George Chrysostomou with five obscure Doctor Who villains who should return in series 11…
Doctor Who series 11 is quickly approaching, with Jodie Whittaker’s take on the Time Lord set to launch on October 7th. With all the buzz surrounding the new series, there’s a lot of talk around some of the villains that will be emerging to plague the Doctor. With this in mind, let’s take a look back at some of the most obscure villains that have been put to screen since the 2005 revival of the BBC show who are due a return. This list will feature at least one villain for every regeneration of the modern incarnation of the Doctor.
Gelth
We first look at one of the creepiest villains of the Ninth Doctor’s run, the Gelth. Featuring in the third episode of the rebooted Christopher Eccleston run, The Unquiet Dead, the Gelth previously held a humanoid form before being reduced to a gaseous being during the Great Time War. Unable to hold their physical being for long, they have to resort to living within other sources of gas in order to survive. Appearing on Earth through the rift, in 1869, the Gelth were attracted to the gas lamps that featured during this period of time in England.
Whilst on Earth, they also discovered they could survive inside the gases of dead humans, possessing their bodies and appearing as undead spirits. For many people during the period, the Gelth were considered ghosts, producing a howling scream as they roam their habitat. Many of the Gelth were set aflame, after they tried to flood the planet with millions of their species in order to survive. Some still remain in the galaxy and the Gelth would prove to be excellent villains against this new Doctor, as a ghostly tale.
Vashta Nerada
The eighth and ninth episodes of series four and perhaps two of the most memorable of the David Tennant run, Silence in the Library and Forest of the Dead, debuted some of the most vicious villains known to the show. Translated to “the shadows that melt the flesh,” the Vashta Nerada are a swarm species that group together and can strip a human to the bone in seconds. Microscopic in size, they are truly dangerous when there are millions of them. Their biggest weakness is light, which is why they hide in the shadows, taking advantage of the darkness that the huge library provides them.
Normally the species are not as violent as they were in the library and perhaps not as intelligent as those that managed to communicate through the space suits left by the deceased. Vashta Nerada normally reside in forests, which is why they also took such a liking to a habitat with hundreds of books, likely made from one of their forests. Alone and out of their comfort zone these creatures are harmless. Together and in their natural place however they are some of the most dangerous creatures in the universe. The new series of Doctor Who would be wise to revive these iconic yet obscure villains.
Midnight Entity
The second of two back to back Tennant era villains, the Midnight Entity featured in the Tenth Doctor’s third series, in the tenth episode, titled Midnight. Not much is known of this enigma, as the name suggests; Midnight being the name of the planet and Entity being a vague description of what has been witnessed thus far from the being. In a companion-lite episode of the series, the Midnight Entity possessed the humans on a tour bus of the planet, before parroting what those around them said. They would then predict what people were about to say next, creating a sort of psychic link. Being described as a shadow moving across the ground, with no known physical form, the Midnight Entity is extremely powerful, being able to survive the unlivable environment that Midnight provides.
Able to kill with ease and intelligent enough to learn and imitate, the Midnight Entity are never defeated or stopped and are never fully explained. They are one of the biggest mysteries of Doctor Who, incredibly dangerous and would absolutely be a brilliant pick to reappear in future episodes of the time travelling show.
The Dream Lord
A little different to the others on this list, due to it being unknown whether this is an actual being or not, the Dream Lord is a Matt Smith-era addition and one who was brought to life by the talented Toby Jones, in series five episode seven. A supposed manifestation of the darker part of the Doctor’s mind, the Dream Lord is activated by psychic pollen that has found its way into the T.A.R.D.I.S. console. With untimeliness potential inside his dream world, this dark version of a Time Lord loves to play games of choice, giving the Doctor and his companions two worlds of which to choose between.
A master of manipulation, intelligent and dangerous, the Dream Lord really is all the worst parts of the Doctor, although there is some ambiguity as to whether there’s more to this than we have been told. There are multiple theories as to whether the Dream Lord is actually a past or future regeneration of the Doctor or perhaps he may even be another Time Lord trapped in the head of the time traveller. Having him return and fleshed out in some way would provide Jodie with a compelling and complex villain that has already had some valuable screen time; this also provides a great opportunity to bring back a fantastic guest cast member.
Boneless
The final obscure creature on this list comes courtesy of the last Doctor’s adventures, in series eight episode nine of the Peter Capaldi run. Featuring in the story, Flatline, the Boneless are a species from a 2D universe, crossing over into our 3D reality. With the abilities to drain dimensional energy and move something into their two-dimensional world, these creatures would take humans to dissect their anatomy and learn about Earth and homo sapiens. Eventually they used what they had learnt to try to take human form themselves.
With the aim to infiltrate Earth in some way, eventually these creatures were defeated in the short term, being sent back to their own flat universe. With the aliens very much still out there and with the same aims, they could very likely reappear to cause trouble for the newest regeneration of the Doctor. Intimidating, unique and memorable, these villains certainly deserve to make a comeback in the newest series.
What do you make on this list? Which villains would you like to see making a comeback? Let us know in the comments below…
George Chrysostomou
