I'm making my way through the past seasons of the popular BBC relaunch of Doctor Who, and thoroughly enjoying it. The show is known for creating some classic villains so I thought I would jot down some of my favorites from what I've seen thus far.
1. The Beast
It's the freaking devil! What more needs to be said? Yeah, the writers waffle a bit, but for all intents and purposes, that was the Lord of Darkness right there.
A part of me honestly feels like they played this card too soon. I mean, after you take on what was very well the literal embodiment of evil in the universe, acting as the inspiration for every devil like figure across cosmic mythologies, Daleks and Cybermen don't really seem to pose as big a threat.
Still, for a one time villain, he sure does leave an impression and easily ranks as one of the Doctor's biggest baddies. Not only is the thing powerful and evil, but it forces the Doctor to challenge his own perceptions of how he thinks the world works.
While the Doctor brushes off some of the Beast's claims, he never really comes up with a valid counter-explanation for what that thing really was.
2. Daleks
The Daleks are the Doctor's most iconic foes, as well as one of the most popular. You go in thinking that they look stupid and that their voice will just become grating, but they still manage to be rather terrifying in their own right. I certainly did. I didn't think I was going to be able to take these upside down garbage cans on wheels seriously. Yet, they managed to showcase why they are such a fearsome foe and became one of my favorites. When these guys show up, you know things are going to get bad.
3. The Sentient Sun
This is another one time villain that appeared in the episode "42". It managed to overtake members of the crew, allowing them to scorch people to death merely by looking at them. It had that same demonic eldritch abomination vibe as the Beast, but it was different enough that it stood out.
It also made for one of the show's greatest reveals as the Doctor finally figures out what's going on and unleashes said exposition dump in an intense, dramatic, and rather horrifying way.
Much like the Beast, this idea is one that seems to challenge logic. The Doctor chides them for not scanning for life forms, but really, why would they? It's a sun and it's generally accepted that life can't exist that close without protection of some kind. The crew is vilified, but the idea that a star could achieve sentience is not one that often comes to mind.
4. The Ood
While the Ood are generally peaceful and very pleasant, when they go bad, it's rather horrifying. Once you see their eyes go red, you're pretty much screwed (scrOod?).
I honestly didn't expect their return appearances to hold a candle to what we saw in their debut where they were possessed by an ancient, demonic force, but "Planet of the Ood" managed to keep them just as creepy while giving them a different motivation and fleshing out their species quite a bit.
5. Max Capricorn
This guy only appeared in one Christmas special, but I really dug him as a villain. Not only did he have that evil ham thing going for him, but he also had no desire to let the Doctor talk his way out of it. Every time the Doctor would try to work some angle, Capricorn merely told him to shut up and ordered his host robots to kill him.
Granted, the Doctor still managed to stall long enough for his then companion to come to his aid (something even Capricorn lampshades, giving credit to the Doctor in pointing out that for all his talk, the Doctor didn't waste a word), but I really respected the fact that Capricorn wasn't having any of it from the Time Lord.
Final Thoughts
With so many villains, fans may be wondering where aliens like the Silence, or the Cybermen, or the Weeping Angels are. They are certainly good villains, but they didn't leave as big an impression on me as these five did.
For as long as the show has gone on, it is no surprise that the writers managed to come up with so many great villains, but as of now, these are the ones that really managed to blow me away.
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