Doctor Who Symbolism: What 10 Famous Villains Really Mean

9. Black Guardian Is Entropy

Besides the Daleks, the most enduring Doctor Who villain throughout the character's history has been the Cybermen. They've had something of a reboot in the new series, but during each appearance they've represented a different aspect of modern culture that people generally feared. They began as an regular, humanoid race who slowly replaced all their body parts with technology, until they became cold, unfeeling and logical - not unlike a computer. Their first appearance happened right around the time that technology was proving its influence over humanity's future which, perhaps rightly, had many people worried. During the revival the Cybermen took on a different form (they were from a parallel universe y'see) and wanted to turn everybody into robots, not just themselves, which speaks to the fear of conformity people have in our increasingly homogenous modern culture. Something that everyone being augmented with the same technology - ie the latest iPhone - doesn't help.