Monster was a term for a frightening lifeform.
The Doctor and monsters[]
The Fifth Doctor claimed to fight monsters as he "zoom[ed]" through time and space. (TV: Time Crash [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who Children in Need Special 2007 (BBC One, 2007).) The Seventh Doctor said to Bernice Summerfield that he was what monsters had nightmares about. (PROSE: Love and War [+]Paul Cornell, Virgin New Adventures (Virgin Books, 1992).) The Eighth Doctor said to Destrii that he was not scared of monsters, but that monsters were scared of him. (COMIC: Uroboros [+]Scott Gray, DWM Comics (2002).) He later repeated this claim to Elliot Northover while in his eleventh incarnation. (TV: Cold Blood [+]Chris Chibnall, Doctor Who series 5 (BBC One, 2010).) The Tenth Doctor said that monsters had nightmares about him. Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson realised that one could not have the Doctor without the monsters, but that the Doctor was worth the monsters. (TV: The Girl in the Fireplace [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who series 2 (BBC One, 2006).) The Twelfth Doctor once identified himself as "the man who stops the monsters". (TV: Flatline [+]Jamie Mathieson, Doctor Who series 8 (BBC One, 2014).) The Fifteenth Doctor claimed to Ruby Sunday that there was no such thing as monsters, just creatures you haven't met yet. (TV: Space Babies)
Those named as monsters[]
Species[]
The Tenth Doctor called the human race monsters after Harriet Jones had the Sycorax destroyed. (TV: The Christmas Invasion [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who Christmas special (BBC One, 2005).) The Saxon Master called the human race the "greatest monsters of them all." (TV: Last of the Time Lords [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who series 3 (BBC One, 2007).)
Clara Oswald called the Time Lords monsters. (TV: Hell Bent [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who series 9 (BBC One, 2015).)
Among the life forms which were called monsters were the mutated Yend, (PROSE: The Sons of the Crab [+]The Dr Who Annual 1966 (Doctor Who annual, 1965).) dinosaurs, (TV: The Underwater Menace [+]Geoffrey Orme, Doctor Who season 4 (BBC1, 1967)., Invasion of the Dinosaurs [+]Malcolm Hulke, Doctor Who season 11 (BBC1, 1974).) Silurians, (TV: Doctor Who and the Silurians [+]Malcolm Hulke, Doctor Who season 7 (BBC1, 1970).) Aggedor, (TV: The Curse of Peladon [+]Brian Hayles, Doctor Who season 9 (BBC1, 1972)., The Monster of Peladon [+]Brian Hayles, Doctor Who season 11 (BBC1, 1974).) Kronos, (TV: The Time Monster [+]Robert Sloman, Doctor Who season 9 (BBC1, 1972).) Linx, (TV: Invasion of the Dinosaurs [+]Malcolm Hulke, Doctor Who season 11 (BBC1, 1974).) the Exxilon City, (TV: Death to the Daleks [+]Terry Nation, Doctor Who season 11 (BBC1, 1974).) the Mutos and the Daleks, (TV: Genesis of the Daleks [+]Terry Nation, Doctor Who season 12 (BBC1, 1975).) Erato, (TV: The Creature from the Pit [+]David Fisher, Doctor Who season 17 (BBC1, 1979).) the Process, (PROSE: Cat's Cradle: Time's Crucible [+]Marc Platt, adapted from Cat's Cradle, Virgin New Adventures (Virgin Books, 1992).) the Krafayis, (TV: Vincent and the Doctor [+]Richard Curtis, Doctor Who series 5 (BBC One, 2010).) the Gangers, (TV: The Almost People [+]Matthew Graham, Doctor Who series 6 (BBC One, 2011).) the Minotaur, (TV: The God Complex [+]Toby Whithouse, Doctor Who series 6 (BBC One, 2011).) the Crooked Man, (TV: Hide [+]Neil Cross, Doctor Who series 7 (BBC One, 2013).) the Foretold, (TV: Mummy on the Orient Express [+]Jamie Mathieson, Doctor Who series 8 (BBC One, 2014).) the Boneless, (TV: Flatline [+]Jamie Mathieson, Doctor Who series 8 (BBC One, 2014).) the Sandmen, (TV: Sleep No More [+]Mark Gatiss, Doctor Who series 9 (BBC One, 2015).) a creature living in the River Thames (TV: Thin Ice [+]Sarah Dollard, Doctor Who series 10 (BBC One, 2017).) and the Eaters of Light. (TV: The Eaters of Light [+]Rona Munro, Doctor Who series 10 (BBC One, 2017).)
The Master was aware that the Ogrons feared Rock Creatures who he described as an "orange scrotum monster", as recorded in the Masterplan Journal. (PROSE: The Secret Diary of the Master [+]James Stoker, 2015.)
In 1879, Queen Victoria asked Sir Robert MacLeish to tell her about monsters, and so he told her of the Lupine Wavelength Haemovariform. (TV: Tooth and Claw [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who series 2 (BBC One, 2006).)
In 1930, Lazlo believed that he had become a monster after being transformed into a pig slave by the Cult of Skaro. (TV: Daleks in Manhattan [+]Helen Raynor, Doctor Who series 3 (BBC One, 2007).) A Hooverville sentry described the pig slaves as monsters. (TV: Evolution of the Daleks [+]Helen Raynor, Doctor Who series 3 (BBC One, 2007).)
In 1953, Tommy Connolly described the faceless human victims of the Wire as monsters. His mother, Rita Connolly, believed her mother had been replaced by a monster. (TV: The Idiot's Lantern [+]Mark Gatiss, Doctor Who series 2 (BBC One, 2006).)
Sarah Jane Smith recalled meeting anti-matter monsters. (TV: School Reunion [+]Toby Whithouse, Doctor Who series 2 (BBC One|BBC One]], 2006).)
In 1987, during Mickey Smith's childhood, he described the Reapers as monsters that had come to eat him. Suzie asked him if the monsters were aliens. (TV: Father's Day [+]Paul Cornell, Doctor Who series 1 (BBC One, 2005).)
Bog monster was a term used by Mickey Smith to refer to the Slitheen. (TV: World War Three [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who series 1 (BBC One, 2005)., The Christmas Invasion [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who Christmas special (BBC One, 2005).)
Persons and groups[]
The term was also given to immoral persons or groups. Sharaz Jek called Morgus an inhuman monster. (TV: The Caves of Androzani [+]Robert Holmes, Doctor Who season 21 (BBC1, 1984).) The Seventh Doctor thought of Heinrich Himmler's darkened office as "a cave for a monster." (PROSE: Timewyrm: Exodus [+]Terrance Dicks, Virgin New Adventures (Virgin Books, 1991).)
Ianto Jones called Jack Harkness "the biggest monster of all." (TV: Cyberwoman [+]Chris Chibnall, Torchwood series 1 (BBC Three, 2006).)
Martha Jones described Richard Lazarus as a monster after he had been transformed by the hypersonic soundwave manipulator. (TV: The Lazarus Experiment [+]Stephen Greenhorn, Doctor Who series 3 (BBC One|BBC One]], 2007).)
Mr Copper observed to the Tenth Doctor that anyone who decided who was to live or die would be a monster. (TV: Voyage of the Damned [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who Christmas Special 2007 (BBC One, 2007).)
Carla Langer called her ex-husband Paul a monster. (TV: The Mark of the Berserker [+]Joseph Lidster, The Sarah Jane Adventures series 2 (CBBC, 2008).)
Donna Noble called the Meep a monster after the Meep murdered Zogroth and Zreeg. (TV: The Star Beast [+]Russell T Davies, adapted from Doctor Who and the Star Beast (Pat Mills and John Wagner), Doctor Who 2023 specials (BBC One, 2023).)
Yarvell called Davros a monster when his only interest in their father's death was using the corpse for his experiments. (AUDIO: Innocence [+]Gary Hopkins, I, Davros (Big Finish Productions, 2006).)
In culture[]
George Thompson was terrified of monsters and pleaded for someone to save him from them. (TV: Night Terrors [+]Mark Gatiss, Doctor Who series 6 (BBC One, 2011)., PROSE: Night Terrors [+]David Bailey, adapted from Night Terrors (Mark Gatiss), The Brilliant Book 2012 fiction (BBC Books, 2011)., My Special Book [+]Mark Gatiss, The Brilliant Book 2012 (The Brilliant Book 2012 fiction, BBC Books, 2011).) Gilgamesh jokingly called Enkidu a "hairy monster." (PROSE: Timewyrm: Genesys [+]John Peel, Virgin New Adventures (Virgin Books, 1991).) Ada Gillyflower called the Eleventh Doctor her "dear monster". (TV: The Crimson Horror [+]Mark Gatiss, Doctor Who series 7 (BBC One, 2013).) Erik set up recordings of monsters around his cottage so that his daughter Hanne wouldn't leave it. (TV: It Takes You Away [+]Ed Hime, Doctor Who series 11 (BBC One, 2018).)
Sea monster was an umbrella term for mythological monsters which resided in the seas. (TV: Partners in Crime [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who series 4 (BBC One, 2008).)
Vorg called his miniscope "the monster show" and "a carnival of monsters". (TV: Carnival of Monsters [+]Robert Holmes, Doctor Who season 10 (BBC1, 1973).)
The Loch Ness Monster was a mysterious animal claimed to inhabit Loch Ness, a lake in Scotland. (TV: Terror of the Zygons [+]Robert Banks Stewart, Doctor Who season 13 (BBC1, 1975).)
Behind the scenes[]
In the DVD commentary to Fear Her, writer Matthew Graham noted that, according to then-executive producer Russell T Davies, the scribble creature was never to be called a scribble monster, as the Doctor would never call anything a monster.