A History of - The Judoon
This week's episode of Doctor Who, "Fugitive of the Judoon", sees the return of some old enemies the Doctor has battled before. First introduced in 2007, the Judoon are one of the most enduring alien races introduced in the new series of Doctor Who, and have been fan favourites ever since their introduction. If you're new to the show, however, you may never have heard of them, so here's my handy guide to who are the Judoon!
Who are the Judoon?
How did they first encounter the Doctor?
The Judoon first appeared in the 2007 episode "Smith and Jones", where they were hunting a bloodsucking creatures called a Plasmavore. The Plasmavore had hidden herself in the Royal Hope Hospital in London, Earth, in order to avoid detection. However, the Judoon tracked her down. Unable to land on Earth due to intergalactic laws restricting them, the Judoon used a H2O Scoop to pick up the hospital, and drop it down on the moon, which was seen as neutral territory, in order to find and destroy the Plasmavore. With the hospital now on the moon, the Judoon arrived to try and find her, scanning the hospitals inhabitants, looking for a non-human life-form. The Doctor (David Tennant) had been in the hospital investigating odd goings on related to the Judoon and the Plasmavore. Together with trainee Doctor Martha Jones (Freema Agyeman), they were able to unmask the Plasmavore as Florence Finnegen, a elderly lady staying in the hospital, when she drank the Doctor's blood to appear as human, not realising that he is a Time Lord. The Judoon executed her, and returned the hospital to the Earth.
Any other notable encounters?
Their other most notable appearance in the TV show was in the 2008 series finale "The Stolen Earth", where they were seen as the security for the Shadow Proclamation, the shadowy lawmakers that had been referred to throughout the revival of Doctor Who. The Doctor and Donna (Catherine Tate) travelled to the Proclamation in order to find the Earth after it is kidnapped by the Daleks, and encounter the Judoon after stepping out of the TARDIS. After that, they made a number of other cameo appearances throughout the Matt Smith and Peter Capaldi eras. These include the bar where Jack meets Alonso in "The End of Time", part of the alliance that imprisoned the Doctor in the Pandorica in "The Pandorica Opens", helping the Doctor at the Battle of Demon's Run in "A Good Man Goes to War", protecting the Shadow Architect from Colony Sarff in "The Magician's Apprentice" and being members of Trap Street in "Face the Raven".
What about spin-off media?
The Judoon have had a number of appearances outside the TV show. In the CBBC spin-off The Sarah Jane Adventures, the Judoon appeared in the Series 3 opener "Prisoner of the Judoon". Here, Judoon captain Tybo encountered Sarah Jane and her friends when his spaceship, which is carrying the convicted Veil Androvax, crashes. Together, they recapture Androvax, and he is taken to the Judoon's prison planet. The 2009 novel "Judgement of the Judoon" saw the Tenth Doctor partnered with Judoon commander Rok Ma and private investigator Nikki Jupiter to investigate a spate of crimes in the city New Memphis committed by the Invisible Assassin. The Tenth Doctor and Martha also ran into the Juddon once more in the novella "Revenge of the Judoon", where they team up with author Arthur Conan Doyle in order to stop the Judoon using Temporal Reversion Devices on Earth. On audio, the Judoon have appeared alongside two different Doctors: Colin Baker and David Tennant. In the "Classic Doctors New Monsters: Volume 1" story "Judoon in Chains", Judoon captain Kybo finds himself on Earth after being rescued by the Sixth Doctor, only to find himself captured by a travelling showman and put on display as part of his so-called 'freakshow'. During this time, other Judoon come looking for Kybo, in order to put him on trial for desertion. However, Kybo has started to learn things no Judoon has ever learned about, like poetry and speaking other languages without a translator, and, as such, is a danger to the other Judoon. However, the Doctor defends him at his trial, and together they are able to expose the crimes of the Judoon's current employers. In the Tenth Doctor Adventure "One Mile Down", the Doctor and Donna visit the underwater city of Vallarasse, where the Judoon are providing security for the tourist company running the historic city. And, in comics, the Judoon have appeared multiple times, both alongside the Shadow Proclamation (in "Fugitive", for example) and on their own (as they did when they met the Fourth Doctor in "Prisoners of Time").
What will the Judoon be up to in "Fugitive of the Judoon"?
As of yet, we don't really know. However, the title of the episode implies that, once again, there will be a fugitive who has escaped from the Judoon's clutches. We also know that this episode has a big ending, but whether that ties into this episode, next week's episode "Praxeus" or the arc of the Timeless Child and the events of "Spyfall", we don't know. Maybe the Judoon are transporting some big Doctor Who villain? Maybe their prisoner knows the secret of the Timeless Child? Maybe it's a sequel to "Delta and the Bannermen"? (Oh I wish that would be the case!) As the Curator says:
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| The Judoon, in all their rhino-headed glory! |
Who are the Judoon?
The Judoon are a race of mercenaries, designed to be employed by anyone needing their services. Their most common role is as space police, and they have been employed in that capacity through pretty much all of their appearances in the show thus far. They are ruthless in the pursuit of this task, and are not willing to let anyone stand in their way. Anyone that does faces a potentially lethal sentence: they act as not just police, but judge, jury and executioner, if needs be. Assaults on Judoon, and other such minor misdemeanours, can be punishable by death. They look like Earth rhinos, but have their own language and culture, and strictly obey the local laws of planets they find themselves on.
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| The Doctor (David Tennant), Martha Jones (Freema Agyeman) and the Judoon, in a promtional image for their debut story, "Smith and Jones". |
The Judoon first appeared in the 2007 episode "Smith and Jones", where they were hunting a bloodsucking creatures called a Plasmavore. The Plasmavore had hidden herself in the Royal Hope Hospital in London, Earth, in order to avoid detection. However, the Judoon tracked her down. Unable to land on Earth due to intergalactic laws restricting them, the Judoon used a H2O Scoop to pick up the hospital, and drop it down on the moon, which was seen as neutral territory, in order to find and destroy the Plasmavore. With the hospital now on the moon, the Judoon arrived to try and find her, scanning the hospitals inhabitants, looking for a non-human life-form. The Doctor (David Tennant) had been in the hospital investigating odd goings on related to the Judoon and the Plasmavore. Together with trainee Doctor Martha Jones (Freema Agyeman), they were able to unmask the Plasmavore as Florence Finnegen, a elderly lady staying in the hospital, when she drank the Doctor's blood to appear as human, not realising that he is a Time Lord. The Judoon executed her, and returned the hospital to the Earth.
Any other notable encounters?
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| The Judoon, as seen in "The Stolen Earth" at the headquarters of the Shadow Proclamation. |
Their other most notable appearance in the TV show was in the 2008 series finale "The Stolen Earth", where they were seen as the security for the Shadow Proclamation, the shadowy lawmakers that had been referred to throughout the revival of Doctor Who. The Doctor and Donna (Catherine Tate) travelled to the Proclamation in order to find the Earth after it is kidnapped by the Daleks, and encounter the Judoon after stepping out of the TARDIS. After that, they made a number of other cameo appearances throughout the Matt Smith and Peter Capaldi eras. These include the bar where Jack meets Alonso in "The End of Time", part of the alliance that imprisoned the Doctor in the Pandorica in "The Pandorica Opens", helping the Doctor at the Battle of Demon's Run in "A Good Man Goes to War", protecting the Shadow Architect from Colony Sarff in "The Magician's Apprentice" and being members of Trap Street in "Face the Raven".
What about spin-off media?
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| The cover for "Judoon in Chains", the Big Finish audio that brought the Sixth Doctor and the Judoon together. |
What will the Judoon be up to in "Fugitive of the Judoon"?
As of yet, we don't really know. However, the title of the episode implies that, once again, there will be a fugitive who has escaped from the Judoon's clutches. We also know that this episode has a big ending, but whether that ties into this episode, next week's episode "Praxeus" or the arc of the Timeless Child and the events of "Spyfall", we don't know. Maybe the Judoon are transporting some big Doctor Who villain? Maybe their prisoner knows the secret of the Timeless Child? Maybe it's a sequel to "Delta and the Bannermen"? (Oh I wish that would be the case!) As the Curator says:
And that's everything you need to know about the Judoon before "Fugitive of the Judoon" airs. I think this could be a really good episode, and I'm looking forward to seeing the Judoon back in action! Expect a review on Wednesday next week!
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| The Doctor (Jodie Whittaker) faces down the Judoon in "Fugitive of the Judoon". |
All photos and GIF's copyright to the BBC. Thank you very much for reading.
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