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{{Short description|Family of an alien species (Raxacoricofallapatorians) from the Doctor Who series' "Whoniverse"}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{in-universe|date=October 2017}}
{{Infobox fictional race
| name        = Raxacoricofallapatorian
| image       = Slitheen (3151315454).jpg
| image_size  = 220px
| series      = [[Doctor Who]]
| type        = Living calcium bipeds
| affiliation = Various (families)
| home_world  = Raxacoricofallapatorius
| first       = "[[Aliens of London]]" (2005)
| caption     = Slitheen, as shown at the [[Doctor Who Experience]]
}}

The '''Slitheen''' are a fictional family of Raxacoricofallapatorians, massive, bipedal [[Extraterrestrial life in popular culture|extraterrestrial]]s, from the British [[science fiction television]] series ''[[Doctor Who]].'' They are adversaries of the [[Ninth Doctor]] and later [[Sarah Jane Smith]]. The Slitheen are a family of egg-laying [[calcium]]-based aliens from the fictional planet Raxacoricofallapatorius. Though their family name is Slitheen, their species is named '''Raxacoricofallapatorians.''' The Slitheen are instinctive hunters, who are trained from a young age to be ruthless criminals whose main motivation is profit. They were convicted in their home world and are not willing to return to their planet in fear of receiving a [[capital punishment|death sentence]].

The Slitheen first appeared in the [[Doctor Who (series 1)|2005 series]] episodes "[[Aliens of London]]" and [[World War Three (Doctor Who)|"World War Three"]], and subsequently recur in later episodes of both ''Doctor Who'' and the spin-off series ''[[The Sarah Jane Adventures]]''.

== Physical characteristics ==
Adult Slitheen are {{convert|8|ft|m|order=flip}} tall with overweight but muscular builds, long forearms, powerful sharp claws, and baby-like faces. They have pairs of eyelids, which move sideways and have a [[nictitating membrane]]. They possess immense physical strength, as they are shown to be strong enough to lift people off the ground. They have a highly developed sense of smell, as they are able to smell [[adrenaline]], and hormones in people, and can sense if one of their own dies. Female Raxacoricofallapatorians can produce poisons within their bodies to use against their enemies. Known methods of delivery include a poisoned dart that is formed in their finger and then fired, and an exhalation of poisoned breath. Members of the Slitheen family have green skin, though there is variation in the skin tone of other Raxacoricofallapatorian families. In ''The Sarah Jane Adventures'' serial ''[[The Gift (The Sarah Jane Adventures)|The Gift]]'', members of the Slitheen-Blathereen family group are seen to have orange skin. The Slitheen also have hyphenated surnames, which allow The Doctor to deduce their planet of origin.

The Slitheen disguise themselves by crawling into the skins of their victims, using compression fields created by a collar worn around their necks to squeeze their huge size into a smaller space. Initially, the compression ratio is limited, so the disguises tend to be [[obesity|obese]] people, though some disguises are also slim people. This issue is overcome by new technology by the time of ''[[The Lost Boy (The Sarah Jane Adventures)|The Lost Boy]]'', in which the skins of thinner people are used. By the time of "[[From Raxacoricofallapatorius with Love]]", shorter people could also be used. The exchange of gases that compression entails also builds up within the acquired skin, causing very loud flatulence in humans (the expelled gas smells like [[breath odor|bad breath]], which the Doctor notes is a form of calcium decay—though, in reality, [[bacterium|bacteria]] that causes [[Teeth#Tooth decay|tooth decay]] is different from those that cause bad breath). This side-effect is also overcome by the newer technology in ''The Lost Boy''.

=== Gas exchange ===
When the Slitheen are in their skin suits, they break wind loudly; they call this the gas exchange. This can also be caused by over-eating. In ''The Gift,'' [[Sarah Jane Smith|Sarah Jane]] and the gang destroy their source of food, a plant called Rackweed, which is native to Raxacoricofallapatorius. The Rackweed, when digested, is in their stomachs. Using the audio of every audio-producing device in the vicinity, Mr. Smith triggers a sound in the attic. This causes the Slitheen-Blathereen aliens to start farting uncontrollably, and through the subsequent vibration of the sound and their own farts, their stomachs explode. Clyde then says the Blathereen aliens had "farted themselves to death."

====Vulnerabilities====
Raxacoricofallapatorians are vulnerable to [[acetic acid]], which reacts explosively—and fatally—with their bodies, making Slitheen allergic to [[vinegar]], [[ketchup]] and [[Coca-Cola]]. One Raxacoricofallapatorian method of execution involves lowering the condemned into a cauldron of acetic acid, heated to boiling. The acidity dissolves the skin, causing the internal organs to drop into the liquid while the condemned is still alive, reducing them to "soup" in a slow and painful death. In "World War Three," when a single Slitheen was electrocuted, the effects were transmitted to other Slitheen, even those across the city.

== Production ==
Writer and showrunner [[Russell T Davies]] based the idea of a family of antagonists around the Aubertides from the [[Virgin New Adventures]] novel "[[Human Nature (novel)|Human Nature.]]"<ref>Mcalpine, Fraser (2015). "'[http://www.bbcamerica.com/anglophenia/2016/02/doctor-who-10-things-you-may-not-know-about-aliens-of-london Doctor Who': 10 Things You May Not Know About 'Aliens of London']". ''[[BBC America]]''. Retrieved 15 March 2020.</ref> The decision to have the Slitheen invade Downing Street was inspired by the [[Girls Aloud]] "[[Jump (For My Love)|Jump]]" music video.<ref>McEwan, Cameron (18 September 2017). "[https://www.doctorwho.tv/news/?article=former-doctor-who-boss-girls-aloud-video-was-influence-for-slitheen-invasion Former Doctor Who boss: Girls Aloud video was influence for Slitheen invasion]". ''Doctor Who Tv''. Retrieved 4 April 2020.</ref> In pre-production of the episodes, it was decided for the Slitheen to appear both as physical costumes and as [[CGI animation|CGI]] models. However, it was later found that the costumes did not match their CGI counterparts, and the costumes were discovered to have many limitations, leading to the team electing to avoid a hybrid approach of costumes and CGI for future episodes.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Aliens Of London / World War Three {{!}} A Brief History Of Time (Travel) |url=http://www.shannonsullivan.com/drwho/serials/2005de.html |access-date=2023-07-21 |website=www.shannonsullivan.com}}</ref> Davies was impressed by [[Annette Badland]]'s performance as Blon Fel-Fotch Pasameer-Day Slitheen during the production of "Aliens of London" and "World War Three," and asked her if she would be willing to return to the programme for the future. Seeking to revisit the character, he selected the eleventh episode of [[Doctor Who (series 1)|Series One]] to focus on it, which eventually became "Boom Town." As the costumes and CGI models already existed, very little strain was placed on the budget, allowing for a climactic finishing sequence in the episode.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Boom Town {{!}} A Brief History Of Time (Travel) |url=http://www.shannonsullivan.com/drwho/serials/2005k.html |access-date=2023-07-21 |website=www.shannonsullivan.com}}</ref>

Davies initially pitched the idea of [[The Sarah Jane Adventures]] with the idea of "Sarah Jane versus the Slitheen." As the monsters held a particular appeal for younger viewers and were a part of the [[Doctor Who (series 1)|first series]] of Doctor Who's revival, it was felt that they were an ideal monster to include in the series, and they also established the connection with Doctor Who.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Revenge Of The Slitheen {{!}} A Brief History Of Time (Travel) |url=http://www.shannonsullivan.com/drwho/sarahjane/2007bc.html |access-date=2023-07-21 |website=www.shannonsullivan.com}}</ref>

In an early draft of "[[The Gift (The Sarah Jane Adventures)|The Gift]]," the Slitheen had a bigger role, aiding the human characters in stopping the spread of "Yorrum Grass" (an earlier version of the "Rakweed" used in the final episode) before betraying them to the Blathereen. The Blathereen themselves were thought to be a cost-saving measure, as a simple repaint of the Slitheen costumes, but new costumes ended up being constructed for the Blathereen regardless.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Gift {{!}} A Brief History Of Time (Travel) |url=http://www.shannonsullivan.com/drwho/sarahjane/2009lm.html |access-date=2023-07-21 |website=www.shannonsullivan.com}}</ref>

==Appearances==
When they first appeared in "Aliens of London" (set in 2006), the Pasameer-Day branch of the Slitheen had been in Great Britain for some time, having infiltrated various levels of British society, from community leaders and military personnel to mid-level politicians and government officials. Their intent was to instigate [[World War III]] and sell the [[radioactive decay|radioactive]] remains of Earth to a [[recession|depressed]] galactic economy as fuel for interstellar spacecraft. They staged the crash landing of an alien spaceship in central [[London]], setting up a cybernetically augmented pig as an "extraterrestrial" body.
[[File:290707-022 CPS (3998744058).jpg|thumb|A Slitheen, as it appears at the ''Doctor Who'' Experience]]
With the world in a state of heightened alert and panic, and with their commander Jocrassa assuming the role of Acting [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|Prime Minister]], they persuaded the [[United Nations]] to allow the United Kingdom to use its nuclear arsenal against the alien "massive weapons of destruction". Before the Slitheen could receive the launch codes, the [[Ninth Doctor]] arranged for a [[Harpoon missile]] to demolish [[10 Downing Street]], ending the scheme and killing all but one of them who managed to escape through an emergency teleport.<ref>"[[Aliens of London]]/[[World War Three (Doctor Who)|World War Three]]"</ref>

Jocrassa's sister [[List of Doctor Who villains#Blon Fel-Fotch Pasameer-Day Slitheen|Blon Fel-Fotch Pasameer-Day Slitheen]], who had assumed the identity of Margaret Blaine of [[MI5]], survived and reappeared in the episode "[[Boom Town (Doctor Who)|Boom Town]]". In the intervening six months, "Blaine" was elected as [[Lord Mayor]] of [[Cardiff]] and planned to leave Earth by using the energy from a new [[nuclear power station]] to interact with the [[Cardiff Rift]], unconcerned that the planet would be destroyed in the process. Blon was stopped by the Doctor and his companions, and on exposure to the "heart" of the [[TARDIS]], regressed to an egg. The Doctor took the egg to the hatcheries on Raxacoricofallapatorius so she could be given a second chance at life and be raised by a peaceful Raxacoricofallapatorian family.<ref>"[[Boom Town (Doctor Who)|Boom Town]]"</ref>

Some years after the events of "World War Three", in ''[[Revenge of the Slitheen]]'' (set in either 2008 or 2009){{efn|It is stated in "Invasion of the Bane" that K-9 Mark IV has been in a black hole for 18 months, "School Reunion" having taken place in 2007.{{citation needed|date=November 2015}}}} another group of Slitheen infiltrated a construction company with plans to turn off the Sun and destroy [[Earth]] by draining the world's energy to avenge the deaths of the Pasameer-Days. It is mentioned that the [[Judoon]] have begun to force out the Slitheen and that the various other Raxacoricofallapatorian families have been working against them. The families Blathereen and Hostrazeen are mentioned as part of the Raxacoricofallapatorian ruling bodies: the Senate and the Grand Council. After their Commander, Glune, was killed by [[Maria Jackson]], [[Luke Smith (The Sarah Jane Adventures)|Luke Smith]] was able to trick the Slitheen into resetting their machinery, which then malfunctioned and exploded. Two of the remaining Slitheen were killed, and the others escaped, including Glune's nephew, Korst, the first child Slitheen to appear.<ref>"[[Revenge of the Slitheen]]"</ref>

The Slitheen returned in ''[[The Lost Boy (The Sarah Jane Adventures)|The Lost Boy]]'' where, using the newer compression technology, two Slitheen named Dax and Bloorm posed as Luke's 'real' parents Jay and Heidi Stafford. They were under the command of Korst, who planned to avenge the deaths of his family.<ref>"[[The Lost Boy (The Sarah Jane Adventures)|The Lost Boy]]"</ref> Another Slitheen (who was either a child or a short adult) appeared in the 2009 special "[[From Raxacoricofallapatorius with Love]]", masquerading as a galactic diplomat in an attempt to steal Sarah Jane's robot dog [[K-9 (Doctor Who)|K-9]].<ref>"[[From Raxacoricofallapatorius with Love|From Raxicoricofallapatorius with Love]]"</ref>

The Slitheen appeared in the [[New Series Adventures (Doctor Who)|New Series Adventures]] novel ''[[The Monsters Inside]]'' by [[Stephen Cole (writer)|Stephen Cole]]. When the Ninth Doctor and Rose are arrested in the Justicia System in the year 2501, the Doctor shares a cell with Dram Fel-Fotch and Ecktosca Fel-Fotch Happen-Bar Slitheen, who claim that after the Earth incident, the remnants of the family went bankrupt and had become historians. The Slitheen had not actually given up business and were in conflict with a more influential family, the Blathereen. When the Doctor and Rose defeat an attempted Blathereen takeover of the system, the Slitheen are pleased to see they can once again become the profit-holders of their race. The Blathereen were mentioned again in the Sarah Jane Adventures episode ''[[Revenge of the Slitheen]]''.

In the Series 3 finale of ''The Sarah Jane Adventures'', ''[[The Gift (The Sarah Jane Adventures)|The Gift]]'', a pair of Slitheen-Blathereen from an intermarried line of the two families attempted to overrun Earth with Rakweed, a plant native to Raxacoricofallapatorius and used as an addictive vegetable. Using sound waves, the Slitheen-Blathereen are blown up by the Rakweed in their stomachs.<ref>"[[The Gift (The Sarah Jane Adventures)|The Gift]]"</ref>

In "[[Dalek (Doctor Who episode)|Dalek]]", a stuffed Raxacoricofallapatorian arm was among a collection of alien artefacts owned by American billionaire [[List of Doctor Who villains#Henry van Statten|Henry van Statten]] in the year 2012. Rose later mentioned the Slitheen Parliament of Raxacoricofallapatorius in "[[The Christmas Invasion]]" (though her impromptu speech was a pastiche of phrases she had picked up on her travels with the Doctor). A member of the Slitheen was captured by the [[List of Doctor Who aliens#Graske|Graske]] in the mini-episode "[[Attack of the Graske]]," and later fought back against its captor after being freed. Rose accused the Doctor (after his [[Doctor (Doctor Who)#Changing faces|regeneration]] into the [[Tenth Doctor]]) of being a Slitheen in disguise in the [[Doctor Who: Children in Need|2005 Children in Need mini-episode]] and the Doctor makes a passing reference to the Slitheen and their skin-suits in "[[The Runaway Bride (Doctor Who)|The Runaway Bride]]".
[[File:010413-085 CPS (8643954302).jpg|thumb|The [[Abzorbaloff]], an alien from Raxicoricofallapatorious' twin planet Clom]]
In the [[Doctor Who (series 2)|2006 series]] episode "[[Love & Monsters (Doctor Who)|Love & Monsters]]", an alien called the [[List of Doctor Who universe creatures and aliens (0–9, A–G)#Abzorbaloff|Abzorbaloff]], whose natural form is similar to that of the Slitheen, claims to be from Raxacoricofallapatorius's twin planet Clom. The Slitheen spaceship from "Aliens of London" was also seen in a flashback in the same episode.

A Slitheen appears briefly in the Tenth Doctor novel ''[[The Nightmare of Black Island]]'' by [[Mike Tucker (special effects artist)|Mike Tucker]], created from Rose's memories, along with a [[Dalek]] and the [[Auton|Nestene Consciousness]]. The Slitheen are also briefly referenced by the Doctor in the same novel while speaking to a member of the Cynrog about hiding under human-like skinsuits. In the later novel, ''[[The Last Dodo]]'', when the Doctor is asked if he has ever had a dream, he claims to have a recurring one in which a Slitheen on a [[rocking horse]] chases him. The Slitheen appear as a sketch in John Smith's "''[[List of Doctor Who items#J|A Journal of Impossible Things]]"'' in the episode "[[Human Nature (Doctor Who episode)|Human Nature]]". The scribbled words by the drawing note that "it's always for money."

In the ''[[Torchwood]]'' episode "[[Reset (Torchwood)|Reset]]", a newspaper clipping of Blon posing as Margaret Blaine, previously seen in "[[Boom Town (Doctor Who)|Boom Town]]", can be seen as Martha Jones enters the Hub.

The ''Doctor Who'' website features a segment called [[Jack Harkness|Captain Jack]]'s Monster Files, narrated by [[John Barrowman]], which provides information about alien species. An episode focusing on the Slitheen<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/s4/videos/slitheen | title=BBC - Doctor Who - - Videos }}</ref> shows a family tree that refers to a number of related families, all with the suffix, ''-een'', with the exception of the 'Absorbalovian Rebels', referring to the Absorbaloff from "[[Love & Monsters (Doctor Who)|Love & Monsters]], from the twin planet of Clom.

The Slitheen are mentioned in the audiobook ''[[Wraith World]]'', when [[Clyde Langer]] remarks he cannot understand why [[Luke Smith (The Sarah Jane Adventures)|Luke]] and [[Rani Chandra (The Sarah Jane Adventures)|Rani]] would want to read about made up adventures when they have faced the Slitheen.

Though the Slitheen do not appear in "[[The Time of the Doctor]]", the Doctor mentions them as among the forces gathered around Trenzalore.

===''Doctor Who''===
*"[[Aliens of London]]" / "[[World War Three (Doctor Who)|World War Three]]" (2005)
*"[[Boom Town (Doctor Who)|Boom Town]]" (2005)

====Cameos====
*"[[The End of Time (Doctor Who)|The End of Time]]" (2010)

===''The Sarah Jane Adventures''===
*''[[Revenge of the Slitheen]]'' (2007)
*''[[The Lost Boy (The Sarah Jane Adventures)|The Lost Boy]]'' (2007)
*''[[The Gift (The Sarah Jane Adventures)|The Gift]]'' (2009)

====Cameos====
*''[[The Nightmare Man (The Sarah Jane Adventures)|The Nightmare Man]]'' (2010)

===Audios===
* ''The Taste of Death'' by Helen Goldwyn (2018)
* ''Death on the Mile'' by Donald McLeary (2018)
* ''Sync'' by Lisa McMullin (2019)

===Novels===
*''[[The Monsters Inside]]'' by Stephen Cole
*''[[The Slitheen Excursion]]'' by [[Simon Guerrier]]
*''[[Revenge of the Slitheen#Novelisation|Revenge of the Slitheen]]'' (novelisation of TV story) by Rupert Laight

===Other appearances===
*"[[Attack of the Graske]]" (2005)
*"[[From Raxacoricofallapatorius with Love]]" (2009)
*''[[Wraith World]]'' (2010)

== Reception ==
Writing for the ''[[Radio Times]]'' in a review of "Aliens of London," criticized the Slitheen, as well as the concept behind their compression fields, stating that "The Slitheen will never work for me. It speaks volumes that the costumes were often reused in the more child-oriented ''The Sarah Jane Adventures'' and have been left to rot since [[Steven Moffat]] took over ''Doctor Who''."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Aliens of London/World War Three ★★★ |url=https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/sci-fi/doctor-who-guide/aliens-of-londonworld-war-three/ |access-date=2023-07-21 |website=Radio Times |language=en}}</ref> Arnold T. Blumburg, writing for ''[[Now Playing (magazine)|Now Playing]]'', highlighted the Slitheen costumes as "nicely designed monsters," though criticized the usage of zippers on their in universe skin suits, as well as the childish humor surrounding the Slitheen.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2005-04-21 |title=Now Playing Magazine |url=http://www.nowplayingmag.com/content/view/1304/47/ |access-date=2023-07-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050421142015/http://www.nowplayingmag.com/content/view/1304/47/ |archive-date=21 April 2005 }}</ref> Alasdair Wilkins, writing for [[The A.V. Club|''The AV Club'']], defended the Slitheen's associated fart humor, but criticized how the two-parter doesn't "...take the Slitheen themselves seriously," citing his disappointment, "...because there’s plenty of intelligence in how the two-parter portrays the Slitheen."<ref>{{Cite web |date=2013-12-01 |title=Doctor Who: "Aliens Of London"/"World War Three" |url=https://www.avclub.com/doctor-who-aliens-of-london-world-war-three-1798178867 |access-date=2023-07-21 |website=The A.V. Club |language=en}}</ref>

Marc DiPaolo, writing about political satire in Doctor Who, cited the Slitheen as an example of this, stating that "If one were to imagine that the American government was the one infiltrated by the Slitheen, that the [[World Trade Center (1973–2001)|World Trade Center]] was destroyed by a plane instead of Big Ben by a spaceship, and crude oil was the Slitheen’s goal instead of spaceship fuel, then the episode would play as an allegorized dramatization of the [[9/11 conspiracy theories|9/11 conspiracy theory]] presented by [[Thierry Meyssan]] in the book [[L'Effroyable imposture|''L’Effroyable Imposture'']]."<ref>DiPaolo, Marc, "Political Satire and British-American Relations in Five Decades of Doctor Who" (2010). Faculty Books & Book Chapters. 7. https://dc.swosu.edu/cas_ll_books/7 </ref> A physics paper for [[University of Leicester|The University of Leicester]] calculated the force of the Slitheen's compression fields.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Evershed |first1=Mabel Elisabeth |last2=Baldwin |first2=Emily Jane |last3=Beedle |first3=Thomas James |last4=Cook |first4=Naomi Esther |date=2017-11-18 |title=P5_1 Squashing Slitheen |url=https://journals.le.ac.uk/ojs1/index.php/pst/article/view/2415 |journal=Physics Special Topics |language=en |volume=16 |issue=1}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{TardisIndexFile|Slitheen family|Slitheen}}

{{Subject bar |portal2=Doctor Who |commons=y }}
{{Doctor Who characters|selected=Villains}}
{{Slitheen stories}}
{{The Sarah Jane Adventures}}

[[Category:Television characters introduced in 2005]]
[[Category:Fictional characters with superhuman strength]]
[[Category:Fictional extraterrestrial species and races]]
[[Category:Fictional characters with superhuman senses]]
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[[Category:Fictional criminals]]
[[Category:Fictional impostors]]
[[Category:Fictional families]]
[[Category:Fictional hunters]]
[[Category:Fictional murderers]]
[[Category:The Sarah Jane Adventures characters]]