Russell T Davies reveals his favourite Doctor Who monster — and reacts to the Judoon's return

"Daleks. I love the Daleks I’m afraid," he told RadioTimes.com. "[Of the monsters I’ve personally created] I love them all really, I can’t pick one."

Speaking at the South Bank Show Awards, Davies said that the return of the Judoon, a rhino-like mercenary alien which will make an appearance in the next Doctor Who series starring Jodie Whittaker, was "marvellous" news — especially since he'd invented them.

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"They are [returning]. Very good research, yes, I know about it," Davies told RadioTimes.com. "It’s marvellous, because I know about these things before the public because I own the copyright of them, so they have to phone me up and say, 'Can we bring them back?' As if I’m going to say no. And I also get a little bit of money for it, which is very nice – not much, it’s the BBC. But I knew that about six months ago.

"Normally lawyers would do it, but [current showrunner Chris Chibnall] just sent me an email directly, saying, 'Oi, could we have the Judoon please?' And I said. 'Of course you can,'" he added.

"I do love [the Judoon], out of everything I’ve created. There’s something very gloriously daft about them, they wouldn’t fit into Star Trek, they wouldn’t fit into Stargate, and that’s a very good sign of a Doctor Who monster, when they won’t fit into any other show. So I love them, really."

For more details about the eagerly-awaited Doctor Who series 12, you can check out our dedicated update page here.

Doctor Who returns to BBC1 in 2020