back to article PUNISHMENT gluttons: The Dr Who monsters that come back for more

Given the Doctor’s propensity for making enemies, he has faced relatively few more than twice. This is perhaps not surprising for someone who can travel anywhere in the whole history of the entire universe – the chances of bumping into someone again should be low. But the demands of making an adventure TV series mean return …

COMMENTS

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  1. Jaruzel

    So Bored...

    ... with all this DW @ 50 coverage on The Register. I'm a avid [classic] Doctor Who fan, and I quite like some of the modern stuff as well, so I'm one of the last people to complain about over-coverage of Doctor Who.

    'Biting the hand that feed IT' - that's the el reg slogan... what has that got to do with Doctor Who? - if I want Doctor Who coverage I could just sit over at the BBC who seem to be carpet bombing the world with 50th Anniversary DW events and shows right now :(

    I'm beginning to think that el reg is getting paid to post these articles...

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: So Bored...

      You're presumably being paid to read and comment on them. I'm having difficulty thinking of another good reason that you bothered to read this stuff and complain about it... maybe the Reg sent round a guy with a hammer and threatened to smash your kneecaps unless you whined about articles you didn't like?

      1. Jaruzel

        Re: So Bored...

        Oh I'm sorry, I must have missed the 'no negative comments allowed' clause in the T&Cs. The whole point of a comment system is to air one's views both good and bad. Or did you swallow the rubbish from school where everyone has to agree with each other?

        I've refrained from commenting on the other umpteen pointless Doctor Who articles on The Register but I'm am now really getting tired on how The Register has de-proritised it's IT coverage for more pop-culture articles. It's starting to feel like the Daily Mail Online...

        1. Steve Knox
          Boffin

          Re: So Bored...

          The whole point of a comment system is to air one's views both good and bad.

          Okay, here's my view. The whole "I'm sick and tired of reading this rubbish" complaint indicates a fundamental lack of understanding of how to use the internet.

          See, unlike, say, radio or television, the internet is consumer-driven, meaning that you choose what to read and what not to read. So if you're reading something you're sick and tired of, that means you made a bad choice. To then go and complain about having read something you're sick and tired of means that not only did you make a bad choice, but you want to blame others for your own bad choices.

          And no, "but I wanted to give them feedback so they can improve what they choose to write" is not a valid excuse. The server logs tell them which articles get read and which ones don't, and good analytics can even tell approximately how long people spend reading the articles.

        2. Dave Fox

          Re: So Bored...

          I suppose the point is that why read the article and comment on it if you know the subject matter isn't going to interest you.

          It's a bit like complaining that the TV channel Dave only shows repeats of Top Gear and QI, when the sole reason for watching Dave is to watch repeats of Top Gear and QI!

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      I'm one of the last people to complain about over-coverage of Doctor Who.

      Actually, in this case, you were the very first.

    3. Robert Carnegie Silver badge

      Re: So Bored...

      Even if you aren't interested, surely it is not as tedious as the succession of "Climate change is a fraud" articles, that aren't what we are here for - sitting oddly beside enthusiastic electric car reviews: but on principle I don't read any of either sort here. I sort of wish that the Reg would come out against vaccines or homosexuality or both, just to add variety.

      1. Simon Harris

        I for one...

        am greatly enjoying the series of Dr Who articles and am not bored in the slightest.

        Wondering though whether Paul Smith is on The Reg payroll as there do seem to be a significant number of articles plugging his book!

  2. graeme leggett Silver badge

    Time Lords as foes?

    Given that its not the Time Lords that are the Doctor's enemy in Genesis of the Daleks and in the Deadly Assassin it's only one of them (assuming the Master is counted separately) it looks like dodgy book-keeping.

    Add in the Ice Warriors only really appear (other than in flashback) in 5 stories.

    Why not add in "humans" and see who the most dangerous and reoccurring enemy is?

    1. Ian Michael Gumby

      Re: Time Lords as foes?

      I was thinking the same thing about the time lords. The master is a special case, but the other time lords aren't enemies except that the Doctor stole the Tardis and I dont think they approve of his interference with the humans. (I'm not sure since I'm thinking back to the '70s era before the time lords were killed off.)

      I wonder which aliens would be the most dangerous? I'm thinking the angels since they could send you back in to time and I'm assuming that its not just time, but also space... (Hint: The earth is moving, the solar system is moving and the galaxy is moving... ;-)

      1. Petrea Mitchell
        Stop

        Re: Time Lords as foes?

        "[T]he other time lords aren't enemies except that the Doctor stole the Tardis"

        ...well, other than the Rani... and the War Chief... and Omega... and Borusa that one time...

        (Unless this all got retconned in the new series, which i've never watched.)

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Time Lords as foes?

          The Rani is a great character and well portrayed by Kate O'Mara but she always ends up with terrible scripts. Really one of the great wasted characters and opportunities of Doctor Who.

          I'd welcome a return with the new writers. Let O'Mara come back and then regenerate her into whoever they want.

        2. Havin_it

          Re: Time Lords as foes?

          IIRC, one of the season-finales in the Tennant era had the whole bloody mob of 'em escaping from Limbo, and having been stuck there for so long, being all a bit hatstand and megalomaniacal and, you guessed it... plotting to take over the Universe! (moo-ha-haaa etc). They were dressed sorta like Roman centurions, and Timothy Dalton was their boss (Rassilon?), The Master was their cunningly-engineered entry point back into spacetime, and he did himself in to prevent this, thus giving Tennant another bloody blubbing opportunity.

          Or did I dream it?

  3. Dave Fox

    Bored?

    So bored you felt the need to click on the article and comment on it?

    Give it a break!

    Here's trick I've learned. When I see a story on El Reg that doesn't interest me, I don't click on the link and read it.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Bored?

      I for one didn't bother reading the article. I clicked on here to see if anyone else shared my views.

      I personally find Dr Who to be a pile of badly written and acted rubbish which should be shown on CBBC not prime time BBC1

      Anonymous to protect myself from the hoard of mindless forum zombies who will now want to drink my free thinking blood

      1. Dave Fox

        Re: Bored?

        "Anonymous to protect myself from the hoard of mindless forum zombies who will now want to drink my free thinking blood"

        Or perhaps it's just because you're a classic troll? ;)

        1. IsJustabloke
          Coat

          Re: Bored?

          Well TBF the classic troll is far superior to the modern shite.....

          I'm Sorry? Oh yes the one with a picture Tom baker in the pocket...

      2. Alan Brown Silver badge

        Re: Bored?

        "I personally find Dr Who to be a pile of badly written and acted rubbish which should be shown on CBBC not prime time BBC1"

        if you had lived in New Zealand you'd have had your wish. Who aired on weekdays at about 4:30-5pm for most of its runs (Sapphire and Steel ended up in a similar timeslot and scared the shit out of a generation of 7-10year olds)

        Then again that was the nation which put Space:1999 in a 8pm saturday timeslot in the days when there was only one TV channel for 75% of the country.

      3. Myvekk
        Trollface

        Re: Bored?

        LOL

        Anonymous troll is Anonymous

  4. Phil O'Sophical Silver badge

    The Master

    I have to say I started to get very tired of the Master being the default baddie in the early series. I presume he was a cheap villain in terms of makeup/special effects, but even so...

    I had hoped he wouldn't make an appearance in the reboot, sadly he did so and with nowhere hear the evil menace of the late Roger Delgado, he was more of a cartoon baddie.

    1. Suricou Raven

      Re: The Master

      He was good in the first reappearance. Cartoonish, yes - but also menacing. This was someone who may sing and dance, but through it projected someone ambitious enough to rule, uncaring enough to hurt anyone, sadistic enough to enjoy it - and capable enough to pull it off. His silly exterior concealed a cruel and powerful villain.

      The second appearance though, when he started shooting lightning out his fingers? Yeah. Crap.

      1. Cthonus

        Re: The Master

        Hmm. Roger Delgado exuded all the menace and charm of an East End gang lord.

        John Simm (who in other roles has been fantastic) played the character as if he was in a Carry On Up The Loony Bin movie.. Sometimes less is more.

        1. Simon Harris
          Unhappy

          Re: The Master

          When Derek Jacobi was revealed as The Master in Utopia I thought he was going to be someone worthy of the role - sadly didn't last longer than that episode though.

          I loved John Simm in his other roles, and he could have been a great Master, but I don't think his scripts did him justice. I still refuse to re-watch and cringe at the storyline in the series finale Last of the Time Lords where he turns The Doctor into Dobby The House Elf and everyone has to believe in The Doctor for him to be restored, Tinkerbell like, to overcome The Master.

    2. Richard Taylor 2
      Happy

      Re: The Master

      Some of us took it as a crude but at the same time wonderfully enjoyable kick to Tony Blair's balls. Well we all enjoyed it without having to over analyse.....

    3. Horridbloke

      Re: The Master

      I thought portraying The Master as Tony Blair (the whole "Harold Saxon" thing) was quite inspired.

      (Certainly better than the "General Belgrano" allusion in one of the Christmas specials.)

  5. alain williams Silver badge

    Ood as foes ?

    The Ood are more victims of other various baddies. If they have acted against the Dr it is because they were compelled to.

    The title is wrong, rather than 'foes' put 'species' or 'characters' or something.

    1. TRT Silver badge

      Re: Ood as foes ?

      Oh absolutely! If they're going to put the Ood in there, then they have to include Ogrons, yes?! And Drashigs, for that matter.

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    It seems heavily weighted towards the "new" Dr Who

    Is this indicative of a lack of imagination by the scriptwriters?

  7. Lloyd

    Bring back the burnt out husk master (after final regeneration or some such nonsense)

    He scared the living crud out of me as a kid. Kids these days are too wrapped in cotton wool, we need more stuff like Davros in Doctor Who, make the buggers have nightmares. And while we're on it, bring back The Spirit of Dark and Lonely Water, the kid getting fried getting his frisby from the substation, the kids on the building site, is that a tractor left with the keys in it?

    Why are you putting that jacket on me? What sort of a jacket ties up at the back? I'm fine I tell you! What are you doing here doctor? What's that injection for? No, I'm fine, I'm fine I'm...............

    1. RealBigAl

      Re: Bring back the burnt out husk master (after final regeneration or some such nonsense)

      Omega, the first Time Lord.

      1. graeme leggett Silver badge

        Re: Bring back the burnt out husk master (after final regeneration or some such nonsense)

        "Omega, the first Time Lord"?

        Yeah, but he's not much to look at....

  8. J.G.Harston Silver badge

    Homo repitilia? That old chestnut? A mammal-primate-manlike-ape with reptile features? Epic Linnaean Taxonomy fail. The first word is the major species grouping, the second word the subset. Silurians are intelligent repitiles, so would be Repitilia Sapiens or something like that.

    1. Alan Brown Silver badge

      There's a lot of conjecture that we should be Pan Sapiens.

  9. Anonymous Custard
    Terminator

    Daleks, last of the daleks and Davros

    As we've got Davros separate from the Daleks, it's almost worth including the "last of the Daleks" also as a separate entity. Given that we seem to have seen the "last of the Daleks" at least 3-4 times in the reboot series, the concept (admittedly normally with a different individual pepperpot filling the role) has been seriously overworked to keep on shoe-horning the things in yet again.

    Still, thank god for the small mercy that the crap new "modern" design of them seems to also have been quietly forgotten in lieu of the original classic one.

    1. Mr Flibble

      Re: Daleks, last of the daleks and Davros

      I think that the BBC are keeping the new ones (you know, the hunch-Daleks) as leaders and the older ones as the rank and file, and I strongly suspect that the redesign was to provide new toys to sell – you know, why sell one when you can sell five…

  10. jason 7

    The Cybermen have turned up a lot since the re-launch.

    Nothing to do I suppose, that the suits probably cost quite a lot to make?

    1. graeme leggett Silver badge

      Re: The Cybermen have turned up a lot since the re-launch.

      Might also explain why a bunch of Silurians turn up for "A Good Man Goes To War", the Proms etc

      The other is that being made of sturdy stuff they last longer than the Troughton era Cybermen which go through several make-overs.

      If you want to look for a long-lived prop, one of the Daleks in Remembrance is the same shell as first appeared on screen nearly 25 years earlier.

  11. Josh Holman

    One missing...

    The Black Guardian.

    Would like to see the guardians make an appearance in the new series.

  12. Hilibnist

    'The Silents'

    Really? Not 'The Silence'?

    FWIW, I bet I'm not the only one who finds this sort of analysis almost completely pointless, but thoroughly diverting. If this is an advertisement feature, I'll have to consider myself advertised at.

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