There are many symbols that make people think of Doctor Who. Perhaps the most prominent is the TARDIS itself, followed by the sonic screwdriver and some of the Doctor's more memorable outfits. But the villains the show has produced have also become iconic in their own right.
Sometimes, a one-off monster can make a massive impact, like the Adipose from "Partners in Crime." They'll get accepted by the fan base, made into action figures and plushies, and generally be cemented in the popular memory of the show. But more often, it's the villains that keep coming back that audiences remember most.
Doctor Who wouldn't have made it without the Daleks becoming so popular early in its history, and the Cybermen and the Master have likewise become mandatory threats for the Doctor to face every couple of years. Particularly since the show was brought back in 2005, these villains have become just as important (if not more important) than the companions and the Doctor's other allies.
Here, we discuss the eight villains that are most present in the modern version of the show, from series 1 (2005) through season 1 (2024). While some episodes have more than one primary villain, most were easily sorted by the most prominent threat. For example, while the series 2 finale rightfully is categorized as being both a Dalek and Cyberman storyline, the Weeping Angels were really the only primary villains in one of the Flux episodes they appear in.
Based on this criteria, we break down what each villain is, how many episodes they were present in, and how many they were the main villain of. While most of those listed below are unsurprising, there might be a few you won't see coming.
Weeping Angels
The Weeping Angels are some of the most iconic villains in Doctor Who, earning their place in the best and scariest villain lists after appearing in just one episode. They take the appearance of stone angels, which generally have their hands covering their faces. However, they only keep that form while someone or something is looking at them.
If they are not in sight, they have the ability to move incredibly quickly. If they touch a person, that person is sent back in time, and the Angels feed off the lost potential. This isn't a death sentence, per se, as the people they touch do get to live out the rest of their lives. They just get stuck in the past. However, the angels can (and do) choose to kill instead of sending people back if they think it will benefit them.
In total, the Weeping Angels appear in 14 episodes of Doctor Who. However, they are only the main villain in five of those: "Blink," "The Time of Angels," "Flesh and Stone," "The Angels Take Manhattan," and "Village of the Angels." The general consensus among the fanbase is that they get less terrifying with each use, especially since each episode has insisted on expanding their lore, so it's probably for the best that they don't appear more frequently.
Gods
The newest season of Doctor Who had a special focus on gods, which were now able to be at the heart of the show due to the heightened emphasis on magic. However, they have actually been included in the series several times before. Gods from various religions have shown up across the years, and the Doctor has frequently been referred to as a God, though he always denies it.
As best as we can count it, Gods (or those who claim to be Gods) are mentioned in 10 episodes of the modern show, with them being the primary villain in six. In the series two episodes "The Impossible Planet" and "The Satan Pit," the Doctor faced off against a being that called itself the Beast, and later claimed to be the truth behind every culture's version of the Devil. The Doctor then sparred against a parasitic god named Akhaten in the series seven episode "The Rings of Akhaten."
The Gods weren't keenly present again until Russell T. Davies's second run, where audiences were introduced (or reintroduced) to the Toymaker, Maestro, and Sutekh. They, along with other villains from Classic Who who were redefined as Gods, could completely alter the fate of the world or universe whenever the circumstances were in their favor.
Robots/Androids
Despite one of the founding rules of Doctor Who being not to feature robots, bug-eyed monsters, and men in rubber suits, living machines are hard to avoid in the science fiction genre. Given the early success of the Daleks, many other robots, cyborgs, and androids were introduced to the show. This continued in the modern era.
According to the Master, "There's loads of robots. Throw a stick in this universe, you'll hit a robot." And if you count the Daleks and the Cybermen as robots, that's true. But they're not as prominent in the show as might be expected. By my best count, Doctor Who has produced approximately 30 episodes with robots and 13 with androids since 2005. This includes villains, background characters, and heroic robots like K-9.
They are less common as primary villains, however. There were killer robots in the early Christmas specials, the clockwork androids in "The Girl in the Fireplace," and two sets of robots each in series 8 and 10. While they are staples of the genre, robots are generally weak villains, because they cannot be reasoned with. Robots just follow their programming, so the true villains are the ones who developed their protocol. Defeating a robot is usually as simple as reprogramming them or cutting off their power supply, which makes them less memorable than more complex villains.
The Order of the Silence
Technically, there are two sets of villains that have been included in this category. First, there is the alien species the Silence, which has power over electricity, the ability to be forgotten when not observed, and mild psychic suggestion. In addition, there is the religious and military group, which primarily believes that the Doctor is a threat to the universe that must be stopped.
Together, these two categories make up the primary villains of series 5 through 7. The alien species appears in six episodes (and two minisodes) of the show, and the Order is the primary villain of five. They were aware of a prophecy that dictated that, if the Doctor went to Trenzalore and spoke his name, the Time Lords would return and the ensuing Time War would destroy everything.
In order to stop this from happening, they attempted to kill the Doctor. Their most prominent way of doing so was by kidnapping Amy and Rory's child, manipulating her DNA, and training her as an assassin. Thus, in any episode where River was the primary villain, it's added to the Silence's count. They were also responsible for the cracks in time, which could arguably bring their total much higher, since virtually every episode of series 5 was caused by the Cracks.
The Master
One of the most infamous villains in Doctor Who history is the Master, a fellow Time Lord who is the Doctor's best friend and greatest rival. First introduced in the Classic Era, the Master was a psychopath intent on destroying the Doctor and bending the universe to his will. However, his obsession with the Doctor often leads to his most complex and interesting arcs.
To date, the Master has been in 25 episodes of Doctor Who since 2005, with three of those episodes including two versions of the character. The War Master (Derek Jacobi) only appeared as himself long enough to regenerate, turning into the Saxon Master (John Simm). This version infiltrated the British government and became Prime Minister as Harold Saxon, enslaved humanity for a year, turned all humans into himself, and attempted to bring back the Time Lords.
Presumably, the next Master is Missy (Michelle Gomez), who brought Clara to the Doctor, constructed an afterlife full of Cybermen, and eventually had the opportunity for redemption. However, the idea that the Spy Master (Sacha Dhawan) followed her lessens that journey. He went on to destroy Gallifrey, create a hybrid species of the Cybermen and the Time Lords, and switch bodies with the Doctor to destroy her legacy.
Because the Master had such a complicated history with the Doctor, they weren't always the villain when they appeared. Missy, in particular, was frequently ambivalent or heroic. Out of 25 appearances, the Master was only the primary villain in 13 episodes, with the Saxon Master being the most consistently villainous by far.
Cybermen
The Cybermen have become some of the most well-known of all Doctor Who villains, and they work so well because they are plausible. As the Doctor explained, Cybermen will always be created, wherever humans are, because they are the inevitable end result of trying to cure sickness and death. That realistic nature makes them terrifying.
Because they can come into existence in any human (or humanoid) civilization, they can vary in appearance and vulnerability. But their primary characteristics are a lack of emotion and a drive to convert everything else in the universe into Cybermen. They may kill people, but they are more frightening when they keep them alive, stripped of everything that made them human.
This backstory makes them ideal for questions of morality and progress, which are critical components of science fiction. Since the revival in 2005, Doctor Who has included Cybermen in 27 episodes. However, they were only primary villains in 13 of those, as they were frequently used as weapons by the Master, targeting humanity to hurt the Doctor.
When Cybermen are used as background threats or weapons, there isn't much to distinguish them from the robots and androids mentioned above. However, when dealt with more earnestly, they become compelling examinations of what happens when science goes too far.
Daleks
Perhaps the most iconic villains in Doctor Who's history, the Daleks are the Doctor's most hated foes. Introduced in the show's second serial, they have been part of the lore since the beginning. In the revival, they have been especially hated, because they are responsible for the Time War and thus the Doctor's actions while ending it.
Perhaps the most frustrating part of the Daleks for the Doctor is that they never seem to go extinct. He commits genocide against them and the Time Lords, but only the Time Lords stay dead. They are like cockroaches, but infinitely worse because they are also killing machines. The Daleks have no sense of love or compassion, so there is no way to stop them without killing them.
Altogether, the Daleks have been in 31 episodes of modern Doctor Who, just over the number of appearances for the Cybermen. Of those 31 appearances, they are the primary villain in 17. However, it should be noted that this is not because the Daleks are ever working alongside the Doctor. It's simply that armies of Daleks appear in many multi-monster stories, where they are not the only threat.
While there is something to be said for a nuanced villain, there are just as many perks to having one that is simply evil. The Daleks have no positive traits, and they cannot be reasoned with. Even so, the Doctor has repeatedly had to question whether it is moral to slaughter them, even given their irredeemable nature. When each new version of the Doctor comes up against the Daleks, audiences see how their perspective on morality has changed and how far are willing to go to stop a threat.
Humans
Although it may seem hard to believe, humanity is actually the biggest villain in modern Doctor Who. They are in virtually every episode, so the proportion of villainous humans to innocents is worth mentioning. However, their choices are often at the heart of conflicts, especially when they develop technology that allows them to play God.
By my count, humans or human ideologies are the core villains of 18 episodes of the revival, although it could be easily argued that the count should be higher. The majority of these situations can be broken into one of three categories: technology, capitalism, and war.
The first of these is the most obvious. Humans develop an invention to make life easier (survive past death, not need to sleep, etc.), and it goes badly. This is usually a natural consequence of their actions, although there have also been several instances where monsters were made accidentally.
Similarly, the capitalism episodes usually begin with some system killing people. It will then be revealed that this was not a glitch but a feature, with the original programmers allowing for some degree of loss of life in order to make more money. While the humans may not be actively killing people, their value systems allow it to happen.
Finally, humans become villains when their commitment to war goes too far. Rather than seeking out peace, humankind will see an alien and respond with ruthless brutality. This is generally brought to the Doctor's attention when the alien species lashes out and is seen as a threat. As the episode goes on, it becomes clear that the humans were the ones who created the situation—they either ignored signs of danger or responded with more violence—and the only way for either species to survive is for the Doctor to put humanity in its place and stop it from committing further atrocities.
One-off villains are the most common in Doctor Who by far, with 68 out of 186 episodes featuring threats that never show up again. Another 36 episodes were driven by foes with three or fewer episodes under their belts. But it's rare for those antagonists to stick in the minds of the fanbase.
Instead, fans remember the more prominent foes, the ones who typically end up being the driving force for season-long arcs and finales. Those are the monsters that audiences expect to see pop up every couple of seasons, and they are the ones that get the most merchandise.
Purely by episode count, these eight villains are the most important in the modern iteration of Doctor Who. If it seems unsettling that humanity is the most prominent among them, it might be necessary to watch the series again, this time realizing how often the Doctor has to stop the species he claims to love the most.