Doctor Who & Spin-Offs A-Z Game

[Guest]

I ~ Ice Warrior - The race originated on Mars, and first appeared in the 1967 serial 'The Ice Warriors' where they encountered the Second Doctor and his companions Jamie and Victoria. The name Ice Warrior is not the name of their species, but was applied to them by an Earth scientific team in the Martians' first on-screen appearance.

The Ice Warriors are reptilian humanoids, their scaly skin and features usually hidden under heavy armour. They have large, claw-like hands on which are mounted sonic weaponry, and their voices are a highly sibilant whisper due to the different composition of Earth's atmosphere. Two types of Ice Warrior are seen in the series, the rank and file Warriors, and an officer class, which fan lore has christened Ice Lords (with at least one being referred to as a "Lord" on screen). The main difference between the two is the design of their armour, with the Ice Lords wearing a lighter, more flexible version than those of the Warriors.

[Alan]

J ~ Justica - Justicia is a solar system which is used as a massive prison. Justicia was originally formed to store alien criminals, but due to overcrowding amongst the EarthGov colonies, Human criminals were also sent to Justicia.

Around the 2500s, the Blathereen discovered another use for Justicia. The position of its planets made it suitable for warp-holes, which they could use to transport the entire system and use the suns as means to destroy planets, giving them a supply of spaceship fuel. They slowly replaced people of power and lead the research section of Justice Gamma to figure out the necessary math.

In 2501, in the novel The Monsters Inside which was part of the Ninth Doctor Adventures line of books, the Doctor and Rose arrived on Justice Alpha and were arrested. The Doctor's skills meant the project could be pushed forward, but the meddling of the Doctor, Rose and three Slitheen lead to the eventual failure of the project and the destruction of the Blathereen criminal empire.

[Guest]

K ~ Krillitane - The Krillitanes are an alien race that first appeared in the 2006 episode 'School Reunion'. They had infiltrated the Deffry Vale comprehensive school on present day Earth, increasing the intelligence of the pupils with Krillitane oil. Using the children as part of a giant computer programme, they hoped to crack the secrets of the Skasis Paradigm, the Universal Theory that would give them control over the basic forces of the universe and turn them into gods. Their scheme was foiled by the Tenth Doctor and his companions, though not before they attempted to ask the Doctor to join them in remaking the universe. This conversation showed that the Krillitanes were aware of the Time War, of the Time Lords and of their fate.

The Krillitanes are a composite race who pick and choose physical traits they find useful from the species they conquer, incorporating them into their own bodies. When the Doctor last encountered them they looked like humans with very long necks, but by the time of 'School Reunion', they possessed a bat-like form which they obtained from the conquest of Bessan ten generations prior. However, they were able to maintain a morphic illusion of human form, which could be discarded if needed.

[Alan]

L ~ Last Great Time War - The Last Great Time War (often called simply the Time War) was the war between the Time Lords and the Daleks, which destroyed both Gallifrey and Skaro and left few survivors.

[Guest]

M ~ 'Meglos' - Was first broadcast in four weekly parts from September 27 to October 18, 1980.

The Doctor is invited to visit the planet Tigella by its leader, Zastor, who has become concerned about disputes between his people's two opposing factions, the religious Deons and the scientist Savants.

The TARDIS is intercepted by the megalomaniacal xerophyte Meglos, last survivor of the planet Zolfa-Thura, and trapped in a chronic hysteresis - a time loop - but the Doctor and Romana manage to free it.

Meglos, using the body of a kidnapped Earthling, transforms himself into a duplicate of the Doctor and steals the Tigellans' power source - a mysterious dodecahedron. He plans to use this to power an apocalyptic device with which he intends to destroy Tigella.

The Doctor, although hindered by the activities of a group of Gaztak mercenaries hired by Meglos, ultimately brings about the xerophyte's destruction by tampering with the dodecahedron's controlling computers.

[Alan]

N ~ Nightmare of Eden - 1979 story starring Tom Baker as "The Doctor", Lalla Ward as "Romana", and David Brierly as the voice of "K-9".

Synopsis
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The TARDIS lands at the site of a hyperspatial collision between two spacecraft - as a result of which, neither ship is dimensionally stable, risking the lives of all those aboard. The Doctor, K-9 and Romana offer to help out. When a crewmember is found dead, his face lacerated by huge claws, it seems something deadly has been released by the accident. But how is the death linked to the discovery that the killer drug Vraxoin has been smuggled aboard? The answer could be the savage Mandrels, hideous swamp-creatures from the planet Eden, which soon tear through the corridors of the helpless spaceships...

[Guest]

O ~ Ood - The Ood are a humanoid species with coleoid tentacles on the lower portions of their faces. In the distant future (circa 42nd century), the Ood are a slave race to humanity, performing menial tasks, and it is claimed that every human has an Ood servant. According to human characters in their first appearance, the Ood offer themselves for servitude willingly, having no goals of their own except to be given orders and to serve. It is also claimed that they cannot look after themselves, and if they do not receive orders, they pine away and die. However, mention is made of a group called the "Friends of the Ood" who are apparently lobbying for Ood freedom. Ood also have purple blood.

(Spoiler'd for size).

Spoiler:

The Ood require a translator device, a small sphere connected to their "mouths" by a tube, to facilitate speech between them and humans. The tube was originally connecting their external brains to their body, but to use the creatures, far future humans would amputate the brain and instead fix the translator sphere where the brain used to be. There appears to be no gender differentiation among the Ood, and they say they require no names or titles as they are "one", but they do have designations such as "Ood 1 Alpha 1". The Ood are empaths, sharing among themselves a low-level telepathic communication field, rated at "Basic 5" (with "Basic 30" being the equivalent of screaming and "Basic 100" meaning brain death). When reaching out with their telepathic fields, it can be heard as singing. According to the Official Doctor Who Annual 2007 the Ood live on a planet in the Horsehead Nebula where they were governed by a Hive Mind but it was destroyed by Human colonists. According to the monster book Creatures and Demons, published in 2007, it says they come from the "Ood Sphere", close to the "Sense Sphere" planet, home to the Sensorites, who share a similarity with the Ood. With no hive mind the Ood offered themselves to the Human colonists and became a slave race.

When encountered by the Tenth Doctor and Rose Tyler in 'The Impossible Planet', a large number of Ood accompanied a human-led expeditionary force on the planet Krop Tor, orbiting a black hole. The empathic nature of the Ood seemed to make them susceptible to psychic possession by the Beast, who formed the Ood on the base into his "Legion". While possessed, the Ood 'zapped' and killed two human security guards by throwing their translation spheres at them.

The Ood were defeated when Danny Bartok, the expedition member in charge of them, broadcasted a telepathic flare which reduced their field to "Basic Zero", creating a "brainstorm" which caused them to collapse. However, the telepathic field began to reassert itself after a time. When Krop Tor was sucked into the black hole, the Doctor was unable to save any of the Ood on the base, who had been freed of the Beast's control, and all of them perished. It is unknown if the Ood on Earth, which were seen in 'The Impossible Planet's TARDISODE, and on their home planet of the Ood Sphere, were influenced by the Beast's control, or not.

On the return of the Ood in the 2008 story 'Planet of the Ood', it was revealed that they are not, in fact, born to serve, but are an enslaved race, with the translation spheres actually replacing their hind brain which had contained their individual personalities. The Doctor aids and successfully frees the race by releasing the main Ood brain, which links all Ood with a telepathic link (which may be why they were before only able to communicate at basic 5). Before this time it had been sequestered away from the Ood for 200 years by Ood Operations, the corporation that processed the Ood slaves. Over that time the brain adapted (assisted by the gradual lowering of its suppression field by a Friends Of The Ood activist who had infiltrated Ood Operations), allowing it to influence the Ood's actions. It made some Ood feral and vengeful (causing their eyes to glow as possession by the Beast did), while directing another to genetically re-engineer the head of the slave trading company into an Ood. Once the Hive brain was freed, the Oods' song could be heard throughout the Human Empire, by Ood and Human alike. After this, all Ood were freed and sent back to the planet of the Ood.

[Alan]

P ~ Psychic Paper - Psychic paper was a blank, white card that had special properties. When shown to a person, it could usually induce them to see whatever the user wished them to see printed on it.

It was first seen being used by the 9th Doctor in the 2005 story The End of the World. Captain Jack Harkness was also seen to use psychic paper in The Empty Child.

[Guest]

Q ~ Quarks - The Quarks were used on Dulkis by the Dominators to enslave and terrorise the indigenous Dulcian population to ensure the drilling of bore holes through the planet's crust. The Dominators planned to use their technology to fire seeds down the holes which would force the core to erupt, thus providing a new fuel source for their fleet.

The Quarks were rectangular in shape, with four arms: one pair which folded into the body, the other pair being retractable. On the end of each arm was a solitary claw. The legs extended out below the Quark body. The spherical head was visibly divided into octants; the upper four octants formed the sensory hemisphere, which detected changes in light, heat and motion. At five of the corners of the octants were directional crystal beam transmitters (the sixth corner joined with the robot's extremely short neck). Quarks communicated by means of high-pitched sound waves. Their major weakness was a tendency to run out of energy rather quickly.

[Alan]

R ~ Robot - 1974 story starring Tom Baker as "The Doctor", Elisabeth Sladen as "Sarah Jane Smith", and introducing Ian Marter as "Harry Sullivan".

Guest starring Nicholas Courtney as "Brigadier Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart" and John Levene as "Warrant Officer John Benton".

Synopsis
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With the Doctor behaving rather oddly after his regeneration, the Brigadier finds a scientific research station under attack after a robot steals the plans for a new disintegrator gun.

Could the members of the mysterious Think Tank be responsible for the giant invader? How sinister are the intentions of the shadowy Scientific Reform Society? More importantly, can the Doctor recover in time to save the Earth from Atomic War?

[Guest]

S ~ Seal of Rassilon - A spiralling insignia somewhat reminiscent of a Celtic knot, it serves as a logo of the Time Lords. It is seen in multiple episodes of the series to designate the Time Lords and Gallifrey. The Seal is most often seen on Time Lord architecture and artifacts, as well as badges on ceremonial clothing. The Seal was featured heavily in the interior design of the Eighth Doctor's TARDIS. It was seen most recently in 'The Sound of Drums', set in stonework beneath the Untempered Schism.

[Alan]

T ~ Time Lords - The Time Lords and Time Ladies (sometimes called "Lords of Time" or, rarely, "Chronarchs") were the oligarchic rulers of the planet Gallifrey. They were biologically Gallifreyan.

The Time Lords were led by the High Council. The Council consisted of the Lord or Lady President, the Lord or Lady Chancellor, the Castellan and Lord Cardinals.

The Inner Council consisted of the three most powerful members of the High Council. The Lord President was the most powerful member of the Council and had near absolute authority, and used a link to the Matrix, a vast computer network containing the knowledge and experiences of all past generations of Time Lords, to set Time Lord policy and remain alert to potential threats from lesser civilizations. The Lord or Lady Chancellor was next in power, and handled many of the government functions. The Castellan controlled the Chancellery Guard and therefore the safety of Gallifrey.

The rest of the High Council was made up of the Lord Cardinals, which represented the various Gallifreyan Chapters.

[Guest]

U ~ Umbrella - The Seventh Doctor carried from 'Delta and the Bannermen' onwards an umbrella with a question-mark shaped handle. He had ceased using it by the time of his last appearance in the Doctor Who television movie. The Sixth Doctor occasionally carried a different umbrella, a multicolored model with a straight handle. This was destroyed in the Seventh Doctor's first story, 'Time and the Rani', leading to the question-mark umbrella. The first time the Doctor is seen on screen with an umbrella (this one a simple black one), is in the story 'The Krotons' with the Second Doctor.

[Alan]

V ~ Voyage of the Damned - 2007 TV movie starring David Tennant as "The Doctor" and Kylie Minogue as "Astrid Peth".

Synopsis
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The Doctor finds his TARDIS colliding with a spaceship based on the RMS Titanic during a Christmas party. With the help of a waitress named Astrid, the Doctor must take on the robotic Hosts, as the lives of the Titanic crew and the whole of humanity are in danger.

[Guest]

W ~ 'Web of Fear, The' - The TARDIS narrowly avoids becoming engulfed in a web-like substance in space. It then arrives in the London Underground railway system, the tunnels of which are being overrun by the web and by the Great Intelligence's robot Yeti.

The time travellers learn that this crisis was precipitated when Professor Travers, whom they first met in the Himalayas some forty years earlier, accidentally caused one of the Yeti to be reactivated, opening the way for the Intelligence to make another invasion attempt.

The travellers work alongside army forces - led initially by Captain Knight and then by Colonel Lethbridge-Stewart - as they battle against the alien menace, hampered by the fact that one of their number has fallen under the Intelligence's influence and is a traitor in their midst.

The Intelligence's ultimate aim is to drain the Doctor's mind. The Doctor manages to sabotage the device with which it intends to achieve this, so that he can drain the Intelligence's mind instead, but he is 'rescued' by his friends before he can bring his plan to fruition.

The Intelligence is repelled into space, and the Doctor and his friends leave the army to clear up the mess.