#skarasen

[billgavemeextrachips]

Classic Who is wild you guys

[cynicalclassicist]

I did not know of Manipogo. Clearly another Loch Ness-esque fellow. Maybe another Skarasen!

Cryptid of the Day: Manipogo 

Description: From the beginning of the 20th century, people around Lake Manitoba, Canada have reported seeing a serpent-like creature with the head of a camel, which they call Manipogo. Sightings peaked in the 1960s, when groups of witnesses reported seeing the monster. In 1962, a photo was taken, & in 1997, one was allegedly killed & sold to a private collector.

[bitter1stuff]

I love this goofy guy and his stop motion ways.

[gallifreyinstituteforlearning]

🍖The Master's Delicious Pet

The Master once owned a pet Skarasen (one such is pictured below) named Flipper. It was kept in a tank in the Master's TARDIS, who used to feed it enemies/annoying acquaintances regularly. One day, the Master became bored of Flipper and barbequed it.

(The Missy Chronicles)

Whoniverse Facts for Friday by GIL

More content ... →📫Got a question? | 📚Complete list of Q+A →😆Jokes |🩻Biology |🗨️Language |🕰️Throwbacks |🤓Facts →🫀Gallifreyan Anatomy and Physiology Guide (pending) →⚕️Gallifreyan Emergency Medicine Guides →📝Source list (WIP) →📜Masterpost If you're finding your happy place in this part of the internet, feel free to buy a coffee to help keep our exhausted human conscious. She works full-time in medicine and is so very tired 😴

[pluralzalpha]

Galactic Gazetteer: Zygor

Primary: Tau Ceti

Nearby planets: Ogros, Diplos

Distance from Earth: 12 ly

Environment: watery, covered in mineral-rich lakes

Inhabitants: Zygons

Animal life: Skarasen

Status: destroyed, c.12th century

First appearance: Zygon: When Being You Just Isn't Enough (2008)

First appearance of the Zygons: Terror of the Zygons (1975)

Fun fact: Zygor was destroyed in a stellar explosion that occured as part of either the Zygons' war with the Xaranti or the Last Great Time War (unless the former was, in fact, part of the latter).

Another fun fact: Zygon technology is organic, and they have enhanced the animals on their planet as cyborgs.

[timetravel-tv]

REELTIME PICTURES WILL BE AT WHOOVERVILLE 15!

SO LOOKING FORWARD TO THIS!

More importantly, KEITH BARNFATHER is sharing dealers tables with NEIL COLE from THE MUSEUM OF CLASSIC SCI-FI and he'll be launching his new book IT BELONGS IN A MUSEUM!

AND he's bringing a special guest THE SKARASEN from TERROR OF THE ZYGONS! (courtesy of the inestimable MIKE TUCKER!).

PLUS Reeltime will be launching two new special productions: DOCTOR ON DISPLAY - GREATEST SHOWS IN THE GALAXY and SAFFRON. More on both soon!

AND maybe we can drag BEDWYR GULLIDGE and ROBERT DICK along to say hello too!

REALLY, REALLY looking forward to seeing any of you lucky enough to have got tickets!

[reachingforthevoid]

Doctor Who: Timelash

I rewatched this serial on 7 May 2023. It’s a mostly enjoyable, rather silly story told with such seriousness it is delightful. 

In the TARDIS, the Doctor is looking at star charts. Peri wants to go to a place to relax, and of course that’s not going to go well. They become trapped in a time corridor and end up on Karfel where the Doctor’s been before, not that we’ve seen that visit. Jo Grant went with him, and from what she says in Death of the Doctor (the Sarah Jane Adventures), it sounds like they enjoyed a pleasurable visit.

Meanwhile on Karfel, three young white people want to escape from the Borad: under his rule, Karfel is a dystopian nightmare. The three youngsters are terrified of what they call the timelash, which is what awaits them because of their rebellious talk. It doesn’t take long for the three of them to be caught: the two men are thrown into the timelash, and the woman is dragged by a giant blue-skinned and white-haired android to the Borad. I love the androids in this story and their odd speech cadence.

There are lots of political shenanigans, both on Karfel and with interplanetary neighbours. One of the politicians is archly played by the splendid Paul Darrow.

For reasons, the Doctor ends up in the Highlands of Scotland briefly and meets a young man named Herbert. Herbert sneaks aboard the TARDIS and travels to Karfel. This prompts one of the best lines in Dr Who: “To be perfectly frank, Herbert…” Geddit? There’s also a joke about the Loch Ness monster. I prefer the Skarasen.

Little plug for Candy Jar Books who are doing a range of stories pairing Professor Travers with a chap named Herbert…

[timeagainreviews]

A Loch back at a Zygon Era

Hello friends! I've had quite the week! Monday was my birthday, so my boyfriend and I took a road trip around Scotland. We saw lots of things from the Beatrix Potter Garden in Birnam, to the Cave of Caerbannog from Monty Python, to the Devil's Pulpit in Dumgoyne. But our main destination was Loch Ness! We settled into our hotel by watching "Terror of the Zygons," which seemed appropriate considering our surroundings. Naturally, I decided to review it here. Before I do, however, I would like to thank all of you who have been liking and reblogging my stuff lately. It means a lot to know I'm connecting with people. Thank you for your support!

On the surface, "Terror of the Zygons," appears to be just like any other serial of its era. However, if you do a bit of digging, you'll discover that there are some interesting facts about its production. Did you know that there was a sort of "real-world," tie in with the story? No, I don't mean Nessie. Think closer to Mickey Mouse. In 1975, Tom Baker played the Doctor for the August "Disney Time," bank holiday special. After introducing several clips from Disney films, he is called away by the Brigadier to the events of Terror of the Zygons. I can't help but wish this information was known to me before writing my Doctor Who and Disney article! You can watch the clips on youtube. They feature Tom being suitably bizarre.

Along with having an unusual prequel, the story also had a deleted scene from the beginning which was later colourised by YouTuber "babelcolour," for the DVD release. This edited version is the one I rewatched for today's review. The scene begins with the TARDIS materialising invisibly. The Doctor walks out from nothingness, wearing a matching tartan tam and scarf, replacing his usual fedora and scarf. Not far behind are Sarah Jane and Harry Sullivan wearing said hat and scarf respectively. There's something rather humorous about the Doctor using his companions as human hat racks. Considering Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart's name, it seems appropriate that the Doctor is sporting the Royal Stewart tartan. I can't help but wonder if the costume department did this on purpose. After rematerialising the TARDIS to "fix," it back to it's usual broken police box state, the three continue their journey to answer the Brigadier's Disney Time summons. It seems an oil rig off the coast of Scotland has crashed into the sea just shortly after having lost radio contact.

After hitching a ride from the eccentric Duke of Forgill, the three meet up with a kilted Brigadier in a small Scottish inn where the landlord, Angus, plays bagpipes ad nauseam. They're really driving the Scottish shit home, which makes sense when you consider they filmed the episode in Sussex. Also gathered at the inn are Sergeant Benton, various UNIT soldiers, and a man from the oil company named Huckle. The Duke has some curt words with Huckle, informing him that any crewmen found on his land will be shot. After leaving in a huff, we see one of these crewmen wash ashore, seemingly alive. Over the past month, three different rigs have all met their demise. The gang splits up Scooby-Doo style. Dr Harry goes off to check on the injured crewmen, while Sarah stays behind to get the scoop from the locals. And the Doctor goes off to be the Doctor.

Back at the inn, Sarah mentions the odd nature of the Duke to Angus who promptly defends the duke as a good man. However, even he has to admit that the Duke has been acting strangely since the oil companies came. After letting go most of his servants, the only real bit of interaction he's had lately was gifting the inn with a goofy looking stag head. Nowadays the Duke keeps mostly to himself at Forgill Castle. The surrounding area of Tulloch Moor seems steeped in mystery. People go missing as the mist comes in, Angus tells Sarah as they're being spied upon from a distance. Eavesdropping in on the conversation over a veiny, bio-mechanical screen, an unknown figure watches from the shadows.

While driving alone, Harry spots the washed-up man from the rig and jumps out to help him. Believing him to be yet another trespasser, a beardy fellow by the name of Caber shoots the survivor and wings Harry across his brow, rendering him unconscious. Back in the bio-mechanical ship, alien villains twist and caress a fleshy panel in the weirdest form of nipple play ever seen on Doctor Who, causing the destruction of another oil rig near Ben Nevis. While trying to decipher the signal that has been jamming the oil rigs' radios, the Doctor learns of Harry's brush with death.

After checking on Harry, the Doctor goes out to inspect the oil rig wreckage where he discovers strange holes in the foundation. After taking a cast of the holes with plaster of Paris, the cast reveals what looks like the shape of an impossibly large sharp tooth. During a call with the Doctor, Sarah is attacked by the previously seen alien hand, which belongs to none other than a fearsome Zygon! I've always loved their design, especially in this scene. Something about the shape of its mouth is particularly disturbing. I was slightly disappointed about the redesign from the new series. I'm a big fan of the Zygon cat nose. I almost named one of my cats Zygon due to his dark orange fur and similar nose shape, but my partner at the time vetoed that idea. I named him Rory instead.

After discovering both Harry and Sarah missing, the Doctor discovers Sarah in a decompression room for divers, the door slightly ajar. I was annoyed by the fact that the Doctor fell for such an obvious trap, but it also led to an intriguing sequence. Harry's nurse, Sister Lamont, closes the heavy door behind the Doctor and seals it shut for decompression. Running out of air, the Doctor hypnotises Sarah and enters into a trance to conserve air. I'm a big fan of any time the Doctor acts like a bit of a mystic. I'm a meditator myself, so it's cool to see the Doctor tap into the innate powers of thought control. One of the side effects of certain meditations is a slowing of breathing. It was nice that the scene doesn't overly explain this. It allows Tom the chance to really play up his weird alien charm as his eyes roll back and he howls toward the ceiling. Moments like these are why I love Tom Baker so much. He's not afraid of being utterly bizarre.

It's around this time we begin to learn a little about the Zygons. Having taken Harry to their ship, their leader, Broton, tells him a bit about their history. After they crash-landed centuries ago they awaited rescue while subsiding on the lactic fluid of their giant Nessie-like cyborg pet known as the Skarasen. That's correct, you did not misread that- they feed off of cyborg breast milk. Only with a show like Doctor Who can you get a sentence like that. You've kind of got to love that. After discovering their planet was destroyed by a cosmic event, they redirected their efforts toward getting their suckers on Earth. The Skarasen is to be the form of Earth's destructor, as no human weapon could hope to penetrate its augmented skin. In order to move their plan into motion, the Zygons gas the village, knocking the Brigadier and the UNIT soldiers out cold, thus allowing them to move in secret. Luckily for the Doctor and Sarah, Sergeant Benton was on the lookout for them where he saves them from death by asphyxiation.

After coming to, Huckle gives the Doctor a bio-emitter that attracts the Skarasen, which he found among the wreckage of the rig. Having bugged the inn, the Zygons reveal to Harry that they use the psychic imprint of humans in order to mimic their form. He sees the likes of Sister Lamont, Caber, and the Duke, stored in hibernation chambers, maintaining a link to their Zygon counterparts. They use Harry's form to slip back to the inn where they may fetch the emitter. But he is intercepted by Sarah who is concerned by his odd behaviour. She chases him into a barn where they scuffle in a manner that had me weirdly thinking of “Super Vixens.” Russ Meyer's Doctor Who is not something I ever expected to imagine. After a bit of trouble, Zygon Harry falls from a hayloft onto his own pitchfork, killing him instantly and revealing himself to Sarah as a Zygon. However, the crafty Zygons completely evaporate his remains to hide any evidence. I wondered why they didn't just do the same thing to the emitter in the first place, but I guess the answer is "it doesn't do that." Ok, sure, whatever. Now free from his psychic link with the Zygon, Harry is able to sneak about on their ship unabated.

After realising the Zygons were working from the shadows, the Doctor assumes they must have bugged the inn somewhere, so the lads go about searching the place from top to bottom. I love Angus' indignant response to the idea that his inn might have actual bugs. Angus Lennie's performance as Angus is a true highlight in the story. Afraid of the humans discovering that the goofy stag head must be the bug, the Zygons decide to send the Skarasen to rid themselves of these tiresome humans. After figuring out the secret of the emitter, the Doctor draws the Skarasen away from the village only to find it has fused itself to his hand. But Harry's meddling with the ship's systems allows the Doctor the ability to toss the emitter in the path of the Skarasen, destroying it in the process. 

The Doctor and friends meet up and go to Forgill Castle to ask permission to drop depth charges into Loch Ness, the source of the signal. Their hope is to draw the Zygons out. Meanwhile, the Sister Lamont Zygon goes to fetch the stag head and fights with Angus in the process, killing him. It's a sad ending for one of the more likeable characters, but it's also kind of wonderful in its simplicity. I never quite understood why the Zygons needed to turn people into electric balls of something I might pull out of my hairbrush, as they did in "The Zygon Invasion." If anything, I much prefer the updates they received in Mark Morris' "The Bodysnatchers." Using venom from their suckers matches their physiology far better than superpowers. Morris really fleshed out the Zygons in a way I wish the show would. Seeing them in their initial incarnation using brute force seems far more practical to me. I think sometimes, more is less.

After discovering a way into the Zygon ship, they save Harry, but the Zygons flee with the Doctor still onboard. The Doctor gets a wonderful opportunity to match wits with Broton in a speech that includes my all-time favourite Fourth Doctor line- "You can't rule the world in hiding. You've got to come out on to the balcony sometimes and wave a tentacle." Evidently, that line was ad-libbed by Tom Baker, only further solidifying my love for the man. He makes a good point though, the Zygons have mostly been working from the shadows, in secret. The Zygons fly away, masking their trail from UNIT, still hiding. I must admit, it's not abundantly clear what their plan actually is. Sure they intend to use the Skarasen against earth's weapons, but there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of explanation as to how the oil rigs play into everything. There's mention of turning the Earth into something more habitable for Zygons, but I'm honestly not sure. I asked my boyfriend what his impression was, and he couldn't quite figure it out either.

There's a lot of what happens at this point in the story that seems like happenstance. The UNIT crew and Sarah end up going to London, which also happens to be where the Zygons have set their next target. They plan to swim the Skarasen up the Thames to wreak havoc on Westminster Abbey. In my review for "Castrovalva," I mentioned how the Fourth Doctor's super-heroics were oftentimes overstated, and what comes next is nothing shy of extraordinary. After rigging some ventricle type wiring from within his cell, the Doctor uses his own body to complete the circuit, allowing UNIT to see past the Zygon's scramblers and pinpoint their location. I loved that it was Benton that did this, by the way. This was twice in one story where Benton got to play hero. They pinpoint the ship's location to be a disused quarry, which made me ugly cackle. Classic Doctor Who used quarries so often to make up an alien planet, that the idea of them saying "This actually is a quarry," seemed almost cheeky. Broton, thinking the Doctor has died, uses his Duke disguise once more to go plant another emitter in Westminster. After releasing the human captives aboard the Zygon ship, the Doctor sounds an alarm and sets off the self destruct killing the remaining Zygons onboard. Yay, murder!

The UNIT soldiers dispatch Broton after a fumbling fight scene between him, Harry, and Sarah. All the while, the Skarasen is working its way up the Thames. It's a brilliant little bit of puppetry mixed with stop motion animation that I found completely charming. Even if it does look a bit naff, it's effective enough to be a suitable set piece to end such an episode. It's very much within the tone of the story to have the Loch Ness monster stomping through London. The Doctor manages to trace the emitter and toss it into the open jaws of the Skarasen. It nom nom noms the emitter into nothingness, causing it to lose all interest in the Abbey. The Doctor casually supposes that it will most likely return to its home of Loch Ness. I loved that the show kept the Loch Ness mystery intact. After all is said and done, "Nessie," may still be out there. It wouldn't have felt right killing off a beloved cryptid that brings so much wonder to many. Such feelings of wonder are what Doctor Who thrives upon. Sadly, while we got to keep Nessie, we say goodbye to some regulars. This marks the last regular appearance of both the Brigadier and Harry. With the Doctor no longer relegated to the Earth, UNIT begins to play a much smaller role in the story. And Harry, now back in London, hasn't a lot of need to continue travelling with the Doctor. It's an almost unceremonious end of an era for Doctor Who.

All in all, I really enjoyed this story. While I feel like it somewhat falls apart in the final act, the mystery and intrigue in the first few episodes really draw you in. Even my boyfriend, who is a casual fan, was drawn in by the atmosphere. You can see the beginnings of what was to become the more horror-themed stories such as "The Talons of Weng-Chiang," or "The Horror of Fang Rock." The Zygons are, for me at least, a classic baddie. They may not be as popular or iconic as the Daleks or Cybermen, but I think they work as their own kind of threat. Bringing them back has also proven to be successful. The Big Finish audio "The Zygon Who Fell to Earth," is well worth a listen. There's a lot of care put into this story that I think makes it stand out from others. Geoffrey Burgon's beautifully haunting music was a nice change of pace from Dudley Simpson's usual work. The track "A Landing in Scotland," is particularly memorable. The Zygon ship interior being organic was a unique touch that we rarely see in Doctor Who, save for maybe "The Claws of Axos," and the model work was also pretty damn charming. Having recently been to both Loch Ness and Ben Nevis, it really added something to the experience as well. There is a surprisingly low amount of episodes that take place in Scotland, which is unfortunate. If there's anything this trip has taught me, is that Scotland has a lot to offer. There are so many peaks and valleys covered with lush greenery and deep dark waters. It's easy to imagine that somewhere, something is lurking down below. Hats off to Robert Banks Stewart and Robert Holmes for seeing this potential, and turning out something magical.

[notoriousgrd]

"This is the DNA of the most dangerous creature in the universe."

[kowarth]

The August art challenge on Twitter a cover or 3 panel Strip based on Cavan Scott’s tale from the Missy Chronicles. Couldn’t chose between them so I drew a TV Action pastiche in order to do both ;) the metallic pencils I used on the Skarasens have basically come out purple. nevermind.

[chungledownbeamcannon]

These amuse me too much

[kaijuposting]

Hermann, who grew up watching Doctor Who and Star Trek, thinks that Newt is weird for liking tokusatsu films. Finally, Newt asks Hermann to explain the actual difference between most kaiju movies and like half the plots of Doctor Who. Hermann, who is really being very emotional about this, retorts “The monsters in Doctor Who aren’t gigantic!” And Newt points out that kaiju aren’t always gigantic, either. The word “kaiju” just means “weird creature.” It’s used the same way we use the word “monster” when we say “monster movies.” And he also points out that Doctor Who HAS had gigantic creatures, like the star whale, Kroll, the Skarasen, and that one freakin’ massive T-rex, and the egg moon, and the giant spiders... Hermann pretty much freezes up as he realizes that Newt is completely right and he’s been kind of a dickweed this whole time. And he realizes that he’s been unfair to himself, too, because he could have been liking things and having fun, but instead he’s just been dismissing them, and in doing so he turned them into an unnecessary point of contention that’s also hurt him. He apologizes to Newt, and that evening the pair of them settle down to watch a Mothra movie together. Or maybe Matango.

[rassilon-imprimatur]

Watching Terror of the Zygons parallel to all the Capaldi rewatching with the roomie continues to turn me into a pedant for how fucking badly the Zygons were executed in the series 9 twofer. Where's all the slime. Why were they shot in broad daylight. WHERE ARE THE STINGERS. WHY DO THEY SHOOT LIGHTNING. WHY IS THERE NOT EVEN A JOKE ABOUT THE SKARASEN?? 

[companionsintimeandspace]

Open Starter - Sam

"And how many times this week have we ended up running away from something that was trying to eat us?" Sam demanded. She was doing her best to keep up. The giant, metal lizard-creatures chasing them were certainly a good motivator. From the looks of their teeth, they probably had a pretty nasty bite.

[thebraxiatelcollection]

So I’m reading the Missy chronicles and apparently the Master once owned a pet Skarasen who helped to eat people before later the Master barbecued their pet Skarasen called Flipper.

Master, what the heck.

[weedle-testaburger]

Me again. Just curious. What did you NOT like about yesterday’s DW special. I was just confused about what happened to the big Godzilla fish thing. Okay the sea devils were destroyed with their ship. But what about the massive fish monster? Idk. Also I think Ji-Hun had every right to kill the sea devils who stole his ship. CG was a bit clunky but aside from that I can’t think of anything else. What about you? I’m just curious.

Oh yeah that monster was kinda out of nowhere and unexplained, tbh for a minute I thought it was a Skarasen until I remembered that was a Zygon thing and not a Sea Devil one. I think the main thing I didn't like was there wasn't much depth to it. If they'd built up Ji-Hun and Madame Ching becoming crewmates a bit more, or the Sea Devils wanting to basically flood the world (ig they're Team Aqua from Pokemon now xD) was better developed, I'd have enjoyed it more. It especially clashes with the Doctor and Yaz's relationship, which actually did go in a really interesting direction- my friend and I were saying we kinda like it more than how relationships with the Doctor have been handled before bc it feels more consistent with who they are.