The Doctor has encountered a number of nasties, monsters and general bad eggs. This listing is by no means exhaustive but I hope it proves interesting.
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The Autons are technically remote controlled automata created out of plastic and slaved to the will of the Nestene Consciousness. The Nestene are a disembodied energy based intelligence that has an affinity with synthetic plastics. They typically invade other planets by sending a swarm of artificial meteorites, which contain fragments of their Consciousness. When they are ‘found’ by a suitable life form, they possess their victim and use them as a tool to set up an Auton manufacturing plant. The Autons tend to look like incomplete, roughly crafted mannequins that nevertheless posses endurance, strength and usually a weapon concealed in the hand. The Auton process however can be adapted to form them into other shapes, such as inflatable furniture, dolls, plastic daffodils or even lifelike facsimiles that can be used to replace the original subject or act in soap operas.
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Once upon a time the Earth had a twin planet, Mondas. The arrival of the Moon in the solar system disrupted the orbit of Mondas and sent it swinging out towards the oort cloud. Civilisation on Mondas resembled that of what would one day arise on Earth. Technically advanced the Mondasians used their skills to adapt their bodies to both extend their lives and to survive in the increasingly harsh conditions of their wayward planet. However the more parts of their bodies they replaced the less human they became; the end result was a race of cybernetic creatures that lost the capacity for the softer emotions (they claim to have removed all emotions but some, like revenge, seem to remain).
Mondas was destroyed, but the Cybermen had already seeded themselves on to other planets, often sealing themselves inside refrigerated tombs to pass the time before their next attempt at conquest. As Cybermen can only reproduce by the surgical modification of other similar (hello people of Earth) beings, their appearance is something to fear.
Unable to tire and resistant to injury Cybermen make a terrifying foe. However they do have a few weaknesses; gold, solvents, gravity, radiation, Raston Warrior Robots….
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The Daleks were created by Davros, the crippled scientific genius of the Kaled race of the planet Skaro. After centuries of war between the Kaled and the Thals, Davros realised that the increase in nuclear fallout would eventually lead to the mutation of the Kaled people. Davros’ experiments revealed the final stable form of the Kaled as an ill formed but clawed blob like entity. Designing a self contained support vehicle, his travel machines, based in part on his own mobility and life support chair (with plumbing and whisking attachments), Davros brought forth the first Daleks.
The Daleks are the product of their creator’s warped mentality and so have no weak emotions, instead they are driven by hate and the sure knowledge that the Dalek race (as they now called themselves) were the superior life form in the galaxy and thus should assume their rightful position as galactic rulers, achieved by the systematic destruction of all other inferior races. Yes, they are tin plated Nazis!!
Dalek chronology is difficult to sort out as they have access to varying levels of time travel technology, and although seemingly wiped out on several occasions, have spread through both time and space.
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Earth Reptiles (Sea Devils & Silurians)
Before the rise of man there was another hominid race dominant on the Earth; a race evolved from reptiles. The land was ruled over by a race that has been labelled (incorrectly, but as no-one has come up with a better or more accurate name (Earth Reptiles stemming from the Virgin New Adventures series) we’ll have to stick with it) Silurians, while the sea was home to their aquatic cousins, the Sea Devils.
The Silurians possess a third ‘eye’ located on their brow, which at least in some cases can be used to transmit energy as a tool or weapon. The Sea Devils on the other hand, have turtle like beaks and a tendency to wear either string vests of faux samurai armour.
When Silurian astronomers saw a large body entering the solar system, they feared it would cause devastation on the Earth so they, and the Sea Devils, retired to hidden bunkers, deep within the bowels of the Earth. The plan was that once the body passed by they would awake from their hibernation and return to the surface. Unfortunately for them, the Moon stayed in Earth orbit and man evolved from the primates that used to steal their crops. From time to time communities of Earth Reptiles may awaken/be woken up and they tend to be a little grumpy (aren’t we all till after breakfast) when they find man has taken over.
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An ancient evil, Fenric was beaten by the Doctor centuries in the past and imprisoned in an ancient bottle. Though confined to his jail, Fenric was still able to manipulate events; brining the ancient Hæmovore from a far future Earth back to the past, Lady Peinforte from the past to the future (in pursuit of the Doctor and the Nemesis statue) and found a bloodline of humans that would exist to serve him (his ‘hounds’ which would include Ace who herself was moved through time and space to meet up with the Doctor) like chess pieces in his game of revenge against the Doctor.
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The Great Intelligence
A disembodied cosmic intelligence (no relation to the Nestene), that seeks to gain a foothold on the Earth by possessing innocent victims and using them as tools. The Intelligence tends to create an army of robots to serve its mouth piece and further its agenda. The original attempt in Tibet meant that the robots were formed in the image of yeti, and the subsequent attempt which took place in the tunnels of the London Underground re-used modified yeti robots. As the yeti connection is simply one resulting from location and convenience it is always possible that another attempt could be made using a different type of robot (Russell T Davies please take this as a hint!!)
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The Guardians of Time
The Black and White Guardians exist as polar opposites in the time-space continuum. The White Guardian embodies the positive aspects and the Black the negative aspects – something that a well balanced Pagan like myself finds reassuring if highly stereotypical.
They are responsible for the Key to Time, and it was the White Guardian that sent the Doctor and Romana on a mission to retrieve it. Presumably the White Guardian got to use it before the Doctor scattered the segments to keep them safe from the Black Guardian. The Black Guardian showed that even godlike entities can hold a grudge and arranged for Trion exile Turlough to become one of the Doctor’s companions and, when the opportunity arose, kill the Doctor.
The Guardians are easily identifiable as they tend to dress in either black or white and show a fondness for birds. There is a rumour of a Guardian presence on the Discworld, but this may just be quackers!
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Ice Warriors
The Ice Warriors are a race of vaguely reptilian hominids that are native to the planet Mars. They prefer a cold environment and thin atmosphere, but are capable of existing in human friendly conditions – provided the central heating is not turned up too high. Though the term Ice Warrior was coined as a reference to describe one located frozen in ice on Earth, it seems to have stuck. There are generally two castes of Ice Warrior, the basic grunt type (not always the brightest of the bunch) and the more articulate and finer dressed Ice Lord. There is come confusion over whether the clamp like hands of the Ice Warrior are normal (they are much to ‘hamfisted’ to have achieved a, um, grasp of technology) or artificial, but as they tend to graft weaponry, and possibly sunglasses, directly to their bodies it is likely they are cybernetic armour.
The Ice Warriors although traditionally encountered as baddies, have at one point joined Earth as allies in the Galactic Federation. It is probably best to think of Ice Warriors as belonging to a complex society and to see them as beings following their own motives and agendas rather than automatically turning on the heat.
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The Master
The Master is a renegade Time Lord, much like the Doctor. The biggest difference is that while the Doctor intervenes in affairs out of a deep seated desire for justice and fair play, the Master goes out of his way to gain personal power and control.
The Master, like the Doctor, is able to undergo regeneration and has in fact progressed through all his thirteen lives. His last regeneration resulted in a decayed form with a vaguely skull like face. It may have been because he passed through his regenerations too quickly or may have been an attempt at a thirteenth regeneration. The Master was only able to survive at this point by stealing energies from the Eye of Harmony on Gallifrey.
His next appearance saw the Master seeking to usurp the position of Keeper in the Traken Union, which would have given him access to the vast powers of the Source. When the Doctor scuppered this plan, the Master instead seized the body of Tremas (whose daughter, Nyssa, would then join the Doctor in the TARDIS).
Tremas’ body was however only a temporary solution and the Master’s quest to secure his future saw him undertake a number of risks, the final one seeming to lead to his execution at the hands (or sink plungers) of the Daleks. In reality the Master had made arrangements to prolong his life as a vaguely snake like ectoplasmic transitional form that then took possession of an American paramedic called Bruce. This was all part of an elaborate trap to catch the Doctor and steal his remaining regenerations.
When last seen the Master (in Bruce’) body was sucked into the time space vortex through the portal to the Eye of Harmony in the Doctor’s TARDIS. Prior to this Bruce had been slowly developing reptilian qualities, including snake like eyes and some sort of hardening venom.
Prior to his occupation of Bruce’ body the Master had possessed extraordinary powers of hypnotism and was fond of his tissue compression eliminator (a nasty little weapon that kills by shrinking). Whether the Master will be seen again and whether he is part reptilian remains to be seen.
During the
Comic Relief charity special Doctor Who and the Curse of Fatal Death the
Master was portrayed by Jonathan Pryce.
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The Monk
The Monk is another renegade Time Lord. Unlike the Master or the Rani, the Monk seems to be more interested in meddling in things for his own amusement. However this did not stop him aiding the Daleks in their pursuit of the Doctor, though no-one would refuse the Daleks unless they were wearing an extermination proof suit.
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The Nimon
A race (or at least a pair) of bull headed creatures that travel from planet to planet. When they arrive they set up a converter and drain a planet of all its energy before travelling to their next target. The TV adventure The Horns of Nimon was based loosely on the legend of the Minotaur, but Big Finish have since produced an audio adventure where the eighth Doctor and Charley encounter the Nimon, who have been exploiting the Cult of Mithras, which as a Pagan I find very interesting.
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Ogrons
Ape like and
simple minded the Ogrons come from a primitive culture that worships a balloon
like creature that preys on Ogrons. The Ogrons are however quite capable of
mastering the controls of advanced equipment like space craft and motorised
trikes and as such carved out a career as intergalactic muscle; working mainly
for the Daleks. The observant amongst you might have
spotted that after the end of 
the original run of Doctor Who some Ogrons have found work
in other productions; one at least has carved a career as a comedian, the
addition of a Cornish pasty and you get a modern Klingon, while simply standing
tall and you can pass for an Urek Hai. Of course this does bring about the
question: are Cybermen simply
better dressed Borg?
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Omega
Not actually a renegade Time Lord, rather a betrayed Time Lord driven mad. Time Lord Civilisation is founded on the time travel experiments powered by Omega’s stellar engineering (yep, he manipulated stars). To produce the unlimited power source that is the Eye of Harmony, Omega restructured a star into a black hole. The black hole was then placed at the centre of the planet Gallifrey and the mass and energies were offset. That balancing act resulted in the formation of the Eye of Harmony and the rest is history (or rather history and the present and the future).
Unfortunately during this procedure Omega was drawn through the singularity and trapped in an anti-matter universe. Omega eventually found a way to build a bridge between the two universes but by then he had been eaten away by the energies of the black hole and all that was left was his ‘armour’ and his indomitable will. This however did not stop him coming back later (in new armour too) and trying to steal the fifth Doctor’s body.
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The Rani
The Rani is another renegade Time Lord, this time she is more interested in her own scientific experiments. She is a cold and callous person, but does do a good line in impersonations; old woman in charge of bath house, Mel Bush, Joan Collins’ sister….
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Rassilon
Rassilon together with Omega (and perhaps some Other (may be the Doctor?)) created modern Time Lord society. Omega’s experiments in stellar engineering enabled Rassilon to establish the Time Lord elite of Gallifrey as a major power in the galaxy. In addition his crusade against the Great Vampires and his stand against the misuse of time travel for entertainment made him a legend in Time Lord Society.
However there is a darker side to the legend. Rassilon helped reshape the very biology of the neo-Time Lords, giving them both the ability to travel in time and the power of regeneration, and it is rumoured that perhaps he made use of vampire DNA in the process. What can not be denied though is that when Omega was lost it was Rassilon that became the sole heir of the new Time Lord achievements; was Omega’s sacrifice really accidental?
Rassilon eventually passed and his tomb is situated in the heart of the Death Zone on Gallifrey. Although dead Rassilon seems to be very active at times and has set up the Game of Rassilon in an attempt to prevent other Time Lords from becoming immortal or as powerful as him. Rassilon was a keen labeller and probably invented the Time Lord equivalent of the Dymo.
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Robots
The Doctor has encountered many robots in his adventures. While some have been inconsequential or even goodies, others have been downright evil in programming if not in their own right.
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Rutans
The Rutan are a group entity, that is they have many bodies but a single mind (I never have understood how this works – I’m sure it must be confusing at parties). They are also metamorphs (dissecting their ‘subject’ so as to be correct to the tiniest detail), and capable of delivering a nasty shock. They are embroiled in a long running war with the Sontarans.
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Sontarans
The Sontaran are a race of warriors that reproduce by binary fission – they are all clones. Sontarans do not eat or drink and instead receive energy by plugging into their ships to recharge. This is through a small vent at the back of their necks, wich is their only vulnerable spot.
Sontarans are neckless and have heads that look vaguely like potatoes. Although clones it is most likely they come from many different base individuals, as their appearance has varied slightly over the years (er Mr Continuity checker how many fingers am I holding up?)
Sontarans are embroiled in a long running war with the Rutan.
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Thals
The Thal are the second race on Skaro. Where as the Kaleds mutated into the hate filled blobs that became the Daleks, Thals evolved into a race of pacifist blondes with a liking for eye makeup. Thals tend to side with anyone who is against the Daleks.
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The Valeyard
The Valeyard is a bit of an oddity. He is not so much a renegade Time Lord as a renegade Doctor. You see the Valeyard is a future incarnation of the Doctor, or more precisely a possible future incarnation of the Doctor, one that is the polar opposite of the Doctor we know and love. The Valeyard acted as the prosecutor in the Doctor’s second trial, one which it seems he managed to set up using trumped up charges, and manipulated records.
The Valeyard may, or may not have been destroyed and it is the theory in some quarters that the sudden arrival of the manipulative seventh Doctor was an effort to prevent the Valeyard from having a chance to exist. Given that the Valeyard could only physically exist if he won the Doctor’s trial, may be the answer is moot?
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