10 Best Doctor Who Characters In One Scene Only

All hail Salad Man, the Doctor Who hero we didn't know we needed.

By Danny Meegan /

Doctor Who is such a powerful show that it can create an icon out of just about anything. A stripy scarf or a bow tie? No problem. Jelly babies and celery? Easy. A fez? Pfft, come on, how about a real challenge!

Advertisement

The same is also true of its characters, no matter how minor their roles may be. A random extra chucking salad at an alien can steal an entire episode, as can a seemingly unimportant café worker whose wisdom and intelligence shines through right away, despite only popping up for less than two minutes.

In a show that's been running as long as Doctor Who has, there are obviously thousands of characters like this - characters who got just a single scene's worth of screen time. While the majority of these are (understandably) forgotten over time, a select few of them have endured, scoring a place on our list today.

From brief celebrity cameos to random, throwaway extras, these one-scene wonders have managed to carve their own special places in our hearts, and though they weren't around for long, we sure as hell aren't going to forget 'em!

10. Ood Elder (The End Of Time)

We've seen a lot of Ood in Doctor Who, from their initial appearance as a main villain in The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit, to a supporting role in The Doctor's Wife, to a cameo in Revolution Of The Daleks. At the time of writing, the creatures are also set to appear in an upcoming episode of Series 13, which is rather exciting.

Advertisement

But one particular Ood we haven't seen much of at all is the Ood Elder, whose Doctor Who screentime consists of a single scene in The End Of Time: Part One.

The power of the Ood is quite underrated by Doctor Who fans, and this guy is on a whole other level above the rest of his species, able to give the Tenth Doctor a visual sneak-peek at events that are yet to pass: the Master, Wilfred Mott, Joshua Naismith, Lucy Saxon - how are they all connected? Us viewers don't yet know, but the soothing tones of Brian Cox make the Ood Elder a captivating figure regardless.

We also love how this guy's brain is exposed on top of his head, like, yeah, I'm so badass that I don't even need a skull! The Ood Elder may be lacking in screentime, but it's clear that he's an incredibly powerful creature.

Advertisement