Farting aliens may not be many people's cup of tea, but the Slitheen are an extremely memorable race. They are amongst the small handful of aliens who have come from the newer series of Doctor Who and can be classified as iconic - the Ood, the Weeping Angels and the Silence are perhaps the only other races. So what is so great about this tale? For the first time the viewers come to realise that the Doctor isn't brilliant; he has taken Rose from her family for an entire year and her family must confront the truth about her disappearance. Its bleak undertones play beneath a blanket of flatulence and Aliens of London and World War Three are amongst the highlights of the debut series. This tale wouldn't suit Steven Moffat and it certainly wouldn't suit Peter Capaldi, but somehow it did suit Christopher Eccleston. As nice as it would be for the Slitheen to return at some point, it would be quite hard envisage Capaldis Doctor facing off against them. The Slitheen's return in Boom Town was a massive letdown and yet there is still scope to expand upon these Raxacoricofallapatorians.
