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| A Zygon |
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 Name: Zygons
Format:
Television Show and Book
Time of Origin: Original home planet
was destroyed centuries ago; have appeared on Earth between the 1890s
and 1970s
Appearances: "Terror
of the Zygons", "The
Bodysnatchers", "The Zygon Who Fell to Earth" and "Sting
of the Zygons"
Doctors: Fourth Doctor, Eighth Doctor and
Tenth
Doctor
Companions: The
Brigadier, Sarah
Jane Smith, Harry
Sullivan, Samantha
Jones, Lucie Miller and Martha Jones
History: The Zygons are widely remembered amongst
fans as one of the most convincing and terrifying monsters of the
original series, described by many as ‘a masterpiece of monster
design’, resulting in them retaining a long popularity with
the audiences despite them only appearing once; David Tennant, the
Tenth
Doctor, even stated that the Zygons were his favourite monsters.
Physically the Zygons were some of the most convincing monsters ever
developed for the series, possessing orange skin and a large, half-oval-shaped
head, with various minor ‘suckers’ all over their bodies,
providing a physical appearance similar to that of an octopus. They
are also able to generate a ‘sting’ that induces physical
pain with a mere touch thanks to a poisonous barb in their hands.
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Terror of the Zygons
(VHS Cover) |
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Their technology is predominately biological, with their very ships
being alive to a certain degree. They are also capable of taking
body prints that allow them to transform themselves into the physical
duplicate of any captive humans, although the print must be renewed
every few hours; some Zygons have even been able to use this technology
to impersonate cows and other animals. One of their most distinctive ‘weapons’ is
the Skarasen, a cyborg, grown from an embryo, which serves as the
Zygon's life source, providing them with the lactic fluid they need
to survive, while also being a useful means of attack; its hide is
so strong that nuclear missiles would be mere pinpricks to it. With
their planet, Zygor, having been destroyed centuries ago during an
attack by an arachnid-like alien race from Tau Ceti, the Zygons had
been forced to seek a new world, a few small groups eventually making
their way to Earth with the intention of establishing it as a colony
for the main Zygon fleet.
The Zygons initially came to The Doctor’s attention when a
group of them used the Skarasen - currently ‘posing’ as
the Loch Ness Monster - to attack various oil rigs in the 1970s,
the rigs serving as a test of strength before the Zygon leader Broton
began to target more visible locations and thus issue his demands.
Although he attempted to infiltrate UNIT by having one of his men
pose as the Fourth
Doctor’s companion Harry
Sullivan, The Doctor
and Sarah
Jane Smith saw through the deception and were able to track
down the Zygon ship where it was hidden at the bottom of the Loch.
Although The Doctor was briefly captured, he managed to escape his
cell, releasing the Zygons' prisoners and caused their now-mobile
ship to self-destruct, leaving only Broton alive as he had already
travelled to London while posing as the Duke of Forgill, President
of the Scottish Energy Commission. He intended to give a show of
strength by destroying a World Energy Conference with the Skarasen,
which was approaching via the Thames, but Broton was shot by UNIT
troops before he could put the plan into action, allowing The Doctor
to throw the homing device to the Skarasen and leave it free to return
to its ‘home’ in Loch Ness due to its lack of a controlling
influence.
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The Bodysnatchers
(Mark Morris) |
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After avoiding contact with the Zygons for four lifetimes,
the Eighth
Doctor encountered them once again during a visit to the 1890s
while attempting to collect issues of The Strand after he accidentally
destroyed one of his back issues of the magazine and went to look
for another. Witnessing the death of factory worker Tom Donahue -
who was killed by a dinosaur-like creature that subsequently retreated
into the Thames - The Doctor and Samantha
Jones thus took up residence with
The Doctor’s old friend Professor George Litefoot - who had
worked with the Fourth Doctor in "The
Talons of Weng-Chiang",
the Eighth Doctor claiming to be an associate of his fourth incarnation
to avoid having to explain everything about himself - and recruited
Litefoot’s assistance in investigating the murder. Tracking
Donahue to a factory, The Doctor, Sam and Litefoot swiftly determined
that the Zygons were present, intending to breed an army of Skarasen
to wipe out the human race. Although The Doctor attempted to drug
the Zygons by slipping an anaesthetic into the Skarasen milk the
Zygons were using, he miscalculated the dose and ended up killing
all but one Zygon. Fortunately, the survivor was a female Zygon named
Tuval who acknowledged that The Doctor had made a mistake and sought
no further death, but the dying Zygon leader, in a final act of revenge,
released the young Skarasen onto the streets of London. Using the
TARDIS,
The Doctor was able to generate a signal that would lure the Skarasen
to the TARDIS and then render them dormant, subsequently
taking Tuval and the Skarasen to an uninhabited planet where they
could start a new life.
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The Zygon Who Fell to Earth
(Paul Magrs) |
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The Eighth Doctor’s second encounter with the Zygons was easily
the most unusual encounter he ever had with them, particularly since
it was the only occasion where the Zygons were portrayed in an at
least slightly positive light. While The Doctor and his companion
Lucie Miller were visiting a lakeside hotel in the 1980s, owned by
Lucie’s Auntie Pat, they were shocked to discover that her
husband Trevor - a former folk singer being pressured by a record
company to make a comeback - was a Zygon, but were even more shocked
when Pat revealed that she knew about his true nature and loved him
anyway. Learning that the record company executives attempting to
convince Trevor to return were also Zygons, The Doctor and Lucie
discovered that they sought to recover a vital control crystal from
Warmaster Hagoth - that he has given to Pat as a brooch, the brooch
now fused to her throat. Although the Zygons managed to recover the
brooch - killing Pat in the process - the distraught Trevor commanded
the Skarasen to destroy the ship, ending the Zygon plot. Although
Lucie was briefly distraught at the thought that her Auntie Pat was
dead - particularly since she knew her in the future - after she
went to sleep, Trevor returned and used the last of his strength
to permanently take Pat’s form, resolving to live an ordinary
life and allow Lucie to believe the real Pat survived.
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Sting of the Zygons
(Stephen Cole) |
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In The Doctor’s last encounter with the Zygons,
the Tenth Doctor and Martha Jones were paying a visit to the
Lake District in 1909 when they encountered a group of Zygons hiding
in the lake, as well
as learning that a dead Skarasen had been discovered on the lake
bank and its mate had been sighed, prompting a hunt for the “Beast
of Westmorland” (As the creature was referred to in the papers).
Although The Doctor offered the Zygons his aid in learning what had
killed the Skarasen and at least one of their number - he and Martha
having witnessed a dying Zygon while they were out driving -, the
Zygons rejected his aid, forcing The Doctor to try and reprogram
a Zygon signal device to draw the Skarasen - and hence the Zygons
- to the Arctic. In a meeting with the Zygons, The Doctor discovered
that their ship had crash-landed in the Lake a while ago and they
had subsequently lost control of the Skarasen, using the humans to
recapture it as their own lack of food left them too weak to do so
themselves (As well as creating a Zygon ‘civil war’ as
the Zygons fought over the milk shortage). Simultaneously learning
that the Zyygons planned to take over Earth by killing the King of
England when he visited the hunt - subsequently capturing and impersonating
the various heads of state who would come to his funeral - The Doctor
allowed the Skarasen to depart through an underground channel to
the Irish sea, subsequently allowing the now-weakened Zygons - many
of them having been killed during the Skarasen’s rampage -
to return to their ship and remain in stasis. Unlike previous Zygons,
these ones had gone so far as to duplicate dogs and cows rather than
restricting themselves to people, providing them with an extra advantage
in their attempts to blend in and remain hidden. |
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