Doctor Who has generated lots of frightening monsters and creatures over its many years of existence. But out of all the writers who have ever contributed to the series, no one has invented quite so many such baddies as Steven Moffat…for the simple reason that nobody else has written as many stories (although to be fair, other writers have written more episodes).
(Daily Doctor Who #78)
For no other reason but that it’s fun, we’re going to figure out which of Moffat’s many monstrous creations is the very best, according to a strict scientific process of having a few people vote on them.
The winner of each bout will be decided on a best of seven votes, according to whatever standard that they want (though in general, it’s a contest about which one is more popular or well liked, not which one would win in a fight). The judges, like last time will be Ben McClure (myself), Johanna McClure (my 16 year old daughter), Laurelle McClure (my 14 year old daughter), Joshua McDonald (my friend from college) and Jeremiah McDonald (Josh’s brother–see his website here).
You can read a bit more about each of us in the post for the first bout of this competition, here.
The last two votes will be drawn from a poll I will / have put upon Facebook. The monster which gets the most votes on that poll will be awarded two points.
So…
The Steven Moffat Monstrous Creation Tournament – Round 1, Bout 15
(The way I am “seeding” these early rounds is simply by having the earliest appearing creature go against the last appearing creature, and then working my way inward.)
The contestants:
The Snowmen
(The Snowmen, the 2012 Christmas special, from the middle of Season Seven)
Creatures made of telepathic snow brought to life by the Great Intelligence, the living snowmen could appear wherever someone was thinking about them, thanks to the blanket of snow that covered Victorian London. They had large teeth and could kill and eat their victims.
The Ice Governess
(The Snowmen, the 2012 Christmas special, from the middle of Season Seven)
Later, the snow’s form advanced into the frozen humanoid shape of the Latimer family’s late governess. The Great Intelligence planned to use this form to create an army to conquer the earth, but he was foiled by the 11th Doctor and a Victorian-era Clara Oswald, albeit at the cost of the young woman’s life.
Yes, both of these monsters are from the same story. Like I said, we created these match-ups by pitting the earliest created against the latest, and then working our way to the middle. And here we are.
OK, Ready, Steady…go!
Ben’s vote:
The Snowmen
Neither menace really stands out to me, but the Snowmen are creepy looking and I like the idea that they can just sort of travel through the snow, and appear anywhere someone is thinking about them.
Laurelle’s vote:
The Ice Governess
Comment: I choose the Ice Governess. I think it’s more interesting than snowmen with teeth. And I can’t judge it by the episode because they are in the same episode.
Josh’s vote:
The Snowmen
Comments: The Doctor himself says that the Snowmen are “rubbish” and that the Ice Governess is the next stage in evolution for these living-snow creatures. And it’s true that the Snowmen never really do anything other than stand around an look menacing, while the Ice Governess chases them around and manages a successful attack against Clara. Still, the Snowmen are a pretty cool design and the Ice Governess is awkward with an uncanny valley look about her, which I found off-putting. I’m going with aesthetics here and choosing the Snowmen.
Johanna’s vote:
The Ice Governess
Comments: I don’t remember this very well but I think I prefer the Ice Governess. I don’t remember either of them very well, but it’s a vague sense I have. [After looking at the above images] OK, I prefer the Ice Governess. The Ice Governess looks cooler.
Jeremiah’s vote:
The Snowmen
Comments: It’s a narrow toss-up but I’ll go with the Snowmen because I forgot the Ice Governess was even in that story.
The Facebook Poll:
The Snowmen (10 votes) over The Ice Governess (2 votes)
Comments: Facebook seals the deal for our last Round 1 winner!
The Winner
The Snowmen
Next up: Onto Round 2!
Blue Towel Productions 