Doctor Who boss has teased a secret villain - meet the 11 sinister suspects

Metro

20-05-2025

Ncuti Gatwa's second season as the Doctor is almost at an end as he faces down his 'biggest threat yet' – the Unholy Trinity.
After Mrs Flood's (Anita Dobson) dramatic bigeneration into The Rani (Archie Panjabi) at the end of the last episode we know they have already recruited Lucky Day conspiracy theorist Conrad into their nefarious plan.
However, as showrunner Russell T Davies has confirmed – given that Mrs Flood and The Rani are essentially the same person – that leaves one more villain to stir from the depths of the show's 62-year history to come and haunt the Doctor and Belinda (Varada Sethu).
Exactly how The Rani, her subservient counterpart Mrs Flood, Conrad and the mysterious final entity will destroy the earth – and with it the Doctor – remains to be seen.
All we know right now is that it somehow involves Captain Poppy of Space Babies fame, the return of the Doctor's granddaughter Susan Foreman, oh, and an exploding Tardis.
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So, business as usual?
Of course, Doctor Who wouldn't be Doctor Who without Whovians posing their wildest theories that sometimes turn out to be right on the money (emphasis on the sometimes).
And what's the point in this beloved sci-fi show without us all overthinking every hint dropped until we're proven woefully, woefully wrong.
So, without further ado, here is who we believe is completing this evil triad – from the likely candidates to the outlandish and everything in between.
We might as well get the most obvious guess over and done with. You can't have a huicy evil Time Lord showdown without the defining (kind of) evil Time Lord of Modern Who – Missy aka The Master.
Conrad aside, there definitely seems to be a powerful female aesthetic to our Unholy Trio so far which lends well to Michelle Gomez's iteration of The Master making a comeback (rather than the inimitable Sacha Dhawan).
This is further backed up by Gomez's presence at the Doctor Who premiere – also attended by Jo Martin's Fugitive Doctor who ended up making a sneaky cameo this season (with more to come…?).
Nothing is off limits when you have over six decades of lore to delve into – as proven by Rani's return after 30 years. And so, naturally, we have to dig some Classic Who villains out from the debris and dust them off.
For those not in the know, Omega is one of the founders of Time Lord society and ally to Rassilion (who we'll get to later).
But his stature is even more relevant now we know about the Timeless Child and all the implications around how the Time Lords came into existence.
The last we had heard, the intergalactic engineer who gave Gallifreyans the ability to time travel was dead, but hey, when has that ever stopped anyone in Doctor Who?
Now, Russell T Davies is known for whipping out a wildcard villain and nothing says totally unexpected callback that will completely delight four Whovians like Mr Kandyman.
Honestly, there's no real rhyme or reason for why this liquorice antagonist from 1988 would be the chosen one aside from The Rani aiming to confuse the Doctor so thoroughly that she successfully executes her plan.
It's as good a reason as any!
When it comes to the Doctor Who finale's Big Bad, you can never truly rule out the Doctor's ultimate nemesis – the Daleks. Or, in this case, their creator Davros.
Especially if the theory that The Rani is attempting to create Time Lords is true, who better to team up with than a fellow maniacal visionary? And with Davros's knack for survival despite having large buildings crumble on top of him – we've no doubt he could make a reappearance.
What's more, the Doctor himself, Ncuti Gatwa, has spoken about his dream to battle the Daleks. Could it finally be coming true?
Sticking with the theme of Time Lord history, you can't get more iconic than Rassilon himself – the Lord President who the Doctor has had to defeat more than once.
Both Russell T Davies and Steven Moffatt have brought Rassilon back into the reboot, most recently appearing in Hell Bent full of fury after being deposed as the top dog
Essentially, he's got all the reasons in the universe to want to take the Doctor down a notch.
Look, The Trickster has proven himself a formidable foe of Sarah Jane (and even the Doctor himself during David Tennant's 2009 special). Frankly, it would be epic to see him bring his full power to the main show.
Especially as one of his brigade, The Time Beetle, caused such excellent havoc in season four episode Turn Left, just think the heights we could reach.
It may be a long shot that some laugh off but The Trickster has real potential as the final ingredient in the Unholy Trinity.
The Interstellar Song Contest introduced one of the most complex villain's of the show, Kid, who is tortured by the Doctor. In fact, during the episode he proclaims that he'll be back which is hardly an empty threat in Doctor Who.
And if Mrs Flood can recruit Conrad, another familiar face from this season hell bent on revenge against the Doctor, then who is to say she couldn't easily bring Kid around?
It would be especially interesting to see Doctor face more consequences for his behaviour and give a better resolution to this controversial loose thread.
We already know Doctor Who legend Susan Foreman (Carole Ann Ford) is returning in some shape or form after appearing in visions to the Doctor in The Interstellar Song Contest.
But, could this simply be a trap for the Doctor to lure him right where The Rani needs him to be?
Some eager-eyed people have pointed out that Russell T Davies has teased there is a 'third lying in wait, exactly 160 years away' which suspiciously lines up with when the First Doctor left Susan behind in the 22nd Century, promising to one day come back for her.
Could it be a coincidence? Or is Susan not the loving and loyal granddaughter we remember her to be?
Beep the Meep meets lots of the criteria to join the Unholy Trinity – a niche Classic Who villain with a grudge against the Doctor.
And just like The Rani has made Mrs Flood her minion, perhaps Beep the Meep was ripe for the picking when it came to finding yet another subservient creature to stay by her side.
Sure, it's a stretch, however, it's not out of the realm of possibility. Okay, maybe it is a little bit but don't say we didn't tell you so when Beep appears out of nowhere.
Villengard may not be a person but who says it needs to be an individual foe?
The weapons manufacturer that has followed the Doctor around throughout the reboot, most recently in Steven Moffat's Joy to the World, could very well be the final piece in The Rani's puzzle.
Especially as Moffat himself said in an interview that he received the finale of season two to read over for 'reasons that will become apparent'. It also ties in with Belinda since it is one of her descendants who appears in Boom, yet another Moffat episode with a Villengard feature.
Last, but certainly not least, we have the fan-favourite Trinity Wells who, as one X user Jax put it, is the literal 'harbinger of doom' that Davies has been warning us about. More Trending
The news anchor has been with the human race through thick and thin – and it would certainly be a fun twist if such a familiar face was given an even bigger role than ever as part of the Unholy Trinity.
We're not saying Trinity is a shoo-in as the mysterious villain but… we wouldn't bat an eye if she swaps the newsdesk out for universe-wide domination after everything she's been through.
Doctor Who returns to BBC One and BBC iPlayer on Saturday.
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