Dr. Who's Rogues Gallery

Publication: Fangoria
Date: 1979-08-16
Author: David Hirsch
Page: 30
Language: English

A who's who of intergalactic television terror.

In nearly 500 episodes, Doctor Who has battled an incredible array of villains. From hideous monsters to computerized machines programmed for destruction, the Doctor has never failed to outwit his enemies. After 15 years, the award-winning BBC-TV science-fantasy series has made its way to America. FANGORIA presents a look at a few of the Doctor's greatest adversaries.

The Daleks

Far away, in another universe, another time, is the planet Skaro. After years of war between the planet's two races, the Thals and the Kaleds, a final neutronic war mutates the Kaleds into a race of hideous monsters. While the Thals have developed a drug to survive the radiation contamination, the Kaleds encase their bodies in mobile shells created years earlier by a Kaled scientist named Davros. Davros be lieves that years of atomic war could indeed mutate the Kaleds so he creates a travel machine he calls a Dalek —an anagram of the Kaled name. When the Kaleds mutate into something unhuman, they lose all human emotions —except hate. With a grating metalic cry of. "Exterminate! Exterminate!" the Daleks set out to rule the universe. However, the Doctor has repeatedly managed to stop their plans to wipe out or enslave every living creature.

The Daleks were created in 1963 by Terry Nation. They have appeared in the serials "The Dead Planet," "Dalek Invasion of Earth," "Space Museum," "The Chase," "Mission to the Unknown," "The Dalek Master Plan," "The Power of the Daleks," "The Evil of the Daleks," "Day of the Daleks," "Frontier in Space," "Planet of the Daleks," "Death to the Daleks," "Genesis of the Daleks," and two feature films based on the first two serials.

The Cybermen

Eons ago, the Cybermen were once very human. In an attempt to solve the secret of immortality, they began to replace worn-out human tissue and organs with mechanical parts. This process continued until the day when they substituted their own brains with computers. No longer flesh and blood, but metal and plastic. the Cybermen have lost the ability to feel love, hate, pity or fear. They rectify this loss with the goal for ultimate power. As strong as 10 men and with the ability to exist in almost any environment, the Cybermen launch their first attack on Earth from their home planet, the long-lost sister planet to Earth, Mondas. To survive, Mondas draws its power from Earth and the Cybermen have to destroy Earth at a time when Mondas has absorbed enough power. But the Doctor and his companions thwart the Cybermen and Mondas explodes from an overload of energy.

The Cybermen first appeared in the 1966 serial, "The Tenth Planet," written by science-fiction authors Kit Pelder and Gerry Davis. They have also appeared in "The Moonbase," "The Tomb of the Cybermen," "The Wheel in Space," "The Invasion," "Carnival of Monsters" and "Revenge of the Cybermen."

The Ice Warriors

While Earth was in its first Ice Age, a spacecraft from the planet Mars crash-landed into the Ice. The crew— giant, green, 8-foot-tall humanoids in scaly green armor—remained in suspended animation until the day when the world was in the grip of its second Ice Age. While combating a glacier with an ioniser to halt its progress, a team of scientists unearth the Martian captain, Varga. Once revived, the Ice Warrior attempts to free his crewmen and their space craft at the cost of the human's lives. The Doctor is able to combat them by taking advantage of their one weakness... heat. But they are masters of sonic technology and the Doctor's task is never easy.

The Ice Warriors were created by Brian Hayles in his 1967 serial "The Ice Warriors." They have also appeared in "The Seeds of Death," "The Curse of Peladon" and "The Monster of Peladon."

The Sontarans

The Sontarans live for war. These goblin-like creatures have fought for so many years with the Rutan Empire that they know nothing else but war. The Doctor's first encounter with a Sontaran is with Captain Jingo Linx. The alien's spacecraft crash-lands in England during the time of the Crusades. Requiring advanced technology to repair his craft, Linx kidnaps scientists and equipment from the 20th century. The Doctor pursues Linx back in time and manages to rescue the scientists, who are all on the point of death from lack of sleep and food. Linx is killed when his spacecraft blows up.

The Sontarans were created in 1973 by Robert Holmes. Sontaran serials include "The Time Warrior," "The Sontaran Experiment" and "Invasion of Time."

The Wirrn

Driven off their planet by humans, the giant wasp-like race of Wirrns wander through space in search of a place to propagate. A Queen Wirrn, ready to lay her eggs. boards a fully automated space station whose human inhabitants are helpless to stop the invasion since they are in a state of suspended animation. When solar flares rendered the Earth uninhabitable, a cross section of the human population is placed in space until the day when Earth is once again able to support life. However, the Queen Wirrn intends to use the human population as fodder for her pupae and she destroys the automated clock that is supposed to release the humans. It is not until the arrival of the Doctor and his companions that the humans are able to battle the insect creature. But they must first outwit the new leader of the Wirrn who has absorbed both the mind and body of the human leader.

The Wirrn made their first appearance in Robert Holmes' 1974 serial "The Ark in Space."

The Zygons

For centuries the crippled Zygon spaceship lay beneath the mysterious waters of Loch Ness. When the octopus-like Zygons learn of thoir planet's destruction, they set about to capture Earth for their wandering people. With the power to change their shape at will and the help of a fearsome Zygon beast known as the Skarasen. the aliens launch their attack on Earth. The Skarasen have for years been seen in the waters of Loch Ness and dubbed the Loch Ness Monster be humans. The Doctor manages to stop the Zygons and the Skarasen returns to the only home it has ever known . . Loch Ness.

The Zygons and their monster first appeared in the 1975 serial "Terror of the Zygons" by Robert Banks Stewart,

Morbius

On a bleak, rocky, storm-lashed planet, the scientist Solon keeps alive the brain of the renegade Time Lord war criminal Morbius. Using parts from the bodies of aliens who have crashed on the planet, Solon creates a hideous creature whose head will house the evil brain. The Doctor's time-and-space machine, TARDIS, is also drawn to the planet by the same force field that has caused the crash of many others. Housed in a life-support sphere that doubles as a head, Morbius' brain takes control of the monster body to destroy the Doctor so that his head may serve as the new home for the brain of Morbius.

The 1976 serial "The Brain of Morbius" was written by Robin Bland.

The Anti-matter Monster

Zeta Minor lies on the very edge of Li the universe where matter can safely exist with anti-matter . . to a point. An expedition to the planet, from the Morestran empire, is all but slaughtered by a mysterious force leaving one half-crazed survivor. The Doctor answers the first expedition's distress call as does a second Morestran expedition led by a hostile and suspicious captain. Unknown to anyone, the anti-matter monster has boarded the Morestran spaceship and only the Doctor can save them, drive the monster back to Zeta Minor and undo the damage the presence of matter life forms on an antimatter planet has caused.

The anti-matter monster first appears in 1975 serial by Louis Marks, "The Planet of Evil."

To remove the Dr. Who poster, carefully bend staples up. then slowly lift poster out.

Captions:

The Doctor decides to flee the country to escape his villainous adversaries.

A Cyberman prepares to attack

Disfigured in a lab accident, Davros plots to create the master life form, the dreaded Daleks.

The menacing Ice Warrior: donning his green body armor.

The terrible squid-like Zysons.

The Daleks: Mobile death machine controlled by slimy creatures within.

The Doctor battles the Frankenstein-like body of the evil Time Lord Morbius.

A Wirrn tends the larva in the power room of "The Ark in Space."

The goblin head of the Sontaran warrior Field Marshall Styre

Dr. Who's Rogues Gallery

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