Doctor Who: 10 Villains Who Should Return For Russell T Davies' New Series

4. The Macra

Doctor Who Gridlock the Macra
BBC Studios

Though the Macra didn't originate in the RTD era (their first appearance was in 1967, opposite the Second Doctor), he was the last showrunner to use them as a villain.

The crab-like beasts were featured in Series 3's Gridlock, mindlessly stalking the depths of New New York after falling into evolutionary decline. There wasn't really anything compelling about this depiction, but with former showrunner Chris Chibnall having a knack for reworking classic villains in interesting ways, we'd like to see RTD follow suit.

The Macra were wasted in Gridlock, because it could've been any random creature lurking in the shadows. So what could RTD do with them if he puts them front-and-centre? What happened to them after Gridlock? We want those questions answered, and as an added bonus, a future Macra story could also serve as an excuse to revisit New New York - a nice hit of nostalgia for long-time fans.

Perhaps the Macra have re-evolved above ground, gaining some brains to match their brawn. With the bigger budgets Doctor Who has today, that concept could be done much more easily in future series.

In this post: 
Doctor Who
 
Posted On: 
Contributor
Contributor

Danny has been with WhatCulture for over ten years, and is currently Doctor Who Editor and WhoCulture Channel Manager, overseeing all of WhatCulture's Whoniverse coverage. In 2022, he took charge of WhoCulture and has grown it into the biggest Doctor Who channel on YouTube, and one of the biggest Doctor Who communities on the web full-stop. He has been writing and video editing since his early teens, and first got a taste for content creation after making his own Doctor Who trailers, off the back of a burning obsession with the Matt Smith era of the show. Like many his age, he first got into Doctor Who with the 2005 revival, but has since gone back and fallen in love with the classic years too. If you need someone to recite every Doctor Who episode in order, or to give you a random factoid about the making of Gridlock, Danny is the person to ask!