Did you spot the incredibly sneaky Doctor Who monster cameos in this week’s episode?
Weeping Angels, Silurians, Zygons and more turned up in the Tsuranga Conundrum – but we’d be pretty impressed if you spotted them
New Doctor Who boss Chris Chibnall has been pretty clear that there’ll be no familiar monsters in this year’s series, with the screenwriter and executive deciding to cut out the Doctor’s old foes to keep things fresh for new viewers.
“I don’t know how many times I need to say it,” he told RadioTimes.com at a recent set visit. “There are no old monsters this series. OK?”
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Which is why Who fans may not have been looking when some iconic monsters cameod in latest episode The Tsuranga Conundrum, specifically when the Doctor and her pals tried to look up information on new monster the Pting on a spaceship computer.
In a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment (spotted online by fan Gavin Worby among others), the computer cycles very rapidly through a litany of old Who foes before it lands on the Pting, suggesting entries for the Cybermen, Weeping Angels, Zygons, Sontarans, Slitheen, Ood, Silence (though we don’t know how they got the picture) and even an old-school version of a Silurian, instead of the more modern redesign.
In fact, just about the only regularly-occurring Who foe to not get a nod in the episodes were the Daleks, whose mysterious estrangement from the series only continues.
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Anyway, this sneaky little Easter Egg teaches us two things about the new series. Number one: we need to keep our eyes peeled for even more quick references if we’re going to avoid being caught out again and number two: clearly, Chris Chibnall can’t be trusted.
Sure, it wasn’t a real monster appearance, but we’re still counting it – and if he lied about that, who knows what else he could be keeping from us…
Doctor Who continues on BBC1 on Sundays
This article was originally published on 5 November 2018
