Doctor Who: 10 Best NuWho Recurring Characters

Episodes: Utopia, The Sound of Drums, The Last of the Time Lords, The End of Time Parts 1&2, Deep Breath, Into the Dalek, The Caretaker, In the Forest of the Night, Dark Water, Death in Heaven

Is there a Doctor Who villain better than the Master? Probably not. So far the new series has seen three different incarnations of the manic Time Lord/Lady. Viewers got a mere glimpse of Derek Jacobi's incarnation, but it was still enough to get across the character's gravitas and fear of the Time War, which deepened him.

Then came along John Simm's cackling mad man. This portrayal has been divisive. While some found him threatening, others found him to be overly silly. However, he was a brilliant antagonistic foil to David Tennant's Tenth Doctor and his insane edge made him more unpredicatable and threatening. Furthermore, he was a tragic figure having been manipulated by the Time Lords since his youth, which made him more sympathetic and his redemption at the end of The End of Time particularly poignant.

Most recently came Michelle Gomez' Missy, who took the character's villainy to whole other level. Just as threatening and unpredicatable as Simm, Missy is a highly destructive figure, tearing through UNIT and killing fan favourite ally Osgood. It showed another aspect of a multi-faceted character.

And she's back for Series 9, which is something to look forward to.