For me, only the Silence, the Weeping Angels and the Clockwork Droids stand out as great new monsters that can be used again and again down the years.

That said, I love what they did with the Peg Dolls (Night Terrors) but I can't see how they can be used again - unless of course the Celestial Toymaker returns(Christopher Lee PLEASE!) and resurrects them...

The Beast.
It was very bold of them to create a sinister entity who may in fact be Satan; something which challenged the Doctor's beliefs.

The Ood have a great look and backstory so they are worthy of classic status. I'd love to see the Vashta Nerada used again, but I fear they won't be.

The Abzorbaloff

The rat from The Talons of Weng Chiang.

I know you're being facetious but, conversationally, I never understood why the rat was so terrible. Okay, sure, it looked unconvincing; which Doctor Who monsters didn't? And it was such a small part of an otherwise high quality serial, with some of the best scripts, characters and settings the show ever had. I'd take a crappy looking 'monster' with a very minor part in exchange for that quality in every other department every week. And on that note, the extremely shitty monster in Caves of Androzani is never mentioned. Let's knock the other crap monsters for a change and give the giant rat a break!

It scared me enough as a kid first time I watched it and this was years after the broadcast so it dated even more. But job done. Like you say I think if the stories good enough you ignore the ropey effects as you're too caught up in it all. If you're spending time nit picking the effects whether it be Classic or New Who then it means the story is failing.

It was a F'Narg, surely?

On, and to the OP (a half decent query for a change) the only NuWho enemies that come close are the Angels and the Silents.

Which is why, I guess, they are in the Xmas special alongside the Daleks and Cybermen.

Invasion of the Dinosaurs is another example of a good story where people have focused instead on the poor looking monsters. Unfortunately, in that instance they really didn't help themselves by showing such long scenes with only the dinosaurs onscreen. They may have gotten away with it with only brief or partial shots, much like the Jaws scenes you mentioned in another thread.


Oh, and on topic: the Weeping Angels seem to have been the only ones who have really caught on big. That's no shame on the part of the creators; they've created probably the only legacy monster on a scale with the Daleks or Cybermen (I'd say Sontarans, Silurians, Ice Warriors etc are one rung lower).

I can't see the Silence being used by future writers but you never know. Likewise, the Ood seem to have had their day now, although kids really liked the red eyes thing, and just the visual look of them.

I'm always more for new stuff so I can't say I have any personal favourites to return really. Wracking my brains, very few new aliens have actually been introduced in the Moffat era. They tend to have used more one off monsters, directly related to the plot, or reused the classics.

I must say that I did LOVE the scarecrows from series 3. They looked and acted very creepily. However, they were a bit generic, I guess.

The Vashta Nerada were amazing and an enemy you thought would beat the Doctor, but they don't lend to many future stories.

Also surprised the Carrionites haven't been reused yet. They have great potential.

Its true actually isn't it! Apart from the Silents Moffats era hasn't tried to create a well defined new race or society of aliens. There have been hints of them but mostly its been individual monsters of the week to suit the story. Which I am fine with but its a noticeable contrast to the last era which gave us Judoon and Slitheen and Weeping Angels and Sycorax and Ood.

Moff did invent the Angels though.

I don't see any of the others, except maybe the Ood, living very long in the memory.

Yeah of course but noticeably not during his showrunner period. I agree. I think the Ood will live on if only for the fact they are visually a great design. The rest? Not so much. They all lack a genuinely interesting 'hook' which makes them unique. I kind of loved the Sycorax first time around but there isn't much there to distinguish them from any other generic alien race.

I didn't like the Sycorax. Aren't they too similar to the Hoix?

The only other one I can think of is the Saturnyns in 'Vampires of Venice' and they were pretty vanilla and forgettable.

Well as I said they lacked a truly defining 'thing' which would merit them being seen again or making even the pantheon of secondary greats- Silurians etc. But I thought the design was great and I liked the fact they seemed quite a warrior race with a mixture of old and new tech. Doesn't mean they need bringing back though.

I think they need to give Capaldi a genuinely scary new foe. I appreciate its not easy and the magic only happens so often but it would be nice. What it might be is beyond me!

I'd forgotten them. Yeah. Like you say rather vanilla but there were attempts to give them at least a bare bones of a back story and the idea of a society of their own.

Would the Kandyman work in NUWHO?

I think it would sell lots of toys, and potentially a BBC-endorsed sweet range.

Put it this way, if we can have utter tripe like Curse of the Black Spot, then we can have 'Curse of the Kandyman' or other such nonsense.

I know adults won't like it, but the kids of NUWHO age will go crazy for Kandyman, IMO.

How about the Whisper men?

Thought they were very creepy.

Them, Silents and Weeping Angels being my top 3.

That's why the Weeping Angels work so well I guess. Their gimmick is endlessly usable. Whereas the Silence have a really awkward to plot for gimmick, beyond being used for a jump scare in monster mash style episodes. That's why I can't see them being used much in the future.

I actually really like how Moffat has used the legacy monsters. Most of the time they have been bit parts in stories, or supporting characters (like the Paternoster gang) rather than the main focus. How many times can the Cybermen invading Earth be interesting, especially when we know the outcome. He's kept these kinds of monsters visible, which is good for the merchandising and the casual viewers, but still leaves them able to create new stuff and not tell the same story over and over.




The Whisper Men were only extensions of the Great Intelligence. They have no separate existence so can only really be used with the GI. A lot of the recent monsters have been very story-specific like this: the Spoonheads, the Smilers, the Gangers.

I rank the aliens of Doctor Who through 'classic', 'vintage', 'one-hit wonder' and 'others'.

CLASSIC MONSTERS/ENEMIES
Daleks
Cybermen
The Master
Weeping Angels

Classics are the pride and joy of Doctor Who. You can expect them to crop up on a rather regular basis, often in stories not limited to their own plots and schemes - they have a far wider scope within the series that can be explored. These are the ones that you're most likely to see on mugs, on t-shirts, in the playgrounds of schools across the UK and beyond. It's a very small list for me, as it takes a lot to reach a status like this. The Daleks, the Cybermen, the Master and the Weeping Angels are the only ones I'd put in this list, making the angels the only addition from NuWho so far. That's not a bad thing on NuWho's part - in eight series, it's impressive that a new creation has emerged that has such storyline longevity, is instantly recognisable and iconic and still retains an element of either mystery, fear or name-power.

VINTAGE MONSTERS/ENEMIES
Sontarans
Silurians
Sea Devils
Ice Warriors
Autons
Ood
Judoon
The Trickster

Vintages are the next rung down, and are the aliens that are likely to recur within the show but not necessarily very often. They're very much a part of Doctor Who's ongoing essence, but they might not be as recognisable by name to non-fans and don't quite have the simple grab-factor of more classic examples, such as the Daleks. From NuWho, the only real addition has been the Ood - a recognisable and distinguishable alien, though their story may well have been told already.
The Trickster from The Sarah Jane Adventures is arguably an indirect example of a 'vintage' enemy, appearing in three seperate stories (and a planned fourth from the aborted stories of Series 5) as well as warranting significant mentions in both Doctor Who: Series 4 and Torchwood: Series 4. Again, his story has likely already been told though he has encountered the Tenth Doctor already and there is room to bring back this sinister, iconic character.
The Judoon are possibly another, but have only had two stories (one in SJA) to prove their worth and haven't recurred barring 'kitchen-sink' moments.

That's what I thought, but in the build up to the episode they said a new creepy enemy had been made for future episodes or something. Which made me think they would be appearing more than once.

I'm sure if they really wanted them back they could.

I think he has played it just right with the Classics for the most part. I know some take great offence at the Paternoster Gang for instance and feel it has somewhat neutered the threat of their respective alien races but I don't agree. Its a new twist on it which keeps them front and center but stops them being dull. I still think there is a classic Cyberman story waiting to be told but they've bodged it so often you have to wonder. Daleks are fine for me just because of their iconography but I never expect them to bring anything new.

The Silents are I agree a little too specific in the sense their gimmick drives the nature of the story. Personally I think they're visually fantastic and very striking but lack that ultra special something. At least up until now. I would put them in the second tier of monsters.

If Moffat never invents another famous monster he can at least claim ownership of the Angels who I think stand up there with Daleks and Cyberman as a classic and defining monster.

Yes. Again the Smilers seemed very scary and visually and conceptually could have been brilliantly effective. But what scope was there to develop them? They were tools. Weapons. Not the main threat. Of course you could rewrite them to suit but much like the monsters in Rings of Akhaten they look great but are underused and lack character beyond a quick scare. Same goes for the Whispermen.

I didn't even know who the Trickster was and I have seen every single episode of Doctor Who multiple times (including reconstructions for the missing ones). Really, he has no place in that list.