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Monster Files was an ongoing webcast series of webisodes created by the BBC for its official Doctor Who website website beginning as a tie-in with series 4 in 2008. These short films profile various monsters and alien races featured on Doctor Who.
Captain Jack's Monster Files[[edit] | [edit source]]
Initially, the series was presented as Captain Jack's Monster Files, in which John Barrowman, as Jack Harkness, narrates a brief history of various creatures and races encountered by the Doctor. The clips and videos were often depicted as being information acquired by the Torchwood Institute over the years. Live-action footage of Barrowman as Harkness was incorporated into the clips.
Although Files instalments usually corresponded with the episode being shown that week, during some two-parters extra Files about old monsters were released for the first part. The Slitheen were used for the Files broadcast in conjunction with The Sontaran Stratagem, for example, and the Judoon were used for Silence in the Library. A Christmas-themed Files episode was also created, in which Jack talked about the Sycorax, the Titanic, the Empress of the Racnoss, the Roboforms, the Roboform Christmas trees, the Graske and the Changelings.
Episodes[[edit] | [edit source]]
| Captain Jack's Monster Files | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Episode related to | Title | Details | Runtime | Originally available | File name |
| Partners in Crime | Adipose | Captain Jack reveals facts, figures and top secret info about the Adipose. | 2'42" | 5 April 2008 | s4_01_v_01.flv |
| The Fires of Pompeii | Pyrovile | Captain Jack reveals facts, figures and top secret info about the Pyrovile. | 2'53" | 12 April 2008 | s4_02_mon_01.flv |
| Planet of the Ood | The Ood | Captain Jack reveals facts, figures and top secret info about the Ood. | 3'16" | 19 April 2008 | s4_03_mon_01.flv |
| The Sontaran Stratagem | The Slitheen | Captain Jack reveals facts, figures and top secret info about the Slitheen. | 3'45" | 26 April 2008 | s4_01_mon_01.flv |
| The Poison Sky | The Sontarans | Captain Jack reveals facts, figures and top secret info about the Sontarans. | 2'44" | 3 May 2008 | s4_05_mon_01.flv |
| The Doctor's Daughter | The Hath | Captain Jack reveals facts, figures and top secret info about the Hath. | 2'18" | 10 May 2008 | s4_06_mon_01.flv |
| The Unicorn and the Wasp | Vespiform | Captain Jack reveals facts, figures and top secret info about the Vespiform. | 3'13" | 17 May 2008 | s4_07_mon_01.flv |
| Silence in the Library | The Judoon | Captain Jack reveals facts, figures and top secret info about the Judoon. | 2'50" | 31 May 2008 | s4_08_mon_01.flv |
| Forest of the Dead | The Vashta Nerada | Captain Jack reveals facts, figures and top secret info about the Vashta Nerada. | 2'56" | 7 June 2008 | s4_09_mon_01.flv |
| Midnight | Midnight | Captain Jack reveals facts, figures and top secret info about Midnight. | 3'01" | 14 June 2008 | s4_10_mon_01.flv |
| Turn Left | The Trickster's Brigade | Captain Jack reveals facts, figures and top secret info about the Trickster's Brigade. | 3'22" | 21 June 2008 | s4_11_mon_01.flv |
| The Stolen Earth | The Daleks | Captain Jack reveals facts, figures and top secret info about the Daleks. | 4'04" | 28 June 2008 | s4_12_mon_01.flv |
| Journey's End | Davros | Captain Jack reveals facts, figures and top secret info about Davros. | 3'41" | 5 July 2008 | s4_13_mon_01.flv |
| The Next Doctor | Christmas | Tales of Christmas past from Captain Jack. (Adventure Calendar) |
4'37" | 9 December 2008 | xmas_mon_01.flv |
| The Cybermen | Facts and figures from Captain Jack. | 3'44" | 25 December 2008 | s0_05_mon_01.flv | |
2009 Adventure Calendar[[edit] | [edit source]]
For the 2009 Doctor Who Adventure Calendar, a webisode focusing on the Weeping Angels entitled A Ghost Story for Christmas was produced. Unlike earlier instalments, it was not identified as being part of the Monster Files series, and also told a brief story as opposed to being a straight documentary. Barrowman returned to narrate the piece as Captain Jack, however.
| Episode related to | Title | Details | Runtime | Originally available | File name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The End of Time, Part One | A Ghost Story for Christmas | Christmas is a perfect time for scary stories that send a shiver down your spine and put a smile on your face! It's good to have a touch of terror in the tinsel and we've got a tale for you now that'll make you go brrrrrr! But a warning to the curious... it's about a strange and terrifying race known as the Weeping Angels. Enjoy their story but whatever you do, don't blink! (Adventure Calendar) |
3'06" | 24 December 2009 | adventure_091224.flv |
River Song's Monster Files[[edit] | [edit source]]
The Monster Files series resumed during series 5. Narrated by Alex Kingston as River Song, and featuring specially shot introduction footage, the files now took the form of information taken from her diary. Like at the end of Harkness' videos, she has survival tips, in this case called "Useful Spoilers".
Parts[[edit] | [edit source]]
| River Song's Monster Files | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Episode related to | Title | Details | Runtime | Originally available | BBC PID |
| Flesh and Stone | Weeping Angels | River Song shares the secrets of the Weeping Angels. | 3'36" | 1 May 2010 | p007njk0 |
| The Vampires of Venice | Vampires | River Song opens her famous journal and shares her knowledge of vampires and vampire-like creatures. | 3'43" | 8 May 2010 | p007rxmr |
| Cold Blood | Silurians | River Song shares some Silurian secrets in this dramatic new Monster File. | 3'25" | 29 May 2010 | p0083k6d |
Credits[[edit] | [edit source]]
These films were directed and produced by Ian Smith in BBC Wales, and written by Justin Richards.
Availability[[edit] | [edit source]]
The videos are streamed via the BBC's official Doctor Who website. Virtually all videos on the site are "geofenced" due to licensing and are technically not allowed to be viewed outside of the UK, though they are widely circulated anyway. None of these clips have been released on DVD or as any other form of media.