DW Monsters: Kaldor Robots

The next story in the series is The Deadly Assassin, which does not have a “monster”, or any aliens other than the Time Lords. In the next story, The Face of Evil, we have a mad computer, but then we come to The Robots of Death. Robots, particularly human-shaped ones, have featured several times on the show, but these remain fondly remembered, at least partly for their Art Deco look. They featured in a 1999 novel, Corpse Marker, by the writer of the original TV story, but it’s really in the audio medium that they have had their greatest success. They have so far appeared in three audios alongside the Doctor, and in two series of their own, one of them reaching eighteen episodes.

DW Monsters: Androids

Following Terror of the Zygons, the next two stories are:

• Planet of Evil – the anti-matter monster here is an apparently unique entity and, in any case, is more a sort of mobile hazard than something with creature statistics
• Pyramids of Mars – although we only encounter one Osiran, they are a race… however, they’re sufficiently powerful that they are more effectively described as one-off NPCs. I’m also going to pass on their servitor robots for the time being as there isn’t much to say about them other than them being large, strong, robots.

This brings us to The Android Invasion. The alien race here are the Kraals, which have leathery skin, sculpted skulls, and a small nose-horn. Other than their physical appearance, however, there seems little to set them apart from humans, and in game terms they (as with races such as the Draconians) probably don’t need any particular rules. Their titular android creations, however, are a different matter. 

DW Monsters: Cybermats

The Wirrn are the only new race introduced in season 12, with their story being followed by, in order:

• The Sontaran Experiment 
• Genesis of the Daleks  
• Revenge of the Cybermen

All of which feature their titular returning “monsters”. However, the last of these three does include, in addition to the Cybermen, their creations, the cybermats. These had previously appeared in a couple of Second Doctor stories, in slightly different form, and have also appeared once in the modern series. Outside the TV series, they have so far featured (typically quite briefly) in nine audio stories and one original novel – all, of which, of course, also include the Cybermen in more prominent roles. Two of the audios address the question of the cybermats’ origin and nature, which is probably the most detail we’re ever going to get on them; the two answers given are, however, contradictory.