Monsterslnc
There was the TARDIS, legendary assistants, a killer theme tune and K9. But it was the amazing array of monsters that made us truly dive behind the sofa. Here are our top five beastly attractions.
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Daleks The most famous ot the Doctors monstrous opponents made their first appearance in 1966. screaming: 'We are the masters of Earth.‘ While their original plan to drill into the Earth's core and turn it into a
machine from which to fly our wee planet around the universe was foiled. the eve sized
rolling pepper-pots returned periodically. often commanded by their creator. demented one- eyed scientist Davros.
Cybermen ‘The most perfect killing machines ever devised' originally had their metal helmets held together with clear sticky tape when they battled William Hartnell and companions in 'The Tenth Planet'. Though the alien robots
were prevented from draining Earth's energy to power their home planet of Mondas. the ordeal brought about the regeneration oi Hartnell into
Troughton.
Silurians The creatures at the heart of one of the most sophisticated Doctor Who adventures. The Silurians were intelligent reptiles. reVived alter millions of years in hibernation by energy from a research centre.
Having escaped and released a deadly virus. they were eventually destroyed en masse by a nuclear explosion. much to the Doctor's
disgust.
Zygons A group of shape-shitting aliens planning to take over the Earth With the aid of a gigantic cyborg Operated from their ship based at the bottom of Loch Ness. The Doctor destroyed their ship but couldn't prevent the
Cyborg Skarasen from returning to the Loch's
murky depths . . .
The Kandyman One of the series' more bizarre creations. the Kandyman was executioner to Helen A. ruler of Terra Alpha where sadness was outlawed. The sinister Bertie Bassett-a-Iike made sweets that kill.
but eventually tell foul of his own deadly
fondant.
22 THE LIST 113‘ Mar ‘
The good old days. In 1979, the Doctor (Tom Baker) and Romana (Lalla Ward) did business with K9 (above). 1973 gave us high camp with Jon Pertwee and Bernard Horsfall (right).
innoccnt timcx‘.’ .'\ccording to mcmbcix ol~ thc lidinburgh Doctor Who ( il'otlp. which is hosting a launch part} at thc ('anon'x (iait ptib to cclcbratc thc rclurn. a whim through timc and \pacc in a \pruccd-up 'l}\Rl)lS is cxactl} what thc world nccds now. "l'hix is thc pcrtcct timc to bring back thc l)octor.' says group ntcmbcr Jonathan .\lcl\‘illc. 'lt‘s a \crioux world and you nccd sonic l'orm ol' cxcapixm.‘
liantaxy it may bc. btit [hit-tor Who has always rcspondcd to shilling social contcxtx. 'l'hc programmc was born into a world ol' political unccrlainty. tltc lirst cpisodc appcaring thc da} al‘tcr .ll-‘K‘s :lxsasslllallttn. 'l‘hc l)t)clol'\ strong
moral codc and rcjcction ol' \‘iolcncc lll taxour ol'
cunning (cvcn against thc murdcrous l)a|cl\\l llcw in thc l'acc ot‘ the ltlootlsltcd that cruptcd its timcs wcrc a-changin‘ throughout thc ()(l\.
'l‘hc programme didn‘t dclibcratcly \cck to rcl'lcct currcnt social conccrnx until thc |‘)7(l\. whctt ccologisl attd Buddhist Barr} l.ctt\ took thc hclm ax thc show's produccr. ‘l.ctt\ wanch to producc a \crics ol‘ programmcs bath around thc issucs that pcoplc wcrc conccrncd about.’ cxplains Douglas McNaughton. ‘So. thcrc was a dccision takcn that onc story would bc abottt conscrralion. another about pollution. the ncxt about w'orkcrx' rights and so on. 'l‘hc programmc brought thcsc conccpts into the ltomc in a wit} that |a_\ audicnccs could rclalc to.'
Bcn Morris. who crcatcs a rcgular cartoon for
thc ol’licial Doctor Who maga/inc adds: 13} thc 7(l\. )tttl gct disctlssion in thc \Cl‘iC\ about how "war l\ ttcht' thc answer". illustratcd by the Doctor’s \crbal jottxls with l.cthbridgc-Stcwart.‘ ()nc story t'rom thc l‘)7()\ that cxcmplil'icx lltls topical llllCl‘Csl is 'The (irccn Dcath'. broadcast around thc time of thc minch \[l‘llx'L‘\. in which a battalion of gigantic maggots rixc t‘rom to\ic waxtc oozing from a chcmical plant and contaminating minc \Htl‘lx'lltgs in Walcx.
.-\ glancc through thc Doctor‘s lllslttl'} rcxcals thc programmc has also rcspondcd to signilicanl
Brigadicr
mpccls ol' contcmporar} culturc. 'l‘hc ('tbcrmcn. lltosc dcadl} mcchanical humanoidx who first matcrialixcd in Who. wcrc drcamt tip b} a oiic
timc mcdical doctor and tappcd into contcmporar} ‘whcrc will it all cnd'." lt‘at's about artilicially rcplacing bod} parts. 'l‘hc ('tbcrmcn'x appcarancc alw prc-ciiiptcd tltc lll'sl \ucccxxt'ul hcart transplant ot~ was. "l‘hc .\liiid Robbcr”. in which lhc 'l}\Rl)lS c\p|odc\ lca\ing l’atrick 'l‘roughton drilling through a nightmarish land ol' llL‘llttll. was lllc lll()\l lat-om p\_\cllcdcllc \l\l()ll )L‘t \chi on British tclmixion. 'l'hc .’\llltill\ brought plastic that \ti‘angc. alictt ncw matcrial
horrilicall} to lilc. .'\nd ‘\'cngcancc on Varox‘. in which art llltpch‘l'lsllL‘tl planct was cntcrtaincd with \crccningx ol~ public toiturc. dcalt with aux hyslcria about \‘idco nasticx.
()nc lltlltg is L‘L‘llailli ll. tltc ncw \L‘l'ics lxccpx ilx lingcr on thc pulxc ol' contcmporar} culturc as \lcadlaxtl} as in thc prcxioux dccadcs. it will bc bound to plcaxc its lcgionx ol' tans. But pcrhaps thc most triumphant smile at the rclaunch bclongcd to dcpaiting commissioncr l'or BB('|. Lorrainc llcggcmc}. l-(ll' \klltim lltc pl‘tticcl i\ a labour of low. "\Vltcn l slattcd at lilK‘l. nnc ol. thc principal lltillgs l wanch to achich was to bring back l)()('I(H' ll'liii. And it‘s almost takcn m} cntirc Cl)lllllll\\l()llCl'\lllp. btit I‘m delighted that ltc ttl‘l'iVCs bct'orc l lcax'c.‘ Will thc \‘icw ing public \harc llcggcxsc} and l)a\'ic\~ passion and Cltllttlslasltt tor the new 'l'imc l.ord‘.’ Who knows.
8801, Sat 26 Mar, 7pm.