WEEKLY WHINE

Top villains of the Whoniverse

There now follows a ranking of the top villains of the current run of Doctor Who. Criteria included effectiveness, scariness, interestingness, and memorableness.

1. Daleks: Although their origins have been subject to a fair bit of retconning, the Daleks were definitely created by Davros, are definitely from the planet Skaro, and definitely mutated from the Kaleds. They have appeared many times in the current run, starting with the “Dalek” episode of the Ninth Doctor’s first season. The majority of season finales have included Daleks in some form or another.
2. Cybermen: A race of human based cyborgs, the Cybermen are amongst the best known Doctor Who monsters. Their first appearance of the current run was in the “Rise of the Cybermen” and “The Age of Steel” episodes of the Tenth Doctor’s first season. They have made several appearances since, most notably in the Tenth Doctor’s fourth Christmas special, “The Next Doctor”.
3. Weeping Angels: Far and away the best villains created since the show’s revival, the Weeping Angels have appeared a few times, beginning in the “Blink” episode of the Tenth Doctor’s second season. They are able to move only when nobody is looking, a concept that is based on the quantum Zeno effect in physics.
4. Master: A recurring villain since the classic series, the Master returned in the three part finale to the Tenth Doctor’s second season, proving that the Face of Boe was right. His complete and total insanity is revealed to be due to a repetitive signal that Rassilon and the Time Lords have broadcast into his head throughout his life.
5. Madame Kovarian: Better known as Eye Patch Lady, Madame Kovarian was seen throughout the Eleventh Doctor’s second season, initially visible only to Amy. She kidnaps the young Melody to raise her as a weapon against the Doctor, but with unintended consequences. [Spoilers!]
6. Sontarans: A race of “talking baked potatoes”, the Sontarans are cloned warriors that seek glory in battle. Their first appearance of the current run was in “The Sontaran Stratagem” and “The Poison Sky” episodes of the Tenth Doctor’s third season. One Sontaran, Strax, has since served as a nurse and as a butler, much to his chagrin.
7. Family of Blood: A family of aliens with no bodies of their own, the Family of Blood visited 1913 Britain in pursuit of the Doctor and possessed four people there. Best known for demanding of the Doctor, “Change back!”, they appeared in the “Human Nature” and “The Family of Blood” episodes of the Tenth Doctor’s second season.
8. Rassilon: The founder of the Time Lord race, Rassilon was portrayed as a benevolent ruler in the classic series, but upon his return in the Tenth Doctor’s finale, “The End of Time”, he advances a scheme to destroy the entire Universe, a plan so horrible that not even the Master will go along with it.
9. General Restac: Restac leads the Silurians into battle against humans in the “The Hungry Earth” and “Cold Blood” episodes of the Eleventh Doctor’s first season, the Silurians’ first appearance of the current run. General Restac is perhaps the most aggressive female character yet seen on the show.
10. Yvonne Hartman: Director of Torchwood One in London, Yvonne appeared in the finale of the Tenth Doctor’s first season. Notable aspects of her character include knowing all her employees’ names [because Torchwood is a “modern organisation”] and insisting upon doing her duty for Queen and country.
11. House: A sentient asteroid found in a bubble universe, he is able to change the colour of the TARDIS’s illumination when he takes it over. Seen in “The Doctor’s Wife”, in the Eleventh Doctor’s second season.
12. Silence: The alien religious order whose objective is to kill the Doctor, because if they don’t, the Silence will Fall. Seen at the start and end of the Eleventh Doctor’s second season.
13. Lady Cassandra: Lady Cassandra O’Brien Delta 17 claims to be the last pure human, though with Rose in the room, Cassandra looks less like a human and more like a “bitchy trampoline”. She made one appearance in each of the Ninth and Tenth Doctors’ first seasons, including a memorable scene in which she alternately possesses Rose’s and the Doctor’s bodies.
14. Davros: Severely wounded in battle with the Thals, Davros was a Kaled scientist who was able to prevent the extinction of his race by turning them into the Daleks. He appeared in the finale of the Tenth Doctor’s third season, in which he and the Daleks attempt to destroy the Universe.
15. Autons: Shop window dummies? What’s that about? Autons are plastic robots mobilised by the Nestene Consciousness. They were seen several times in the classic series and came back in the first episode of the Ninth Doctor’s season.
16. Great Intelligence: After a couple of appearances with the Second Doctor early in the classic series, the Great Intelligence was not seen again until the Eleventh Doctor’s third season. It has no physical form and therefore possesses the bodies of random people that it happens upon.
17. Slitheen Family: The best known members of the family – Blon, Jocrassa, and Sip – appeared in the “Aliens of London” and “World War Three” episodes of the Ninth Doctor’s season. They originate from the planet Raxacoricofallapatorius, but are wanted there as criminals. Notable as the first, and to date only, occasion on which flatulence has been an essential element to a Doctor Who plot.