Six of the best
- Publication: The Times
- Date: 2012-07-07
- Author: Jenny Colgan
- Page: Saturday Review, p. 9
- Language: English
Doctor Who monsters chosen by Jenny Colgan
This is a purely subjective list of scary Doctor Who monsters. It doesn't include much before Tom Baker, because I only remember a kind of wobbly fear-haze. It also doesn't include anything from the Sylvester McCoy and Colin Baker eras. I didn't watch them because they were terrible. And it's entirely personal to me. TheSilence, for example the monster that you forget as soon as you turn your head — is a terrific idea, but to me they look like gumballs in suits. And I happen to think that Cybermen are cute and have sweet faces, like Marvin the Paranoid Android.
Then there are the Mara. Seen in Kinda and Snakedance, they are a dream species that feeds on evil thoughts, transferred from person to person through a wriggling snake tattoo, launching you into a strange sleepworld. The original Kinda was horribly let down by a now infamous giant papier-mâché snake. It seems ripe for revisiting.
When I handed my choice over to my seven-year-old son, Wallace, for his scariest, he shouted: "The Santas with guns Mummy! The Santas with guns!" Yup, I could see how they could be scary. So, onwards...
Doctor Who: Dark Horizons by J. T. Colgan is published by BBC Books, £12.99
SANTAS WITH GUNS My son was traumatised when he watched Rose's mum enjoying a group of Santas playing trumpets when they suddenly put down their instruments and start shooting everybody
THE MASTER Although John Simm, above, won plaudits as the Doctor's dark half, I still hold a candle for the saturnine portrayals of Roger Delgado and Anthony Ainley — all pointy beards and cold stares
THE VASHTA NERADA Ooh, the Vashta Nerada, first seen in Silence in the Library, are thrilling monsters — space piranhas who will tear the meat from your bones in a millisecond then use your skeleton to talk. They lurk everywhere and are why all species are afraid of the dark. Count the shadows ...
DALEKS They have tried to make Daleks unscary. But when Martha finds herself in Germany (remember the Daleks' Nazi roots) and one glides along hissing "Evterminieren, Exterminieren", they retain their power to shock
THE FAMILY OF BLOOD A girl carrying a balloon who wants to kill you is made more frightening by the performance of Harry Lloyd, whose broken-neck moves brought an ominous depth to the corrupted schoolboy. "Yes Sir. You Sir."
THE WEEPING ANGELS If someone who has never seen the show before, or who dislikes it, or who hates science fiction, watches Blink, you can guarantee that they will be sitting slack-jawed and silent before the 45 minutes are up. And they won't blink either.
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- APA 6th ed.: Colgan, Jenny (2012-07-07). Six of the best. The Times p. Saturday Review, p. 9.
- MLA 7th ed.: Colgan, Jenny. "Six of the best." The Times [add city] 2012-07-07, Saturday Review, p. 9. Print.
- Chicago 15th ed.: Colgan, Jenny. "Six of the best." The Times, edition, sec., 2012-07-07
- Turabian: Colgan, Jenny. "Six of the best." The Times, 2012-07-07, section, Saturday Review, p. 9 edition.
- Wikipedia (this article): <ref>{{cite news| title=Six of the best | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/Six_of_the_best | work=The Times | pages=Saturday Review, p. 9 | date=2012-07-07 | via=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=6 May 2025 }}</ref>
- Wikipedia (this page): <ref>{{cite web | title=Six of the best | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/Six_of_the_best | work=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=6 May 2025}}</ref>
