Reaper Reapers were beings linked to time itself . They searched for temporal paradox es . If the balance of time was disrupted , they would be drawn out in force to remove the offending element . Biology . The Reapers were flying gargoyle - like beings with red eyes , two wings , two claws below their wings that could break through stone , mouths on their chests , tails that resembled a scythe and dark brown , tough scaly skin . They lived in the Time Vortex , ( TV : " Father ' s Day " ) as well as the Morass . ( COMIC : " The Crimson Hand " ) The Reapers would search out disturbances in time , such as temporal paradox es , leave the Time Vortex and act " as bacteria taking advantage of the wound " by devouring everything in the area . Older objects were stronger against them and sentient beings were of more interest than inanimate objects . They devoured creatures through their mouths , leaving no trace . They also released a golden glow from their eyes and under their skin when attacking , or about to attack . ( TV : " Father ' s Day " ) Reapers had the ability to deactivate TARDIS es as to not allow for an escape from their traps . They could also break their ways into the TARDIS interiors to reach those inside . Reapers could be defeated by making contact with a TARDIS key . ( TV : " Father ' s Day " , COMIC : " Four Doctors " ) According to the Ninth Doctor , there was nothing in the entire universe which could harm them . Despite these powers , the Reapers were material creatures , at least in this world , and could be blocked . They could not pass through solid objects . Older objects , such as a church , were more effective barriers . As damage to time in the form of time paradoxes accumulated , it allowed them entry . They could also be banished if the timeline was repaired . If this happened , everything would return to as it was before and memories of the Reapers would disappear and the creatures they killed would be restored to life . ( TV : " Father ' s Day " ) History . A Reaper roamed the Vortex while Ramón Salamander was drifting through time towards Earth . ( COMIC : " The Heralds of Destruction " ) The Reapers were known to the Time Lord s , who had ways to stop them . After the Time Lords vanished in the Last Great Time War , however , there was virtually nothing to stop the Reapers from entering the universe when a wound in time appeared . When the Ninth Doctor brought Rose Tyler to 1987 , she saved her father Peter Tyler when he was supposed to die in a car crash . She missed the attempt during her first visit , so the Doctor took her back again . He warned her not to interact with their past selves , but she ignored this warning when she saved her father ; a wound in time was created by her intervention , and thus the Reapers were able to enter the universe , and begin " sterilising the wound " by feeding on human s inside it . The Doctor and a handful of survivors managed to take refuge in an old church , where he planned to bring his TARDIS to them . Unfortunately , Rose touched her infant self , allowing a Reaper to enter the church , devour the Doctor and disrupt the TARDIS . The Reapers were expelled from the universe again when Peter restored the timeline by jumping in front of the car which should have killed him . ( TV : " Father ' s Day " ) Though all trace of them was supposedly erased , the Reaper ' s intrusion of Earth was in the Atraxi ' s records . ( TV : " The Eleventh Hour " ) When the Tenth , Eleventh , and Twelfth Doctor s all arrived Paris 1923 at the same cafe , a fight broke out between them , and two of them accidentally crossed fingers . This created a blast of temporal energy , known as the Blinovitch Limitation Effect , which alerted the Reapers to the paradox . The Reapers entered the cafe from the Time Vortex and began attacking the three Doctors and their companions . The Reapers took a strong interest in the Eleventh Doctor over the others , and began chasing after him as the cafe collapsed . Running through the square , he led them past a comic stand which he had visited earlier and to one of the TARDISes parked in the city . This TARDIS had already been disconnected from its interior by the beasts . Using the Blinovitch Effect once more , the three Doctors were able to connect the TARDIS shell to the Twelfth Doctor ' s TARDIS control room . The Reapers were able to break into the TARDIS , however , and the Doctors began leading the Reaper inbetween the different TARDIS console rooms , dematerialising the ship once they were all inside . This moved them into the Vortex again , meaning that they would either have to leave or die . ( COMIC : " Four Doctors " )