10 Times Doctor Who Wasted Great Villains

There are hundreds of monsters The Doctor has fought with throughout Doctor Who's run. Some are brilliant, some miss the mark, but some have the potential to be great but fall victim to lousy story writing or running out of airtime for the episode.

While most of the monsters The Doctor battles are all great in their own unique way, there are some that just seem to be wasted. It's especially disappointing when there is a massive build-up to these monsters, then they are defeated in two seconds by something that is very simple and/or extremely underwhelming.

There are some that leave us wanting more as we can often find ourselves saying “is that it?” after The Doctor has had his way with them. There's nothing more disappointing than seeing a fantastic concept being played out in front of you, only to be spoiled by a lame ending or just never used again in future instalments (often causing plot holes throughout the sci-fi series).

We take a look at ten Doctor Who rogues who had an amazing villain arc, only to be wasted and leaving us dissatisfied and wanting more.

The Whisper Men were a group of featureless human-like beings that appeared to serve the Great Intelligence. After kidnapping The Doctor's friends, they forced the Eleventh Doctor to travel to Trenzalore – the planet that lies as The Doctor’s final grave.

While the Whisper Men looked amazing and sent chills down your spine every time they said one of their sinister rhymes or hissing, they didn’t actually do a lot in The Name of The Doctor. Having creatures as scary as them, it was expected that they would have a bigger role, especially after bringing The Doctor to his own grave. However, they were only there for pure plot convenience and tension between The Doctor and the other characters surrounding him.

The biggest plot point they had in the episode was forcing The Doctor to say his own name in order to be able to open his own grave. As The Doctor panics, explaining why he cannot say his name, the Whisper Men threaten him by stopping the hearts of Clara, Strax, Vastra and Jenny until he says his name. However, in a little disappointing plot twist, it was a psychic echo of River Song who said his name, causing the doors to open.