The Monoids were a slave race to humanity in the distant future and assisted them in finding a new home on the Earth-like planet Refusis II. However, during the 700-year journey to Refusis II, the Monoids overthrew their human overlords in a revolution, which left humanity’s future in question. The First Doctor, Steven and Dodo visited The Ark twice at separate points in history. During the first, the Doctor found a cure to a plague that had evolved from Dodo’s cold. In the second, the Doctor, Steven and Dodo helped to encourage a Monoid civil war, which allowed the humans to regain control of the situation and resettle on Refusis II, centuries after Earth was apparently destroyed (The End of the World). The Sensorites and the Monoids formed the inspiration for the Ood, which are popular Doctor Who aliens that have appeared throughout the modern series. The Monoids have haircuts that are reminiscent of The Beatles. I shave every morning and I have a haircut every month. When girls touch their hair whilst they are talking to you, you know that they like you! And it helps if you wear aftershave and smell good!

The Ark

★★★☆☆

TX: 5-26/3/1966

Written by Paul Erickson & Lesley Scott     Directed by Michael Imison

The First Doctor, Steven and Dodo arrive on a human space Ark in the distant future, carrying the last survivors of humanity (and their servants, the Monoids) and many other animals to the planet Refusis II. The Earth has apparently been destroyed. After witnessing The End of the World, humanity has chosen to resettle on the Earth-like planet Refusis II, home to the invisible Refusians. Dodo has a cold and when she sneezes, a virus mutates from it which begins to spread across the Ark. Thankfully, the Doctor manages to find a cure and the humans and Monoids are saved thanks to a vaccine. I had four shots of the AstraZeneca vaccine during the Covid pandemic. The Doctor, Steven and Dodo return to the TARDIS, but the ship lands in the same place, 700 years in the future. Since then, the Monoids have overthrown their human overlords and built the giant statue in their own image. The Doctor, Steven and Dodo travel down to Refusis II upon arrival, where they are greeted by the invisible Refusians. The Refusians help to trigger a civil war amongst the Monoids, which allows the humans to regain control of the situation. “Two, take them away to the Security Kitchen and then call a grand council!” This line tickled me almost as much as when the Ninth Doctor first asserted that “lots of planets have a north” in Rose. The Ark is an intriguing story with plenty of influences from The Time Machine by H.G. Wells, whom the Doctor later met onscreen in Timelash. This story also pays homage to Wells’ lesser-known novel The Sleeper Awakes, whilst the invisible nature of the indigenous Refusians references one of Wells’ most famous books, The Invisible Man. The Monoids may not be one of Doctor Who’s most successful monsters. But, combined with the Sensorites, they played a key part in the inspiration for the Ood that have frequently appeared in the new series. The Ood were also an oppressed slave race that later overthrew their human overlords in Planet of the Ood. Another great treat that this adventure provides is that it is effectively two stories in one. The entire tale is turned on its head after the cliffhanger at the end of Episode 2, following the reveal of the Monoid statue. Whilst defending the town of Christmas on the planet Trenzalore for centuries, the Eleventh Doctor witnessed a puppet show of him defending the town from a Monoid (The Time of the Doctor).