Doctor Who & Spin-Offs A-Z Game

[Alan]

X ~ Xeriphas - Home planet of the Xeraphin and also the planet of origin of the 5th Doctor's companion, Kamelion. It is referred to in the 1982 story Time-Flight and the 1983 story The King's Demons.

[Guest]

Y ~ Yeti - The Yeti although resembling the cryptozoological creatures also called the Yeti, are in actuality alien robots. Their external appearance, that of a huge hairy biped, disguises a small spherical mechanism that provides its motive power. The Yeti serve the Great Intelligence, a disembodied entity from another planet, which tried to form a physical body in order to conquer the Earth. The Yeti are initially a ruse to scare off curiosity seekers, and later form an army serving the Great Intelligence.

The Great Intelligence and its Yeti minions were thwarted twice by the Doctor's second incarnation, played by Patrick Troughton, in the serials 'The Abominable Snowmen' and 'The Web of Fear'. A Yeti was also one of the creatures in the Death Zone featured in 'The Five Doctors'.

[Alan]

Z ~ Zodin - The Doctor reminisced about "the Terrible Zodin" in the 1983 TV movie The Five Doctors and in his post fifth regeneration confusion he accidentally called his companion Peri Brown "the Terrible Zodin" and she mentioned this fact to him in the 1985 story Attack of the Cybermen. The Doctor first met her at some time prior to his second incarnation. The Doctor said that they didn't "make villains like here any more" and that she was a woman of "rare guile and devilish cunning".

[Guest]

A ~ Archangel Network - An Earth-wide mobile phone satellite network (made up of 15 satellites overall) seen in 'The Sound of Drums', the Archangel network creates a low-level, worldwide telepathic field which allows the Master to subtly influence the behaviour of the entire planet, first by convincing a substantial number of the British public to vote for his Mr. Saxon persona and later to keep most of the human race afraid of him. It also masks his Time Lord nature from the Doctor. In 'The Last of the Time Lords', the Doctor uses the network to channel the combined psychic energy of the entire human race, Martha having convinced them to think of the Doctor by name at the same moment.

It affected 98% of the British population by hypnotising them to Vote Saxon. Characters not affected included Clive Jones and Vivian Rook.

[Alan]

B ~ Benton, John - John Benton was a member of UNIT. He first appeared in the 1968 story The Invasion in which he held the rank of Corporal. When the Doctor was exiled to Earth, Benton, now a Sergeant and third in command of the British branch of UNIT, became a recurring character from the 1970 story The Ambassadors of Death. Several months after the dismissal of 2iC Captain Mike Yates (as seen in the 1973 story Invasion of the Dinosaurs), it was revealed in the 1974 story Robot that Benton was subsequently promoted to the rank of Warrant Officer First Class with the post of Regimental Sergeant Major and made UNIT's 2iC.

He made his last appearance to date in the 1975 story The Android Invasion. The retired Brigadier Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart told the Doctor that Benton left in 1979 and became a used car salesman.

At some point, Benton ha returned to UNIT and became a commissioned officer with the rank of Lieutenant. In the opening epilogue of the novelization of the 1966 story The Power of the Daleks, Benton led a UNIT team to Antarctica to clear up the chaos left in the wake of the Cybermen's attempt to drain Earth of its energy in 1986 (as seen in the story The Tenth Planet).

John Benton was played by actor John Levene.

[Guest]

C ~ Crystal of Kronos - From the Third Doctor serial 'The Time Monster', this is used by the Master to power his TOMTIT machine, but turns out to be something much more powerful.

[Alan]

D ~ Dead Man Walking - Series 2 episode of Torchwood. Guest starring Freema Agyeman as "Martha Jones".

Synopsis
---------
Owen has died. Jack decides to return him to life for a few minutes. But no one could have guessed what will happen as a consequence of this decision.

[Guest]

E ~ EMP unit - A cylindrical device used in 'Voyage of the Damned', taken from Bannakaffalatta's cyborg body as their only effective weapon against the Host. It produces a electromagnetic pulse which neutralises the robots, but has to be recharged after it has been used a certain number of times. A similar device, albeit built as a grenade instead of a reusable unit, appears in the episode 'The Age of Steel', where it serves to neutralise a Cyberman. The EMP inadvertently disables the Cyberman's emotional inhibitor, allowing the brain to remember who it was. This led the Tenth Doctor to deactivate the robot body and kill the victim with the sonic screwdriver.

[Alan]

F ~ Face of Evil, The - 1977 story starring Tom Baker as "The Doctor" and introducing Louise Jameson as "Leela".

Synopsis
---------
The Doctor arrives on a planet where two tribes, the savage Sevateem and the technically brilliant Tesh, are at war. He meets Leela, an exile from the Sevateem, and discovers that their god of evil is apparently himself.

[Guest]

G ~ Gravitron - A device installed on the Moon in the 21st century to control Earth's weather. In 'The Moonbase', the Cybermen attempted to gain control of the device in an attempt to destroy Earth. The Second Doctor managed to stop the Cybermen by using the Gravitron to send them and their ships into space.

[Alan]

H ~ Hand of Fear, The - 1976 story starring Tom Baker as "The Doctor" and Elisabeth Sladen in her last regular appearance as "Sarah Jane Smith".

Synopsis
---------
When the TARDIS lands on Earth in a quarry, the Doctor and Sarah are caught in a mining explosion. She is found clutching what appears to be a fossilised hand, buried in 150 million-year-old stratum. Analysis shows the hand to be silicon-based and inert, but when Sarah begins to act as if possessed, the Doctor suspects that it may still be alive...

[Guest]

I ~ Ice gun - A fire extinguisher used by the Tenth Doctor to immobilise the Clockwork Droids in 'The Girl in the Fireplace'. The name "ice gun" was suggested by Mickey Smith. The Doctor called it a fire extinguisher.

[Alan]

J ~ Jovanka, Tegan - Tegan Jovanka was an Australian airline stewardess and a native of Brisbane who was a companion of the 4th and 5th Doctors.

Tegan first appeared in the 1981 story Logopolis. On her way to Heathrow Airport to start her new job with Air Australia, her car suffers a flat tyre. She enters a roadside police box to seek help, not knowing that it is actually the Doctor's disguised TARDIS. She is present when the 4th Doctor falls from the Pharos Project radio telescope and regenerates into his fifth incarnation, and continues to journey with the Doctor and his other companions.

Tegan is stubborn, loud, and direct, with a no-nonsense manner and not afraid to speak her mind. While she often bickered with her fellow companions as well as with the Doctor, her strength of character keeps them together and her loyalty to her fellow crewmates is unquestionable. The Doctor notes that she is a good coordinator, and often encourages her with the words, "Brave heart, Tegan."

Despite her strong front, however, her adventures with the Doctor, both thrilling and terrifying, eventually take a psychological toll. After being left behind in Heathrow due to a misunderstanding at the end of the 1982 story Time-Flight she returns to the TARDIS in the following story Arc of Infinity. Eventually, the carnage surrounding the events of the story Resurrection of the Daleks prove too much and she bids an emotional good-bye to the Doctor and Turlough in 1984 London.

Tegan Jovanka was played by actress Janet Fielding.

[Guest]

K ~ Key of Rassilon - A Gallifreyan artefact that allows access to the Matrix, the repository of all Time Lord knowledge. It is kept by the Keeper of the Matrix, and should not be confused with the Great Key of Rassilon or the Rod of Rassilon.

[Alan]

L ~ Leisure Hive, The - 1980 story starring Tom Baker as "The Doctor", Lalla Ward as "Romana", and John Leeson as "K-9".

Synopsis
---------
The Argolin-Foamasi War lasted for just 20 minutes, during which time the planet of Argolis was turned into a blasted cinder - a radioactive wasteland deadly to almost all.

The few surviving members of the now ageing and sterile Argolin race made a remarkable decision: the story of their people and the husk of their world would stand as a lesson to the galaxy about the horrors of war. The planet would become the most unlikely of holiday resorts...

To the Doctor and Romana, Argolis seems like a restful and fascinating place to relax after their recent adventures. They can take in the beauty of the multi-coloured shifting sands from the safety of the towering Leisure Hive, and catch up with Argolin advances in the obscure science of tachyonics.

Typically enough, however, murder and intrigue follow the time travellers wherever they go; and a lunatic's plan to restore Argolis' proud warrior past could, quite literally, tear the Doctor and his friend apart...