Doctor Who Series 1 Dalek Review

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9th Doctor, Big Finish Jubilee, Billie Piper, Christopher Eccleston, Dalek, Daleks, Doctor Who, Doctor Who Dalek, Doctor Who episode Dalek, Doctor Who series 1, Doctor Who Time War, Henry Van Statten, Robert Sherman, Rose Tyler, Russel T Davies, Skaro, TARDIS

Dalek

Review by Paul Bowler

Once seemingly forgotten and unloved by the BBC, Doctor Who was lovingly resurrected from the enforced exile of cancellation in 2005 by Russell T Davies, Julie Gardener, Mal Young, and Phil Collinson. Together they crafted a new vision of the world’s longest running Science Fiction programme, capitalizing on their heartfelt love of Doctor Who and its rich mythology to successfully regenerate the concept in a way that would appeal to fans of the classic series whilst simultaneously capturing the imagination of a whole new generation of fans.

One crucial element, however, was initially missing – the Daleks. So when the TARDIS brought the Doctor (Christopher Eccleston) and Rose (Billie Piper) to Henry Van Statten’s vast underground museum of alien artefacts near Salt Lake City, Utah, in the series one episode Dalek (2005), we watch transfixed as the Doctor is led to a gloomy cell for an encounter with the proprietors prized exhibit – The Metaltron – little knowing that the hate-fuelled horror trapped inside will prove to be a terrifying reminder of his own not-so-distant past in which he sacrificed everything to save the universe from a war of eternal oblivion…

It’s hard to believe now, that this momentous moment almost never happened. The BBC had initially been unable to gain the permission of Terry Nation’s estate to use Skaro’s eponymous metal mutants in the new series of Doctor Who. Thankfully the matter was soon rectified, allowing Russell T Davies to incorporate Robert Sherman’s own adaptation of his Big Finish audio Jubilee – a story which quite rightly instigated a renaissance for Colin Baker’s undervalued 6^th Doctor – as well as providing this seasons “Big Bad” for Christopher Eccleston’s battle hardened 9^th Doctor to fight.

The episode Dalek effectively stifled any chance of a mid-season lull by whipping up a frenzy of speculation with a trailer that was little more than a strangled voice in the dark: “DOC-TOR…” The Daleks were back, and with them in place the enduring legacy of Russell T Davies’ bold vision was assured, Doctor Who would soon become an unparalleled success – spawning two spin-off shows, Torchwood and the Sarah Jane Adventures (with new spin-off Class (2016) set in Coal Hill School begin the most recent addition to the Doctor Who universe), animated adventures, merchandise galore, and critical accolades from around the world.

The Doctor’s initial terror at being trapped in the Cage with the Dalek quickly dissolves into pious joy as he realizes the Dalek is unable to exterminate him; although the ranting diatribe which then ensues between the mortal enemies almost chews up the scenery, we, like the Doctor, are all too aware of the destructive capabilities even this solitary Dalek could pose to humanity. The war of words culminates in a chilling realization for both Time Lord and Dalek – for without orders to govern it the Dalek is devoid of purpose or function, while the Doctor, bereft of his people, has been left broken by the terrible consequences of his actions.

To coin a phrase, Christopher Eccelston is absolutely “fantastic” in this episode. His embittered portrayal of the 9^th Doctor’s fury is almost palpable here, matching Nicholas Briggs superb delivery as the voice of the equally war ravaged Dalek antagonist word for word, and it is only now in hindsight that we realize how just pivotal this moment was for the new series. Bear in mind that at this point in the new shows mythology the Doctor and the Dalek were as much in the dark as we were, having already learned of the cataclysmic fate that befell Gallifrey during The End Of The World (2005), but nothing more beyond that point.

Of course, the Daleks with all their ingenuity have indeed managed to survive the Time War: The Emperor has been rebuilding his Dalek Empire in orbit above Earth in the far future (2005‘s Bad Wolf & The Parting of the Ways), the Cult of Skaro have escaped into The Void (2006‘s Army of Ghosts & Doomsday), even Davros’ ship somehow evaded destruction after being consumed by the maw of The Nightmare Child (2008‘s The Stolen Earth and Journey‘s End), but perhaps most audacious of all is the lone Dalek Cruiser that travelled back in time to become part of Winston Churchill’s war effort during the Blitz (2010’s Victory of the Daleks), infiltrating Churchill’s War Room with tea-making “Ironsides” in an ingenious ploy to trick the Doctor into activating The Progenitor – effectively resurrecting the Dalek race with a pure genetic matrix unblemished by their past defeats.

Besides the Doctor, the only Time Lord who initially seemed to have evaded the apocalyptic demise of Gallifrey was The Master in Utopia, played initially by Derek Jacobi before he regenerated into John Simm’s incarnation of the renegade Time Lord for The Sound of Drums, and Last of the Time Lords (2007), but a small handful of Time Lords also became stranded in a pocket universe The Doctor’s Wife (2011) where they, and their TARIDS’, unfortunately succumbed to the interstellar parasite known as House. Even Rassilon (played by Timothy Dalton) and the Time Lords would later use their esteemed power and knowledge to attempt to transcend the laws of time to escape the all consuming Time Lock of the final conflict as Gallifrey burned along with the ten million strong Dalek Battle-Fleet in The End of Time Parts 1 & 2 (Dec 25^th 2009 / Jan 1^st 2010)

So, in retrospect, when the Doctor confides in Rose Tyler that he would be able to sense if any of his people had survived; a point which further emphasises this 9th incarnation’s inherent loneliness. Interestingly it is this one inherent weakness of the Doctor which the imprisoned Dalek in the Series One episode Dalek uses here to its advantage: “And the coward survived…” it grates during their initial encounter in the Cell, then later deflecting the Doctor’s incandescent fury after it has ruthlessly exterminated the security teams sent to cover Rose and Adam’s escape by stating: “You would make a good Dalek!”

Of course, one of the big mysteries in 2005 was how did the 8^th Doctor regenerate into the 9^th Doctor? It wasn’t until the 50^th Anniversary special min-episode The Night of the Doctor (2013) that we learned the exact nature of the 8^th Doctor’s (Paul McGann) regeneration and how his role evolved into something far darker in the Time War. The catalyst for this most ignoble of the Doctor’s incarnations regeneration, however, also became entwined with a hitherto unknown aspect of the Time Lord that actually existed before Christopher Eccelston‘s 9^th Doctor, after John Hurt was revealed as another incarnation of the Doctor – The War Doctor – in the Season Seven finale: The Name of The Doctor (2013). The Time War itself was finally realised in all its glory on screen in The 50^th Anniversary special The Day of the Doctor (2013), effectively rebooting the series once more, with the Time Lords later granting the 11^th Doctor (Matt Smith) a new regeneration cycle in The Time of The Doctor (2013), and fuelling the quest to find Gallifrey that would ultimately lead to the 12^th Doctor’s (Peter Capaldi) eventual rediscovery and return to his home world for the Series 9 finale Hell Bent (2015).

But it is in the episode Dalek where the genesis of these tangled plot threads inadvertently rests. Of the supporting cast in Dalek, Cory Johnson plays the suitably odious billionaire Henry Van Statten. For all his wealth and power, Van Statten has been unable to capitalise on his most treasured exhibit from another world – the Dalek. Even though it has been tortured remorselessly by the sadistic Simmons (Nigel Whitmey) the Dalek steadfastly refuses to talk to Van Statten. The entrepreneur has built his fortune on the back of extraterrestrial finds such as this, but he also has a contemptible attitude towards his staff – wiping the minds of those who fail him and turning them into homeless junkies. It is perhaps fitting then that he suffers the same fate at the end of the episode when his PA Diana Goddard (Anna Louise Plowman) usurps him and closes the facility down.

Then we have Adam (Bruno Langley) a teenage genus who claims to have almost started WWIII on his home computer. Whether or not Adam was just showing off to impress Rose, it seems he was plucked from obscurity by Van Statten to serve as his personal scientific advisor – cataloguing and discerning the use of every exhibit. Indeed, when the Doctor shows Adam and Van Statten how to play a strange musical instrument, we see a faint glimmer of a potential in Adam, but it’s soon quashed when Adam is revealed as something of a misguided and gutless wannabe after his one – and only – journey in the TARDIS (2005‘s The Long Game).

When the Dalek crash landed on the Ascension Islands it burned in a crater for three days, screaming helplessly within the chaotic embers of a decaying temporal shift, leaving it critically damaged and at the mercy of Henry Van Statten. It soon took pride of place in Van Statten’s collection, which also includes a Slitheen arm and the head of a “Revenge” style Cyberman, where it was tortured to within an inch of it life. The new Dalek design is chunkier than the “classic” version we all know and love: enhanced with ablative armour plating, a wider, more angular “skirt”, and bedecked with a golden livery that belies this Daleks role as a ruthless weapon of mass destruction. Even in this damaged state, the Dalek is mightily impressive to look at. The new eye stalk is particularly unsettling with its blue optics and dilating iris. Once regenerated by Rose’s touch this Dalek displays a wealth of new abilities: it bristles with enhanced firepower, a rotating mid-section, astonishing computational skill, and most sensationally of all – the power of flight. Yes, that age old joke about the Daleks and stairs is finally laid to rest as Rose, Adam, and De Maggio (Jana Montana) make their escape – looking on in horror as the Dalek gracefully rises into the air to follow them up a staircase.

De Maggio sacrifices herself to buy Rose and Adam more time to escape from the Dalek, but Rose becomes trapped in the Vault with the Dalek. The Dalek may have tricked Rose into touching it, thus enabling it to absorb the energy of a Time Traveller and escape, but it didn’t bargain on the exchange being a two way street! Rose notices the change in the Daleks behaviour, even stopping it from killing Van Statten, before leading the Dalek towards the upper levels where it blasts a hole in the concrete overhead. The sun pours in through the gap as the Dalek opens its casing to reveal the mutant inside. It basks in the sunlight a moment, perhaps lost in some latent Kaled race memory, to a time before Skaro was consumed by war…

Rose is horrified to see the Doctor train the energy cannon he is carrying on the Dalek. Billie Piper gives a magnificent performance here, as Rose makes him see what has really happened to the Dalek, how it has been changed by her DNA, and the Doctor almost falls to his knees with the horror of what he has become. The Dalek asks Rose, in another standout moment for Billie Piper, if she is afraid, as if seeking some bizarre recompense for the contamination that her DNA has caused it. She realizes how horrific it must be for the Dalek to survive in this state, so she complies, and orders the Dalek to self-terminate so that it’s twisted; miserable existence might finally come to an end.

Dalek is one of the major highlight of Doctor Who Series One, but its also the episode that really made us all see the Daleks as more than just mindless killing machines. Brilliantly directed by Joe Ahearne, it also featured a critical juncture in the relationship between the Doctor and Rose, reaffirming the vital role which the companion plays in providing the light that tempers the Time Lord’s steely resolve. Dalek is still my favourite episode from Christopher Eccleston’s brief tenure as the 9^th Doctor, it stands as a powerful portent of the many adventures that followed, and indeed those that no doubt are still to come, and remains a landmark event in Doctor Who’s triumphant return!

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The Day of the Doctor : Review

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Billie Piper, Daleks, David Tennant, Doctor Who, Doctor Who 50th Anniversary, Gallifrey, Jenna Coleman, John Hurt, Matt Smith, Steven Moffat, The Day of The Doctor, The Time War, UNIT, Zygons

The Day of the Doctor

Review by Paul Bowler

It’s Saturday evening and a strangely familiar theme tune rings out as the day draws to a close, a policeman walks past a gate, the sign reads I.M. Foreman, and suddenly we are standing before Coal Hill School… Right from its opening moments, the 50^th Anniversary episode of Doctor Who: The Day of the Doctor instantly transports us back to the shows origins, drawing on the programmes rich mythology and subsequent rebirth in a new millennium for a record breaking simulcast event as fans around the world celebrated fifty years of adventures in time and space. This special feature-length episode of Doctor Who: The Day of the Doctor sees Matt Smith’s 11^th incarnation of the Time Lord teaming up with his predecessor, David Tennant as the 10^th Doctor, and John Hurt as the War Doctor –  a mysterious new incarnation of the Time Lord who came into being during the Time War.

Clara Oswald (Jenna Coleman), now a teacher at Coal Hill School, receives a message from the Doctor, and rides her motorbike to meet him in the TARDIS. Moments later the TARDIS is intercepted by UNIT and airlifted by helicopter to Trafalgar Square where the Doctor and Clara are greeted by Kate Stuart (Jemma Redgrave) and scientist Osgood (Ingrid Oliver). They go to the National Gallery, where the Doctor opens a sealed message from Queen Elisabeth I (who it transpires was once married to the 10^th Doctor) that holds instructions which entrust the Time Lord to curate some very special paintings; including a piece of Time Lord art depicting The Fall of Arcadia during the Time War – a single moment of time locked inside a 3D painting – that has become known by two ominous names: “No More” and “Gallifrey Falls”.

Matt Smith gives a terrific performance as the Doctor in this special anniversary episode. His Doctor is right at the heart of the action, I thought the opening moments were the Doctor was suspended below the TARDIS as it was flown over the London skyline was fantastic, and later Matt Smith really gets to run the gauntlet of emotions as the Doctor’s actions during the Time War  return to haunt him. Jenna Coleman is also terrific as Clara, now a teacher at Coal Hill School, the impossible girl now seems all grown up and even more confident than before, and  the scene where she rides a motorbike into the TARDIS is great fun.

The painting offers us a glimpse into that darkest hour on Gallifrey during the last day of the Time War, as the Dalek armada encircles the planet and launch a devastating attack. The War Doctor emerges from the shadows after using a gun to blast the words “No More” into a crumbling wall to leave a message for the Daleks, before escaping in his TARDIS as Arcadia, Gallifrey’s second city, falls. The Time Lord War Council are shocked to discover the War Doctor has taken a sentient weapon of unimaginable power know as The Moment, a galaxy eater created by the ancients of Gallifrey, which he intends to use to destroy his own people and the Daleks to end the Time War. Travelling to a remote location, the War Doctor attempts to activate The Moment, but the devices interface, or conscience, assumes the form of Rose Tyler (Billie Piper) and tries to convince him to choose another path…

The special effects used to depict the final day of the Time War, with Gallifrey surrounded by a vast fleet of Dalek warships, are absolutely magnificent. The Day of the Doctor is about as epic in scope and scale as Doctor Who has ever been. To see Gallifrey in ruins is also quite shocking; this once majestic world, now torn apart by Dalek firepower, with the city burning as the population flee in terror as Daleks close in to exterminate them is chilling.

John Hurt is magnificent as the War Doctor, a new incarnation of the Doctor that existed during the Time War, and was responsible for unleashing the Galaxy Eater and destroying his own people to end the war. This dark secret is one that the even the 11^th Doctor is loathed to speak of, yet fate will force him, and his 10^th incarnation, to confront this aspect of his existence, and ultimately work together to find another way to end the Time War. John Hurt gives a commanding performance as the War Doctor, painting a weary, tragic figure, who is forever condemned by the impossible choice he was faced with as he witnessed the fall of Arcadia.

Billie Piper makes a welcome return to Doctor Who as Rose Tyler, but not in quite the way we might have expected. She appears as The Moment, the sentient conscience of the Galaxy Eater, which has taken the form of Rose Tyler to communicate with the War Doctor. Billie Piper is excellent as the mysterious and somewhat playful “Bad Wolf” girl as Hurt’s Doctor calls her. It’s great to see Billie Piper return to Doctor Who, her role as The Moment/Bad Wolf was crucial to brining all of the Doctor’s together to change history. I also liked how The Moment got Clara to help the Doctor’s find another way to end the war, immersing them within Arcadia‘s final moments, with Clara finally appealing to her Doctor to “be a Doctor” and make the promise of his name a reality that would save his people from destruction.

Meanwhile, in Elizabethan England 1562, the 10^th Doctor and Queen Elizabeth I find themselves under attack by a Zygon, a shape-shifting alien, who tries to confuse the Doctor by assuming the form of Queen Elizabeth I. Before the 10^th Doctor can figure out who is who, three portals created by The Moment open across space and time and draw both the 11^th Doctor and the War Doctor to 1562, where they meet the 10^th Doctor and are promptly arrested by the Queens troops and taken to the Tower of London. The  Zygons are using a stasis cube to travel into the future, where they have been stored inside the paintings held within a secret chamber in the Under Gallery, where they start to emerge and quickly attack Kate Stewart, and scientists Osgood and McGill (Jonjo O‘Neill). The Zygons duplicate their captives and, with their leader posing as Kate Stuart, get the unsuspecting Clara to accompany Kate to the Black Archive at UNIT HQ beneath the Tower of London.

With some guidance from the Moment, who only the War Doctor can see or hear, the imprisoned Doctor’s attempt to escape from their cell by using the software in their sonic screwdrivers to calculate a solution that would take centuries to complete individually. The computation is eventually completed on the 11^th Doctor’s sonic screwdriver, which is four hundred years old, but in the meantime he has also inscribed the code of Captain Jack’s Vortex Manipulator onto the wall of their cell, and it is this message to the future which enables Clara to snatch the Vortex Manipulator from the Black Archive and prevent the Zygons from using it.

The Day of the Doctor has a great supporting cast, with Jemma Redgrave returning as UNITS’s chief scientific officer Kate Lethbridge Stewart; she gets some great scenes with the Doctor and Clara, and has to confront the Zygons as well. Ingrid Oliver is also good as the scientist Osgood, a really fun character, who quickly figures out what the Zygons are up to, and helps Kate escape and reach the Black Archive to stop the Zygons. There are so many references to the history of Doctor Who in The Day of the Doctor: far to many to mention here, some of my favourites were the opening scenes with the original theme and titles from the very first story in 1963, An Unearthly Child, the sign outside Coal Hill School where the Doctor’s granddaughter, Susan, once attended tells us Ian Chesterton is now the chairman of the school governors, the time of the very first episode also feature on a clock face as Clara goes to meet the Doctor and the date and time is also the code for the vortex manipulator, Osgood wears a scarf just like the 4^th Doctor’s, there are a number of references to the Doctor’s old friend Brigadier Lethbridge Stewart, as well as the 10^th and 11^th Doctor’s eras, but I think some of the best nods to the past are in the Black Archive, were we see a notice board covered in pictures of the Doctor’s previous companions, and its great fun trying to identify them all.

The scenes set in Elizabethan England were also a lot of fun. This is the point in the story were the 10^th Doctor becomes involved with Queen Elizabeth the I, he even ends up marrying her, and there are some great scenes as he has to confront the Queen and her Zygon double. Joanna Page was also really good as Queen Elizabeth I, especially when Tennant’s Doctor thought she was really a Zygon, and it was clever how the story gives us an idea of why the older Queen later hated the 10^th Doctor when she appeared in the Shakespeare Code. This is also were all three of the Doctor’s were finally united in the episode, another fantastic moment, and I loved the witty banter between them. Matt Smith and David Tennant were brilliant as they tried to out sonic each other and later, as they continued to wind each other up, with John Hurt’s Doctor getting all the best lines as he wearily tries to keep up with his future selves and their youthful exuberance. It was fun to see the TARDIS interior changing when all the Doctor’s stepped inside, from the 10^th Doctor’s “grunge” phase, the classic roundels then appeared in the Ward Doctor’s console room, before shifting to the 11^th Doctor’s TARDIS interior, with the 10^th Doctor saying Patrick Troughton’s classic line from the Three Doctors: “You’ve redecorated… I don’t like it!”

There were also some very serious moments, especially when The War Doctor asks them if they ever counted how many children died on that terrible day on Gallifrey. The 10^th Doctor immediately states that is was 247 billion, and is aghast to think the 11^th Doctor has seemingly forgotten and moved on over the last four hundred years, which of course we know he hasn’t, not really, but it makes for a wonderful scene that takes place in that most tried and trusted staple of Doctor Who, a prison cell, and one which ironically isn’t even locked! One could say this scene is perhaps the most serendipitous moment ever for the Doctor, as it illustrates how he has become imprisoned within the grief of the impossible choice he made as the War Doctor, condemned by his own hand and lost in a universe without hope for the salvation that was always waiting to be found.

After Clara travels to 1562 to team up with the Doctor’s and Queen Elizabeth I against the Zygons, Osgood rescues Kate Stuart and together they enter the Black Archive. Kate activates a nuclear device to stop their Zygon doppelgangers using the alien artefacts stored in the secret facility, but her Zygon double keeps overriding the countdown. With the TARDIS unable to breach the UNIT bases defences, the War Doctor gets them to use the stasis cube to transport themselves through the painting of Gallifrey Falls, which the 11^th Doctor has managed to have moved to the Black Archive by making a time warping phone call from the TARDIS to McGill in the past. The Doctor’s emerge from the painting and uses the Vaults own defences to wipe the memories of all the humans and Zygons present so the countdown can be stopped and a peaceful solution reached.

I really enjoyed the inclusion of the Zygons in The Day of the Doctor. This is the first time they have appeared since their first and only television story, Terror of the Zygons in 1975. The new look Zygons are even more menacing than the originals, although their appearance hasn’t really changed that much here, they do dribble copious about of slime now and the human/ Zygon transformations are much better, but obviously it was a case of if it isn’t broke don’t fix it by the production team. It was also good that they played a significant role in the story, rather than being some token monster, and I hope they return again soon.

Still convinced he was right, the War Doctor returns to the point in time where he is about to activate The Moment. The ethereal form of Rose Tyler manages to delay the War Doctor long enough for the 10^th and 11^th Doctor’s arrive, and they stand with him so that he does not have to do this terrible thing alone. Clara is horrified by what they are about to do, the Warrior, the Hero, and appeals to her Doctor to find another way, and with The Moment also gently exerting her influence, the 11^th Doctor changes his mind and summons all of his previous incarnations, including his future self (Peter Capaldi), and each Doctor uses their TARDIS to freeze Gallifrey in one moment of time, just like the painting, causing Gallifrey to vanish and the Daleks to be destroyed in their own crossfire.

Ok, now here is the bit where total fangasim hits, I can’t tell you how exciting it was to see all the Doctor’s unite to freeze Gallifrey in one moment of time. I had a feeling that Steven Moffat might find a way to included a few clips of the past Doctor’s, but never in my wildest dreams did I expect them all to turn up and play such an important role in the story. While it may seem like a bit of sci-fi cliché, or reset switch to do this to Gallifrey, but it is entirely plausible as we saw Time Lords from Gallifrey trying to escape from a pocket dimension to destroy Earth in the 10^th Doctor’s final episode The End of Time. Seeing the Doctor’s team up to save Gallifrey in The Day of the Doctor was the icing on the cake for the 50^th Anniversary, it opens up a wealth of possibilities for the future, and of course let’s not forget we were also treated to a glimpse of that future. Yes, Peter Capaldi, the next incarnation of the Doctor, also showed up to help save the day!

Afterwards the War Doctor, and the 10^th and 11^th Doctor’s return to the National Gallery to say their goodbyes, it’s a parting tinged with sadness as they all know they will have no memory of these events once they return to their own time. Once the War Doctor leaves in his TARDIS, he begins to regenerate, and the 10^th Doctor departs after hearing about Trenzalore from the 11^th. Sensing that the Doctor wants to be alone with the painting of Gallifrey Falls, Clara steps inside the TARDIS, just as an old man, the curator approaches.

Now this is the moment that totally blew me away, as the 11^th Doctor looks up as the curator wanders into view… and it’s Tom Baker!! This incredible scene, were the curator tells him the painting is actually called Gallifrey Falls No More, and hints that Gallifrey might have been saved after all, is just magical. Whether the Curator was really the 4^th Doctor or not, it was an incredible moment and this was the highlight of the entire episode for me.  Tom Baker is simply wonderful in these scenes with Matt Smith as they discuss Gallifrey’s fate, this made the episode even more special, and then later in the TARDIS, as the Doctor describes a dream he has, were he is reunited with his former selves amongst the stars, and resolves to find Gallifrey and return home…

I thoroughly enjoyed The Day of the Doctor, it was a fantastic celebration of Doctor Who, and I loved every moment of it. Steven Moffat delivered an incredible story that provided some of the most exciting scenes ever seen in Doctor Who, director Nick Hurran ensured The Day of the Doctor was a visual spectacular, and Murray Gold’s musical score was phenomenal. Best of all was the fact that fans around the world could watch and enjoy this episode together, on TV, or in the cinema. The Day of the Doctor was a brilliant story for the 50^th Anniversary of Doctor Who; it lived up to all the hype, and exceed all my expectations.

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The Zygons Return for the 50th Anniversary Special of Doctor Who

Tags

Billie Piper, David Tennant, Doctor Who, Dr Who, Dr Who 50th Anniversary, Dr Who Season 7, Jenna-Louise Coleman, Matt Smith, Terror of the Zygons, Zygons

The Zygons Return for the 50^th Anniversary Special of Doctor Who

Today the BBC confirmed that the Zygons would be returning to Doctor Who for the programmes 50^th Anniversary Special. These shape shifting aliens only ever appeared in one Doctor Who story, Terror of the Zygons (1975), where they were defeated by the 4^th Doctor (Tom Baker). The Zygons have remained immensely popular with Doctor Who fans. Since then they have only appeared in a few flashbacks, novels, and comic strips.

The Zygons have been mentioned a few times in recent series of Doctor Who: in The Pandorica Opens (2010) they were said to be amongst the fleet of aliens who assembled above Stonehenge to confront the Doctor, and in The Power of Three (2012) we learned how the Zygons concealed their spaceship under the Savoy Hotel in 1890 and took the place of the staff to carry out their plan.

Its great to see another classic Doctor Who monster return. The new look Zygons are very similar to the original versions of the creatures, and I’m sure they will make a fantastic addition to the 50^th Anniversary Special.

Over the Easter Weekend is was also confirmed that David Tennant and Billie Piper would be returning as the Doctor and Rose for the 50^th Anniversary Special, along with Joanna Page (Gavin & Stacy), and film legend John Hurt.

Check out the link below to the official BBC Website for all the latest Doctor Who news.

Images Belong to BBC

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/doctorwho/articles/The-Zygons-Return-for-the-50th-Anniversary-Special