Which villains should bag a role in Doctor Who Series 14?
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00:00 David Tennant is back, Catherine Tate is back, and Russell T. Davis is back.
00:04 We have no doubt our old/new showrunner will take the show in a brand new and interesting direction.
00:10 But it does seem like RTD loves a bit of nostalgia too.
00:14 With that being said, I'm Crispy with Who Culture, and this is 10 Villains Who Should Return for Russell T. Davis' new series.
00:20 Number 10 - The Krillatanes
00:23 The Krillatanes were a great concept that was wasted in its execution.
00:27 Appearing in series 2's school reunion, these monsters are, to borrow a phrase from the 11th Doctor, patchwork people.
00:33 Able to cherry-pick physical features and ability from whichever species they conquer.
00:37 But despite all the tantalizing possibilities in that concept,
00:41 they were depicted as giant bats with almost no interesting abilities.
00:45 Hmm, okay.
00:47 It's a real shame because again, there were so many interesting routes that could have been taken here.
00:51 So just imagine what a riding wizard like RTD could come up with.
00:54 Krillatanes with Weeping Angel and Silence powers.
00:57 Krillatanes with Metallic Cyber-Shells.
00:59 Krillatanes with Pting powers.
01:02 Okay, maybe not that last one, but you get the point.
01:04 This is basically a free pass to roll two or three iconic baddies into one.
01:08 And that idea is definitely worth exploring in the future.
01:11 Number 9 - The Bane
01:13 The Sarah Jane Adventures had lots of memorable baddies that, because of the show's smaller reach,
01:18 many Who fans haven't spent time with.
01:20 And The Bane is definitely one of them.
01:22 Introduced in the very first episode of this RTD-created spin-off,
01:26 The Bane attempted to conquer the Earth by getting people to buy a drink called Bubble Shock,
01:30 which would allow The Bane Mother to control people's minds.
01:33 It's a very silly plot, but they proved popular enough to warrant a return in series 2,
01:37 where they were once again stopped by Sarah Jane and the gang.
01:40 The fact that The Bane were brought back again in The Sarah Jane Adventures could indicate that
01:44 the makers of the show, including RTD himself, had a soft spot for them.
01:48 Plus, this would be a great opportunity to bring back some of The Sarah Jane Adventures crew,
01:52 especially Luke, who was actually created by The Bane in the first place.
01:55 Come on, Russell. Do it. Do it, mate. You know you want to.
01:58 Number 8 - The Arketenians
02:01 Created by School Reunion writer Toby Witthaus,
02:03 The Arketenians are a fascinating species first seen in Torchwood,
02:07 RTD's more adult Doctor Who spin-off.
02:09 With the ability to take human form and live for hundreds of years,
02:12 these ethereal beings can be scarily stealthy when they want to be.
02:15 But they're also not bad in a scrap either, with super speed,
02:18 super strength and a penchant for ripping out people's hearts.
02:21 With The Doctor, that's double the pain. Yowza.
02:25 We know RTD loves making fun of politicians,
02:27 so he'd probably enjoy whipping up a story where The Arketenians infiltrate the government.
02:31 But he could also go in the opposite direction and visit their home planet,
02:35 which is mentioned but never seen throughout their time in the Hooniverse.
02:38 The Arketenians appeared in The Sarah Jane Adventures and were name dropped in the Doctor
02:42 Who episode before the Flood, so if nothing else,
02:45 it would be cool if they got to properly complete the trifecta.
02:48 Number 7 - The Slaveen
02:50 Speaking of RTD making fun of politicians,
02:53 it's been a fair old while since everyone's favourite farting aliens,
02:57 the Slaveen family, or indeed the Raxacoracofallopatorian species in general,
03:02 have been the focus of a Hooniverse story.
03:04 They had a brief cameo in The End of Time Part 2,
03:07 but their last proper Doctor Who adventure was all the way back in Series 1 Boomstown,
03:11 where Blonfell Fotch Passama de Slaveen, Margaret Blaine for short, was turned into an egg.
03:17 This ending left the door open for a follow-up story where we saw
03:20 what became of Margaret in her second life, but this story never materialised.
03:25 It was explored in the comics and RTD even came close to including Margaret in The Stolen Earth,
03:29 but on screen, it's a lingering plot thread that would indeed be cool to revisit.
03:33 Number 6 - The Sycorax
03:36 Villains who appear in The Doctor's first story tend to be quite bland,
03:40 and The Sycorax in The Christmas Invasion are no exception.
03:43 They're rather forgettable overall, with the majority of their screen time spent standing
03:47 around listening to The Doctor talk, rather than doing anything interesting themselves.
03:51 Their creature design was fantastic though, and with hints that they were supposed to be a fearsome
03:56 warrior race, there's some untapped potential here that RTD could definitely exploit in Series 14 and beyond.
04:02 Why not reinvent them as ruthless soldiers in the vein of the lone Cyberman?
04:06 Have a Sycorax unit come to Earth and absolutely wreck shock,
04:09 not even stopping to listen to The Doctor when he rambles on about jelly babies or banana daiquiris.
04:14 Plot-wise, this could involve The Sycorax seeking revenge for the destruction of their
04:18 ship in The Christmas Invasion, another storyline that's explored in the comics,
04:21 so there would actually be some substance here to support all that carnage.
04:25 Number 5 - The Flood
04:27 We often forget how fantastic The Waters of Mars truly is.
04:31 It sometimes gets lost in the 2009 run of specials,
04:34 but it deserves a mention alongside the very best that Doctor Who has to offer.
04:38 Terrifying in its simplicity, The Flood is a viral species that can spread its nasty influence
04:43 through a single drop of water, giving its victims cracked skin around their mouths and
04:47 causing them to emit infected water. Even with the Tenth Doctor's help,
04:51 the crew aboard Mars' Bowie Base 1 stood no chance, so just imagine the sort of horror
04:56 The Flood could unleash if it somehow found its way to Earth.
04:59 We'd love to see RTD do a Doctor Who zombie movie where The Flood infects a waterpark,
05:04 transforming hundreds of visitors into puppets.
05:06 The only concern here is that the overexposure could diminish The Flood's scare factor.
05:11 But with RTD showing restraint in providing concrete answers about the Midnight Entity,
05:15 he seems to understand that the true horror lies in the unknown.
05:19 Number 4 - The Macra
05:21 Though The Macra didn't originate in the RTD era - they first appeared in 1967 - he was the
05:26 last showrunner to use them as a villain. The crab-like beasts were featured in series 3's
05:30 Gridlock, mindlessly stalking the depths of New New York after falling into evolutionary decline.
05:35 There wasn't really anything compelling about this depiction, but with former showrunner Chris
05:40 Chibnall having a knack for reworking classic villains in interesting ways, we'd love to see
05:44 RTD follow suit. The Macra were almost wasted in Gridlock because it could have been any random
05:49 creature lurking in the shadows. So what could RTD do with them if he puts them front and centre?
05:54 What happened to them after Gridlock? Perhaps The Macra have re-evolved above ground,
05:58 gaining some big brains to match their brawn. With the bigger budget Doctor Who is set to have,
06:02 that concept could be done much more easily in future series.
06:06 Number 3 - The Nightmare Man
06:08 From the Dream Lord to the Eternals, Doctor Who has several villains who thrive on negative
06:14 thoughts and bad dreams. These stories are among the most compelling of their representative series,
06:18 offering a deeper exploration of the Doctor and their companions by literally getting inside
06:23 their heads. The RTD era's take on this idea was The Nightmare Man, who appeared in the
06:28 Sarah Jane Adventures story of the same name. A psychological threat rather than a physical one,
06:33 he created nightmares for his victims and fed off the resulting energy, making Earth and its billions
06:38 of residents quite the playground for him to work with. Just imagine what RTD could do with an
06:43 episode like Amy's Choice or Can You Hear Me? You'd just know it'd be something truly terrifying.
06:48 Number 2 - The Ood
06:50 Though The Ood switch between being good guys and bad guys, they're at their best when they're in
06:55 evil mode, and it's been a long time since we've seen that happen. Their debut appearance in series
06:59 2 saw them portrayed as harmless slaves who were corrupted by the beast, causing them to turn
07:04 violent. Series 4's Planet of the Ood was a similar tale, with the Ood murdering their human overlords
07:09 thanks to the Ood brain exerting its rather angry influence. And then there was The Doctor's Wife,
07:14 where a lone Ood hunted the ponds through the dark, maze-like corridors of the TARDIS.
07:18 The Ood were incredibly creepy on all three of those occasions, but it's been a while since we've
07:23 seen them in full-on villain mode, so it's definitely time for that to happen again.
07:26 RTD's previous Ood stories have been thematically rich and highly entertaining,
07:30 so they're a great monster for him to work with. His writing has only gotten better and slightly
07:35 more insightful in years since he left Doctor Who, so a story of an oppressed slave race starting to
07:40 rebel would be fascinating to see him tackle today. Number 1 - The Autons
07:45 Like the Macra, the Autons didn't originate in the RTD era, but that's the last time they were
07:50 used as the main villains of an episode. They did disguise themselves as Roman soldiers in
07:54 the Moffat-era story The Pandorica Opens and The Big Bang, but they weren't the primary foes.
07:59 Their last outing as primary foes was over 17 years ago in Series 1's Rose.
08:04 As window-shop mannequins come to life, they were quite creepy here,
08:08 lumbering about the place mercilessly, gunning down innocent humans. Poor Clive.
08:12 We miss you, Clive. R.I.P. Clive.
08:15 Along with their disembodied overlord, the Nesting Consciousness, they were defeated by
08:19 the Knife Doctor. But we need to remember this is Doctor Who, so defeat or even death are not
08:24 barriers to a potential return. With better technology and a bigger budget, RTD could put
08:29 a terrific modern spin on the Autons. Their disturbing mannequin form would make them as
08:33 a great villain in a horror story, but he could also go down the action route, with those sneaky
08:38 gun hands allowing the Autons to go all shooty-shooty when the situation calls for it.
08:42 And that is our list, let us know what you think in the comments below and if there are any other
08:47 villains you would have added. Don't forget to like, share and subscribe and you can follow us
08:51 on Twitter and Instagram @whoculture and you can find myself by searching CrispyPro on YouTube.
08:56 I've been Crispy for WhoCulture and in the words of the 10th Doctor, I mean the 14th Doctor,
09:01 "Hallonzi!"