Monday 2 July 2007

Doctor Who - New Series, new species part 4

So this is the last one for this series of Doctor Who, though I hope to make one for the Infinite Quest series too. I'm planning to do a bunch of articles on Star Wars Legacy and then some on the Science Fictioney aspects of Lost once I've caught up on series three. So let's have no more ado eh?
















Weeping Angel

The Weeping Angels were brilliant in my opinion, and it was great to see how such a simple device - moving a statue (actually a person in a very detailed suit) closer all of a sudden to scare the living daylights out of you. It's a testament to Sephen Moffat's (writer of the Gas Mask boy episodes and also the new series Jekyll) ability to put the Doctor Who audience back behind the sofa where they belong. The concept behind them was great as well, a really good SF device.

The Weeping Angels were an ancient race, from the dawn of the universe and were a bunch of ruthless, though at the same time merciful, killers. They fed of potential energy, and they found a good way to harvest this was to find a victim and shunt them into the past living off the energy that resided from the life they should have lived. This method of killing was cruel, though often the victim would find satisfaction and happiness in their new life.
Evidently not all their victims were so pleased with this idea so the Angels created a defense called quantum locking. whenever a living being saw them, they would instantly turn into stone, which meant they could not be killed. As soon as a victim looked away or blinked they could move with incredible speed to attack. This defe
nse had a drawback, meaning that they could never look at each other or be locked in stone for eternity, a fate that met four angels who tried to cross the Doctor.
















Futurekind

The futurekind, were simple and obvious and yet somehow they worked. They presented a very obvious threat and the time old "what humanity might become" angle. Yet they coexisted with good old fashioned humans in the last days of the universe which made it more interesting, especially as they seemed to have a loathing of their possible progenitors.

The futureking were a race that existed in the closing days of the universe, living on the dead world of Malcassairo. Seemingly a deviant of humanity it was feared that they were what humanity might become if they did not escape to Utopia. Primitive creatures they resembled humans in everything except their sharp predatory fangs, but despite a very likely conection they loathed humanity and visciously hunted them down, the humans holding them off in armoured silos with what remained of their formerly advanced weaponry- which still bested the crude weapons of the futurekind. After the humans left for Utopia the fate of the futurekind is unknown.
















Malmooth

Cantho and her long lost race where quite cool, a reminder that there is a vast universe out there with all sorts of weird and wonderful beings interacting with humans. With her being the last of her species that was an obvious connection to the Doctor who turned out not to be the last member of his. The animatronic head and curious verbal rules made her an interesting addition.

The Malmooth were an insectoid race living on the planet Malcassairo in the final days of the universe. They were humanoid in body structure with a hard shell outer casing and flexible mandibles on their heads. They lived in giant warrens built into the natural rock formations of the planet. They exhibited curious social rules where each sentence had to begin and end with the first and last syllables of their name- presumable this made all Malmooth names two-syllabic. By the end of the Utopia project only one Malmooth remained, the scientist Chantho, and unfortunately the race ended completely when the Master killed her too. It is unknown whether the extinction of the rest of her species had anything to do with the arrival of the Futurekind...or even the humans.

Toclafane (human-cyborg mutation)












The Toclafane were a good addition to the show, particularly after their true nature was revealed. Their childlike nature made them intriguing as well as creepy, and to reveal that they were in fact the remnants of humanity made them extra eerie.

Named after a fairy tale moster of Gallifrey, the Toclafane were in fact the remnants of humanity who participated in the Utopia project. They found that the planet had no hope for them so they encased their heads in metal bodies, arming themselves with slicing blades and powerful laser beams and also creating a hive mind. The Master found them and, with the help of a Paradox machine they started to wipe out and subjugate the population of 21st century Earth. The only vulnerability they showed was to lightning, which could disable their electronic components. The Toclafane threat was eventually stopped with the destruction of the paradox machine the fate of the Toclafane and of humanity remains unknown.

Well that's your lot for this series, hope you enjoy it - I've certainly had fun doing these. Again I'd like to thank the Tardis Wiki which has been invaluable in reminding me of stuff I'd inevitably forget, as well as the official site for the great pictures.

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