10 Smartest Villain Plans In Doctor Who

"You know the key strategic weakness of the human race? The dead outnumber the living."

The Master's regeneration into a woman was the single biggest change to the character in their (then) 43-year history, as reflected by their temporary name-change to Missy.

But one thing that hadn’t changed was the Master’s knack for a good old evil plan.

They’d always enjoyed playing the long game, but Missy took it to the extreme, establishing herself as a god-like figure and picking up the Doctor’s departed friends in a series of cameos across Series 8, apparently set in "heaven".

Of course, the truth was a lot darker. In reality, this mystery location was the Nethersphere – a cloud-based depository to which minds were uploaded, and then downloaded into new, Cyberman bodies. Missy's ultimate aim? To gift this new army of Cybermen to the Doctor as… a birthday present.

But there’s more. How did the Doctor become embroiled in Missy’s plan? Through his companion, Clara, whose partner, Danny, was killed in a hit-and-run. Might Missy have been the one driving the car, to ensure this whole chain of events was set in motion? It’s not the most unlikely head canon.