There have been 14 canonical Doctors in Every incarnation of the Doctor fought these villains valiantly, although there were some instances in which the battle was fatal and they regenerated.
Whether it was during a Doctor Who Christmas or New Year's special, or a just regular episode, the Doctor didn’t always know when they faced their last villain before they changed their appearance. The first and last antagonist each Doctor encountered often resembled their incarnation’s character arc, and over the last 61 years, the Time Lord saved the universe from some of the most dangerous villains ever.
14 First Doctor
The Daleks & The Cybermen
The First Doctor’s introductory serial, “An Unearthly Child” didn’t really include a villain. Although Team TARDIS encountered issues with a Stone Age tribe, the Doctor only faced his first true villains in his second serial, “The Daleks.” Considering that they were always one of the most notable recurring Doctor Who villains, it made sense the Daleks were the first aliens that the first incarnation of the Doctor faced.
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The Doctor said goodbye to his first body after he crossed paths with the Cybermen in "The Tenth Planet." Although the Cybermen didn’t cause the Doctor to regenerate, his battle against them at the Antarctic Snowcap Station and saving Ben and Polly from the villains was the final straw and resulted in his incarnation’s death.
13 Second Doctor
The Daleks & The War Lord
A newly regenerated Second Doctor also faced the Daleks again in the serial “The Power of the Daleks,” and all 6 installments later became a part of the collection of missing Doctor Who episodes. While a few images were recovered, “The Power of the Daleks” was remade in animated form, where the Second Doctor encountered the Daleks as servants on the planet Vulcan.
The Second Doctor bowed out in the reason the Time Lords exiled the Doctor on Earth for stealing the TARDIS.
12 Third Doctor
The Nestene Consciousness/Autons & The Great One
The first villain the Third Doctor faced was the Autons in the serial “Spearhead from Space,” although the Time Lord had encountered the shop window dummy villains in his previous incarnation. The plastic figures had guns fitted in their hands, and they attacked many civilians, which sparked fear in audiences and made them hesitant to go shopping.
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The Doctor and Sarah Jane visited a Tibetan monastery in “Planet of the Spiders,” where they encountered a race of mutated alien spiders called the Eight-Legs. However, the true villain was their leader, The Great One. The Eight-Legs’ giant goddess used Metebelis crystals to open her mind, but once she obtained the Doctor’s crystal, she burned up from radiation, which also caused the Doctor to regenerate.
11 Fourth Doctor
Hilda Winters & The Master
Doctor Who’s Fourth Doctor kicked off his long tenure in “Robot,” but while he adapted to his new form, Sarah Jane encountered the director of the National Institute for Advanced Scientific Research. Hilda Winters was an underrated human villain, and although the serial primarily focused on the K1 robot’s tyranny, she was the real threat of the story. Winters was vicious and her creation even destroyed her by accident because of her confusing orders.
The last villain the Fourth Doctor crossed paths with was the Master in “Logopolis.” Anthony Ainley’s version of the Master in Doctor Who was nothing short of fantastic, and in this serial, he caused all manner of chaos by trapping the Doctor’s TARDIS in a time loop and even manipulating Nyssa with mind control. However, the Doctor didn’t stop the Master this time.
10 Fifth Doctor
The Master & Morgus
The Fourth Doctor’s last villain was also the Fifth Doctor’s first villain. “Castrovalva” began with the slow-healing Doctor and his companions falling into a trap designed by the Master. The Master demonstrated his ability to hide in different forms brilliantly in this serial, especially when he pretended to help the Doctor as the suspicious elderly figure Portreeve.
The Fifth Doctor in Doctor Who wrapped up his run in the serial “The Caves of Androzani,” where he and Peri were caught up in a war between businessman Morgus and android creator Sharaz for spectrox, a substance that prolonged the life of the , but unfortunately also caused the Doctor’s regeneration. Morgus sold spectrox to the people of Androzani Minor at a huge markup and even killed the planet’s president, all in the name of the control.
9 Sixth Doctor
The Gastropods & The Valeyard
In the serial “The Twin Dilemma,” the Sixth Doctor stumbled across a race of humanoid slugs called the Gastropods. The aliens and their leader, Mestor, worked to spread the Gastropods’ eggs across the universe. Mestor attempted to take over the Time Lord’s body but ultimately failed, and he was killed by the power of the Doctor’s recent regeneration cycle. To nobody’s surprise, the Gastropods never returned to Doctor Who.
The Sixth Doctor’s final villain was Doctor Who’s biggest unsolved mystery, the Valeyard. In “The Trial of a Time Lord,” The Doctor returned to Gallifrey and was put on trial for destroying the Vervoid, and the Valeyard manipulated the Matrix to ensure he was found guilty. The Valeyard was revealed to be a version of the Doctor’s darker side, but several unanswered questions surrounding who he truly was were left behind.
8 Seventh Doctor
The Rani & The Master
The Seventh Doctor’s first adventure was extremely exciting. “Time and the Rani,” saw the return of another Doctor Who Time Lord called the Rani, who grew up on Gallifrey with the Doctor. The First Rani was an iconic character, but her morals were similar to the Master’s, which resulted in the Seventh Doctor having to stop her from collecting the minds of geniuses throughout history, like Albert Einstein.
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The last time the Seventh Doctor faced the Master was in “Survival,” which saw the Doctor suddenly transported to a sentient planet where humans had been converted into Cheetah people, and the Master needed help to escape. However, it was later revealed the Master led the Cheetah people to Earth, where they then kidnapped Ace’s friends, and it was a surprise the Doctor didn’t clock his villainy before this.
7 Eighth Doctor
The Master & The Time Lords
The Eighth Doctor fought the Master once again in the last of Doctor Who’s three movies. The Doctor spent the majority of the 1996 film trying to stop the Master from opening the TARDIS’ Eye of Harmony and destroying the universe, but he put a stop to this plan before New Year's Day arrived. The Master once again took over another’s body during this adventure, where he took on the form of an ambulance driver, Bruce.
Although the Eighth Doctor only faced the Master as a villain on-screen, canonically, the last antagonist he battled was technically the Time Lords. Perhaps the Daleks were the true enemy in Doctor Who’s first Time War, but the Gallifreyan species were just as destructive and manipulative behind the scenes. Without their interference, the Eighth Doctor wouldn’t have regenerated into the War Doctor.
6 Ninth Doctor
The Nestene Consciousness/Autons & The Daleks
When the Ninth Doctor was introduced in Doctor Who’s 2005 reboot, he met Rose Tyler while saving her from a group of Autons. “Rose” was also the first time that the Nestene Consciousness was properly seen, too. With the Nestene’s powerful mind, London fell into chaos, until Rose threw out an incredible gymnastics move that caused the Doctor’s vial of anti-plastic to fall and destroy it.
The Ninth Doctor’s demise was because of Rose taking in the Time Vortex, but she only did this to stop the Daleks on Satellite Five. The Daleks ruthlessly took over the huge space station and were harvesting dead humans to create new soldiers, but hid under the guise of creating a TV programming for the planet to consume. This was a groundbreaking moment, considering the Doctor believed the Daleks had been destroyed in the War.
5 Tenth Doctor
The Sycorax & The Master
The Tenth Doctor’s first full episode, “The Christmas Invasion,” saw the Time Lord battle the Sycorax leader in a dramatic sword fight. The aliens had the ability to control a third of humanity with a blood sample and were generally disgusted with Earth’s residents, but the newly regenerated Doctor still sent them packing.
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The Tenth Doctor’s last story, the two-parter “End of Time,” saw him save Earth from the Saxon Master yet again. The Master, who was shot by his wife at the end of season 3, was brought back to life by one of his followers. The unhinged antagonist was wilder than ever, and the Master converted most of humanity so they shared an appearance with him. Although the Time Lords were also villains in these episodes, the Master was the biggest danger.
