Yeti (Doctor Who)

The Yeti are fictional robots from the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. They were originally created by writers Henry Lincoln and Mervyn Haisman and first appeared in the 1967 serial The Abominable Snowmen. The Yeti resemble the cryptozoological creatures also called the Yeti. In the series' fictional universe, these robot Yeti serve the Great Intelligence, a formless entity with mysterious origins, and are used by the Intelligence to aid in its invasions. Following this debut appearance, the Yeti only had one other major appearance in the 1968 serial The Web of Fear, which depicted the Yeti's being used by the Intelligence in its attempt to subjugate London using the London Underground.

The concept of the Yeti arose as a result of a discussion between then-lead actor Patrick Troughton, Lincoln, and Haisman, and soon was pitched to the show's production office. The serial, The Abominable Snowmen, was chosen out of a desire for more on-location shooting, necessitated by the serial's script; it was also chosen because the production team needed a replacement for the Daleks, another popular antagonist that had recently been written out of the series. Producer Peter Bryant, predicting the Yeti would be a success with audiences, commissioned another serial featuring the Yeti to follow shortly after their debut. Disagreements arose between Lincoln and Haisman with the BBC in 1968 over the company's handling of another of the pair's creations for the series, leading to the writers' departure from the series and the retirement of the Yeti as antagonists in the main series apart from small cameos. The Yeti have recurred in spin-off media, including the 1995 direct-to-video film Downtime.

Already popular monsters at the time of their introduction, the Yeti became even more popular with their second appearance in The Web of Fear, as the Yeti's presence in the serial's setting of the London Underground was stated to have made them substantially more terrifying for viewers, especially children. Though the Yeti have maintained an appeal with fans after their retirement from the series, critics and some fans have felt that the creatures' inflexible costumes and "cuddly" designs lessened their credibility as antagonists.