There are only two sleeps left until the most exciting day of the year. Forget your birthday, forget Christmas, even forget International Talk Like A Pirate Day, Saturday is WHO DAY! That’s right, Saturday the 19th of September marks the debut of Doctor Who series 9 and also coincidentally International Talk Like A Pirate Day but I said forget about that. Here at Novastream we are all and I feel like I can talk for the entire team when I say we are super excited for the return of the Doctor and Clara to our idiotic lanterns. So for that reason, I have decided to compile a list of the Doctor Who characters/monsters/aliens/creatures that I would love to see return to the show.

The Ood

If Steven Moffat’s signature monster is the Weeping Angel then surely RTD’s defining creature was the Ood. Making their debut in the wonderfully creepy Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit two-parter, the Ood seemed to be nothing but the unwanted offspring of Dr. Zoidberg and Alfred Pennyworth and you would be forgiven to write them off as a simple plot point. Sure enough this forgiveness was soon withdrawn when the Ood appeared again on screen in the heart-warming series four episode, Planet Of The Ood.

Everything you’d thought about the Ood turned out to be wrong. Rather than soulless husks of beings, bred only for the exploitation of humans, it was revealed that unlike a boy band, the Ood had much more depth to their character. They are a kind, intelligent and beautiful race of beings that’s only flaw is their own passive nature. I instantly fell in love with the Ood and fortunately for us, so did the Doctor. He set about releasing the Ood from their enslavement and it wasn’t long before the Ood were repaying this debt through cryptic messages and vague warnings.

Vampires

No wait; it’s not what you think. I’m not talking about the sh**ty Twilight vampires here, nor am I referring to those pathetic fish things that passed themselves of as vampires in The Vampires Of Venice. The kind of vampires I’m talking about here are the real vampires, the kind of vampires that were actually cool, the ones that share 98% of their DNA with Time Lords.

Back in 2010, when I saw the title, The Vampires Of Venice I was very excited to see these menacing creatures return to my favourite show. State Of Decay was the first Doctor Who story I watched as a kid where I remember realising that the Doctor had a dark side ( I didn’t watch them in order, obviously). This crazy man that ran around saving worlds and handing out jelly babies was capable of snapping at the drop of a hat and the final moments of State Of Decay was the perfect proof of that. Peter Capaldi, would be very well suited to a vampire storyline with his slim figure and sleek, dark attire and if I were a vampire going up against the 12th Doctor I think I’d be pretty scared.

Captain Jack Harkness

Surely everyone wants to see the return of Captain Jack Harkness, even John Barrowman himself is baffled as to why he hasn’t made a return. We all loved Jack and so did the BBC apparently, green lighting what has to be the best Doctor Who spin-off in Torchwood (that’s pretending the fourth series never happened). Captain Jack is everything you want in companion, charming, more than capable and above all else, immortal. Combine this with his overflowing pot of confidence and you have an interesting partner for the Doctor to bicker with throughout all of time and space.

Unfortunately, as with the Ood, I have a sneaking suspicion that Moffat does not like to fiddle around with creations of the RTD era. Which, whether it’s through pride of his own creations or respect for RTD’s, I find this quite baffling considering that it was Moffat who wrote the episodes The Empty Child and The Doctor Dances, which introduced Jack in the first place. Hey, I’m not saying I want him as a full time companion, it’s just nice to see Jack’s face every now and then, whether it be young and full of botox or old and just full of Boe. John Barrowman is full of such effervescent charisma that he would play well with anyone on screen and it’s a crying shame that he never got to meet Matt Smith’s Doctor but fingers crossed he may get the chance to piss off Peter Capaldi’s Doctor or at least BRING BACK TORCHWOOD!

Omega

Now I’ll be the first to admit that I am definitely more of a Newvian than a true Whovian but over the years I have been doing my fair share of research and catching up on the classic series and of the original villains, Omega has to be one of the most interesting. One of the great intergalactic engineers and founding Time-Lords, Omega’s mind was altered by his experiments and is now trapped in an antimatter universe and really pissed off at the Time-Lords. That is a really awesome story, even if his name has one of the geekiest origins of all time; “He later said he was named Peylix. He had taken the name Omega in response to his teacher, Luvis, who had awarded him a grade of Omega for an essay he had written.” In the words of Homer Simpson, NNNNNEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRDDDDDDDDDD!!!! Ha look at me calling someone a nerd in an article about Doctor Who, oh irony why do you taste so good when you look so disgusting?

Of all of the villains on this list, my bet is that Omega is the most likely to return to the show. Hypothetically he is still trapped in the antimatter universe so if the Doctor did need a Time Lord’s help to find Gallifrey, surely Omega is a better bet than the Master. Even if Omega didn’t help him, surely the Doctor could concoct some brilliant plan to use Omega to his advantage. Also, it would be pretty sweet to see Omega’s suit upgraded to fit in with the show’s new steampunk style.

Vashta Nerada

If there is one aspect of Steven Moffat’s writing that should be commended it’s his ability to create monsters out of deep set fears and terrifying mind tricks. The Weeping Angels will get you when you are not looking at them, so don’t blink, while the Silence will force you to forget you even saw them in the first place. Although to me, the creepiest idea of them all is the idea of the Vashta Nerada, a species that lives in the shadows on almost every planet with meat and if you aren’t already scared enough, you are the meat.

Having said that, I don’t want to see the Vashta Nerada popping up all over the place like the Weeping Angels which unfortunately I think Moffat has gone a bit mad with. Now I like a Weeping Angel as much as the next person, unless that next person is actually in the room with one but I feel that the intrigue of the Weeping Angel has died off a bit with overuse. Overuse in some pretty great episodes, but still overuse nonetheless. So if a new and interesting idea arises around the Vashta Nerada I would love to see them back on Doctor Who but please don’t allow them to overshadow the entire show.