10 Doctor Who Villains Who Should NEVER Return

2. Davros

Without a doubt, Davros is one of the greatest Doctor Who villains that has ever graced the show. Creator of the Dalek race, Davros was originally created for the 1975 serial Genesis of the Daleks, and since his first appearance, has featured across the Whovian canon and played by four actors. His return in 2008 to face off against David Tennant's Doctor was superbly brought to life by Julian Bleach, with equal portions of maniacal laughter and cold, calculating dialogue. The only reason that Davros features in this list at all is that his portrayal and story told across Series 9's opening two-parter was arguably the perfect send off for this iconic villain.

Told across The Magician's Apprentice and The Witch's Familiar in 2015, the Twelfth Doctor (played by Peter Capaldi) is lured back to Skaro by a dying Davros, who in the opening scene is revealed to have been a little boy who the Doctor abandoned on a battlefield after learning who he would grow up to be. This supposedly set off the chain of events that would lead to the Davros becoming the villain we all know him to be, and the eventual creation of the Dalek race. Both Bleach and Capaldi have some very endearing dialogue that demonstrates the shared respect that they have for one another, despite being mortal enemies, and while it soon becomes apparent that Davros still has a nefarious scheme on his mind, the two-parter ends with the Doctor returning to that same battlefield and saving a young Davros.

The boy asks which side he fights for, and the Doctor replies it does not matter as long there is mercy.

There is nothing to suggest that by saving young Davros that anything changed in the timeline (wibbly wobbly timey wimey stuff), particularly as we have seen the Daleks return to battle Jodie Whitaker's Thirteenth Doctor, but by the end of the two-parter, it felt like a farewell to the old villain in the sense that there were no more stories to tell. Of course, there are always more stories to tell, but it would wiser to let Davros rest after such a long and successful run.