Sensorite

Sensorite
Biological type:	Humanoid
Affiliated with:	Earth Empire
Place of origin:	Sense Sphere
Appearances:	TV: The Sensorites PROSE: The Monsters from Earth

Sensorites were a telepathic humanoid race native to the Sense Sphere.

Biology

The Sensorites possessed bulbous heads with large black eyes (which had no eyelids) and white whiskers around their mouths.  They seem to also have disc-shaped feet. . They were sensitive to loud noise and feared the dark; in darkness, they were left blind as well as terrified, with the Doctor pointing out this was due to their eyes being completely dilated, making them unable to see in even semi-darkness. (TV: The Sensorites)

Culture

The Sensorites appeared almost identical, even to themselves. They wore accessories with their otherwise identical grey bodysuits to denote various ranks: (TV: The Sensorites)

• First Elder — Two crossing black sashes
• Second Elder — Single black sash
• City Administrator — Black collar
• Scientist — Swirling pattern insignia on chest
• Warrior — Three black bands on forearms

When the Sensorites had their backs turned, it was difficult to see who was who, as Carol Richmond discovered when she inadvertently mistook the City Administrator for the Sensorite scientist who was treating John. (TV: The Sensorites)

The number of telepathic frequencies covering the surface of the Sensesphere are numerous. However, their ability to communicate telepathically is not entirely advantageous - they can be disoriented by a concerted mental attack. It also means that they do not entirely trust non-telepathic races.

Technology

In some ways, the Sensorites are very technologically advanced. Among their inventions is a hand-ray weapon - shaped like a metal circle, with crosshairs in the center, on a handle. This can paralyze a being for up to one hour from a distance of as much as thirty yards, burn wood, and even remove the lock from the TARDIS. They use portable radio-electric lights and have a system equipped with electrothermal cuttles in their palace which enables them to tell where people are. And yet, despite these wonders, their grasp of some basic scientific principles is astonishingly poor - they are not very skilled in scientific method, for example.

The Sensorites communicate verbally, but can also communicate telepathically if they want to have a private conversation or if they wish to converse with someone a great distance away, in which case they do so by pressing a flat communication disc to their forehead. They can receive quite well without the disc, but require it to send telepathic messages. The disc can even enable humans to project telepathically.

History

A Sensorite Warrior using its telepathic powers. (TV: The Sensorites)

Early in their history, the Sensorites worshipped the Zilgans, since they lived in the darkness that they feared. They would feed them criminals and would be left on their own. The First Doctor accidentally arrived on the planet in a cave of a Zilgan. He was able to kill it. When the Sensorites learned of this, they planned to kill him. With the help of Tony and Amy Barker, he was able to scare them off by shouting and was able to escape. (PROSE: The Monsters from Earth)

In the 28th century, an exploration mission from the Earth Empire made contact with the Sensorites and attempted to exploit their world's mineral wealth. The humans appeared to die when their spacecraft exploded and the Sensorites began to suffer a plague shortly afterwards.

Years later, when a second exploration mission from Earth arrived, the Sensorites feared they would also attempt to exploit them and held them prisoner aboard their own ship. The situation was resolved by the First Doctor and his companions, who made peace between the Sensorites and the humans, and revealed that the plague was actually atropine (or nightshade) poisoning caused by the insane survivors of the first expedition. (TV: The Sensorites)

Lucie Miller encountered the Sensorites during her travels with the Monk. She later told the Eighth Doctor that they were "not as much of a laugh" as the "well bonkers" Roman Emperor Caligula. (AUDIO: The Resurrection of Mars)

Behind the scenes

• Russell T Davies has acknowledged the Sensorites as an influence on the basic concept of the Ood in The Impossible Planet and The Satan Pit. Computer read-outs (TV: Planet of the Ood) and a mention by Davies in an episode commentary revealed that the Ood Sphere and Sense Sphere are part of the same star system.