures, with canisters of green liquid fitted to their faces. They are intelligent, emotional creatures — one formed a friendship with Martha Jones, and saved her life at the cost of its own. They seem fully sentient and while they do not speak a language intelligible to humans (even with the TARDIS's translation device), the two races planned to colonise the planet Messaline together. However, they later turned on each other before their eventual reconciliation.

Miss Christina Hartigan

The actress Dervla Kirwan has always been a restless soul, but at last appears to have found contentment. She explains why she quit 'Ballykissangel’ in its prime and talks about her new role as a 'Doctor Who’ baddie.

more info

Dad to build Tardis for his daughter

A FATHER and Dr Who fan has begun an ambitious project to build a full-size Tardis to raise money for a Grantham school.
Billy Halstead is a full-time carer for his six-year-old daughter, Jodie, who has down's syndrome. Jodie is due to attend Sandon school from January and Billy hopes to say thank you to the school by raising money by building his own iconic Doctor Who time machine.

more info

A Day Off With Who?

The Jagaroths

Jagaroths were lumpy humanoids with green, veined skin. They had a single eye on their forehead and two large flaps on each side of their face. They were also covered in small tendrils. They have deep, echoing voices.

The Jagaroths had very advanced technology, such as human disguises and holographic technology. They also had access to advanced knowledge and impressive intellect. Scaroth was able to fool the humans and advance humanity to the proper technology level using just his wits and knowledge. Though they know the concepts of time travel, they didn't have the technology level.

Endlessly

Original: Muse - Endlessly

The Doctor Talks to Himself

Daleks aren't that scary

9th Doctor: Babelcolour Tribute: Christopher Eccleston

Babelcolour

The Rutans

In their natural forms, Rutans resemble large green jellyfish, glowing blobs of biomatter with long ropy tentacles. They are amphibious and can cling to sheer vertical surfaces, with considerable mobility out of the water despite their shape. Rutans can also generate lethal bioelectrical shocks, and seem to be able to absorb electrical energy directly for sustenance. They reproduce by a process similar to binary fission, with each daughter Rutan carrying the memories of the parent.[citation needed] Rutans can speak, although the exact mechanism by which this works is unknown as they seem to lack mouths. The Rutan observed in Horror of Fang Rock spoke with a harsh, tinny male voice.

Rutans never refer to themselves as individuals, preferring the first person plurals "we", "us", and "our(s)", possibly suggesting a gestalt or group intelligence of some kind.[citation needed] Rutans are able to operate independently, and, like the Sontarans, sometimes dispatch scout units consisting of a single soldier.

Rutans have also developed advanced shape-shifting technology, allowing them to appear in any form they wish. They often use this technology to adapt to alien environments and infiltrate alien cultures; Rutans are consummate spies. A Rutan usually kills specific individuals and then impersonates them, though it is unclear whether this tactic is merely to prevent discovery or because they need to make a detailed examination of the body before adopting its shape.

Limitations

Leela

Abzorbaloff

Feigning in common with the group an admiration for this mystery figure, the Abzorbaloff picked off members of LINDA one by one until he could acquire his real quarry. He planned to absorb the Doctor's memories and knowledge. He was defeated when the remnants of the absorbed members of LINDA rallied together to pull him apart from the inside. When Pope then broke the cane, the Abzorbaloff's limitation field inside it was destroyed. This caused his absorption ability to go out of control, and his body to collapse into a gooey puddle. The remnants then seeped into the ground.

The physical absorption process was begun by a simple touch and was irreversible. The faces of his victims could be seen embedded in his flesh and retain their identity and consciousness for several days at least, but are also able to access the creature's own thoughts. As previously noted, the Abzorbaloff also required the use of a limitation field (disguised as part of Kennedy's cane or the cane itself) to keep his absorption ability in check.

Clom, the creature's home planet, is the sister planet of Raxacoricofallapatorius. Despite a passing resemblance to them, the Abzorbaloff spoke of the Raxacoricofallapatorians with contempt.

David Morrissey on Breakfast TV

Hoix

The Hoix were a humanoid race. They were slightly shorter than the average Human and had brown skin, sharp teeth and exposed gums.

Files by the Torchwood Institute suggested that the Hoix lived to eat, and one Hoix specimen apparently liked to eat everything. Owen Harper noted how unintelligent they appeared to be. The Doctor was aware of this and also of what effects various chemicals had on the Hoix.


In the summer of 2007, one Hoix was encountered by Elton Pope. Pope, in search of the Doctor, had managed to locate the Doctor's TARDIS. While following voices into abandoned warehouse, Elton startled the Hoix who attempted to attack him. The Doctor was able to distract the fierce-seeming Hoix with a piece of raw meat and Rose Tyler threw a bucket of liquid at the Hoix. Unfortunately, this was the wrong bucket, which just made the Hoix angry. Rose and the Doctor were then chased by the Hoix until Rose was able to find the correct bucket.

Mawdryn

Mawdryn was the leader of a group of scientists that tried to discover the Time Lords' secret of regeneration. They stole a metamorphic symbiosis regenerator and used it on themselves, only to find that their immortality was one of unending mutation and regeneration. They were exiled from their world and their spaceship entered a warp ellipse.

Three thousand years later, in 1977, Mawdryn tried to force the Doctor to give up his remaining regenerations so that the mutated beings could use the resulting energy to end their lives. Fortunately, this turned out to not be necessary, as the Brigadier from 1977 and the Brigadier from 1983 made physical contact with each other, resulting in a discharge of temporal energy that was enough to allow Mawdryn and his companions to die.

Sycorax

The Sycorax first appeared in the debut Tenth Doctor story, "The Christmas Invasion", in 2005. The Sycorax appear to be skinless humanoids wearing mantles of bone, usually keeping their features concealed under helmets. They are proficient in the use of weapons like swords and whips, the latter which can deliver an energy discharge that disintegrates the flesh of its target. Their language is called Sycoraxic. The Sycorax also appear to have technology that is either disguised or treated as magic, referring to "curses" and the Doctor's regenerative abilities as "witchcraft". The Sycorax leader referred to an "armada" that they could use to take Earth by force if the blood control failed. They also appear to have a martial society, with traditions of honourable combat, yet they have no qualms about killing prisoners. According to the BBC website, the Sycorax facial structure was inspired by the skull of a horse.

Nimon

The Nimon were large black-skinned humanoids resembling the mythical minotaurs. Their horns can shoot out blasts of energy. Nimon drained energy direct from their victims, leaving them as husks. The Nimon have mighty, rumbling echoing voices.


With special added ripped trousers.

The Nimon could use an artificial black hole as a gateways from planet to planet. This technology was effective but not energy efficient. Due to their high energy needs, the Nimon undertook migrations they called the Great Journey of Life. Usually, one Nimon was sent to a planet, representing themselves as a god with advanced technology where it would construct a maze-like Power Complex, a building-sized labyrinth of circuitry designed to generate a new black hole which it then used to transport more Nimon to the planet. The Nimon would then drain that world dry and move on.

Nimon were capable of using a psioninc mind beam to transfer their power and were able to use gravitic distortions, gravitational lensing and phasing energy through an event horizon. The effect was the gift of immortality onto another being.

Doctor Who Advent Calendar 2008

Twenty five timeless treats to take you though to Christmas Day - and the highly-anticipated special adventure The Next Doctor.

Doctor Who Advent Calendar 2008

The Krotons

On an unnamed planet, a race called the Gonds are subject to the mysterious Krotons, unseen beings to whom they provide their brightest intelligences as “companions”. Thara, son of the Gond leader Selris, is the only one of his race to object to this practice. The Second Doctor, Jamie and Zoe arrive in time to witness the death of one of the chosen companions and intervene to save Vana, the other selected for this fate, using her survival as a means to convince Selris and the Gonds of the malign influence of the Krotons on their society. The Doctor calls it "self-perpetuating slavery” by which the brightest in Gond society have been removed. Similarly, there are large gaps in their knowledge, especially relating to chemistry. This situation has been in existence for many years since the Krotons arrived in their spaceship, polluting the lands beyond the Gond city and killing much of the Gond population.

The Vervoids

Vervoids are a type of artificially created humanoid plants.

Vervoid are the size of Humans, with pink head-like organs surrounded by petals. They can release swamp gas out of their "mouths" when panicked. They have short tendrils at the ends of their "arms" which can function as hands for simple tasks or can shoot out poisonous darts. They are covered in maple-tree like leaves which can regenerate into entire Vervoids if they are placed in soil. Vevoids grow in pods which are awoken when exposed to higher spectrum of light. Vervoids have short lifespans, living for less then a year until they decay.

Vervoids were created by a team on Mogar in order to create a race of slaves. This attempt wasn't entirely successful, since one of the team-members was infected by vervoid pollen and the vervoids were genetically inclined towards survival. Instead of serving the Humans, they saw the Humans as a threat to their own existence. After an accident on the Hyperion III in 2986, the Vervoids were awakened early and attempted to kill all Humans. The Doctor was able to stop them by accelerating their growth rate, causing them to die from old age.

8th Doctor: Babelcolour Tribute: Paul McGann

Babelcolour

Tom Baker busts the Tardis

The Doctor's attempts to fly the Tardis without his Gravitic Anomaliser go slightly wrong....

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