A good story needs a good villain, and with its almost unprecedented tenure,Doctor Whodefinitely has some great ones. From the brutal, emotionless Daleks to the excentric and demented The Master, there are some evil characters in the series that viewerstruly love to hate.But, there are some that, through the clever writing and expertly delivered acting performances, you end up sympathizing with.
After all, it is a large multiverse out there and not all extraterrestrial life forms will make a good first impression or be understood immediately. Whether it’s an intergalactic nanny simply trying to care for her wards or a gorgeous debutante who learns the meaning of true beauty all too late, here are some foes of the Doctor who get to tell their side of the story, and it is one that audiences can support.
Doctor Who
10Cybermen (Classic)
“The Tenth Planet,” Season 4, Episode 5
The desire to achieve perfection can either be an ambitious quest or a fool’s errand. The various creators and dictators of the mechanical Cybermen think they are perfecting humanity, making it more than the sum of its parts. However, when they remove the reason, passion, and emotion of a person,they unknowingly take away the best components.
In the poignant “Rise of the Cybermen” and “The Age of Steel” in Season 2, Episodes 5 and 6, respectively, of David Tennant’s tenure, the audience is reminded just how personal the heartbreak is when someone is converted to a Cyberman whenthe Doctor’s companion Rose Tyler(Billie Piper)’s mother Jackie (Camille Coduri) is upgraded. And heartstrings are again tugged when the Doctor wakes a converted Cyberman into consciousness only to reveal that it was a young bride, excited about her wedding day before being cruelly manipulated. However, there are some victories for the lone Cyberman, in “Closing Time”, Season 6, Episode 12 ofMatt Smith’sDoctor, when a father (James Corden) hears the cries of his baby and is so moved by paternal instinct that he overrides the upgrade and remains human.
Although those in control of the Cybermen have wicked motives, the soldiers themselves often do not. They begin as humans, most of them unknowing or unwilling victims of a hostile Cybermen takeover. With their capacity for free will removed, they are not able to account for the orders they carry out.
9The Slitheen (Modern)
“Aliens of London,” Season 1, Episode 4
The family that slays together, stays together. Or that’s at least what the Slitheens think. A family clan of aliens from Raxacoricofallapatorius, they are savvy entrepreneurs. Unfortunately, their idea of good business is to come to earth, salvage it for profit, and kill anyone who stands in their way.
At first, there seems to be no redeeming value to the characters, other than their family loyalty, but in a later episode, “Boom Town”, Season 1, Episode 11, a Slitheen posing as human Margaret Blaine (Anette Badland) has a meaningful self-realization as she realizes that family pressures and years of expectations and traditions had shaped her into who she was. Even though the Doctor (Christopher Eccleston)does not forgive the who, how, or whatof her behavior, the episode gives the audience a deeper insight into the why.
8Sontarans (Classic)
“The Time Warrior: Part One,” Season 11, Episode 1
A military-minded and hearty race, the Sontarans value valor, courage, and battle skills. Although their first few run-ins with the Doctor were not pleasant ones, a singular Sontaran named Strax (Dan Starkey) would later become an ally. Though their skill in combat is undeniable, it can be a challenge to fear a creature that was designed to look like a walking baked potato. Their stocky biology is accredited to the high gravity on their home planet, which also makes them very strong in Earth’s comparatively weak gravitational field.
Perhapsthe biggest downfall of the Sontaransis pride. Their sensitive egos have led them to do rash and aggressive maneuvers that they may ultimately have regretted. However, the Doctor often uses this to his advantage when he wants to manipulate them into helping him. As Strax becomes a prominent supporting character in modern episodes, the series gets to explore that there is more than meets the eye about these warriors.
7The Time Lords (Classic)
“The War Games: Episode One,” Season 6, Episode 35
As Groucho Marx famously noted: “I don’t want to belong to any clubthat would accept meas one of its members”,the history of Doctor Whoand the Time Lords is a complicated one. A population of wise, practically immortal beings from the planet Gallifrey, have a nonlinear view of time. When you measure your memories in centuries and not in years, it kind of comes with the territory.
Being a caretaker of all space and time is a stressful assignment, and when flawed, selfish, or imperfect beings are in charge, there are bound to be mistakes. Although the Doctor does not agree with some, if not most, of the decisions the Time Lords have made, they were, in their own belief, trying to do the right thing.
6Lady Cassandra (Modern)
“The End of the World,” Season 1, Episode 2
Lady Cassandra O’Brien (Zoe Wanamaker), much like the Cybermen, wanted to be perfect and pure. When the Doctor and Rose meet her as they prepare to witness the final few moments of planet Earth’s existence, she has had so many cosmetic surgeries that she is simply a piece of skin stretched over a frame. Even perfection is not without its imperfections, as she continually cries “Moisturize me! Moisturize me!”
Because Lady Cassandra was such a unique and clever idea for a villain, she got a reprise in Season 2, Episode 1 “New Earth.” This episode gave some meaningful backstory to her character and a glimpse into her past when there was more humanity to her humanness. In a touching scene towards the end of the episode, she finally learns self-love and self-acceptance when the Doctor (David Tennant) takes her back in time to visit her former self. Lady Cassandra is a great example that envy, greed, and wrath are not all the evils that make a villain.Sometimes it is vanity.
5The Ood (Modern)
“The Impossible Planet,” Season 2, Episode 8
When audiences first meet the Ood they are a race of aliens that have predominantly been used for service. However, they quickly turn hostile when an evil entity takes over their minds. Their strange appearance and sheer numbers make them intimidating. But once the evil influence is removed from their consciousness, they become docile again.
In a later episode in Season 4 titled “Planet of the Ood” the Doctor (David Tennant) and his companion Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) discover the tragic history behind the Ood and how they were enslaved by humans. Although the Ood are unpredictable, they don’t appear to have villainous intentions of their own accord.Unless they are retaliating and defending themselvesfor cruel behavior inflicted upon them, they seem to want to live in peace.
4Wrarth Warriors (Modern)
“The Star Beast,” Special 1
Although the Wrarth Warriors (Stephen Love, Jordan Benjamin, Vassili Psaltopoulos) appear for the first time on camera in “The Star Beast” in 2023, they’d been mentioned in theDoctor Whocomics long before then. With their blood-red eyes, large insectoid stature, and impressive weaponry, they are formidable, to be sure.
When the Doctor (David Tennant) first encounters the Wrarth Warriors on Earth, they appear to be hunting a small, helpless creature called a Meep (Cecily Fay). However, in a clever twist of writing, viewers are reminded thatthings aren’t always as they seem.The Meep turns out to be the true villain, and the Wrarth Warriors are merely defending themselves. Without the Wrarth Warriors' intervention, the Meep’s diabolical scheme to take over the planet, and possibly eat the inhabitants, may have been successful.
3Adipose (Modern)
“Partners in Crime,” Season 4, Episode 1
Perhaps no cuter alien or villain has existed in theDoctor Whocanon than that of the Adipose. Resembling an adorable walking marshmallow, they are made of human fat cells. A revolutionary diet pill made by Adipose Industries is marketed to humans on Earth, and it seems to be working extremely well, until people start noticing the little creatures coming out of their bodies.
Sadly, when forced to speed up the process, Adipose can cannibalize more than just fat cells. They convert other biological matter like organs, bones, etc., which results in a human death and not just a weight loss program. However, the Adipose are only infants and don’t have a say in how they are generated. The nanny in charge of their creation, Miss Foster (Sarah Lancashire), however,is all too accountableand has no qualms about expending other lives to create those of her wards.
2Isolus (Modern)
“Fear Her,” Season 2, Episode 11
When children start disappearing right in front of their homes, it is cause for concern. But as the episode “Fear Her” unfolds, the plot reveals that the intentions of the captor were not so nefarious after all. Every child has wanted the ability to make what they imagine a reality, and for Chloe Webber (Abisola Agbaje) it actually happens. As she draws the children playing outside her home, they become trapped in her illustrations.
When the Doctor (David Tennant) and his companion Rose (Billie Piper) investigate, they find that an adolescent Isolus has inhabited Chloe’s body and is giving her extraordinary powers. Isolus offspring travel together in groups over several thousand years until they reach adulthood. However, one stray Isolus found itself without companions and chose to inhabit Chloe. Although what the Isolus did was not okay, it was trying to help itself and Chloe felt less lonely. After all, if anyone can vouch that they do not want to travelspace and time alonewithout a companion, it’s the Doctor.
1Chula Nanogenes (Modern)
“The Empty Child,” Season 1, Episode 9
The fantastic pacing, tension, and imagination of “The Empty Child” make itone of the most haunting episodesof the modern series. As a zombie-like child named Jamie (Albert Valentine) stalks early 1940s London during World War II, his face is obscured by a hideous gas mask. As the child wanders relentlessly, it converts anyone it touches into a similar gas-mask-wearing creature.
However, the true aim of this would-be foe is quite clear as it asks repeatedly throughout the episode, “Are you my mummy?” It is indeed just a frightened child that wants to find its mother. Even the cause of the child’s inept fixture are not to blame either. The Chula Nanogenes that tried to fix Jamie had never encountered a human before, so they did their best, believing that all humans had gas masks for faces. The Chula Nanogenes didn’t even come to earth by choice. Jack Harkness (John Barrowman) inadvertently brings them in a Chula ambulance he had salvaged. In one of the more joyous endings to aDoctor Whoepisode, the Chula Nanogenes are able to repair their incomplete data with a surprise familial DNA source, and all ends well. It is a great episode which reveals that sometimes mistakes just happen, through no particular villainy of anyone else and an entity you thought was evil you could end up understanding and even rooting for.
