My Favourite Doctor Who Villain

by Loren Dean

 With the return of the Daleks in the new season of Doctor Who, I decided to look at all the previous "villains" in the doctor who past and decide which was/is the best. I have narrowed it down to a top three of the most terror inducing baddies of the modern era.

Firstly, the Daleks. Who have managed to create an aura of fear that has sent generations of children scurrying behind sofas, is for many reasons: for example their robotic cries of "exterminate" or their relentless attempts to conquer the world; however I feel what makes a Dalek truly terrifying is because we are worried we might become like them. They are creatures who have lost the ability to feel emotional pain Daleks had retreated into their metal shells after a devastating war and slowly lost their emotions, becoming more like machines than living and breathing creatures. According to their back story, once they were capable of genuine emotion and real moral good. Now they are sexless, heartless brains, shut up in machines incapable of intimacy, who have forgotten what it means to laugh and no longer think of themselves as individuals. We recognise the Daleks as evil because they have lost all that we hold most dear. The Daleks have made regular appearances in the long-running science fiction series, and before this new series with Peter Capaldi, the latest encounter was last year when they turned up in an episode set in Blitz-torn London in order to take over the world with a masterful plan of taking over the city's children's and using them for salve labour. They were voted the scariest villains in the history of Doctor Who in a poll of 21,000 fans in 2007. So on a scale of 1 to 10, I think the Daleks are a 7.5/10.

Secondly, One of the best parts of The Weeping Angels is that they are everywhere in real life where they naturally look creepy. Let’s face it, who wasn’t freaked out by decaying angel statues in graveyards before Steven Moffat ever penned the words “Don’t Blink”? Stone angels are kind of like the Mona Lisa, only in 3-D. Wherever you go their sightless eyes always seem to follow you. Those ominous and decaying due to acid rain, stone faces haunt you, even if you won’t admit it. The Weeping Angels, so far, have played a major role in 3 episodes over 3 seasons. The tenth and eleventh Doctors have faced them as have River, Martha, Amy, and Rory. Each time we learn more about them and we discover just how much they are survivors. Not only can they zap you back in time, “killing you” and feeding off your energy, but they can also seemingly do it in an endless loop. For example, if it weren’t for Amy and Rory creating a paradox, Rory’s life would have been nothing but an endless food chain for the Weeping Angels. It comes down to two words: Don’t Blink. Seriously, just try it. How long can you last before your eyes tear and your face feels like it will burst as your muscles spasm. To quote the tenth Doctor, “Blink and you’re dead.” It’s just that simple. No one can fight that urge, not even the Doctor. It’s not often that we see the Doctor helpless and reduced to tears, but that is exactly what he was when the Weeping Angels zapped Rory back in time again, and Amy chose to follow. Any being that can face the Doctor multiple times, and claim victory (even a small one) is a being to be feared. Ask any Doctor Who fan what is the scariest episode in the reboot era and chances are they are going to say Blink. It was the first proper scare in the reboot era that had kids cowering behind the sofa, and adults peeking out between their fingers. The Weeping Angels are on tee shirts, mugs, etc. Perhaps the only alien to appear on more merchandise is the Daleks. As a result of this I am going to award the Weeping Angels an 8/10.

Thirdly the Silence. The true fact of the matter is that How can someone look at the Silence and *not* be scarred for life? Their faces look like someone tried to melt their skin off and gave up halfway through because whenever they looked away they’d forget about them. They have the type of face where if you saw one crying in a corner you wouldn’t empathize, you’d want to turn around, run away and forget you ever saw such a thing. The worst part about the Silence is that you literally cannot run away from these guys because the second you do you’ll forget what you even had to run for. It’s like going into the kitchen because you wanted something, arriving and then forgetting why you’re there (something most people find themselves doing a lot), this adds to the fear factor as it could be quite possible for the Silence to be real. With the Silence, the only way to track how many times you saw them is to mark yourself with a counting line to let you know how many times you’ve had a near death experience and lived to tell the tale. This brings us to the dilemma: If you try running around with marks all over yourself talking about a monster you can’t remember is chasing you, no one is going to help you because they’re going to think you’re CRAZY. Thus I believe the Silence deserves a 9/10.

Therefore, in conclusion, I believe the Silence are the scariest villains in the modern era of Doctor Who. This is particularly because of how potentially probable the Silence could exist that makes the eerie creatures more threatening. However the daleks and weeping angels are a close second and third due to their reoccurring nature who continue to trouble the Doctor with evil schemes.