The second of our occasional series, looking at the classic era's one-hit wonders.
1964's The Sensorites was the only television story to feature the inhabitants of the Sense-Sphere.
As they had turned out to be a predominantly non-hostile species, with lots of very basic weaknesses (darkness and loud noises) their potential was always going to be limited as far as further adventures were concerned.
It would be several years before a Sensorite was seen again in Doctor Who. Twice we would see photographic images of them.
The second time was a picture of a Sensorite criminal, as projected onto a wall by the character Psi in Time Heist.
Of all the races which might be infamous for criminality, or who might have made the Doctor fearful, it is very odd that the two production teams selected the rather timid and unthreatening Sensorites.
True, we saw two villainous examples in The Sensorites - the City Administrator and the Engineer - but it is clear that they were very much atypical of their people.
At no point in the story is the Doctor ever seen to be even remotely terrified of the aliens.
The Sensorites may not have had any further role to play in the classic era but they did have a major influence on the revived series - as the inspiration for the popular Ood.
The earliest version of The Impossible Planet would have seen it one of the cheaper stories of the second series. Part of this cost cutting would have been the reuse of existing costumes. It was to be the Slitheen who were the servitors in Sanctuary Base 6.
The story evolved, however, and ended up an expensive two-parter, with a lot of CGI, as it was going to be the first proper visit to an alien world of the revival. The Slitheen were dropped and Russell T Davies decided on a new alien race - and for inspiration he looked to the Sensorites.
The Ood are physically identical, with large, bald heads, and they wear standardised uniforms.
In place of the beard which was designed to hide the join of the mask at the neck, the Ood have the tendrils, or fronds, on their chins.
Even the Sensorites' telepathic devices are referenced as the Ood employ their translation globes.
It is established that they share a telepathic field.
Left to their own devices, both are friendly, non-threatening species. Ood have only ever been seen to be hostile when under the influence of an external force.
A Sensorite featured on the cover of the first Dr Who Annual, published in 1965 - the little gnome-like figure at the bottom. The creatures featured in one of the stories within.
The story was entitled "The Monsters from Earth". It concerned a pair of children - Tony and Amy - and their dog Butch, who enter the TARDIS whilst playing hide and seek. After an encounter with a giant spider the Doctor is captured by Sensorites. The writer clearly never saw the TV episodes as they are described as having grey skin and no clothes. The accompanying artwork shows them as hairy humanoids.
The Doctor has been captured as the Sensorites used the spider (a Zilgan) to punish their criminals and other enemies, and they are angry that he has killed it.
The Doctor has the children hide in a dark tunnel, which the Sensorites can't enter, then he has them make a lot of noise - including the barking of Butch - which overpowers his captors and allows them all to escape.
The susceptibility to darkness and noise are the only accurate things about the Sensorites in the story.
Later spin-off media would use the fact that The Sensorites takes place in the 28th Century to paint a bleak future for the Sense-Sphere. This is the height of the Earth Empire (established in several Jon Pertwee stories) and the Sensorite homeworld is plundered for its molybdenum by rapacious Earth companies such as IMC (from Colony in Space).
Both Daleks and Time Lords sought to exploit Sensorite telepathic abilities to aid them in the Time War.
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