Yeti (Doctor Who)

Yeti
Doctor Who race
A Yeti in The Web of Fear (1968)
First appearance	The Abominable Snowmen (1967)
Last appearance	Downtime (1995)
In-universe information
Home world	Earth
Type	Robots
Affiliation	The Great Intelligence

The Yeti are fictional robots from the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. They were originally created by Henry Lincoln and Mervyn Haisman, and first appeared in the 1967 serial The Abominable Snowmen, where they encountered the Second Doctor and his companions Jamie and Victoria.

The Yeti resemble the cryptozoological creatures also called the Yeti, with an appearance Radio Times has described as "cuddly but ferocious",^[1] disguising a small spherical device that provides its motive power. The Yeti serve the Great Intelligence, a disembodied entity from another dimension, which first appeared trying to form a physical body so as to conquer the Earth. The Yeti are initially used as a deception to frighten away curious people, but eventually they become an army for the Great Intelligence.

Disagreements arose between Lincoln and Haisman with the BBC in 1968 over a serial introducing another new monster, The Dominators, leading to the writers' departure from the series and the retirement of the Yeti as antagonists.^[2] The Yeti have since appeared infrequently in flashbacks or cameo appearances. One did have a part in the 20th anniversary special "The Five Doctors". They also appear in the 1990s Virgin Missing Adventures novels and the 1995 Reeltime spin-off production Downtime. The Great Intelligence has since returned in Series 7 of the revived series, portrayed by Sir Ian McKellen and Richard E. Grant, without the aid of its Yeti servants.