Even if you’re not a Doctor Who fan, the chances are you’ve heard of two mainstays of the long-running sci-fi show: The TARDIS, in which the Doctor traverses the entirety of time and space; and the Daleks, his worst enemy.
The Time Lord’s plunger-wielding foes have to date appeared in over 50 serials and episodes, leading some to speculate that the show may be overdoing it just a bit when it comes to the metal menaces.
Fortunately, the universe is a big place, and there are far more alien species for the good Doctor to bump into. Here are ten of the best.
10. Ood
Doctor Who’s alien species are usually visually striking, but the Ood take some beating, with their tentacled lower faces and spherical translation units directly connected to the brain. First introduced in 2006’s “The Impossible Planet”, they have made regular appearances since, progressing from their beginnings as a race enslaved by humankind to one of the galaxy’s most advanced civilizations.
9. Zygons
With their shape-shifting abilities, the Zygons made their well-received debut in the 1975 Tom Baker serial Terror of the Zygons, but were inexplicably overlooked for the next thirty years. Belated proof of their appeal arrived in 2015 with the two-part story “The Zygon Invasion/The Zygon Inversion”, which saw the Twelfth Doctor (Peter Capaldi) battling against a rebel group of Zygons intent on invading Earth.
8. Judoon
These rhinoceros-like cosmic police force first made an appearance in the 2006 episode “Smith and Jones”, which introduced David Tennant’s Tenth Doctor to companion Martha Jones. A sprinkling of incidental appearances followed before a return in “Fugitive of the Judoon” (2020), in which the Thirteenth Doctor (Jodie Whittaker) encounters the species looking for an escaped prisoner.
7. The Sisterhood of Karn
The Sisterhood has appeared in less than half a dozen Doctor Who stories – but all are humdingers. In the first, 1975’s The Brain of Morbius, The Fourth Doctor (Tom Baker) battled a mad scientist hell-bent on assembling a new body for himself. Even better is the celebrated minisode “The Night Of The Doctor” (2013), in which the Eighth Doctor (Paul McGann) is given a chance to regenerate by the sisters – and transforms himself into a Time Lord of a type no one has seen before…
6. Weeping Angels
The perfect example of Doctor Who making the mundane into something terrifying, the Weeping Angels appear at first glance to be nothing more sinister than a collection of stone statues. But turn away from them, and they move closer – until they suck time energy from their victim, trapping them in a moment in time. The Angels were the central plot point in the classic David Tennant episode “Blink” (2007).
5. Autons
The tenure of Jon Pertwee as the Third Doctor was inaugurated in 1970 by Spearhead from Space, a horror-tinged serial featuring the Autons – plasticized mannequins who do the bidding of the malevolent Nestenes. A subsequent story featuring the eerie-looking creatures was deemed so terrifying that it caused the show to be mentioned in a House of Lords debate on the effects of mass media. When the show returned to TV in 2005, showrunner Russell T. Davies lost no time bringing the Autons back, featuring them prominently in the opening episode of the Ninth Doctor’s (Christopher Eccleston) run.
4. Sontarans
Another product of the Tom Baker years, the Sontarans are a warrior race with a rigid code of honor. Having been all but sidelined by the 1980s, the Sontarans got a new lease of life in 2011, when one of their number, Strax, appeared as a member of the Paternoster Gang, who went on to assist the Doctor on a semi-regular basis over the next several seasons.
3. Ice Warriors
The Ice Warriors proved a hit on debut in 1967 opposite Patrick Troughton’s Second Doctor, with their menacing, reptilian appearance and tragic backstory. They returned to the show with “Cold War”, a marvelous 2013 episode featuring Eleventh Doctor Matt Baker and Emmy Award-winning actor David Warner as a Soviet professor.
2. The Macra
Now lost, The Macra Terror (1967) has a high reputation in fan circles as one of the classic Doctor Who serials for its memorable, crab-like monsters. With all episodes missing, the BBC released an animated version of the serial in 2019. Decades later, the Macra returned to the show in “Gridlock” (2007).
1. Cybermen
The spiritual forefathers of Star Trek’s Borg, the Cybermen are part-organic, part-robotic beings who swell their tanks by forcibly converting other species. They made their bow in the partly-missing 1966 serial The Tenth Planet, and feature in many classic serials from the 1970s and 1980s. They have been just as prominent in recent years, with triumphant appearances in “Rise Of The Cybermen” (2006), “Nightmare In Silver” (2013), and “Death In Heaven” (2014).