M is for... Minotaur

Over the centuries the Doctor has encountered a number of Minotaurs - on Earth, in deep space and from out of the pages of the Greek Myths.

His first meeting was in the Land of Fiction. In this realm, characters from literature were brought to life, and this included the stories from legend. 

The original Minotaur came about after King Minos of Crete asked Poseidon to send him a snow-white bull which he would then sacrifice to the god. Instead, he decided to keep it. Angered, Poseidon caused the king's wife, Pasiphae, to fall in love with the bull. The pair mated, and she bore a son who was half-man, half-bull. Minos had a labyrinth built beneath his palace at Knossos and the Minotaur was sealed in. Tributes of young Athenians were despatched and sent into the complex to be devoured by the creature. Athens had been responsible for the death of the king's son.

Stories of the creature were passed from generation to generation by mouth, before being written down.

The Master of the Land of Fiction brought this mythical beast to life in another cave-like labyrinth.

The Doctor and Zoe were threatened by it, but the threat was neutralised as they knew it wasn't real so could not harm them.

The next Minotaur was no work of fiction. A young nobleman of Atlantis had asked for the strength of ten men from the Chronovore Kronos. The fickle creature made him half-man, half-bull.

He was confined to a maze of tunnels beneath the Temple of Poseidon, to guard the Crystal of Kronos which had the power to trap the Chronovore. When Queen Galleia sent her one-time lover Hippias to the temple to steal the crystal - at the urging of the Master - the creature killed him, and threatened Jo Grant who had followed to warn him. The Doctor arrived and tricked the Minotaur into killing itself when it smashed through a wall in its blind rage.

On the planet of Skonnos, the Doctor encountered a whole race of alien beings which resembled Minotaurs, in that they were bipedal, with bull-like heads. These were the Nimon.

Related to the Nimon was another Minotaur which fed on the psychic energy of its victims' faith. The race who worshipped it eventually rejected it, and it was confined to a maze-like space platform in deep space. New victims were transported to the complex, which resembled a 1970's hotel interior. Within each room was a representation of the person's greatest fear - which in turn caused them to turn to their faith in order to cope with it.

The creature died when starved of the energy it fed on - something it had actually longed for.

Played by: Richard Ireson (The Mind Robber, 1968), Dave Prowse (The Time Monster, 1972), Spencer Wilding (The God Complex, 2011).

• Richard Ireson revealed that he had played the Minotaur in an interview with DWM in 1996. He was due to play the role of Axus in The Krotons for the same director (David Maloney).
• Dave Prowse gets the credit for The Time Monster, but he refused to do any stunt work. It is Terry Walsh who crashes through the wall and grapples with Hippias.
• Spencer Wilding played Darth Vader on Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.
• The Nimon will be getting their own A-Z entry.