10 Best One-Off Villains Classic Doctor Who Villains
4. Magnus Greel
Referred to as 'The Butcher of Brisbane', Magnus Greel was a time-travelling war criminal from the 51st Century posing as a God in the 19th.
Appearing as the main antagonist in the 1977 adventure The Talons of Weng-Chiang, Greel had previously been the Minister of Justice in the far-future. A dictator who had experimented on one-hundred thousand enemies, Greel was finally defeated at the close of World War VI.
Stealing an experimental time cabinet, he escaped to the 1890s and posed as the Chinese God Weng-Chiang with his superior knowledge and technology.
Wearing luxurious robes and a sinister blank face mask, Greel was a
shadowy and fearsome sight on the streets of Victorian London. Hideously deformed from his dangerous journey through time, Greel tried to restore himself using an extraction chamber to feed off the life force of victims.
The Fourth Doctor, in the guise of Sherlock Holmes, and his companion Leela were soon on the case when young women were being reported missing. Tracking 'Weng-Chiang' to a theatre magician called Li H'Sen Chang, the Doctor realised that this performer was really under the control of Magnus Greel.
Assuming the Doctor to be a Time Agent (the same Time Agents Captain Jack Harkness would later be a part of), Greel tried to evade capture again.
Confronting him and rescuing a kidnapped Leela, the Doctor got the upper-hand and forced the false-God into his extraction chamber. Already damaged beyond repair, Greel was disintegrated.
A Jack the Ripper-type villain, Magnus Greel was the perfect enemy for the Doctor to face in this iconic Victorian adventure.