Doctor Who stars Ncuti Gatwa and Millie Gibson reveal their all-time favorite villains – and one is a "misunderstood" fan-favorite

May. 10, 2024

Exclusive | The cast share the love for iconic Doctor Who villains including a favorite from David Tennant’s era

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

Over the course of the past six decades, beloved sci-fi seriesDoctor Whohas brought us many incredible villains from the legendary Daleks to the mischievous Adipose (a personal favorite of ours).

But the question is, what are the current cast’s all-time favorite Doctor Who villains? We asked the Fifteenth Doctor himself Ncuti Gatwa and co-star Millie Gibson (who portrays companion Ruby Sunday) just that during a recent interview, which of course is a tough question to answer given that the list of brilliant baddies is seemingly endless.

However, Gibson’s answer was pretty immediate, as she picked an iconic creation from writer Steven Moffat from the episode Blink, telling GamesRadar+: “Weeping angels! I’m still scared. Every time I see a statue now I’m like holy… don’t blink. It’s so crazy how Doctor Who villains bleed into your waking life, that’s what is so clever about that villain.”

Gatwa meanwhile considers his response, before choosing a fan-favorite from David Tennant’s era – a baddie the actor believes is seriously “misunderstood”. As he explains: “Hmmmm. I did like Cassandra. She’s so vain. She was misunderstood and actually her origin story is really sad. I felt so bad for her I was like, ‘I get it babe, I get it’.”

Laughing Gibson agrees with Gatwa that actor Zoë Wanamaker’s villain is misunderstood, before adding that she thinks they could do their own fun spin on one of the episode’s best scenes: “I get you! You know the scene where David [Tennant] and Billie [Piper] are switching between Cassandra, and they are both being her voice because they go inside her… I feel like we could have done such a funny take on that.” We’d love to see that!

Reflecting on the recent 60th anniversary specials and theupcoming season, Gatwa also revealed which nemeses are his favorites from those episodes. As the actor concluded, he’s more drawn to the “supernatural” ones which includes Jinkx Monsson’s mysterious scoundrel Maestro: “From our season, I think the Toymaker and Maestro. I really like that pantheon that Russell [T Davies, showrunner] is creating. Neil Patrick Harris [who played the Toymaker inThe Giggle] was incredible. There’s something about the more supernatural villains that I get drawn to.”

Sign up for the Total Film Newsletter

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

Doctor Who season 1 will premiere simultaneously on BBC iPlayer on May 11 in the UK andDisneyPlus internationally on May 10 with a double bill. New episodes will then air weekly – stay up to date with exactly when with ourDoctor Who release schedule.

For more from our interviews, here’sshowrunner Davies on whether we will one day see a musical episode,Gatwa on why Steven Moffat’s ‘Boom’ is his favorite one of this season, and the cast onhow a new companion will shake things up for season 2.

As Entertainment Editor at GamesRadar, I oversee all the online content for Total Film and SFX magazine. Previously I’ve worked for the BBC, Zavvi, UNILAD, Yahoo, Digital Spy and more.

New Severance season 2 trailer has fans wondering who mysterious character Mr. Drummond could be

New Doctor Who Christmas special trailer teases an emotional cameo from Ruby Sunday following her departure from the TARDIS

Todd Howard “rolled his eyes” at the idea of Troy Baker playing Indiana Jones in the Great Circle, but the Bethesda boss later told him “you’re doing a hell of a job”