Season 9 Superlative: Best alien antagonist in the season – Davros
BBC, Davros
In season nine there were some returning faces and some new alien antagonists throughout the season. But which one was the best one? Which one gave us the best surprise? No doubt, most people would say it was Missy, but for the sake of this superlative, we’re going to omit Missy. Seriously, if we include her in every superlative for season nine, she’d win every category.
So, the best alien antagonist goes to Davros!
Just think of it as another reason for Missy to scratch his eye out.
The reason Davros won this Superlative over Lady Me, and probably would have won over Missy, is the fact that he’s a huge antagonist for the Doctor, and has been since the Classic Series. The Daleks have been around longer than the Master, and they are the reason that the Doctor has so much suffering in his life.
The series started with the Doctor literally running for his life, across centuries, worlds, and universes. It scared him so much, he left Missy, his friend his confession dial. We’ve never seen the Doctor truly scared enough to die, especially not “die” in the sense of not being able to regenerate!
When we finally go to Skaro, and the Doctor sees Davros, they talk about their past and how they got here. Throughout the episode, Davros tries to appeal to the Doctor’s humanity. He talks about sunsets and everything he’s done for the race.
When the Doctor does what the Doctor does and gives Davros some regeneration energy, he essentially stabs himself in the back. Davros won once again because the Doctor had given energy to a dying man, and reestablished the Dalek race.
All of Magician’s Apprentice and Witch’s Familiar is amazing, it shows the Doctor with so many difficult decisions to make. In a second he could have killed Davros and never started that Kaled that would lead to Daleks. He could let him die and effectually leave the Daleks without a master. All of these decisions could have gained his redemption for what he did.
The Davros is great, because it always, somehow, brings out the best in the Doctor.