I was taking a look back at what I consider to be classic NuWho monsters. Most of them have NOT been utilised properly, and as such you might not even know some of them without Googling.

But in your own opinions, please rank the following NuWho monsters on a scale of 1-3 (1 being NO WAY and 3 being YES YES YES) depending on how likely you think they can fit back into Doctor Who canon with a new story or two...

Adipose
Carrionites
Clockwork Droid
Gas Mask Zombie
Gelth
Judoon
Peg Dolls
Pyrovile
Scarecrows
Slitheen
Sycorax
Tritovore
Vashta Nerada

(please note, I am not including the most popular NuWho recurring villains like The Silents and the Weeping Angels).

You forgot the Boneless, they were great!
That's a three from me!

Adipose - 1
Carrionites - 2
Clockwork Droid - 3
Gas Mask Zombie - 2
Gelth - 2
Judoon - 3
Peg Dolls - 1
Pyrovile - 1
Scarecrows - 2
Slitheen - 1
Sycorax - 3
Tritovore - 1
Vashta Nerada - 1

Some aliens in Doctor Who are simply designed for a single use, or rather the plot they serve makes them utterly unique. For instance, the very effectively scary gas mask zombies were a superb addition to Series 1. But their origins (the Nanogenes) would make it very farfetched for them to appear in that guise again. The Nanogenes themselves could serve a future story (in fact they did - Asylum of the Daleks) but the gas mask element was a one-hit wonder. Similarly I feel that the Peg Dolls, Adipose or the Vashta Nerada are aliens very limited by their capabilities, and would feel very repetitive if used again.

Some designs are simply clunky - the Slitheen, whilst it's possible to see what was envisioned are a cumbersome design that is best left behind. Others, like the Pyroviles, served their plot brilliantly but don't inspire much interest in a return appearance - especially when you only get a dozen or so episodes a year.

There are others you feel could warrant some kind of sequel to their original story if the right idea was in mind. The Carrionites are still screaming away in the Tardis presumably, and also aren't likely the only ones of their kind. Another story involing them could be intriguing if someone had a decent idea for them. The same goes for the Scarecrows/Jack Straws... they were given a relatively small role in their first story and were simply animated creations with no actual life of their own, which makes them a bit hard to bring back. But the idea of corporeal scarecrows would make for a great threat, and even if not quite the same as the ones seen before would be a great addition.

There are some alien species that are much more applicable to a wide range of stories. The Judoon, or indeed the Shadow Proclamation, could make a return appearance. I think the Ood could have another story in them at some point. The Sycorax are another who we hardly seem to know anything about, but who have shown up a few times in the background since their story. I think The Wire is deserving of a sequel (but then I quite liked The Idiot's Lantern unlike many) and one of the factfile books hinted at a second invasion attempt in the 1970's.

And one I'm sure we'll eventually get but haven't had in a long time is another Sontaran story. They've had just the one technically speaking since 2005, but there's plenty of scope for more.

Beyond that though, and the obligatory Daleks, Cybermen and Weeping Angels I think there should still be a fundamental focus on new designs - with Series 10 maybe aiming to deliver a new iconic threat, as it's been a while since we've had one.

Whispermen - what on Earth was the point of them, again?

I'm surprised that we've never seen the Vashta Nerada return. They were threatening, it was implied that they live across the universe, and given that they look like darkness then they're bloody cheap!
--
The Clockwork Droid did return in Deep Breath.

I guess the problem with the Vashta Nerada is they're so tightly defined, their powers all-encompassing and vulnerabilities so specific, that it would be hard to come up with a different scenario that didn't just feel like a re-hash of the original. I've not played the adventure game that featured them, how did that work out?

A great design for a villain, but so wasted in concept.

They were pointless, and looked too similar stylistically to the Silents and Ood.

The Spoonheads were pretty awful too.

Apart from my original list, I want the Headless Monks and the Mire to return.

I agree with you on the Slitheen actually. I think they worked in RTD Who, but wouldn't fit in the Capaldi era.

I think the Sontarans are finished. Isn't Strax the last Sontaran anyway? There aren't any more of his race.

Judoon, aren't they too similar to the Sontarans in terms of design? Maybe, like the SLitheen, they wouldn't fit in the Moffat era.

The Judoon have had cameos twice this series in The Magicians Apprentice and Face the Raven.

Adipose- 1 Never again. People are scathing about the Kandyman but this is the shows nadir
Carrionites- 2 I love a generic Witch style monster so yeah why not
Clockwork Droid- 3 Already returned and brilliantly so
Gas Mask Zombie- 1 Like the peg dolls and scarecrows these arent technically a race or group of monsters more a manifestation of something else entirely so not sure they count and as such no need to be seen again
Gelth- 1 Nah
Judoon- 2 Really good as extras and to add some flavour to the universe, the look great but ultimately they are the Who-niverses Stormtroopers and not really worthy of their own lead in a story again
Peg Dolls- 1 Nope, see above
Pyrovile-1 Cant see any point in them returning. Generic
Scarecrows- 1 Very effective and scary image but again, see above, Not an actual monster
Slitheen- 1 No chance
Sycorax- 3 Yes! One of the best designed monsters of New Who
Tritovore- 2 Meh
Vashta Nerada- 3 Yep. Surprised they havent been back already

What do people mean that the clockwork droids have returned? You don't mean the Capaldi debt story do you? They weren't the real Madame Pompadour droids, they were a different "race".

It would be really cool if Doctor Who could introduce something like the Spriggans from the Elder Scrolls games. Or Big Daddies from BioShock. Or something like Necromorphs from Dead Space. They look so simple, but nothing like Necromorphs have ever been done in Who AFAIK.

Nah, there's probably still loads of them. Strax is just one that the Doctor helped out at some point in the past, and so he had a debt to repay.

I don't think there was any implication that the ones in the Sontaran Stratagem were the last lot (we saw some again in The Pandorica Opens), but they were definitely on the ropes due to the effects of the Time War.

There were also two in the Time of the Doctor and one is hiding out in Trap Street.

Personally I'd like to see an army of Ice Warriors.

Don't the Boneless from Flatline count then?
No-one else but me has mentioned them at all.
I realise they weren't on the original list, but I assumed we weren't restricted to that.
I'm sure they would well justify more appearances, with the right scripts of course!

It's a shame that moffat turned a great monster into a joke (same with he silurians )

They were clockwork droids from a 51st Century Spaceship (the SS Marie Antoinette) they had just been hanging out on Earth for millions of years after travelling through time and crashing in the Mesozoic Era.


Calling them a different race is like saying Daleks on Ship 45644 are a different race to Daleks on Ship 99867

I'm generally more interested in new ideas. I think a 'monster' has to have a particularly good idea behind to make it worth reusing. None of those in the OP strike me as having that.

Doctor who has to have a 'monster' in every episode, even if the plot doesn't call for one. They were the token 'monster' that the plot didn't call for.

I found them no more gratuitous than many others. Blame the Doctor Who formula rather than that particular episode.

Splitters.

I wasn't actually a fan of the Boneless. They are way overrated by fandom IMO.

The best Capaldi Era new monster would have to be the Mire.

But atm Zygons are about as big as Daleks...kids are going wild for them atm and rightly so.

I thought the Mire looked really impressive, but didn't really do enough in The Girl Who Died to make a lasting impression IMO, but I wouldn't mind if they appeared again, they have great potential.
The Boneless on the the other hand I thought were a really terrifying concept who were shown to be as ruthless and indiscriminate killers as the Daleks.