During Russell T Davies’s first run as showrunner, when it came to choosing which Doctor Who enemies to focus on in the finales, he had a relatively easy job. For each of his finales, he simply brought back the four biggest enemies, in descending order: the Daleks, the Cybermen, the Master, and Davros.
These enemies weren't just familiar to Doctor Who fans. These were the names that even the most casual viewer knew of, at least in the UK. Just as someone who’s never read a DC comic will still have heard of “Lex Luthor” or “the Joker”, everyone in the UK – even after 16 years off-screen – knew what a Dalek was. Davies saving the biggest enemies for the finales was a smart decision.
Of course, when Steven Moffat took over, he had to use a different strategy. For Series 5, the first finale he gave Matt Smith's Doctor featured an alliance between what seemed to be every monster ever, whether we saw them on-screen or not. Even the Drahvins got a mention!
For Series 6's finale, he went for a different approach. Instead of using a monster from the Classic Series and hyping up their return, Moffat instead focused on the Silence, his own creation. This was certainly different, but at the same time, it worked. Moffat had built the Silence up heavily throughout Matt Smith's era, so that by this point, they were big enough to be given a finale.
With his third season, Moffat took a similar approach with building up and developing a major enemy. But in this case, he did it with something much older. Something that hadn’t appeared in Doctor Who in over forty years.
The Great Intelligence
It’s one thing to bring back a major enemy that the audience will recognize, even if they only know the name. But while the Great Intelligence may have been recognized by Classic Series fans, it has to be said that they weren’t exactly up there with “the Big Four”. After all, the Great Intelligence had only appeared in two stories. Both not only featured Patrick Troughton as the Second Doctor but also featured the Yeti. In fact, while the Intelligence was the clear controlling force in both stories, the Yeti were the more recognizable enemy.
However, while the Great Intelligence was the main antagonist in Series 7’s finale, “The Name of the Doctor”, Moffat knew that he couldn’t just suddenly bring them back and expect the general audience – or even New Who fans – to know who they were. He had to build them up first.
He did this by giving them a fresh introduction via the 2012 Christmas special. “The Snowmen” wasn't simply a return appearance for the Great Intelligence. Instead, it was an origin story, exploring in full exactly how the Doctor's old enemy was created.
Overall, "The Snowmen" comes across as a textbook example of how to reintroduce a more obscure villain to a new audience. While there are plenty of nods to the Intelligence's original two appearances, it's mainly presented as brand new. In fact, for most of the story, it's only referred to as "the Intelligence", only confirming its full name at the end of the episode.
Perhaps best of all, instead of reacting in shock at the reveal, the Doctor only says that the name “rings a bell”, highlighting just how long it had been since the Great Intelligence's last appearance. By giving them an origin story, Moffat had created a way to introduce the evil force to a new audience, making sure that its return had an impact on all fans in the finale.
Sutekh
Over ten years later, with Ncuti Gatwa’s first season, Russell T Davies also decided to bring back an old villain in the finale. One that hadn’t been seen in the show in almost five decades: Sutekh the Destroyer.
It’s easy to see why Sutekh was selected to come back. Out of the Doctor’s many enemies, Sutekh has to be one of the most powerful – a god-like being with a thirst for destruction. “Pyramids of Mars” is also an extremely popular story, one greatly loved by fans of Classic Who.
I’ll be honest: as a big fan of the Classic Series, one who’s watched “Pyramids of Mars” countless times, Sutekh’s return in “The Legend of Ruby Sunday” was a great surprise and genuinely made me gasp. Regardless of my thoughts on the following episode, the reveal itself was satisfying to watch, especially with Gabriel Woolf returning to voice the villain.
However, the moment only works if you’re familiar with Classic Who. More than a little familiar, in fact. Like the Great Intelligence, Sutekh isn’t one of “the Big Four”. He’s not a villain that the general UK audience would already be familiar with. While he’s appeared in several stories in expanded media, Sutekh had only ever appeared in one previous story on-screen.
Better reveals
There’s nothing wrong with suddenly bringing back an enemy that hadn’t appeared in decades. In fact, Russell T Davies had just brought back the Toymaker in the previous year’s “The Giggle”. However, in that episode, it was made clear to the audience who the character was very early on. More than that, the Toymaker’s return had been announced months before, allowing for newer fans to become more familiar with the character before the episode’s broadcast.
With Sutekh’s return, however, Davies clearly wanted to make it a memorable shock to end Season 1's penultimate episode. It has to be said that Davies was brilliant at the part 1 cliffhanger. “Army of Ghosts”, “Utopia,” “The Stolen Earth”, “The End of Time: Part One” – everyone remembers the shocking endings of each of these episodes. (“Bad Wolf” also has a great cliffhanger, but the shock factor was massively reduced, thanks to the Daleks being revealed in the episode’s trailer the previous week.)
“Utopia” in particular stands out. It brings back an old enemy, but the general UK audience was already more than familiar with the Master. More importantly, for completely new fans, the ending was shocking on its own terms due to the reveal that another Time Lord had survived. It’s a perfect example of how to bring back a major villain that older fans are familiar with while giving enough context for newer fans to be shocked.
Excluding new fans?
Perhaps what makes Sutekh's return so strange is that it happens in a season that was heavily marketed as a fresh jumping-on point. Ncuti Gatwa’s first season wasn't labelled as "Series 14" but "Season 1". This seems to be primarily because of Disney+ and the massive potential new audience it would bring. With the US streaming rights for Series 1 to 13 still belonging firmly to Max, the new era had to work well as a fresh starting point.
To be honest, until the finale, Season 1 (2024) does work well in terms of accessibility. The opening episodes form a great introduction to not just the new companion, but also to the Doctor and his adventures. The rest of the season focuses on enemies either brand new or at least presented as such, such as Villengard in the episode “Boom”. The only story that expects you to have pre-existing knowledge, at least for its big shocking moment, is “The Legend of Ruby Sunday”.
Admittedly, a special episode of Tales of the TARDIS was made specifically to catch new viewers up on Sutekh. But the new edit of “Pyramids of Mars” – with opening and closing scenes featuring Ncuti Gatwa and Millie Gibson – wasn’t released until after “The Legend of Ruby Sunday” had been broadcast. And compared to the two-part finale, this would’ve been seen by a much smaller audience, especially worldwide. (Currently, Tales of the TARDIS is exclusive to BBC iPlayer in the UK.)
A better way?
Perhaps Sutekh’s return could’ve been built up better by reintroducing the Osirans in another episode. Perhaps meeting another long lost Osiran, or at least encountering another culture influenced by them, would’ve been a great way of building up Sutekh and how much of a powerful threat he was. (It’s worth noting that the Tenth Doctor comics published by Titan featured a similar storyline.)
It could be argued that, due to the reduced episode count of just 8 episodes (9 if you include Christmas special “The Church on Ruby Road”, which Disney+ does), there was less room to build up Sutekh’s return than with previous seasons. But this brings me back to Moffat’s handling of the Great Intelligence. While the mystery of multiple Claras lasted across the whole of Series 7, the Great Intelligence is only a part of the 2012 Christmas special and the second part of Series 7 – a total of 9 episodes.
As I mentioned before, the part of me that’s a Classic Series fan loved Sutekh’s return. Especially with Gabriel Woolf’s chilling vocal performance bringing the character to life once again. And, while we knew that the episode would end with a huge reset, seeing Sutekh unleash his full power and turn everything to dust was satisfying to see.
But at the same time, Doctor Who has to continue moving forward. As much as I love the Classic Series, the show has to be able to appeal to new fans, especially the current iteration on Disney+. If it’s bringing back major enemies, it has to ensure that they’re re-introduced in a way that makes them come across as brand new to new fans. Doctor Who should respect the past, but it also needs to continue to adapt and evolve for the future.