EVERY Doctor Who Monster Ranked

I started making this list in early June, and it was originally going to be a celebration of “Doctor Who” and its eclectic cast of monsters. After the recent news that it’s been put out to tender, however, I can’t help but feel that this has turned into a sort of autopsy. Either way, one thing’s for sure – I’ll always love “Doctor Who”. It was THE show of my childhood, and I’ll never forget the monsters which made me hide behind the sofa … as well as the ones that made me groan in disgust.

I’m going to rank every monster of the modern series (at least, every antagonistic monster). I use the term “monster” loosely as I’ll also be counting robots and humanoids. Basically, if they’re the villain in the episode they’ll probably make an appearance here – unless they’re just a plain old human. I tried naming species rather than individual beings where applicable.

Before we begin, you can check out some of my related blog posts below:

Doctor Who – EVERY Doctor Ranked

Doctor Who Seasons Ranked

EVERY Doctor Who Episode Ranked

Doctor Who – Top 20 Songs

Kill It With Fire

I hate these monsters. I hate that they exist. They made the show unwatchable. They’ve made my life worse by infecting my happy memories of this show with their awfulness. I shudder every time I think of them.

123 – Omega (The Reality War)

“The Reality War” is the most recent episode at the time of writing, and the final episode of NuWho now that the show is out for tender. They literally went out with the worst possible monster.

There’s tonnes of build-up to Omega – an evil Time Lord from the classic era who has the potential to destroy the universe – and he makes his grand appearance after two episodes of teasing … and then is defeated within a couple of minutes. By the Doctor using a random gun. And Omega eats the Rani, the other underwhelming villain of the episode, effectively killing two birds with one lightning-quick stone.

Why did Russell T. Davies write this? Why have a CGI abomination as your big bad villain of a season? Why so much hype only to write him out in seconds? It’s quite possibly the most baffling creative decision this show has conjured over its two decades, and its such a shame the series has gone out on a whimper.

122 – Abzorbaloff (Love & Monsters)

Until Omega came along, there was a monster who was always quite comfortably at the bottom of my rankings.

Not only is the Abzorbaloff the monster in one of the worst episodes this series has ever broadcast, but the design itself is childish and grotesque (probably because it was conceived by a child during a BBC competition!). A fat blob touches people and they get absorbed. Really creative stuff.

Is the Abzorbaloff absorbing humans for a good reason? To assimilate with society, perhaps? No. It just wants to feed itself and to waddle around like a penguin with hemorrhoids.

Unfortunately, every time I now look at Peter Kay I’m reminded of this monstrosity.

121 – Dregs (Orphan 55)

“Love & Monsters” is now in my bottom two or three episodes of the show, despite it being rock bottom mere years ago … and that’s because “Orphan 55” baffled everyone on its release with just how bad it was.

The Dregs, with their generic design and ham-fisted message about climate change, are actually humans from the far future! Dun dun duuuun! It’s pathetic writing through and through.

120 – Bogeyman (Space Babies)

Picture the scene – Russell T. Davies has returned as showrunner, and the 60th anniversary specials were a solid success. The Christmas special was weird but those are always childish. All eyes are on RTD and new Fifteenth Doctor Ncuti Gatwa to bring the thrills for the “Season 1” opener. The start of a new era. The benchmark for the adventures to come.

So what does Russell go and do? He writes “Space Babies”, an episode about intelligent babies who are tormented by a Bogeyman. Literally a figure made of bogeys.

The alarm bells were ringing in my mind after this episode. I wasn’t sure if I could trust RTD to lead the show in the right direction. And, as it turned out, I was right.

Made Me Roll My Eyes

Is this the best they could come up with?

119 – Spiders (Arachnids in the UK)

Alright, my rants got a bit out of hand for those first four monsters. I’ll try to make the rest of the entries quicker – there’s over a hundred blimin’ monsters to talk about, after all!

“Arachnids in the UK” was a terrible episode, and part of the blame can be shouldered by the spiders. Just plain ol’ spiders. Bigger than normal, earth spiders. Scintillating stuff.

118 – Scribble Creature (Fear Her)

I don’t hate “Fear Her” as much as most “Doctor Who” fans, but Chloe Webber and her scribble creatures were unbearably annoying.

If memory serves, I think it was her dad who was the real villain? Maybe? It’s a muddled storyline either way.

117 – Shakri (The Power of Three)

“The Power of Three” was cooking at a solid 7/10 for most of its runtime … and then the ending happened.

Apparently the actor who played the big baddie just flat-out refused to film his scenes. As a result, the Shakri are the most non-starter monsters in all of NuWho.

116 – Sandmen (Sleep No More)

God, Mark Gatiss wrote some truly awful episodes. “Sleep No More” is one of his worst offenders, and the Sandmen are at the root of the problem.

They’re monsters which form from the sleep dust in your eyes. Fine. But the episode presents them in such an unwatchable way. Who thought the found-footage / weird camera angles would be a good idea?

115 – Goblins (The Church on Ruby Road)

In classic RTD fashion, he decided to make the monsters of Ncuti Gatwa’s first full episode a bunch of singing goblins.

This is a kids show. I understand that. But it’s not supposed to be a cringe show.

114 – Sea Devils (Legend of the Sea Devils)

“Legend of the Sea Devils” was awful, mostly because production was hit by the COVID pandemic. The Sea Devils, however, did nothing to rescue a dire episode. They look odd and they’re not intimidating in the slightest.

113 – Morax (The Witchfinders)

Zombie-like monsters during the Witch Trial era of English history. The Morax are almost as generic as it gets.

Also, doesn’t having real monsters during the Witch Trials imply that the men at the time were justified drowning all those women? Yet another case of Chibnall-era NuWho having mixed politics.

112 – Gangers (The Rebel Flesh / The Almost People)

This one hurts to rank so low. Gangers are a decent idea, as I like “imposter among us” storylines, but I can only rate them based on what I saw in the episodes.

The white-fleshed doppelgängers are far too uncanny for my taste, and the two-parter itself was very uneventful.

111 – Skovox Blitzer (The Caretaker)

A generic robot for The Doctor, Clara and Danny to argue over. The Skovox Blitzer is pure plot device / fodder.

110 – Tzim-Sha (The Woman Who Fell To Earth / The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos)

It always makes me laugh that in Chibnall’s first episode he decided to make the main villain a pathetic, toothy-faced grunter … and then have them return for the season finale!

Tzim-Sha, affectionately called “Tim Shaw” by those in the show, is brooding and angry but he never does anything.

109 – Eternals (Can You Hear Me?)

One of the biggest wasted potentials for a villain ever.

The Eternals are god-like beings who can infect people’s minds. That should’ve been a winner, but “Can You Hear Me?” is inexplicably a snooze-fest.

108 – Pting (The Tsuranga Conundrum)

A monster named by throwing a frying pan down the stairs. I assume.

“The Tsuranga Conundrum” is a painful episode to watch, and that’s partly down to the Pting. It’s a small, annoying creature who causes problems and is never threatening.

107 – Ravagers (Season 13: “Flux”)

Cool design. Absolutely wasted as villains.

The serialized format of Season 13, AKA “Flux”, could’ve worked a treat if it was written better and had a satisfying ending. But it wasn’t. And it didn’t. And so the Ravagers will now be lost to the depths of NuWho canon – destroyed like most of the universe in that season.

106 – Skithra (Nikola Tesla’s Night of Terror)

I can only hope that the Skithra are related to the Racnoss, as otherwise this is the most blatant case of self-plagiarism the show has ever done. Even if they are related, I don’t remember that being explained in the episode itself.

As for “Nikola Tesla’s Night of Terror”, the Skithra are only there to force Tesla and The Doctor to work together.

105 – Sutekh (The Legend of Ruby Sunday / Empire of Death)

Ah, Sutekh. The God of Death. You were almost a modern classic.

His introduction in “The Legend of Ruby Sunday” is handled with such gravitas and narrative weight … and then it all gets thrown away in “Empire of Death”. A CGI dog gets a lead put on him and is taken for a walk in the Time Vortex. Nice one, Russell. I bet you were chuckling to yourself when you came up with that.

Forgettable

I had to look up the names for almost all of these monsters. Needless to say, they didn’t make an impression.

104 – Red Leech (The Crimson Horror)

“The Crimson Horror” gets off to a kinda interesting start, I suppose, but all of that good will is shattered by the end.

The tiny Red Leech, AKA “The Crimson Horror” AKA “Mister Sweet”, turns out to be the symbiotic entity behind the episode’s events. Talk about an anticlimax.

103 – Jagrafess (The Long Game)

I’m not a fan of big CGI monsters in 2026, so you can imagine how silly the 2005 special effects from Season 1 look in retrospect.

Both Simon Pegg and the Jagrafess are wasted in this filler episode.

102 – Macra (Gridlock)

Huge crabs. Yes, I’ve ranked the huge crabs from “Gridlock” – that don’t do a single thing – higher than twenty-one other monsters. Sue me.

101 – Eaters of Light (The Eaters of Light)

Strange, light-eating locusts from one of NuWho’s most forgettable episodes.

100 – Remnants (The Ghost Monument)

The Remnants (those cloth-like monsters) remind me a lot of The Eaters of Light.

They tease the Timeless Child twist and then are obliterated by a burst of flames.

99 – Stingrays (Planet of the Dead)

To be honest, I forgot that “Planet of the Dead” had any monsters to begin with. I thought the episode was just The Doctor talking to a bunch of randos on a desert bus.

It’s one of the most boring episodes of NuWho, and the swarm of monsters – who are apparently called “Stingrays” – could’ve been substituted for dozens of better, more tangible ideas.

98 – Shreek (Lucky Day)

The Shreek isn’t the real monster of “Lucky Day” – Conrad is. But Conrad is a human through and through so he doesn’t qualify for this list.

The Shreek a kinda freaky-looking thing whose best moment is definitely biting Conrad on the arm. That guy deserved it.

97 – Ribbons (It Takes You Away)

One of the most bizarre monsters of NuWho, in one of its most bizarre episodes.

“Ribbons” is a weird gremlin thingy who lives in “the Anti-zone”. And no, that doesn’t make any more sense in the episode itself.

96 – AL (The Robot Revolution)

“I know! Because AI is such a buzz word nowadays, I’m going to make a villain called AI. No, wait! I’ll call him ‘AL’ and make him a loser incel! And he’ll be the new companion’s ex-boyfriend! My genius knows no bounds!

– Russell T Davies, probably.

95 – Dinosaurs (Dinosaurs on a Spaceship)

I mean, dinosaurs are kinda like monsters. They’re certainly not human, that’s for sure.

I guess the real villains of “Dinosaurs on a Spaceship” would be David Bradley and his Peep Show robots … but the dinosaurs are the clear stars of the show.

94 – Peg Dolls (Night Terrors)

The Peg Dolls in “Night Terrors” were one of the scariest monsters ever when I was a wee lad watching Season 6 for the first time. Proper nightmare-inducing stuff.

On a rewatch, as an older and wiser man, these things are so forgettable. They do generically creepy things.

93 – Kasaavin (Spyfall)

Beings made of pure light was an interesting hook, but the rest of the “Spyfall” two-parter didn’t deliver the Kasaavin goods.

92 – Gelth (The Unquiet Dead)

Ghosts … but aliens!

This is the kind of camp, unserious monster which only an RTD-led show could pull off.

91 – The Rani (Wish World / The Reality War)

You know what’s worse than a Rani who gets painfully underdeveloped? Two Ranis who get painfully underdeveloped.

Both the Bigenerated Rani and the original Mrs. Flood are frontloaded with mystique but ultimately amount to precious little. I still can’t believe they were beaten by Omega in seconds flat …

90 – Praxeus (Praxeus)

I have to give “Praxeus” some major credit – I never thought the show would make a deadly virus the main villain of the episode, so I can appreciate this big creative swing (and the special effects were really cool!).

It was a swing and a miss, however, because a monster-less episode ends up being quite directionless.

89 – Hath (The Doctor’s Daughter)

“The Doctor’s Daughter” is the only real mis-step in Season 4 – I feel sorry that creatures as unique as the Hath have to be tied to such a nothingburger episode.

The bubbly mouthpiece is a cool design feature … but the Hath just loiter in scenes without doing much.

88 – Spider Germs / Moon Bacteria (Kill The Moon)

These were better spiders than “Arachnids in the UK”, that’s for sure. But still just some rudimentary spiders at the end of the day.

87 – Dryads (Knock Knock)

A swarm of woodlice that eats people … but also heals other people? I always thought the mythology of “Knock Knock” was a bit wishy-washy.

86 – The Barber (The Story & the Engine)

Is The Barber just a human? A servant of a greater God? I can’t remember exactly – all I recall is that “The Story & the Engine” was too stagnant for a “Doctor Who” episode.

If I’ve accidentally broken my rules by having a human in this list, then this entry can be replaced by the cosmic spider-thingy from the same episode. They’re both equally forgettable.

85 – Time Beetle (Turn Left)

“Turn Left” is an awesome episode. I’m not going to be contrarian by saying it’s overrated or anything like that.

But is the episode great because of the Time Beetle? No, not really. It forces the plot to happen but otherwise it’s just a weird beetle that climbs onto a victim’s back and messes with time.

84 – Kantrofarri (Last Christmas)

That’s a funny way of spelling “Face-Hugger”.

83 – Leonians (The Woman Who Lived)

Lion people. A race of creatures who look like lions. NuWho had never delved so deeply into the world of cliché fantasy.

82 – Akhaten (The Rings of Akhaten)

Akhaten had a front row seat to one of the show’s great monologues, but it’s hard to be afraid of a spooky sun. It’s just too enormous for a general audience to fully comprehend.

Okay

These monsters did the job but they were hardly inspiring.

81 – Slitheen (Aliens of London / World War Three)

I wanted to put the Slitheen near the bottom of the list. I really did. Every time I think of these fart monsters and all the fart jokes in the fart two-parter I almost die of cringe.

But, sadly, I also feel an overwhelming nostalgia for Season 1. These off-green, fleshy, farting aliens are a piece of NuWho history, dammit!

80 – Ice Lophius (Thin Ice)

I’m bending my rules for this one. The Ice Lophius from “Thin Ice” wasn’t an antagonistic creature, instead being manipulated by the evil humans … but it did eat people whether it realised it or not. It’s a “monster” if you squint your eyes a little.

79 – Crooked Man (Hide)

Bro was just looking for his Player 2 …

78 – Solitract (It Takes You Away)

Like I said for the “Ribbons” entry, “It Takes You Away” is a bizarre episode through and through. It somehow gets ever more off-kilter than a goblin in an Anti-zone.

The episode ends with The Doctor talking to the “Solitract” – a weird frog. It’s so weird that I kinda have to respect it.

77 – Richard Lazarus (The Lazarus Experiment)

Mediocre episode and special effects, but I appreciate what Mark Gatiss was going for when he wrote “The Lazarus Experiment”.

Richard Lazarus is a man enamored by the idea of youth, and this obsession turns him into a monster. Solid idea, lackluster CGI.

76 – Sky Shark (A Christmas Carol)

A shark that flies. Neat.

75 – Mire (The Girl Who Died)

There are two designs of the Mire which come to mind – their eyepatch-wearing leader Odin as well as their big, clunky suits of amour.

The armour design is unique but the episode they’re put in is boring.

74 – Snowmen (The Snowmen)

I guess technically this would be the Great Intelligence’s doing rather than an alien race of Snowmen … but I just thought the Snowman design was solid.

73 – Kerblam Men (Kerblam!)

Controversial episode with some questionable morals on display, but the robots in “Kerblam!” – simply called the Kerblam Men – are easily the most striking, memorable monsters of Season 11. And yet they’re in the bottom half of the list.

72 – Catkind (New Earth / Gridlock)

The Catkind nurses were pretty villainous in “New Earth”, but it was Cassandra and the infected humans who posed more of a threat.

I still decided to include Catkind on this list regardless. They’re cat people. It’s a pretty funny concept.

71 – Robot Knights (Robot of Sherwood)

One of the cooler robot designs the series has ever done.

70 – Mantraps (Dot and Bubble)

Ew. Ew ew ew.

I hate bugs, so these eight foot tall caterpillars from hell really get under my skin.

69 – EmojiBots (Smile)

The EmojiBots were clowned on when Season 10 came out, but I don’t think they were as cringe as people made them out to be.

My real problem with these face-shifting robots is that they aren’t very threatening and are defeated in a really simple way. And they copy the “Smilers” from Season 5!

68 – Sycorax (The Christmas Invasion)

As a plot device, the Sycorax are great. They force a world-wide disaster and the swordfight against their leader is a fun way to kick off the Tenth Doctor’s era.

But design and threat aside, their plan was quite weak. They pretended they were more powerful than they actually are … and their leader is ultimately defeated by a satsuma.

67 – Chuldur (Rogue)

I always have a soft spot for shapeshifters / imposter storylines, so I liked what the Chuldur brought to “Rogue”. Even if the “We’re gonna cosplay them all to death!” line made me wince.

66 – Harmony Shoal (The Husbands of River Song / The Return of Doctor Mysterio)

I forgot that Harmony Shoal was in two Christmas specials.

Again, I like a body-swapping storyline. They’re my guilty pleasure, even if the monster was forgettable.

65 – Spoonheads (The Bells of Saint John)

I’m surprised it took them to Season 7 to introduce an internet-based monster.

Spoonheads are exactly what their name suggests – they have concave heads which can display the faces of those they’ve trapped. A bit like the information terminals from “Silence in the Library / Forest of the Dead”.

64 – Autons (Rose)

The first monsters in the first NuWho episode, so I have to give the Autons credit for that. Monsters made of plastic is a simple yet effective idea.

In hindsight, however, they feel more like a slow, cheap Classic Who monster rather than NuWho (which makes sense, because they first appeared on our screens in the 70’s).

63 – Siren (Curse of the Black Spot)

I know, I know. The Siren from “Curse of the Black Spot” turns out to be a friendly technology designed to heal people. It shouldn’t be in this list of antagonistic monsters.

But in its quest for healing and sterilization, it threatened to incinerate The Doctor for sneezing. That’s pretty antagonistic in my books.

62 – Toclafane (The Sound of Drums / The Last of the Time Lords)

In possibly the worst thing the Master has ever done in this series, the surviving humans in “Utopia” are repurposed into the deadly killing machines called the Toclafane.

Spherical drones which laser people could never rank that highly in a monster comparison, but I will give bonus points for how crushing that revelation is.

61 – Monks (Extremis / The Pyramid at the End of the World / The Lie of the Land)

The Monks had so much aura in “Extremis” … but then the following two episodes were a case of diminishing returns.

60 – Headless Monks (A Good Man Goes to War)

Like regular Monks, but their heads are substituted for laser swords. That’s obviously cooler.

59 – Werewolf (Tooth and Claw)

It’s straight-up a werewolf. Not some sort of alien or robot hybrid, but a classic werewolf. A bit weird for a show like “Doctor Who” but I respect it.

58 – Heavenly Hosts (Voyage of the Damned)

Evil robots yet again, but with a biblical aura. The fact they were in one of the best Christmas specials helped their case.

57 – Teselecta (Let’s Kill Hitler / The Wedding of River Song)

You could argue that the Teselecta is a case of wasted potential, as the twist in “The Wedding of River Song” is a bit naff, but I’ve said previously how I’m a sucker for a shapeshifting monster.

56 – Whisper Men (The Name of the Doctor)

One of the coolest designs in all of NuWho. I’m being so serious. The gentlemanly outfits, the sharp teeth and the pasted-over eyes are the stuff of nightmares.

It’s such a shame, therefore, that all they do is stand behind the Great Intelligence and look menacing.

Decent

I appreciated these monsters for what they were.

55 – The Meep (The Star Beast)

Say what you will about “The Star Beast”, but having Miriam Margolyes play an innocent-turned-deranged stuffed animal was a hilarious casting choice.

The Meep was the right amount of cartoonish evilness … but their ending was a little anticlimactic. I guess we’ll never know who “The Boss” was …

54 – Vespiform (The Unicorn and the Wasp)

I hate wasps. They’re probably my biggest fear in the world. You can imagine, therefore, that young Matt wasn’t a big fan of “The Unicorn and the Wasp”.

I’ve grown on it in time, of course, and an alien wasp is a very fun concept.

53 – Racnoss (The Runaway Bride)

A large, spider-like race who gets genocide-ed by The Doctor. Solid villain with a memorable demise.

52 – The Woman (73 Yards)

“73 Yards” is definitely one of the more out-there “Doctor Who” episodes, and The Woman is one of the show’s more out-there monsters.

Was it a curse? Was it Ruby from another timeline? Either way, the constant distance and the way she turned all of Ruby’s allies against her was very creepy.

51 – Torajii (42)

Look, I’m as surprised as anyone that I’ve ranked the villain from “42” higher than most. It’s a middle-of-the-road episode with a generic stalker enemy.

Despite the boring execution, I can’t help but feel that a “sentient sun” is one of the cooler Sci-Fi concepts this show has come up with. A rare Chibnall dub.

50 – Elderly People (Amy’s Choice)

It took until Season 5, but the “Doctor Who” writers suddenly remembered what every child fears most – their grandparents.

I really like the “Invasion of the Bodysnatchers” vibe these elderly-posing aliens give off.

49 – Ghosts (Under the Lake / Before the Flood)

The Gelth from “The Unquiet Dead” may have been NuWho’s first foray into ghosts, but “Under the Lake / Before the Flood” was its best.

Those vacant eyes and the timey-whimey-ness fit the show much better.

48 – Time Zombies (Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS)

I was a bit disappointed by “Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS” on the whole, but those Time Zombies were really unsettling.

They already have a blood-curdling design, but once you realise what they truly are it makes it ten times worse.

47 – Minotaur (The God Complex)

We’d already had werewolves and vampires by this point in the show, so what harm would a Minotaur do?

It’s a solid creature design, and the writing of “The God Complex” makes the beast an omnipresent threat.

46 – Plasmavore (Smith and Jones)

Leave it to RTD to write an episode where an adorable old lady is secretly a blood-drinking serial killer. And her weapon is a plastic straw.

There’s a campness to the Plasmavore which I like, even if she does get overshadowed by the other monsters in the episode.

45 – Adipose (Partners in Crime)

The Adipose are monsters by a stretched definition. They kill people, but I’m sure they know nothing about it. They’re just babies!

Some could argue that small CGI fat monsters are out of place in this show, but I’d disagree. This is the kind of first episode nonsense I like – I’d take “Partners in Crime” over “Space Babies” any day.

44 – Maestro (The Devil’s Chord)

Jinx Monsoon is one of the last people I thought would be a “Doctor Who” villain, and yet their turn as Maestro was captivating.

I have issues with “The Devil’s Chord” but its deliciously evil antagonist isn’t one of them. The pantheon of gods, aside from Sutekh and Omega, was the coolest thing from RTD2.

43 – Fisher King (Before the Flood)

I’m a big fan of the ghosts from this two-parter, but the big bad pulling the strings was even cooler.

The Fisher King is a towering figure who is genuinely menacing. It’s the kind of Sci-Fi horror design which wouldn’t be out of place in a Hollywood blockbuster.

42 – Reapers (Father’s Day)

The Reapers are such a fantastic idea – monsters who fix paradoxical timestreams. They make “Father’s Day” a really interesting episode.

The only problem, of course, is that they themselves are paradoxical. Why have we only seen them once despite The Doctor and his enemies constantly disrupting time?

41 – Smartsuit Zombies (Oxygen)

The real villain is capitalism. Did you guys get that during the episode, or was the message too subtle?

40 – The Veil (Heaven Sent)

A classic stalker enemy that would fit right into a “Resident Evil” game.

“Heaven Sent” is an unbelievable episode, but I don’t think many people remember it for The Veil. A cool representation of grief, though.

39 – Krafayris (Vincent and the Doctor)

Again, like The Veil, it’s what the Krafayris represents which is most important.

Vincent is tormented by an invisible foe, both mentally and in real life. It’s a brilliant allegory for depression and anxiety.

38 – Ice Warriors (Cold War / The Empress of Mars)

The Ice Warriors are lucky that they look cool and have a menacing aura, ’cause the episodes they starred in sure didn’t paint them in a great light.

These lizard-y soldiers in green armour are a “Doctor Who” staple. “The Empress of Mars” was a weird one, but I do have to give credit to “Cold War” for making a single Ice Warrior seem so deadly. I’ll just pretend it never took its armour off.

37 – The Wire (The Idiot’s Lantern)

This is a case of a good monster being a sub-par episode’s saving grace – “The Idiot’s Lantern” would’ve been close to bad had it not been for this soul-sucking entity in the television sets.

Gatiss makes the bold claim that we’re too absorbed by television … by writing that moral into a television episode. It’s so absurd that it loops back around to enjoyable.

36 – Scarecrows (Human Nature / The Family of Blood)

I bloody love “Human Nature / The Family of Blood”. While the ominous Scarecrows certainly made for good cronies to the main villains, I couldn’t rank them much higher than this – they just lumber around, after all.

35 – Pyroviles (The Fires of Pompeii)

Creatures of stone and magma. What’s not to love?

34 – Handbots (The Girl Who Waited)

A simple robot premise, but the hands administering an intense anesthetic is really creepy to me for some reason.

It also helps that the episode they featured in was really good.

33 – Smilers (The Beast Below)

Lacklustre episode, but those Smilers are some of Season 5’s most iconic foes. It’s a simple idea to have increasingly angered faces but it works well (and was kinda stolen by Season 10’s EmojiBots …).

32 – Sontarans (Multiple Episodes)

We’ve hit the first of the monsters who have been in too many episodes to mention. Out of all these NuWho “mainstay” monsters, the Sontarans are definitely my least favourite.

They can be imposing at points, like their war-hungry appearances in Seasons 4 and 13, but the goofier side we see from Sontarans like Strax hurts their credibility.

I don’t think they’ll ever beat the potato allegations.

31 – The Great Intelligence (The Snowmen / The Name of the Doctor)

Richard E. Grant is an immediate win, but I liked how the Great Intelligence felt like a true force of nature.

He’s defeated perhaps a little to easily in “The Name of the Doctor”, but I’d like to think that opens him up for an eventual return. If the show itself ever returns to air, that is.

30 – House (The Doctor’s Wife)

Did you know the Time Lord-killing “House” from “The Doctor’s Wife” is voiced by Michael Sheen? That blew my mind when I found out.

House is a vicious, voice-only bastard who is written extremely well by Neil Gaiman. I’m sure Neil Gaiman had absolutely no controversies whatsoever in the years following this episode’s release.

29 – Judoon (Multiple Episodes)

Rhino Police is exactly the kind of nonsense I appreciate in this show.

The Judoon are never really the centre of attention (even in their first episode the main monster is the Plasmavore) but they’re a solid addition to the universe’s functionality / worldbuilding.

28 – Carrionites (The Shakespeare Code)

RTD really loved to lean into the camp during both of his tenures, and few villains are as bombastic as the trio of alien witches during Shakespeare’s era.

The Carrionites are exactly what I want from my monster of the week – they pose a threat, their design is unnerving and they leave a mark on the viewers and the people in the episode.

27 – Saturnyns (The Vampires of Venice)

What’s better than witches in Shakespearian England? Vampires in Renaissance Venice, apparently.

The vampires are aliens (of course) but that only adds to their allure. Helen McCrory is fantastic as their soft-spoken leader.

26 – Silurians (Multiple Episodes)

Where Strax holds back the Sontarans, Lady Vastra carries the Silurians up this list. They would be very bland without her.

I like the premise of lizard people living under the earth / predating humans, but they’re a humourless and apathetic race. Lady Vastra, on the other hand, brings the sass and the badass-ery where needed.

25 – Cassandra (The End of the World / New Earth)

We’ve made it. The campest villain in the whole of RTD’s first tenure. The bitchy trampoline.

It’s ridiculous how the last living human is now a stretched sheet of skin, but that’s the kind of bonkers ingenuity which you only saw in the show’s early years. Add to that a bittersweet ending and you get one of the more well-rounded NuWho villains.

Scene-Stealers

These monsters were all highly entertaining for one reason or another.

24 – Prisoner Zero (The Eleventh Hour)

Every part of “The Eleventh Hour” is fantastic. The new Doctor, the new companion, the new fairytale vibes … and the prisoner on the run makes for an intense first foe.

Prisoner Zero is everything I want in a NuWho villain – he’s mysterious, he’s deadly, and as an added bonus he can impersonate / bodysnatch, which is one of my favourite tropes.

Also, I know The Doctor’s awesome speech at the end is to the Atraxi (the ones hunting Prisoner Zero), but I think you can accredit it towards Prisoner Zero too.

23 – The Teller (Time Heist)

Looking back on it, Season 8 had some incredible first-time monsters. There are still two fan-favourite ones I’ve yet to talk about!

For the sake of The Teller, however, I can confidently say that this is one of the Twelfth Doctor’s most recognizable foes. His psychic abilities, the prisoner uniform and those otherworldly eyes make an immediate impression.

22 – Krillitanes (School Reunion)

School teachers are all aliens! I knew it!

“School Reunion” is such a delight – especially since I went to a very similar British school and therefore have an immense nostalgia for the various sets – and the Krillitanes play a major part in that.

Big shout-out as well to their leader, played by the amazing Anthony Head. RIP to one of the greatest one-off NuWho performances.

21 – Satan / The Devil / The Beast (The Impossible Planet / The Satan Pit)

It’s almost unbelievable that NuWho had a two-parter where the Devil himself was the main villain … and yet it never felt ridiculous or immersion-breaking.

He makes for a great spectacle, especially considering the early seasons’ budget, and his henchman Toby is equally as memorable with his demonic voice and inked skin.

20 – Zygons (Multiple Episodes)

The Zygons are another of those imposter / bodysnatcher-type monsters … huh. I never realised the show had so many different variations of the same trope. I’m not complaining, though, because I enjoy it every time.

The Zygons are perhaps the “definitive” version of this NuWho trope, taking the place of their victims to sow chaos into their enemies’ ranks. They were great in the 50th Anniversary and they posed a real threat in their Season 9 two-parter.

19 – The Gunslinger (A Town Called Mercy)

I think “A Town Called Mercy” is one of NuWho’s most underrated episodes. A cyborg cowboy is the kind of childish Sci-Fi that only this show could pull off.

I love the Gunslinger’s design, his attitude and his backstory. You end up feeling quite bad for him by the end – he was never a true villain.

18 – Lux / Mr. Ring-a-ding (Lux)

“Lux” blew every fan’s mind when it came out. Not only did it seem as though the Ncuti Gatwa era was finally cooking with gas, but the special effects / animation were unlike anything Whovians had seen before.

Lux, who goes by Mr. Ring-a-ding for the majority of the episode, is voiced brilliantly by Alan Cumming and has an aura befitting of the Pantheon of Gods. I’m telling ya, that Pantheon was easily the best part of RTD2.

17 – The Dreamlord (Amy’s Choice)

The Dreamlord … was not real. Spoilers. So let’s call this a “monster of the mind”.

Toby Jones plays the snarky, conniving counterpart to The Doctor so well. He’s constantly tormenting the TARDIS team and he sets up some truly fascinating moral quandaries.

16 – The Family of Blood (Human Nature / The Family of Blood)

What are The Family of Blood? We only ever see the bodies they inhabit, so we’ll never know what they truly look like. I think that makes them even more terrifying.

These are the monsters that forced The Doctor into a corner, and I can believe it. They ooze evil-ness with every line spoken, and they kill anyone in their path without remorse.

And they have possibly the coolest, most brutal ending of any monster on this list.

15 – Clockwork Robots (The Girl in the Fireplace / Deep Breath)

I’ve got five Moffat creations in my top fifteen. That man was the best writer this show ever had, without question.

It’s a simple premise to have robots that want to harvest parts … but to have them harvest human parts? You sometimes forget that this is a kids show.

The Clockwork Robots – both in their Vaudevillian “The Girl in the Fireplace” appearance as well as their Victorian “Deep Breath” one – look deeply unsettling with their slow, jerky movements. Moffat always knew how to get under his audience’s skin (in more ways than one …).

14 – Boneless (Flatline)

“Flatline” had no business being as good as it was. The special effect budget for the whole season must’ve gone into this episode – that’s the only reason I can think of as to why the Boneless look so visually impressive.

Their method of killing – dragging victims into a 2D plane – is brutal, and their demise at The Doctor’s hands is hella satisfying.

13 – Ood (Multiple Episodes)

Season 1 didn’t have many great new monsters, with most of the good ones being borrowed from the Classic era, but Season 2’s starboys were far and away the Ood.

They’ve made numerous appearances since, but I’ll always love their introduction in “The Impossible Planet / The Satan Pit”. They’re servants who get possessed by the Devil, and their design – from the mince-meat / spaghetti mouth to the deadly ball of electricity in their hand – is one of NuWho’s best.

12 – The Master (Multiple Episodes)

There have been many incarnations of this evil Time Lord – so much so that I probably should’ve ranked them all separately. At his core, however, it can’t be denied that The Master is one of the Doctor’s greatest foes. He wants nothing more than to see The Doctor squirm.

I have a huge nostalgia for John Simm’s Master from Season 3, but I also really like Michelle Gomez’s take on the part during the Capaldi era. The main thing holding this character back is both the “End of Time” incarnation (the yelling / juiced-up maniac is too broad for my tastes) as well as Sacha Dewan’s over-the-top performance during the Whittaker era.

Just for the fun of it, my personal NuWho Master rankings are:

1. John Simm
2. Michelle Gomez
3. John Simm in “The End of Time”
4. Sacha Dewan

I would’ve loved to see both Matt Smith and Ncuti Gatwa face off against their own Masters, but oh well.

11 – The Silence (Multiple Episodes)

Another Moffat masterclass. What’s scarier than the monster which haunts your nightmares? The monster which you can’t remember is under your bed.

There are lots of fun scenes where a character’s memories gets altered, and The Silence’s fleshy, Slenderman-esque design is right at home in a show like this.

I was going to rank them in my top ten, but the final few reveals about their affiliation with the Church of the Silence (or whatever it was called) was too much mythos for my taste. I would’ve rather not known the mystery behind them.

Iconic

These are the monsters that made me fall in love with the show.

10 – Cybermen (Multiple Episodes)

The Cybermen are easily one of the most famous monsters to come out of “Doctor Who”. I’d say the “Mount Rushmore” of villains would be Daleks, Cybermen, Weeping Angels and The Master. Those four have cemented themselves in the British television hall of fame.

But, of those four, the Cybermen are the most boring. The Master has had lower lows (which is why he’s ranked two places below) but the Cybermen are either cool emotionless robots or mundane emotionless robots depending on the story they’re in. There’s not much room for nuance.

Still, their design, backstory and aggressive “Delete!” commands are a staple of “Doctor Who”. Different writers have tried to give them new powers but the simple destroy-all-humanity approach of their earlier appearances will always be my favourite.

9 – The Toymaker (The Giggle)

Talk about an amazing casting. Neil Patrick Harris absolutely steals the show in every scene of “The Giggle” – so much so that he outshines David Tennant and Catherine Tate. He makes The Tenth Doctor and Donna seem boring!

His overly-joyous outlook on life as well as his rigid set of rules made him a villain worthy of the 60th Anniversary. That “Spice Up Your Life” scene gave me the biggest smile in the world.

8 – The Foretold (Mummy on the Orient Express)

“Mummy on the Orient Express” is such a matter-of-fact title. There’s a Mummy, and they’re on a train for some reason. I, and I’m sure many people at the time, assumed this episode was going to be too broad and on-the-nose.

How wrong we were. The sixty-six second countdown is always blood-pumping, the Mummy’s slow walk forwards is terrifying, and all of the lore you learn about “The Foretold” and the train they’re on is fascinating. As one-off villains go, you can’t do much better than this.

7 – Not-things (Wild Blue Yonder)

“Wild Blue Yonder” was such a good episode. It makes you wonder how RTD could go from this to, say, “The Reality War”. It can’t have been written by the same person. How were the Not-things penned by the same writer as Omega? How?!?

The Not-things are utterly terrifying. The way they’re slowly learning how to blend in with humanity, as well as their willingness to manipulate and distress their foes, made “Wild Blue Yonder” one of the wildest episodes in all of NuWho.

6 – The Midnight Entity (Midnight / The Well)

I’ve seen some Whovians argue that seeing the Midnight Entity in “The Well” has ruined its mystique. I get it. I still think this is one of the scariest, most impossible monsters the show has ever broadcast.

“The Well” was certainly intense, but nothing can ever compare to that first episode “Midnight”. An unknown entity takes over a bus passenger’s body and repeats what someone says back to them, then at the same time as them, and finally before they even say it. Sometimes the simplest ideas are the freakiest.

5 – Gas Mask Zombies (The Empty Child / The Doctor Dances)

The first episode Moffat ever penned for “Doctor Who” was the Season 1 two-parter “The Empty Child / The Doctor Dances”, and boy was it a doozy.

Children all across the UK – myself included – became traumatized by these Gas Mask Zombies. Their sickly appearance. The “Are you my mummy?”, spoken by a frightened child. That transformation scene in the hospital. The stuff of nightmares!

I’m sure the show was always going to be renewed after that first excellent season, but it was monsters like this that proved the series still had something to say in the new millenium.

4 – Daleks (Multiple Episodes)

Here they are – the main “Doctor Who” villains. The monsters that have made children across the UK hide behind their sofas for over sixty years. The most iconic out of all the iconic monsters … and yet they don’t make my top three. Let me explain myself.

The Daleks are great for what they are. They’re a race of aliens who have sealed themselves inside near-indestructible killing machines, and their desire to take over the universe is a must-have for this kind of Sci-Fi show. More often than not, they’re a force to be reckoned with – and they’re always treated with the reverence they deserve.

So I would’ve ranked them above fourth if it wasn’t for the fact they’re so overused. We see the Daleks every single bloody season – almost all of the season finales involve them in some way, but the more we see of them the more mundane / less fearsome they become. They can’t be that menacing if they get beaten fifty times out of fifty …

Their best appearances were far and away in Season 1, first with the lonesome “Dalek” and then the entire fleet in “The Parting of the Ways”. Every appearance since has been an homage rather than something fresh or new.

3 – Vashta Nerada (Silence in the Library / Forest of the Dead)

In his final episode before becoming showrunner, Steven Moffat decided to turn the scariest phenomenon of all into an unforgettable villain – the darkness itself.

It’s such a stroke of genius to have a swarm of invisible flesh eating monsters – called the Vashta Nerada – occupying the shadows, turning any who step into the darkness into bones. The library setting of the two-parter also gives the scenes a cramped and uncomfortable feel. In an enclosed room, the shadows could get you anytime, anywhere …

And in another of Moffat’s masterstrokes, the suits’ voice boxes “echoing” means that victims of the Vashta Nerada walk around as lumbering, mumbling skeletons. This creeping terror is what “Doctor Who” is all about, baby!

2 – The Flood (The Waters of Mars)

“The Waters of Mars” is my favourite “Doctor Who” episode for reasons which I won’t get into here (otherwise we’d be here all day!), but a big part of my love for it comes from its central monsters.

I’m not going to sugarcoat it – I think The Flood are the scariest monsters in the series. Bar none. Their beady eyes, the crackled lips, the endless water jets – and to make matters worse, they can actually run! Like, really fast!

Nine-year-old Matt had never been more terrified of a “Doctor Who” monster. This was the episode that had me shaking behind the sofa.

1 – Weeping Angels (Multiple Episodes)

If any “Doctor Who” monster has surpassed the show and entered the public consciousness, becoming a household name above even the Daleks and Cybermen, it’s the Weeping Angels.

Moffat turned what could have been a Hollywood movie premise into a piece of Who history. These creatures move lightning-quick when you aren’t looking, but are locked in stone if you lay eyes on them. The stakes, in that case, are simple yet scarily effective – don’t blink. Blink and you’re dead.

Are they perfect? No, I don’t think so. The more we learned about them – like when we saw them move or when they changed their mode of killing from time-sapping to straight-up murder – the less mysterious they became. But every time they were on screen my heart was in my mouth. That’s the mark of a good monster – they scare me even though I’m now a full-grown adult!

Aaaand that’s my list! If you liked this post and want to support me, please consider giving me a one-time donation. Even a few pence (or whatever currency you use) is fantastic! I’ve never monetized this blog before, but it would be great if I could do this comfortably and not have to worry about the yearly website domain costs. Thank you so much!