10 Worst Doctor Who Villains

Oh look, another monster crafted by the mind of Mark Gatiss. Unlike with The Idiot's Lantern, this story is downright awful. In fact, it's that bad I've not sat down and watched it since its initial release back in 2017. I hold a bitter memory of this episode, and looking back at old reviews I did on the episode, yeah, it's fair to say I don't have anything nice to say about it.

It's a shame really as I appreciate Gatiss as a creative individual, and adore the Ice Warriors as a Doctor Who monster. However, Empress of Mars delivered nothing but disappointment in both its writing, and direction. Nothing remotely worked and it's an absolute travesty on the part of the Ice Warriors, especially with the appearance of the first female member of their race.

What made matters worse was the acting. Iraxxa just came across like a pantomime villain. Childishly absorbed. Overly loud. And completely non threatening in her portrayal. Even the sly inclusion of Alpha Centauri to retroactively explain how this embarrassing skirmish between two opposing ideological led parties resulted in the Ice Warriors joining the Galactic Federation. This Classic Who plug-in ultimately just made matters worse for me.

And before anyone argues why this villain is so high on this list based on memory alone, it's simply because those before Iraxxa are more tolerable, and I can more easily watch/enjoy their respective episodes. When it comes to Iraxxa (and her thankful one-off appearance) I may never materialise there ever again because my experience was just so painful.