Doctor Who & Spin-Offs A-Z Game

[Guest]

U ~ Untempered Schism - A gap in the fabric of reality, the Untempered Schism allows one to look directly into the Time Vortex. It is depicted as a stonework portal through which one sees the Time Vortex unaided. Gallifreyan children are taken to the Schism at the age of eight and made to face the Schism as a form of initiation into the Timelord Academy. According to Tenth Doctor, Gallifreyan children who look into the time vortex through the Untempered Schism were either inspired, ran away, or went mad. In a flashback during 'The Sound of Drums', the Master is seen looking into the Schism as a child, an event that Tenth Doctor describes as the moment the Master went mad. The Doctor says he himself was one of those who "ran away, and never stopped".

[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 ~ Warpstar - A small crystalline device carried by Sarah Jane Smith in 'Journey's End' that looks like a necklace, but is in fact a highly explosive device (a "Warp-fold conjugation") inside a carbonised shell. According to Sarah Jane, it was given to her by a Verran soothsayer to be used at "the end of days". Jack Harkness wires it into the Dalek Crucible's mainframe and threatens to use it; however, he does not get the opportunity as the Daleks swiftly transmat Jack, Sarah Jane, and their companions away.

[Alan]

X ~ Xarax - The Xarax were a species of scorpion-like aliens that featured in the Doctor Who novel The Dark Path. They were midnight blue in colour, had wings and were the size of cars. When injured, they would emit a smell like cloves. Their homeworld was uninhabitable for Humans.

A Xarax worked on-board the Piri Reis and accidentally broke a leg during the mission to investigate the Darkheart colony. It was later erased from existence by the Darkheart.

[Guest]

Y ~ Yates, Captain Mike - Yates first appeared in the Third Doctor serial 'Terror of the Autons', the latest in a line of Captains assisting Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart. He proved more durable than his predecessors, appearing semi-regularly in the programme from 1971 to 1974 alongside the Brigadier and Sergeant Benton. Together with the Doctor and his companions, Yates fought off alien invasions, the machinations of the renegade Timelord known as the Master, rogue computers and mutated maggots.

Spoiler:

Yates was a fairly non-descript character, typical of the British Army officer class, and little is known of him outside of his time with UNIT. He was cool under fire, efficient, and both gave and carried out his orders with a minimum of fuss. He appeared to have a relatively good rapport with his men, although he did remind Benton on occasion that "rank hath its privileges". He was attracted to the Third Doctor's assistant Jo Grant and they may have dated for a time - Jo was dressed up to go on a date with Mike at the start of 'The Curse of Peladon' only to be taken on a trip in the TARDIS by the Doctor.

Yates's fall from grace started when he was brainwashed by the artificial intelligence BOSS in the 1973 serial 'The Green Death'. The brush with ecological disaster apparently made Yates very concerned about the future of the planet, and he was easily recruited by Sir Charles Grover into a conspiracy to reverse time and return Earth to a "golden age" ('Invasion of the Dinosaurs'). The conspiracy was thwarted by the Doctor, and in return for his past service to UNIT, the Brigadier allowed Yates to take medical leave and then quietly resign (actor Richard Franklin believes the initial plan for this story was to kill off Yates[1]).

Trying to recover, Yates attended a meditation centre but uncovered strange goings-on, which he reported to Sarah Jane Smith, since he felt that UNIT would find him untrustworthy. Sarah communicated this back to the Doctor, leading into the rest of the events of the Third Doctor's last serial, 'Planet of the Spiders'. It is not known if Yates returned to UNIT after that, or if he went on to other things.

'Planet of the Spiders' was Yates's last appearance in the series. Richard Franklin returned as an illusory image of Yates in the 20th Anniversary special 'The Five Doctors' and reprised the role of Yates in the 1993 charity special 'Dimensions in Time'.

[Alan]

Z ~ Z-Neutrino Biological Inversion Catalyser - The Z-Neutrino Biological Inversion Catalyser was a device created by the Meta-Crisis 10th Doctor shortly after his 'birth' in order to destroy Davros and his Daleks.

The Catlyser was created from pieces of the Doctor's TARDIS and designed to lock the transmission of the Reality bomb onto Davros in order to kill him and the Dalek army that he had grown from his own cells.

The Doctor's double arrived on the Crucible but before he could fire the weapon, he was incapacitated by an energy bolt from Davros' cybernetic hand. Donna also attempted to use it but was also incapacitated by Davros while asking how to fire it. Upon Davros' orders the Inversion Catalyser was then destroyed by a Vault Dalek.

[Guest]

A ~ Ace - Ace (born Dorothy Gale McShane) played by Sophie Aldred, she was a companion of the Seventh Doctor and a regular in the series from 1987 to 1989.

[Alan]

B ~ Benton, John - John Benton was the senior NCO of the British contingent of UNIT (UNified Intelligence Taskforce, formerly United Nations Intelligence Taskforce). When he first appeared in the 1968 story The Invasion, Benton held the rank of Corporal and fought during the attempted Cyberman invasion in 1969.

Benton returned in the 1970 story Ambassadors of Death now holding the rank of Sergeant and from this point onwards he was a semi-regular character. In the 1974 story Robot, Benton was promoted to the rank of Warrant Officer Class 1. His last on-screen appearance was in the 1975 story The Android Invasion.

In the 1983 story Mawdryn Undead, the Brigadier tells the Doctor that Benton left UNIT and the army in 1979 to become a second-hand car salesman.

In the novelisation of the 1966 story The Power of the Daleks, Benton is shown as a part of UNIT and holding the rank of Lieutenant in 1986. He leads a UNIT team and Sarah Jane Smith to the Antarctic to clear up all the Cyberman technology left in the wake of their failed attempt to drain Earth of its energy.

John Benton was played by John Levene.

[Guest]

C ~ Cybermen - Cybermen were originally a wholly organic species of humanoids originating on Earth's twin planet Mondas that began to implant more and more artificial parts into their bodies as a means of self-preservation. This led to the race becoming coldly logical and calculating, with emotions usually only shown when naked aggression was called for. First appearing in the serial, 'The Tenth Planet', the last to feature William Hartnell as the First Doctor. They have since been featured numerous times in their extreme attempts to survive through conquest.

A parallel universe version of the Cybermen appeared in the 2006 series' two-part story, 'Rise of the Cybermen' and 'The Age of Steel'. These Cybermen also appeared in the two-part 2006 season finale, 'Army of Ghosts' and 'Doomsday'. This then carried through to the spin-off Torchwood in the episode 'Cyberwoman'. They would later return to the revived series in the 2008 Christmas Special 'The Next Doctor', introducing two new variants of the race; the Cyber-Shades and the Cyber-King.

[Alan]

D ~ Dragonfire - 1987 story starring Sylvester McCoy as "The Doctor", Bonnie Langford in her final appearance as "Mel Bush", and introducing Sophie Aldred as "Ace".

Synopsis
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Iceworld. An intergalactic trading post, ruled by the power-hungry Kane. Now his dream of total power is near to realisation with his acquisation of a band of mercenaries from the infamous Glitz in part payment of his debts. For "Cryosleep" will render the men utterly in his power. Meanwhile, Glitz still owes the balance of the debt and looks to Iceworld's mythical dragon and the Dragonfire - the treasure it reputedly guards - to solve his problems at last.

Intrigued by the legend of the Dragonfire, the Doctor, Mel and young Earth girl, Ace, accompany Glitz - unaware that they are being followed by Kane's mercenaries. For the psychotic ruler believes that with the Dragonfire in his possession he can avenge the rulers of his home-planet who banished his long-dead partner 3,000 years ago.

And so it seems that beneath Iceworld's superficial civility lies a frozen core of corruption and the Doctor has embarked on something far more sinister than a mere treasure hunt...

[Guest]

E - Eternal - Eternals, as seen in 'Enlightenment' (1983), are beings who live in the "trackless wastes of eternity", as opposed to the likes of the Doctor and his companions who are "Ephemerals". Eternals use Ephemerals for their thoughts and ideas. The Eternals have lived for so long that they are unable to think for themselves and need human minds to give them existence, and entertainment; as such, they use human crews on their ships. Eternals seek out "Enlightenment", the wisdom to know everything. They are aware of the Void, calling it "the Howling" ('Army of Ghosts' (2006)) and were responsible for banishing the Carrionites ('The Shakespeare Code' (2007)).

[Alan]

F ~ Five Doctors, The - 1983 TV movie starring Peter Davison as "The Doctor", Janet Fielding as "Tegan Jovanka", and Mark Strickson as "Vislor Turlough".

Guest starring Tom Baker, Jon Pertwee, Patrick Troughton, and Richard Hundrell as "The Doctor", Lalla Ward as "Romana", Elisabeth Sladen as "Sarah Jane Smith", Nicholas Courtney as "Brigadier Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart", Carole Ann Ford as "Susan Foreman", and John Leeson as the voice of "K-9 Mk. III".

Synopsis
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Someone is taking the Doctor's past selves out of time and space, placing them in a vast wilderness - a battle arena with a sinister tower at its centre. As the various incarnations of the Doctor join forces, they learn they are in the Death Zone on their home world of Gallifrey, fighting Daleks, Cybermen, Yeti... and a devious Time Lord traitor who is using the Doctor and his companions to discover the ancient secrets of Rassilon, the first and most powerful ruler of Gallifrey.

[Guest]

G ~ Giant brain - A creation of the Rani in 'Time and the Rani', it was linked to the minds of several geniuses, such as Albert Einstein, Louis Pasteur, and Pierre Curie.
A giant brain also appears in the 2008 episode 'Planet of the Ood'; in this case, it is part of the gestalt mind of the Ood.

[Alan]

H ~ Harper, Kelsey - Kelsey Harper appeared in The Sarah Jane Adventures 2007 TV movie, Invasion of the Bane. She was the first schoolmate Maria Jackson met after moving to Bannerman Road.

Kelsey was an apparent neighbour of Maria, as she approached Jackson because she noticed the moving vans. Almost immediately after meeting Maria, she suggested they go into town on the free Bubble Shock! bus. The ride was only free, however, because it made a mandatory stop at the Bubble Shock factory. She and Maria got embroiled in the mysterious happenings at the factory, and soon met The Archetype, who would later come to be known as Luke Smith. She herself was briefly held prisoner by Mrs. Wormwood and used for her knowledge of Sarah Jane Smith.

Although she would thrust her way into Sarah Jane's attic, and met K-9, she was not involved with the final remedy to the Bane crisis, because she was under the influence of the Bane chemical.

After having been released from the influence of the Bane, she was later described by Maria as "backtracking like mad — saying there's no such thing as aliens".

Kelsey Harper was played by Porsha Lawrence-Mavour

[Guest]

I ~ Ice Warrior - The Ice Warriors is the name given to an extraterrestrial race of reptile-like beings. 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.