The popular British TV show doctor who mixes multiple genres, mainly science fiction and adventure. Given how many times the Doctor saves the day and how many planets he visits, it makes sense that the majority of alien races the Doctor encounters are antagonists. However, there are a few notable rules to this exception, both from the classic and the redesigned doctor who series.
Some races and people the Doctor encountered turned out to be friendly and became his allies. Other times, they were originally presented as antagonists, but the show later revealed that wasn’t quite the case. Overall, the Doctor has encountered more enemies than friends, but the show also featured some great alien races that weren’t hostile.
5 Fat
It’s hard to stay mad at the Adipose kids because even though they hurt several people, they’re not to blame themselves. The culprit in the episode “Partners in Crime” is their caretaker, Miss Harris. The Doctor soon realizes that the Adipose aren’t the bad guys here and allows them to travel to their new home. So while it might be a little disconcerting to see the Adipose kids separated from the human bodies, the peaceful ending where they wave to the Doctor and Donna before going leaves the first bad impression of the walking fat Adipose.
They were also responsible for one of Donna’s best quotes on the show. When she waves back, Donna, who has trouble believing what she’s doing, simply says, “I’m waving too thick.” On an even better side, the Adipose is one of the few alien species that is kid-friendly, just like the show was originally supposed to be.
4 Time Lords
While it’s true that some of the time lords the Doctor encountered were hostile (especially the Master), others joined him and helped him more than once. The doctor had a good relationship with his granddaughter Susan, who used to travel with him in the TARDIS in the classic doctor who series. Another Time Lady who later became the Doctor’s companion was Romana.
And finally, although River Song was only partially a Time Lady, she eventually switched sides and even married the Doctor. This proves that despite the Time Lords’ bad reputation, not all of them are bad-hearted. After all, the show holds strongly that even the master was once a different person and that he and the doctor were good friends.
3 The Traken People
One of the lesser known strains, especially for those unfamiliar with the classic doctor who, is the Traken people. The doctor’s companion, Nyssa, came from this planet and decided to help the doctor fight the master. Unfortunately for Nyssa, the Master killed her father. That led to Nyssa traveling with the doctor for a while, before leaving to work on a cure for a dangerous illness.
Nyssa was intelligent and kind, proving that not all alien species the Doctor encounters are automatically hostile to the Time Lord. The Master’s actions have not allowed the show to explore Traken culture as much as it deserved. But the show at least gave the audience a glimpse into the lives of these unique people.
2 Silurians & Sontarans (sometimes)
Except for overly hostile species, doctor who also offers some that are antagonistic for the most part… except for individuals who break the mold. Madame Vastra, a Silurian, is such a prominent character that she deserves a mention. She woke up in Victorian times and set up her own research company. She also married a human, her former maid Jenny, proving that she was not biased towards humans like other members of the same species.
As for Sontarans, the warlike species isn’t known for getting along well with others, but Drax is another exception to the rule. He joined Madame Vastra and Jenny and the trio helped the doctor more than once. They did so well on the show that they even appeared in several doctor who books. As with Time Lords, Madame Vastra and Drax prove that it’s not always a good idea to rate all members of one species as bad.
1 Whifferdill
One of the most obscure companions the Doctor has ever had comes from the Whifferdill strain. Even the fans of the show won’t remember Frobisher, as he’s only in the Doctor Who Magazine and in audio stories. Frobisher had the power to transform, but his favorite form was a penguin. This explains why Frobisher never played a part on the show: it would be hard to portray him in a way that wouldn’t seem ridiculous. Of course, that doesn’t mean Frobisher can’t make an appearance in the future.
Since he had multiple adventures with the Doctor, the show would have a lot of source material to draw from. Unlike many companions, Frobisher survived the trips with the Doctor as a whole and eventually left the TARDIS to open a bar, making up for himself. Shape-shifters are often portrayed as villainous in science fiction stories, such as in Marvel (Skrulls) or in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (Changelings), but Frobisher and the Whifferdill prove that’s not always the case.
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