Doctor Who Review: The Magician's Apprentice – 7 Ways To Weigh The Wages Of Sin

7. Lust

Lust is desire beyond meaning. It obscures everything but the object of your obsession. In Missy’s case that means a casual disregard for any life that is not useful to playing games with the Doctor. The scene where Missy demonstrates to Clara her contempt for lives she does not consider important is horrifying in its banality. She isn’t angry or vengeful. She simply doesn’t care. She wants the Doctor’s attention and she will do anything to get it.

Davros’ obsession is not for a person but for power. He is the helpless child who is determined never to feel that way again. He decided the universe is a bleak and brutal place and rather than fight against that he seeks to assure its destruction. He shares Missy’s dismissal of anything and anyone that does not further his own agenda. The Doctor offered the child Davros hope and then abandoned him to his fate. While those actions cannot be solely responsible for the man Davros grew up to be they were certainly an influence upon him.