Doctor Who: Foes old and new – Analyzing the villains of Series 12

Series 12 introduced to many villains, including a brand new incarnation of the Master. How strong were the villains overall?

Photo Credit: Ben Blackall/BBC Studios/BBC America

Series 12 gave us a huge mix of Doctor Who villains both old and new. How was each of them handled, and which ones stood out?

One of the core criticisms leveled at Jodie Whittaker’s and Chris Chibnall’s debut series of Doctor Who was the lack of compelling and threatening villains. I wholeheartedly agree with this common critique and found it to be an element that really undermined Series 11.

In many ways, it seems that Series 12 attempted to course-correct from this by bringing back fan-favorites the Cybermen and the Master. We even had the return of the Judoon and a pair of villains linked to Classic Who adversary the Celestial Toymaker. Of course, there were also original villains to make us jump behind the sofa.

But, how did all this fair? Was the threat level improved, be it established foe or a brand new menace? I’m here to analyze what I thought of each baddie now that Series 12 has concluded.

The Master

I’ll start off this first entry with a confession. I wasn’t too impressed with the Master reveal at the end of Spyfall: Part 1. I felt alone with these feelings. Dare I say it, ashamed? Ashamed I wasn’t as overwhelmingly happy as the world seemed to be. My friends had sent me hurried mind-blown messages on WhatsApp and my Twitter feed was ablaze with adoration.

But, here I was, utterly confused. You see, I wasn’t wowed, I was actually annoyed. The Master had just come out of nowhere, had seemingly disregarded the redemption arc of Series 10 and I just wasn’t ready to see the character so soon after the Master/Missy dominated Capaldi era.

But, then I rewatched. The dramatic irony of knowing O’s true identity greatly enriches the story and made me come around somewhat to the reveal at the climax. Whilst I’m seemingly in the minority over Spyfall’s cliff-hanger, I ultimately cared a whole lot less once the credits for Part 2 rolled. One simple reason why: Sacha Dhawan is perfectly cast as the Doctor’s best enemy. Manic, manipulative, capricious, hypnotic – Dhawan won me over with one of the finest villain performances I’ve seen in Doctor Who for a long time.

I totally bought that this was the Master. Dhawan brought an ancient gravitas behind his younger features. I think his pitch-perfect delivery raised Whittaker’s Doctor too, with some electric chemistry that was reminiscent of the Tennant/Simm dynamic. I really believed the long and bitter history between the two Time Lords.

While not exactly an instant classic, Daniel Barton was a serviceable villain and an improvement on ones seen in Series 11.

Photo Credit: Ben Blackall/BBC Studios/BBC America

Daniel Barton

Back in Series 11’s Arachnids in The UK, we got a human ‘villain’ in the form of businessman and aspiring politician Jack Robertson, portrayed by Chris North. Many derided this character, but I actually quite enjoy North’s campy ‘chewing-the-scene’ style.

What I primarily took umbrage with was the cheesy and lazy satire that surrounded the character on a meta-level. Series 12 does something very similar with Sir Lenny Henry’s Daniel Barton – a powerful human villain that offers us contemporary thematic beats.

Chibnall does this approach a lot better here. The increasing power of technology (and the people who run tech-giants) in both our public and private lives is a concern to a great many of us. This commentary interweaves the plot far more organically than Robertson and environment/big-business.

Barton himself proves to be a rather tricky and somewhat believable human adversary for Team TARDIS – being both a threat and a subordinate. Whilst not exactly memorable, he is a serviceable character within the confines of the plot.

Kasaavin

There’s really not much to say about the Kasaavin. They have a creepy voice, come from an intriguing dimensional plane and are seemingly beings of pure light. They get the job done as alien henchmen. I just wish we learned more about them – where do they come from? What exactly are their motivations? What was their relationship with the Master? Ultimately, they’re just disconcerting bits of light. Lots of potential for expansion.

While the design is distinctive, the Dregs still failed to be one of Series 12’s more memorable villains.

Photo Credit: Ben Blackall/BBC Studios/BBC America

Dregs

The idea that in a possible future, much of the human race will mutate into the animalistic Dregs is a good one. Especially when you want to explore themes of environmental degradation, how the state of the planet reflects the state of the species on it. The problem is when a dull, clumsily written story like Orphan 55 attempts to do this, the entire enterprise is greatly undermined. So yes, I think the Dregs stand on solid conceptual grounds, but nothing of any real value is extracted from them.

I think they look reasonably cool and threatening, reminding me of the Hoix from Love & Monsters. For me, however, they simply don’t do anything all that interesting. They mainly plod around and roar at the air. Even the – presumably gruesome – death of Benni is off-screen. It’s a shame as I believe there’s far more you could do with the Dregs in the future, but as it stands, they’re just an ugly footnote in a lackluster story.

Skithra

When looking at the Skithra, there are really three forms to choose from. The human-Skithra, normal Skithra and the Queen Skithra. All of which are fun albeit nothing special. Though, I suppose, not everything can be as frightening as a Weeping Angel or as memorable as the Ood.

The human-Skithra are quite weird, the normal Skithra are giant scorpions (so you can’t argue against that) and the Queen is campy and over-the-top but really rather a delight to watch. Being a scavenger race that stole advanced technology, they also served as an interesting thematic parallel to the rivalry between Edison and Tesla.

Overall, I consider the Skithra a bread-and-butter Doctor Who monster. A bit generic, a bit camp, but provide an entertaining time for 50 minutes. I also got a nostalgic kick from the creatures due to a pastiche emulating the Russell T. Davies era, so that helped me warm to them.

We said hello to the Judoon this series, for the first time in far too long.

Photo Credit: James Pardon/BBC Studios/BBC America

Commander Gat / Judoon

The unsung hero – or in this case villain – of the revelatory Fugitive of the Judoon was Commander Gat. Conniving, authoritative, vindictive – she was a really fun and formidable character that bestowed an air of mystery, too. She wasn’t one-note, either: you get a sense of militarisation when she claims she serves for the glory of Gallifrey, her sad astonishment over her planet’s future demise and her disgust at the Doctor crossing her own timestream. A stand-out character that needs more praise in my opinion. Hopefully, she will return next series.

The Judoon. Whilst not villains strictly speaking, I think they deserve to be mentioned due to being an obstacle for Team TARDIS. Storming into present-day Gloucester, the Judoon instantly make their presence known with an intimidating vigor. They’re easily the best henchmen style aliens in the modern series – their costume design, voice work, and facial animatronics have never been better here. The Judoon captain is really expressive, emoting in a more pronounced way than seen previously.

Their brutishness and trigger-happy mentality make for a super entertaining and cathartic experience. I say cathartic because I was very happy when they killed the weird man working in the cafe. Call me heartless if you want, but I loved it.

Praxeus

When it comes to Praxeus, there’s no real antagonist as such, as it’s all really about stopping the spread of a deadly virus. Whilst the story lacks a compelling villain, the Praxeus virus itself provides some great visuals. The flock of ravenous birds that adorned the clear blue skies were cool and more notably, Praxeus created some excellent body-horror moments with the infected humans crystallizing and shattering. One of the creepiest visuals of Series 12 come to think of it, so in hindsight, Praxeus was more effective than I originally thought.

Introduced in The Haunting of Villa Diodati, Ashad made for a particularly impressive villain in Series 12.

Photo Credit: Ben Blackall/BBC Studios/BBC America

Zellin and Rakaya

Zellin and Rakaya are potentially the best villains of the Whittaker era so far. Both were intimidating and their performances were appropriately chilling. You can really get a sense of their immense power and age. I thought they were a fitting new entry to the pantheon of transcendental beings that have been in the Whoniverse previously – name-dropping some of them like the Guardians and the Celestial Toymaker was just icing on the cake.

Aside from their fantastic screen presence, I also thought the animated section was a really atmospheric and charming way to detail their back-story. It made me enjoy these immortal foes even more than I would have done.

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The Lone Cyberman / The Cybermen

This series we got an eclectic mix of Cyber-goodies. We saw a new ‘form’ of Cyberman, the introduction of Cyber AI tech and, of course, rank-and-file Cybermen that we know and love.

The Lone Cyberman in The Haunting of Villa Diodati made for, well, a haunting presence. It was absolutely ruthless and abruptly added the story with far more urgency and peril. The introduction of a semi-converted Cyberman made for a distinct disturbing visual and back-story. It still has some emotion in place, but is completely committed to the Cyber cause regardless.

Whilst obviously not being a traditional Cyber villain, I think it was a refreshing take that was effective within the confines of a gothic tale. However, I think the Lone Cyberman has a case of diminishing returns because in the finale I found he began to grate somewhat. By the time you’re seeing typical Cybermen, I think the allure of a semi-converted one fades.

The Cybermen themselves were very threatening, which was a thrill to see as I often don’t find them scary in the modern series. The new 80s inspired design was impressive too and made me crave some Classic Who Cyberman music to go with it.

On the whole, Series 12 despite pitfalls was a huge step up from Series 11 in this department. It offered more interesting antagonists and injected the Whittaker era with a bit more peril than seen previously. Not perfect by any means, but a step in the right direction. I hope Series 13 improves on this element even further.