Forgotten Monsters: Doctor Who’s The Vervoids

By Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues

Photo copyright Owen Quinn

I was recently made aware of just how many movies and television shows the younger generation have never heard of, never mind seen. So to that end, we look back at some characters you really need to see before you kick the bucket.

The Vervoids were a one off monsters from the colourful sixth Doctor era and more specifically the Trial of a Time Lord season.

They appeared in the story Terror of the Vervoids as part of the Doctor’s defence. He was on trial for interfering in th affairs of others by prosecutor the Valeyard (later revealed to be a distillation of the Doctor’s darker self) and he took an adventure from his own future in order to prove his innocence. The point was that he would change as time went on and be the hero he has always been. There were a couple of firsts here as this was Mel Bush’s first story; the first companion we met after she has joined the Tardis without a proper introduction. Her screams also matched the harmonics of the theme music perfectly as her first electrifying cliffhanger aired. The Doctor wore a variation of his usual costume and his unpredictable persona had certainly settled by this stage.

Set on a luxury space liner, the Hyperion 3, the story was a Agatha Christie murder type affair. Passengers had dark secrets and there was a murderer on the loose picking them off one at a time. Written by Pip and Jane Baker, Terror of the Vervoids is a multilayered tale of genetics and smuggling.

As a genetically engineered species, the Vervoids were created by Professor Laskey (Honor Blackman, the original Avengers girl and Pussy Galore in James Bond) and her assistants Doland and Bruchner. They are all hiding something including the transportation of Vervoids in giant pods in the cargo bay as well as a shipment of seeds. An electrical explosion designed to kill Mel triggers the eruption of the pods and the Vervoids escape into the corridors of the Hyperion 3. Driven mad by terror and guilt at what they have done, Bruchner tries to fly the cruiser into a black hole to destroy the Vervoids. He knows what will happen if they ever reach the fertile soils of Earth. He is foiled when the Vervoids release a nerve gas which kills Bruchner but allows the non oxygen breathing Mogarians to enter the bridge and steer clear of the black hole.

Copyright BBC

Laskey’s arrogant confidence in her own ability have caused a member of her team to become infected. She is hidden away, now part Vervoid thanks to Vervoid pollen getting into her system via a scratch which is again another danger of the Vervoids reaching Earth. If they can mesh with humans then everything will fall.

The Vervoids hate humanity which it calls animal kind thanks to the way Laskey treated them. They are horrific in nature as they put the bodies of their victims on a compost heap to rot just like we do in autumn with plants. Whether it be by design or accident, the Vervoids can not only spew out a lethal gas but can fire stingers from their palms which instantly kill a person. Mister Kimber is probbaly their most horrible murder because he is an old man that the hostess fusses over. He is the perfect passenger and a nice person who is stung to death then dragged through the ducts to be placed on the compost heap.

The Mogarians are aboard to steal the preious metal stored in the cargo bay and the Doctor realises that vinosium will cause the Vervoids to age in seconds to their natural end. With no light or heat, the Vervoids are forced back into their lair where the Doctor and Mel are waiting. They explode the metal which releases UV light that ages the Vervoids to death reducing them to crumbling leaves. It gives us a chance to see how much killing them haunts the Doctor as he stares at a leaf that dissolves in the palm of his hand alongside the mournful incidental music.

The look of the Vervoids is in the tradition of the Zygons but it did cause some controversy as one magazine contacted Doctor Who magazine for featuring an explicit image on the cover when in fact it was the face of a Vervoid. Once your attention is drawn to it is reminiscent of a certain body part. In contrast to the usual booming alien voices, the Vervoids adopted the Zygon Ice Warrior and trait of a whispering voice. While they did attract some derision at the time, looking back now, the Vervoids work very well. They exhibit enough alien qualities to make them different from the usual man in a suit alien. They are as equally a threat in the interior of a ship as they are in the outdoors. They were born out of a scientist’s own thirst for a place in the history books ro serve her whims but as with all frankensteins, they fail to see their creations will have a will and purpose of their own.

One can’t help but wonder what the Docttor would have done if the Hyperion 3 wasn’t carrying vinosium on that trip. The greed of the Mogarians accidentally provided the salvation for all humanity. But the research is stored in a computer somewhere and even though Laskey died at the hands of her creationds, who’s to say someone else won’t try again to create the perfect Vervoid?