Skip to main content
Join The Community
- Join our community
Commenting
Join the discussion
Exclusive Articles Coming Soon
Member-only articles
Weekly Newsletters
Weekly gaming & entertainment news
Member Badges
Earn badges as you go
Exclusive Competitions
Members-only prize draws
Curated Deals Coming Soon
Tech and gaming deals worth grabbing
GET COMMUNITY ACCESS QUICK
For the quickest way to join, simply enter your email below and get access. We will send a confirmation and sign you up to our newsletter to keep you updated on all your gaming news.
By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.
FIND OUT ABOUT OUR MAGAZINE
Want to subscribe to the magazine? Click the button below to find out more information.
Find out more
GET Community ACCESS QUICK

Join the GamesRadar community for quick access. Enter your email below and we'll send confirmation, and sign you up to our newsletter.

By submitting your information, you confirm you are aged 16 or over, have read our Privacy Policy and agree to the Terms & Conditions. Geographical rules apply.

Welcome to GamesRADAR+ Community !
Hi ,

Your membership journey starts here.

Keep exploring and earning more as a member.

MY ACCOUNT

Earn your first badge
Read 1 article to unlock your first badge.
Keep earning badges
Explore ways to get more involved as a member.
Latest Games News

Latest Games News

Breaking gaming news and updates

Read Now
Latest Games Reviews

Latest Games Reviews

Expert verdicts on the newest releases

Read Now

See what you’ve unlocked.

Explore your membership benefits.

Explore
Member Exclusives

Stay Ahead with GamesRadar+

Get the biggest gaming news, reviews, and releases straight to your inbox.

Explore

Sign Out
GamesRadar+
US EditionUS CA EditionCanada UK EditionUK AU EditionAustralia
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
  • Games
    • Game Insights
      • Games News
      • Games Features
      • Games Reviews
      • Games Guides
      • Big in 2026
      • Big Preview
      • Future Games Show
      • Golden Joystick Awards
    • Genres
      • Action Games
      • RPGs
      • Action RPGs
      • Adventure Games
      • Third Person Shooters
      • FPS Games
    • Platforms
      • PS5
      • Xbox Series X
      • PC
      • Nintendo Switch
      • Nintendo Switch 2
      • Tabletop Gaming
    • Franchises
      • Grand Theft Auto
      • Pokemon
      • Assassin's Creed
      • Monster Hunter
      • Fortnite
      • Cyberpunk
      • Red Dead
      • The Elder Scrolls
      • The Sims
  • Entertainment
    • TV Shows
      • TV News
      • TV Reviews
      • Anime Shows
      • Sci-Fi Shows
      • Superhero Shows
      • Animated Shows
      • Marvel TV Shows
      • Star Wars TV Shows
      • DC TV Shows
    • Movies
      • Movie News
      • Movie Reviews
      • Big Screen Spotlight
      • Superhero Movies
      • Action Movies
      • Anime Movies
      • Sci-Fi Movies
      • Horror Movies
      • Marvel Movies
      • DC Movies
    • Streaming
      • Apple TV Plus
      • Disney Plus
      • Netflix
      • HBO
      • Amazon Prime Video
      • Hulu
    • Comics
      • Marvel Comics
      • DC Comics
  • Hardware
    • Insights
      • Hardware News
      • Hardware Reviews
      • Hardware Features
      • Buying Guides
    • Computing
      • Desktop PCs
      • Laptops
      • Handhelds
    • Peripherals
      • Headsets & Headphones
      • TVs & Monitors
      • Gaming Mice
      • Gaming Keyboards
      • Gaming Chairs
      • Speakers & Audio
    • Accessories & Tech
      • Gaming Controllers
      • Tech
      • SSDs & Hard Drives
      • VR
      • Accessories
      • Retro
  • Deals
    • Toys & Collectibles
    • Lego
    • Dungeons and Dragons
    • Merch
  • Video
    • Videos
    • GR+ Replay - Submit Your Clips
    • G+RLS Podcast
  • Edge
  • Newsletters
    • Quizzes
    • About Us
    • How to pitch to us
    • How we score
    • Newsarama
    • Retro Gamer
  • Home
  • Games
    • View Games
      • Games News
      • Games Features
      • Games Reviews
      • Games Guides
      • Big in 2026
      • Big Preview
      • Future Games Show
      • Golden Joystick Awards
      • Action Games
      • RPGs
      • Action RPGs
      • Adventure Games
      • Third Person Shooters
      • FPS Games
    • Platforms
      • View Platforms
      • PS5
      • Xbox Series X
      • PC
      • Nintendo Switch
      • Nintendo Switch 2
      • Tabletop Gaming
      • Grand Theft Auto
      • Pokemon
      • Assassin's Creed
      • Monster Hunter
      • Fortnite
      • Cyberpunk
      • Red Dead
      • The Elder Scrolls
      • The Sims
  • Entertainment
    • View Entertainment
    • TV Shows
      • View TV Shows
      • TV News
      • TV Reviews
      • Anime Shows
      • Sci-Fi Shows
      • Superhero Shows
      • Animated Shows
      • Marvel TV Shows
      • Star Wars TV Shows
      • DC TV Shows
    • Movies
      • View Movies
      • Movie News
      • Movie Reviews
      • Big Screen Spotlight
      • Superhero Movies
      • Action Movies
      • Anime Movies
      • Sci-Fi Movies
      • Horror Movies
      • Marvel Movies
      • DC Movies
    • Streaming
      • View Streaming
      • Apple TV Plus
      • Disney Plus
      • Netflix
      • HBO
      • Amazon Prime Video
      • Hulu
    • Comics
      • View Comics
      • Marvel Comics
      • DC Comics
  • Hardware
    • View Hardware
      • Hardware News
      • Hardware Reviews
      • Hardware Features
      • Buying Guides
      • Desktop PCs
      • Laptops
      • Handhelds
    • Peripherals
      • View Peripherals
      • Headsets & Headphones
      • TVs & Monitors
      • Gaming Mice
      • Gaming Keyboards
      • Gaming Chairs
      • Speakers & Audio
      • Gaming Controllers
      • Tech
      • SSDs & Hard Drives
      • VR
      • Accessories
      • Retro
  • Deals
    • Toys & Collectibles
    • Lego
    • Dungeons and Dragons
    • Merch
  • Video
    • View Video
    • Videos
    • GR+ Replay - Submit Your Clips
    • G+RLS Podcast
  • Edge
  • Newsletters
    • Quizzes
    • About Us
    • How to pitch to us
    • How we score
    • Newsarama
    • Retro Gamer
Trending
  • Best Netflix Movies
  • Movie Release Dates
  • Best movies on Disney Plus
  • Best Netflix Shows
Your movies and TV digest from the team at GamesRadar+

Bringing all the latest movie news, features, and reviews to your inbox


By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

You are now subscribed

Your newsletter sign-up was successful


Join the club

Get full access to premium articles, exclusive features and a growing list of member rewards.


An account already exists for this email address, please log in.
  1. Entertainment
  2. TV
  3. Sci-Fi Shows

10 Doctor Who Villains For Ben Wheatley

Features
By Sam Ashurst
Published 14 October 2013

The nastiest baddies on Doctor Who's Kill List...

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

Clockwork Droids

Clockwork Droids

The Villain: One of our all-time favorite Who episodes ('The Girl In The Fireplace') features a particularly gruesome foe - wind-up weirdoes who harvest human organs for ship repairs.

What Wheatley Could Do With Them: Request a midnight broadcast date and include a six-minute sequence in which one of the androids attempts to fix a caravan-engine with a handful of guts.

Page 1 of 10
Page 1 of 10
The Daleks

The Daleks

The Villain: As if they need an introduction. But just in case, pepper-pot Nazis who bellow "EX-TER-MIN-ATE!" like it's their catchphrase or something.

Essentially the lovechild of The Terminator and R2-D2.

What Wheatley Could Do With Them: Ben's first feature, Down Terrace , infuses a suburban environment with escalating dread.

We'd love to see a similar trajectory in Who , with a kid keeping a secret pet Dalek in the basement of his parents' Brighton-based house, while it slowly repairs itself back to full strength.

The interaction between an innocent kid and a Dalek doing its best to play nice would be extremely creepy.

Page 2 of 10
Page 2 of 10
The Sea Devils

The Sea Devils

The Villain: We don't care what anyone says, the Sea Devils are some of the most terrifying Who villains of the past 50 years. They're essentially a gang of more intimidating Admiral Ackbars, with guns. We know, we know, it doesn't sound scary. But it totally is.

What Wheatley Could Do With Them:
A young family go on holiday exploring Devon's coastline - stopping off at Wookey Hole and Cheddar Gorge along the way - only to encounter an army of giant fish-faced monsters rising from the sea once they get there. It's basically Sightseers meets Lucio Fulci's Zombie Flesh Eaters . With Devonshire accents.

Page 3 of 10
Page 3 of 10
Vashta Nerada

Vashta Nerada

The Villain: Scary shadows that strip the flesh from your bones.

What Wheatley Could Do With Them:
Easily one of the scariest of the nu- Who villains in concept, Wheatley could push the Nerada even further, allowing us to see that flesh-dissolving process for the first time.

But we don't want to see CGI - that's too easy, we want to this to come via the magic of claymation.

Wheatley's working on a plasticine-based project after all (with the child-friendly title Megaevilmotherfuckers ). And if it's good enough for Evil Dead …

Page 4 of 10
Page 4 of 10
The Weeping Angels

The Weeping Angels

The Villain: One of the most chilling modern Who villains, the Weeping Angels are vicious aliens who attack you only when you're not looking. Just don't blink and you'll be totally fine.

What Wheatley Could Do With Them: Despite the fact the characters can be controlled by blinking, no-one's thought to do a first-person perspective Weeping Angels story.

Wheatley's ABCs Of Death installment is one of the best first-person shorts we've seen in a very long time. Let's hook these guys up.

Imagine being put into the eyes of a victim as they blink a gang of stone-cold killers closer and closer to their location.

Then, at the last minute, they pull out a hammer and chisel and turn them into something friendlier.

Like garden gnomes. There's nothing creepy about garden gnomes.

Page 5 of 10
Page 5 of 10
The Master

The Master

The Villain: Doctor Who's most personal foe, The Master is an ex-Time Lord turned Time Bastard, initially conceived as Professor Moriaty to Who's Sherlock Holmes.

What Wheatley Could Do With Him:
With John Simm's incarnation apparently killed off at the end of Russell T. Davies' run on Who , Doctor Who's archenemy is overdue a regeneration. Let's have him take the form of Michael Smiley.

Page 6 of 10
Page 6 of 10
The Mara

The Mara

The Villain: A monster that requires pure fear to survive, The Mara may not be as iconic as some of the bigger baddies, but it has its place in modern Who - mentioned by the 10th Doctor in 'Time Crash' in 2007, and getting its own audio story in 2010. Did we mention it lives off pure fear?

What Wheatley Could Do With It:
Wheatley's working on his own monster movie - Freak Shift - and this could be his trial run for that. Sending The Mara slithering through the streets of London in its giant snake form - or whatever Ben's brilliant imagination can come up with (Mara can manifest as pretty much whatever it wants) - would be a lot of fun.

Page 7 of 10
Page 7 of 10
Cybermen

Cybermen

The Villain: Soulless metal men hellbent on upgrading humanity into more soulless metal men. And very occasionally ladies.

What Wheatley Could Do With Them: Overuse has taken the edge off The Cybermen a bit in recent years - we want Wheatley to make them scary again.

It's probably a bit of a stretch, but we'd LOVE the BBC to sign off on making the opening episode black and white, with The Cybermen invading the 17th Century to wreak bloody havoc during the English Civil War.

The Cybermen were terrifying in black and white. Wheatley's A Field In England is arguably the most unsettling black and white film ever made (just pipping Tetsuo: Body Hammer to the post), so let's bring these two things together and watch Twitter slowly go silent through sheer shock.

Page 8 of 10
Page 8 of 10
Sharaz Jek

Sharaz Jek

The Villain: Big bad behind the most death-filled episode of the fifth Doctor's tenure ('The Caves Of Androzani'), and still just as bloody terrifying to look at. Forget hiding behind the sofa; Jek made us want to fling it at the telly.

What Wheatley Could Do With Him:
Wheatley is a master of adult themes, so this will be right up his dark alley.

Jek was the victim of corporate greed, injured when his partner decided to save a few bucks on safety. Jek decides to take revenge, gathering an army of robo-slaves in an underground cave. Wheatley could make this relevant to today's financial climate. Except, y'know, for kids!

Page 9 of 10
Page 9 of 10
The Beast

The Beast

The Villain: Essentially Satan. A massive, massive Satan. Who can possess minds and basically look amazing. Also, massive. Like, really big.

What Wheatley Could Do With Him: Kill List was arguably the most satanic film ever to not actually feature a single reference to the big red.

Let's get a cult of suburban families plotting to bring The Beast back from the black hole he was sent screaming into; complete with weird symbols and human hammer sacrifices. Except, y'know, for kids!

Page 10 of 10
Page 10 of 10
Sam Ashurst
Social Links Navigation

Sam Ashurst is a London-based film maker, journalist, and podcast host. He's the director of Frankenstein's Creature, A Little More Flesh + A Little More Flesh 2, and co-hosts the Arrow Podcast. His words have appeared on HuffPost, MSN, The Independent, Yahoo, Cosmopolitan, and many more, as well as of course for us here at GamesRadar+.

  • Facebook
  • X
  • Pinterest
  • Flipboard
  • Email
Share this article
Join the conversation
Follow us
Add us as a preferred source on Google
Subscribe to our newsletter
Read more
The 30 best horror movies of all time: pictures from The Wicker Man, The Shining, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, and Hereditary.
Horror Movies The 30 best horror movies that will haunt you long after the credits roll
 
 
Final Destination Bloodlines
Streaming Services The 5 best Halloween Horror movies to stream on Netflix, HBO Max, Hulu, and more (October 23-30)
 
 
Jacob Elordi as the Creature in Frankenstein
Horror Movies The 25 best Netflix horror movies to watch right now
 
 
A girl's head smiling during one of the best scary movies, House.
Horror Movies I've seen over 600 horror movies, and these are the scary must-watches to add to your Halloween playlist
 
 
The best horror comedies
Action Movies The 15 best horror comedies that will have you laughing from behind your sofa
 
 
Essie Davis as Amelia Vanek screaming during the horror movie, The Babadook.
Amazon Prime Video The 10 best Prime Video horror movies to watch right now
 
 
Latest in Sci Fi Shows
Patrick Stewart as Jean-Luc Picard during the sci-fi show, Star Trek Picard.
Sci-Fi Shows Star Trek and X-Men actor Patrick Stewart dies at 86
 
 
Walton Goggins as the Ghoul in Fallout season 2
Sci-Fi Shows Walton Goggins wraps filming on Fallout season 3 with cryptic message
 
 
Title screen for Fallout Shelter: The Experiment
Sci-Fi Shows New Prime Video reality show Fallout Shelter: The Experiment finally has a release date
 
 
Commander Shepard in Mass Effect
Sci-Fi Shows Mass Effect TV show: Everything we know about Amazon's live-action Mass Effect adaptation
 
 
Elizabeth Olsen in WandaVision
Sci-Fi Shows WandaVision creator is bringing Stargate back to TV, but fans aren't happy after previous attempt was scrapped
 
 
Michelle Yeoh and Hunter Schaeffer looking at each other in Blade Runner 2099
Sci-Fi Shows New Blade Runner 2099 trailer teases the rise of replicants and the fall of humanity
 
 
Latest in Features
The Witcher 3 screenshots from quest 'A Towerfull of Mice', depicting scenes of a gloomy river and tower haunted by a Plague Maiden
RPGs I discovered The Witcher 3 Remastered's most psychedelic quest 10 years too late
 
 
Horde players chat around a campfire in World of Warcraft: Forever, with the orange GamesRadar+ Big Preview branding
World of Warcraft 8 vital ways that WoW: Forever is different from Retail and Classic
 
 
Vault Boy ducks and covers in promo art for Fallout
Games "There is no game preservation with DRM": Why GOG has spent 18 years fighting for classic games
 
 
Phantom Blade Zero warriors
Action RPGs Phantom Blade Zero has the perfect solution to Elden Ring's biggest buzzkill
 
 
Ghost Rider holds Malekith by the throat and forces the Penance Stare upon him
Tabletop Gaming Marvel's newest character was born out of a shared need with Magic: The Gathering's Darkhold Destiny set
 
 
An in-game character model of a Skyborne - a sort of blue-skinned elf - in World of Warcraft: Forever, with the orange GamesRadar+ Big Preview branding
World of Warcraft After 22 years, World of Warcraft: Forever has finally sold me on Blizzard's undying MMO – now I never want to leave
 
 
LATEST ARTICLES
  1. "As the resolution of the worlds goes up, I think there are things you can't get away with in the same way"
    1
    Rockstar had to up its game for GTA 6 – because GTA 5's realism was already "showing its age" when it launched 13 years ago
  2. 2
    Physical PC games could make a comeback thanks to GOG: "I really hope that we'll be able to do it"
  3. 3
    With GTA 6, Rockstar couldn't "just trot out something" fans would already expect: "We've built a pyramid on Everest"
  4. 4
    "There is no game preservation with DRM": Why GOG's leaders have spent 18 years fighting for classic games
  5. 5
    Fan-made Oblivion remake Skyblivion runs into trouble as a former modder is attempting to sue the 14-year-old Elder Scrolls project

GamesRadar+ is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

Add as a preferred source on Google Add as a preferred source on Google
  • About us
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Terms and conditions
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Advertise with us
  • Review guidelines
  • Write for us
  • Accessibility statement
  • Careers

© Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036.

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait...