Which villains should bag a role in Doctor Who Series 14?
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00:00David Tennant is back, Catherine Tate is back, and Russell T. Davis is back.
00:04We have no doubt our old-slash-new showrunner will take the show in a brand new and interesting direction.
00:10But it does seem like RTD loves a bit of nostalgia too.
00:14With that being said, I'm Crispy with WhoCulture,
00:16and this is 10 Villains Who Should Return for Russell T. Davis' new series.
00:21Number 10, The Krillatanes.
00:23The Krillatanes were a great concept that was wasted in its execution.
00:27Appearing in Series 2's School Reunion, these monsters are, to borrow a phrase from the 11th Doctor,
00:32patchwork people.
00:33Able to cherry-pick physical features and ability from whichever species they conquer.
00:37But despite all the tantalizing possibilities in that concept,
00:41they were depicted as giant bats with almost no interesting abilities.
00:45Hmm, okay.
00:47It's a real shame because, again, there were so many interesting routes that could have been taken here.
00:51So just imagine what a riding wizard like RTD could come up with.
00:55Krillatanes with Weeping Angel and Silence powers.
00:57Krillatanes with Metallic Cyber Shells.
00:59Krillatanes with Pating powers.
01:02Okay, maybe not that last one, but you get the point.
01:04This is basically a free pass to roll two or three iconic baddies into one.
01:08And that idea is definitely worth exploring in the future.
01:12Number 9, The Bane.
01:13The Sarah Jane Adventures had lots of memorable baddies that,
01:17because of the show's smaller reach, many Who fans haven't spent time with.
01:20And The Bane is definitely one of them.
01:22Introduced in the very first episode of this RTD-created spin-off,
01:26The Bane attempted to conquer the Earth by getting people to buy a drink called Bubble Shock,
01:30which would allow The Bane Mother to control people's minds.
01:33It's a very silly plot, but they proved popular enough to warrant a return in Series 2,
01:37where they were once again stopped by Sarah Jane in the game.
01:40The fact that The Bane were brought back again in the Sarah Jane Adventures
01:43could indicate that the makers of the show, including RTD himself, had a soft spot for them.
01:48Plus, this would be a great opportunity to bring back some of the Sarah Jane Adventures crew,
01:52especially Luke, who was actually created by The Bane in the first place.
01:55Come on, Russell, do it!
01:56Do it, mate, you know you want to.
01:59Number 8, The Arketenians.
02:01Created by School Reunion writer Toby Whithouse,
02:03The Arketenians are a fascinating species first seen in Torchwood,
02:07RTD's more adult Doctor Who spin-off.
02:09With the ability to take human form and live for hundreds of years,
02:12these ethereal beings can be scarily stealthy when they want to be.
02:15But they're also not bad in a scrap either, with super speed,
02:18super strength and a penchant for ripping out people's hearts.
02:21With The Doctor, that's double the pain.
02:24Yowza!
02:25We know RTD loves making fun of politicians,
02:27so he'd probably enjoy whipping up a story where The Arketenians infiltrate the government,
02:31but he could also go in the opposite direction and visit their home planet,
02:35which is mentioned but never seen throughout their time in the Hooniverse.
02:38The Arketenians appeared in the Sarah Jane Adventures
02:41and were name-dropped in the Doctor Who episode before the Flood,
02:44so if nothing else, it would be cool if they got to properly complete the trifecta.
02:48Number 7, The Slitheen.
02:50Speaking of RTD making fun of politicians,
02:53it's been a fair old while since everyone's favourite farting aliens,
02:57the Slitheen family, or indeed the Raxacorocofallipatorian species in general,
03:02have been the focus of a Hooniverse story.
03:04They had a brief cameo in The End of Time Part 2,
03:07but their last proper Doctor Who adventure was all the way back in Series 1, Boomstown,
03:11where Blonfell Foch Passama de Slitheen, Margaret Blaine for short,
03:15was turned into an egg.
03:17This ending left the door open for a follow-up story
03:20where we saw what became of Margaret in her second life,
03:23but this story never materialised.
03:25It was explored in the comics,
03:26and RTD even came close to including Margaret in The Stolen Earth,
03:29but on screen, it's a lingering plot thread that would indeed be cool to revisit.
03:34Number 6, The Sycorax.
03:36Villains who appear in the Doctor's first story tend to be quite bland,
03:40and the Sycorax in The Christmas Invasion are no exception.
03:43They're rather forgettable overall,
03:45with the majority of their screen time spent standing around listening to the Doctor talk,
03:49rather than doing anything interesting themselves.
03:51Their creature design was fantastic though,
03:54and with hints that they were supposed to be a fearsome warrior race,
03:57there's some untapped potential here that RTD could definitely exploit in Series 14 and beyond.
04:02Why not reinvent them as ruthless soldiers in the vein of the lone Cyberman?
04:06Have a Sycorax unit come to Earth and absolutely wreck shop,
04:09not even stopping to listen to the Doctor when he rambles on about jelly babies or banana daiquiris.
04:14Plot-wise, this could involve the Sycorax seeking revenge
04:17for the destruction of their ship in The Christmas Invasion,
04:19another storyline that's explored in the comments.
04:21So, there would actually be some substance here to support all that carnage.
04:25Number 5, The Flood.
04:27We often forget how fantastic The Waters of Mars truly is.
04:31It sometimes gets lost in the 2009 run of specials,
04:34but it deserves a mention alongside the very best that Doctor Who has to offer.
04:38Terrifying in its simplicity,
04:40The Flood is a viral species that can spread its nasty influence through a single drop of water,
04:45giving its victims cracked skin around their mouths and causing them to emit infected water.
04:50Even with the Tenth Doctor's help, the crew aboard Mars' Bowie-based one stood no chance,
04:54so just imagine the sort of horror The Flood could unleash if it somehow found its way to Earth.
04:59We'd love to see RTD do a Doctor Who zombie movie where The Flood infects a waterpark,
05:04transforming hundreds of visitors into puppets.
05:06The only concern here is that the overexposure could diminish The Flood's scare factor.
05:11But with RTD showing restraint in providing concrete answers about the Midnight Entity,
05:15he seems to understand that the true horror lies in the unknown.
05:19Number 4, The Macra.
05:21Though The Macra didn't originate in the RTD era, they first appeared in 1967,
05:26he was the last showrunner to use them as a villain.
05:28The crab-like beasts were featured in Series 3's Gridlock,
05:31mindlessly stalking the depths of New New York after falling into evolutionary decline.
05:36There wasn't really anything compelling about this depiction,
05:39but with former showrunner Chris Chibnall having a knack for reworking
05:42classic villains in interesting ways, we'd love to see RTD follow suit.
05:45The Macra were almost wasted in Gridlock because it could have been
05:48any random creature lurking in the shadows.
05:50So what could RTD do with them if he puts them front and centre?
05:54What happened to them after Gridlock?
05:55Perhaps The Macra have re-evolved above ground, gaining some big brains to match their brawn.
06:00With the bigger budget Doctor Who is set to have,
06:02that concept could be done much more easily in future series.
06:06Number 3, The Nightmare Man.
06:08From the Dream Lord to the Eternals,
06:11Doctor Who has several villains who thrive on negative thoughts and bad dreams.
06:15These stories are among the most compelling of their representative series,
06:18offering a deeper exploration of the Doctor and their companions
06:22by literally getting inside their heads.
06:24The RTD era's take on this idea was The Nightmare Man,
06:27who appeared in the Sarah Jane Adventures story of the same name.
06:30A psychological threat rather than a physical one,
06:33he created nightmares for his victims and fed off the resulting energy,
06:36making Earth and its billions of residents quite the playground for him to work with.
06:41Just imagine what RTD could do with an episode like Amy's Choice or Can You Hear Me?
06:45You just know it'd be something truly terrifying.
06:48Number 2, The Ood.
06:50Though The Ood switch between being good guys and bad guys,
06:53they're at their best when they're in evil mode,
06:56and it's been a long time since we've seen that happen.
06:58Their debut appearance in series 2 saw them portrayed as
07:01harmless slaves who were corrupted by The Beast, causing them to turn violent.
07:04Series 4's Planet of the Ood was a similar tale,
07:07with The Ood murdering their human overlords thanks to the Ood Brain
07:10exerting its rather angry influence.
07:12And then there was The Doctor's Wife,
07:14where a lone Ood hunted the ponds through the dark, maze-like corridors of the TARDIS.
07:18The Ood were incredibly creepy on all three of those occasions,
07:21but it's been a while since we've seen them in full-on villain mode,
07:24so it's definitely time for that to happen again.
07:26RTD's previous Ood stories have been thematically rich and highly entertaining,
07:30so they're a great monster for him to work with.
07:33His writing has only gotten better and slightly more insightful in years since he left Doctor Who,
07:37so a story of an oppressed slave race starting to rebel
07:40would be fascinating to see him tackle today.
07:43Number 1, The Autons.
07:45Like the Macra, the Autons didn't originate in the RTD era,
07:49but that's the last time they were used as the main villains of an episode.
07:52They did disguise themselves as Roman soldiers
07:54in the Moffat-era story The Pandorica Opens and The Big Bang.
07:57They weren't the primary foes.
07:59Their last outing as primary foes was over 17 years ago in Series 1's Rose.
08:04As window shop mannequins come to life,
08:06they were quite creepy here,
08:08lumbering about the place mercilessly,
08:09gunning down innocent humans.
08:11Poor Clive.
08:12We miss you, Clive.
08:14R.I.P. Clive.
08:15Along with their disembodied overlord, The Nesting Consciousness,
08:18they were defeated by the Ninth Doctor.
08:20But we need to remember this is Doctor Who,
08:22so defeat or even death are not barriers to a potential return.
08:26With better technology and a bigger budget,
08:28RTD could put a terrific modern spin on the Autons.
08:31Their disturbing mannequin form would make them as a great villain in a horror story,
08:35but he could also go down the action route,
08:37with those sneaky gun hands allowing the Autons to go all shooty-shooty
08:41when the situation calls for it.
08:43And that is our list.
08:44Let us know what you think in the comments below,
08:46and if there are any other villains you would have added.
08:48Don't forget to like, share and subscribe,
08:50and you can follow us on Twitter and Instagram at WhoCulture.
08:53And you can find myself by searching CrispyPro on YouTube.
08:56I've been Crispy for WhoCulture,
08:58and in the words of the 10th Doctor,
08:59I mean the 14th Doctor,
09:01Allons-y!