Villains

[Jamie McCrimmon]

Which Dr Who villain do you think was

a) the most sympathetic?

b) the scariest/most repulsive?

c) the one you wish had been used again/more often in later stories?

d) the least convincing?

[Larry]

a) the most sympathetic? -

I think I'd say Mawdryn, not really a villain in the true sense but some one who just wanted to die.



b) the scariest/most repulsive?

not quite the scariest bust most repulsive i'd plump for sil

c) the one you wish had been used again/more often in later stories?

the Zygons -

d) the least convincing?

the Black Guardian what's the point in being an evil all powerfull being when you have to get other people to do your dirty work

[WhiteCrowNZ]

Good idea for a thread.

a) the most sympathetic?

Sharaz Jek from Caves of Androzani. Although of course it could be said that Morgus is the real villian. Then again Sharaz Jek is probably little more than a retread of the Phantom of the Opera, with androids but no singing.

b) the scariest/most repulsive?
[/B]
Have to go with Davros here. To a 4 year old he was terrifying in Genesis of the Daleks, and that makeup wasn't equalled until Journeys End.

c) the one you wish had been used again/more often in later stories?

The Valeyard. He's a dark mirror to the Doctor.

Of course it's interesting there was a rumour that until Roger Delgados premature death, they were working towards a wrap up story for the Master, where he would be revealed that he and the Doctor were the same person.

Certainly it's an interesting twist that something could happen to someone we love so much and turn the Doctors righteous anger into something darker. [Okay so Anakin becomes Vader]. And certainly that concept has given the New Series lots of ammunition.

But also Michael Jayston really makes a superb villain with a lot of screen presence. The Master is kind of a thug who'd sneak around and stab you in the back. But the Valeyard is a bit more a classic baddie, tells you his plot, then gets out an ornate rapier to run you through.

d) the least convincing?

Who can take a sunrise
Sprinkle it in dew
Cover it in chocolate
and a miracle or two?

[Pip Madeley]

a) the most sympathetic?

General Carrington (Ambassadors of Death) - granted he was mental but he was doing what he thought was right.

b) the scariest/most repulsive?

The Yeti robot at the start of Web of Fear looked pretty scary (more to do with the music/lighting/shots though), but for me look no further than Fury from the Deep, absolutely chilling stuff.

c) the one you wish had been used again/more often in later stories?

I think the Wirrn (Ark in Space) should have been used again, a modern update would be great.

d) the least convincing?

The Monoids (The Ark) were pretty dire, they looked stupid and caused their own downfall.

[Si Hunt]

General Carrington (Ambassadors of Death) - granted he was mental but he was doing what he thought was right.

You could say the same for Hitler! No sympathy for that guy though!

a) the most sympathetic?

I think Jek - he was a bad guy, but he lived in a bad guys world. And he was wronged. Christopher Gable brought out all that bitterness and resentment beautifully.

b) the scariest/most repulsive?

I think probably Shockeye for me - I had a thing about cannibalism and the scene where he bites the head of a rat is horrid! Also perhaps the crewmember in "Ressurection" who realises his hands and face are melting. That's horrible.

c) the one you wish had been used again/more often in later stories?

The Autons! It's a great concept, but 40 years on the potential hasn't been fulfilled! Robert Holmes tried to do this with "Terror of the Autons" but they just didn't have the money - the "doll" doesn't look like a real doll, and we don't SEE people being killed by the Daffodils.

Imagine a story where a child goes to bed - "goodnight Daddy", and clutches her doll. As she sleeps, the head spins slowly round to reveal an Auton face! Imagine a laptop lunging at its user and pulling him into the screen! Tables that grow hands and throttle you! In 2005 they came back and almost got there again - the plastic Mickey and the wheelie bin were nods in the right direction, but then they had a series to reboot and ended up simply restaging the best bits of "Spearhead". Everything we use is plastic! There's a great story that's never QUITE been told. It's so frustrating!

d) the least convincing?

Well it's an open goal really isn't it? Can I go for Richard Briers? Simply because he SHOULD have been so good. And no bugger stood up to him and told him he was getting it wrong. You shouldn't hire someone if you're too in awe of them to tell them the right way to do it.

Si.

[Pip Madeley]

You could say the same for Hitler! No sympathy for that guy though!

He was hardly like Hitler, after all, Carrington believed that he was trying to save the people of the world while Hitler was trying to kill/dominate most of them. He wasn't exactly a full blown villain, he was a misguided man with irrational beliefs who just needed rehabilitation. It's a great performance by John Abineri and I love the way the Doctor realises he doesn't need to humiliate the General and therefore allows him to leave with his dignity intact, a touching moment.

[shada pavlova]

Most sympathetic: The Ood. Both times that they've been the villians, it wasn't their fault, they were just being controlled by the real evil entity. Plus the scene in Planet of the Ood when Donna hears their song...it just shows that the Ood aren't monsters at all, they're just ordinary people caught up in other people's conflicts.

Most scary/repulsive: The 456. Repulsive because of what they wanted to do and how many likeable characters they (directly or indirectly) killed in the process, and scary because they looked like the mutated offspring of a Mutt mutant, a Fendahleen, a Macra and a Rill.

Which one should have been brought back: The Fendahl. IOTF was as scary as sh*t, IMHO, even by today's standards, and I really think kids today would appreciate the menace and terror of it. I think, if RTD had given the dialogue a little extra joviality, and the Fendahleen had been CGI'd, then Image of the Fendahl would have fitted quite nicely into the episode 8/9 slot in the New Series.

What was least convincing: Derek Deadman's Stor in The Invasion of Time. Now, I'm not knocking Derek Deadman as an actor, but to me, I just didn't think he really grasped the part. The voice was nothing like what had gone before, the mask was far too orange and static, and I swear at one point in part 5 he had to pause for breath whilst delivering his lines. (although I'm not sure if it was deliberate or not. Either way, it just blew the fiction.)

[Captain Tancredi]

a) the most sympathetic?

I'll say the Monk, because we all know very well that if we had a working time machine, we'd just go back and forth messing around with history.

b) the scariest/most repulsive?

A word for Commander Millington here- there's something very bleak about somebody who's stared so far into the abyss that he's become the abyss and can only see the world in terms of the predestined end of everything.

c) the one you wish had been used again/more often in later stories?

Again with the Monk- would have been particularly fun up against Patrick Troughton's Doctor, I think.

d) the least convincing?

On reflection I think I'll say Maylin Tekker here- he's not even a character, just Paul Darrow sneering for an hour and a half while somebody points a camera in his general direction.

[Si Hunt]

He was hardly like Hitler

Ah, but I didn't say he was.

Si.

[Jamie McCrimmon]

c) the one you wish had been used again/more often in later stories?

Again with the Monk- would have been particularly fun up against Patrick Troughton's Doctor, I think.

What a lovely thought, those two characters together would have been wonderful!

[SiHart]

a) the most sympathetic?

Scaroth. OK he may have been a warmongeringalien, but he was a war mongering alien split into 12 seperate lives- separated by centuries while being stranded on a primitive planet. He's got a pretty good reason for doing what he wanted to do, and if nothing else, he did it ever so charmingly!

b) the scariest/most repulsive?

From a childhood perspective, it's Scaroth again. That end of part reveal of his spagetti head was one of the scariest things in Doctor Who.

c) the one you wish had been used again/more often in later stories?

Scaroth? No, not again! I wish there'd been another rematch between the Doctor and The Meddling Monk too. As Ian said, he was far too good to waste. If I have to give another option, I'd go for the silky, quiet evil of The War Lord. That could have been fun.

d) the least convincing?

Si is right about Richard Briers, especially in light of the truly creepy and horrible performance he gave in Morse a few years later.

Si xx

[Si Hunt]

I'm deeply worried by Si's sympathy with Scaroth, an alien git prepared to wipe out every human that had ever lived to save his own race! It's not like living in a lovely French chateux with a butler and Catherine Schell can have been that much of a drag!

Si.

[Dino]

I'm deeply worried by Si's sympathy with Scaroth, an alien git prepared to wipe out every human that had ever lived to save his own race! It's not like living in a lovely French chateux with a butler and Catherine Schell can have been that much of a drag!

Si.

It would actually, you've seen his true face, now imagine what's behind his trousers when Catherine Schell walks past?

[Andrew Curnow]

a) the most sympathetic?
Noah, from The Ark in Space. Arguably not a villain at all, just a victim, the performance is both loftily cruel and heart-breakingly human.


b) the scariest/most repulsive?
Tlotoxl. Simply because he is a 'real' person and has such a cruel hold over his people - power through fear & faith.

c) the one you wish had been used again/more often in later stories?
The Yeti. As a kid I lapped up the two Yeti Target books, and often used to try and write a third story for them. When one popped up in The Five Doctors, and my fanboy side momentarily thought the Great Intelligence was behind the whole thing, I jumped up in my seat in excitement!


d) the least convincing?
Mestor, the master of Jaconda. The story desperately needs a strong, scary enemy - what we get is a boss-eyed slug who can't even move and as a result we never fear him like we need to.