The (Lack Of) Monsters Season

[Rob McCow]

Over the years, Doctor Who has relied on it's monsters for many things - scares, publicity, making a story point - in fact, you could argue that Doctor Who would be nothing without the monsters.



Indeed, it's the monsters that people often remember best from the show. Ask 'The Average Sun Reader' and the first thing they'll say about Doctor Who will be about the Daleks or the Cybermen.



So what does Season 16 contribute in the way of monsters? Well...



I suppose it has one of the largest monsters ever seen in Doctor Who.

I think with this series, they realised that they couldn't do monsters very well, so they were kept in the background. The seasons either side justify that decision, with their less-than-successful Nimons and Nuclei of the Swarm. The only monsters that were halfway effective in the Key To Time season were giant lumps of polystyrene.



So what do you think of the monsters in Season 16? Are they a risible bunch? Have any of them actually scared you? Do you think the Taran Wood Beast should make a comeback?

[Jon Masters]

In my epic sequel to Androids of Tara (which exists only in my mind atm), there is a big battle scene between a squad of Royal guards and a Taran Woodbeast.

Because it turns out the one we see in Androids is only a baby one......

[Andrew Curnow]

I must confess, watching Tara as a kid for the first time back in 1978, I never noticed how bad the woodbeast was, I remembered it as being quite scary in fact!

[Jeff]

I'm not sure I ever thought about it enough to notice there was a lack of monsters until this thread.

[Dino]

I'm not sure I ever thought about it enough to notice there was a lack of monsters until this thread.

I was more than likely playing with toys at the time it was first broadcast.
And because I agreed to tape all The Key To Time stories when they were on UK Gold for a friend, so I never got the chance to see them more than once, I'm so glad I bought the DVD box set and can appreciate it far more than I had.
The Androids Of Tara, despite containing the beast, I always thought of as the weakest of the stories.

The new series could do a whole series of stories on a theme. But that would mean more stories, as The Power Of Kroll could be told in 45 minutes, but I still love it.
But there's no way it could have taken the decision not to include any monsters.

Mind you, because of that decision, we've got money spent extra on costumes and sets (If you can find that easy to believe...).

[Si Hunt]

You need money to do monsters well, and unfortunately this is the season where the budget was beginning to bite. So that's why it's character based.

Si.

[SiHart]

Aside from the shoddy matting, I think Kroll is a good model. It's the misaligned film that lets it down.

[Si Hunt]

Kroll is fine. But the trouble with monsters that are models is that you can never be convinced the thing can ever actually get near an actor, so it's never going to be that scary. Maybe it would have been better if there were more tense scenes of its tentacles rising up out the sand and dragging people under the water.

Si.

[Stuart Wallis]

You did say tentacles, didn't you? Thank goodness for that!

If the Taran woodbeast came back, they'd obviously have to do the same makeover they did for the Macra - my Aunt Dolly's more convincing!

Oh, and the Megara! Holds head in hands - no wonder noone's mentioned them yet! Not surprising villains were more important than monsters here. You're right Si, and this is the direction the series was going over the next couple of series.

[brandynigma]

I found the Ogri terrifying as a kid, ably supported by the sound design.

[SiHart]

I'm glad they didn't go with the rock men transform proposed for the Ogris. It was far better and scarier to have the stones moving around I think, because it's the old thing of something coming to life that you least expect.