So there I was, kicking back in my recliner and enjoying BBC America's Doctor Who: Best of the Monsters recap special, when my mind started thinking about all the great (and the not-so-great) monsters Doctor Who has given us these past five decades. Sure, many of the monsters from the original series looked a bit crap given the time period and ridiculously low costuming budget, but since the show's return in 2005, we've seen some nice upgrades for the Autons and the Silurians, so there's no reason to think others couldn't receive a fresh coat of latex.
And instead of having yet another Dalek story or another disappointing outing for the Cybermen, why not give some of the monsters we haven't seen for a while another go? The Silurians hadn't been seen since "Warriors of the Deep" in 1984, so their return in 2010 gave writer Chris Chibnall a chance to revamp them for an entirely new generation in "The Hungry Earth."
With all this in mind, here are five monsters I feel need to be brought back to Doctor Who...
1. The Zygons -- Apart from being one of the most visually interesting of the classic monsters, the Zygons have inexplicably only appeared in one Fourth Doctor story, "Terror of the Zygons." These creatures had the impressive ability to transform their bodies to duplicate the physical characteristics of captured specimens placed into a special receptacle, making them a very dangerous sleeper invasion threat. Sadly, their story potential as character doubles seems to have been taken over recently by the Gangers, but I still think it would be fun to see them again somewhere down the line.
2. The Ice Warriors -- Probably the biggest classic monsters left that haven't received a modern upgrade, the Ice Warriors were featured in several Second and Third Doctor stories and almost returned in Season 27 during the Seventh Doctor's era, but obviously that failed to happen when the series was taken off the air in 1989. These reptilian-looking creatures from Mars got a brief nod in the Tenth Doctor story "The Waters of Mars," so there's no reason they couldn't appear again, perhaps in a story featuring fellow Martian creatures The Flood.
3. The Vashta Nerada -- Yeah, these pirahna-like shadows just appeared not too long ago in "Forest of the Dead" in 2008, but you have to admit they were pretty damn cool and certainly deserving of another appearance along with other Steven Moffat creations like the Weeping Angels and the Silence. They did appear in the Doctor Who Adventure game Shadows of the Vashta Nerada, so it shouldn't be that hard working them into another television story, right?
4. The Krynoids -- This is more of a personal desire, considering the Krynoids were my very first Doctor Who monster in their one and only appearance in the Fourth Doctor story "The Seeds of Doom." As a teenager, I loved the idea of idiot humans finding these seed pods in the Antarctic and gradually mutating into vicious tentacled plant creatures. The Krynoids recently got some audio adventure love in the Big Finish Eighth Doctor story "Hothouse," but audio obviously pales in comparison to a return appearance on television.
5. The Sycorax -- Sycorax strong, Sycorax mighty, Sycorax rock, so could someone please explain why we haven't seen these guys since "The Christmas Invasion" in December of 2005? Oh, they've turned up in split-second cameos and background appearances, but another full-fledged story? C'mon now. If nothing else, it would be great to see these warriors with honor and pride go up against another group like the Sontarans. And let's face it, who doesn't love a good bit of blood control?