Madame Kovarian is pure evil and there are no redeeming qualities to her character. The only way to ensure that she remains an effective villain is to give her a megalomaniacal charisma. She is reminiscent of a cult leader and her fanatical obsession with the Doctor is both revolting and compelling to witness. Kovarian is the face of fascism. She performs genetic experiments on a pregnant woman in order to force her to give birth to the perfect soldier. She is beyond redemption. Frances Barbers cold, cruel performance ensures that Madame Kovarian does not devolve into a caricature. She portrays Kovarian as a woman drowning in her own self-righteousness and trapped within her sick and twisted convictions. It is a decidedly Machiavellian piece of theater as Kovarian will do anything to obtain her goals no matter the cost. Madame Kovarian is the kind of character that gives you nightmares precisely because her actions are so clinical. In reality she does not have a large amount of time on screen but when Kovarian appears she commands the stage.