“How do you kill a shadow” *opens curtains”

"midnight" was such a fantastic episode. the people trapped in that shuttle were arguably more evil than the actual episodes villian.

The one villain the Doctor can’t defeat: Chibnall’s Writing

Well, there's one enemy that we all know can't be beaten by the Doctor: Chris Chibnall

River Song. She was 'designed' to kill him, and she almost did. The only reason he survived was because she saved him with her regeneration energy

I think the Reapers from _Father's Day_ deserve to be on this list. The Doctor had no way to beat them legitimately, and they actually ended up killing him - not forcing him to regenerate, actually killing him. The only way that the day was 'saved' in the end was by Pete sacrificing himself in order to end the paradox, which reset the timeline and restored all those killed by the Reapers.

I would argue that the Vasta Nerada aren't actually villains, they are a swarm of microscopic predators who got stuck in the library when their forest got turned into books. The same with the "stingrays", they are simply animals, highly armored, airborne, and voraciously predatory animals, but still animals. Neither are really evil, they simply are, and the doctor was able to reason with the Vasta Nerada, allowing him and the remaining companions to leave the library unharmed.

3:23 Technically the lone angel only got Rory by surprise. Amy decided that her life wasn't worth living without Rory so she decided to let the angel take her and hope she and Rory were together

The Daleks always come back.

I think the midnight entity was the villain that the doctor truly feared. He always has his voice and mind which is his greatest weapon. But it took them away while first having caused massive tension between everyone. All by just repeating. When Donna repeated after the doctor at the end you could see the horror and fear in the doctors eyes. He didn’t know what it was and it probably isn’t dead seeing as it was surviving out there before hand

Still can't get over the statues look when it took out Amy and Rory. Just, nothing. Not a snarl, not a look of anger. Nothing. Like a man who has lost everything. The one thing I love about this show, is even the most evil creatures are humanized in some sense. This Angel just lost it's entire race. It had just lost everything.

I love how Dalek Kahn could see the future and wanted the Doctor to end Dalek kind, but failed to mention they would show up again in just a few months.

A villain the doctor didn't defeat? "Harriet Jones, Former Prime Minister." "Yes, we know who you are." Not a villain but I still found that running gag hilarious.

I would love to see the Vashta Neverda again but I don't think any storyline with them would be as good as Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead

The reapers were quite a terrifying enemy. The doctor was even eaten by one of them. The doctor himself said that nothing in the universe could stop them and only appear during a time paradox, rose saving her dad. If I remember right the only thing that could stop them was rose dad killing himself reversing the paradox. The doctor didn’t beat them though.

The Cybermen. They fall into a similar category to the Daleks, where yes, the Doctor can defeat individual encounters, but the fact that they are an inevitability where ever humans reside means that they can never be truly defeated.

The ultimate villain that the Doctor is yet to defeat is the being known as Chibnall

Weird how all of these sharpie marks show up on my arms when someone mentions The Silence...

Midnight Episode in a nutshell: The Doctor Was NOT an Impostor

I know he ended up tricking them but I always liked how the weeping angles initially defeated the doctor in blink, sending him and Martha back in time to kickstart Sally’s journey.

“We have been delayed. Not defeated. The Daleks are never defeated” - The Supreme Dalek (Planet of the Daleks - Episode 6)

“THE QUESTION, THE FIRST QUESTION, THE QUESTION YOUVE BEEN RUNNING FROM ALL YOUR LIFE, DOCTOR- “Who wrote Beethoven’s Fifth

The Master, like the Daleks, just *survives.* Trust me. They have their ways of just coming back somehow. Lol.

What about the Raven from Face The Raven in Series 9? I remember the doctor saying “you could run to the end of the universe and it would still catch you” and there was also nothing he could do to stop it inevitably killing Clara. I found that episode creepy.

"Winning? Is that what you think it’s about? I’m not trying to win. I’m not doing this because I want to beat someone, or because I hate someone, or because I want to blame someone. It’s not because it’s fun. God knows it’s not because it’s easy. It’s not even because it works because it hardly ever does.. I DO WHAT I DO BECAUSE IT’S RIGHT! Because it’s decent! And above all, it’s kind! It’s just that.. Just kind. If I run away today, good people will die. If I stand and fight, some of them might live. Maybe not many, maybe not for long. Hey, you know, maybe there’s no point to any of this at all. But it’s the best I can do. So I’m going to do it. And I will stand here doing it until it kills me. And you’re going to die too! Some day.. And how will that be? Have you thought about it? What would you die for? Who I am is where I stand.. Where I stand is where I fall. Stand with me. These people are terrified. Maybe we can help a little. Why not, just at the end, just be kind?” - The Doctor

4. Wasn’t it said that the swarm would “start again” (meaning get faster and faster until they generate a new portal?) but the doctor said he would shift it to uninhabited worlds? Technically not defeating them but helping them

Honourable mention to the water zombies, who you could say he defeated but not really because almost everyone died and adelaide blew up the base, killing herself.

Bruh remember that ep when the doctor was trapped in a castle for 100s of years being chased by a shadow creature slowly and he had to dig through a diamond wall meters thick for hundreds of years dying over and over from the creature but then being brought back to life.

Oh, so when you say "Defeat," you actually mean "Didn't completely obliterate." By that logic, there are no winners in football until they've executed the other teams...

I think only one episode of Doctor who has actually scared me which I believe is called midnight because the acting was amazing and the people panicking seemed genuinely real to me and I think the woman who played sky was amazing the way she looked at them with her creepy ass eyes and even the way it scared the doctor at the end it was really good

David Troughton, Patrick's son, was the elderly scholar in Midnight. He also played soldier many years ago in the Second Doctor finale, War Games. Just throwing in a bit of trivia. I think he was also in the Peter Davison comedy "The Five Doctors Reboot."

The Cybermen in the Season 10 finale. Despite having stopped their forces on one floor, Nardol said that the Cybermen were still at the bottom of the ship and were just waiting for a new approach. His regeneration was triggered and the fates of the humans on board the ship are sealed of either running for the rest of their lives or the Cybermen catching up with them.

TOP 10 MISSING DOCTOR WHO STORIES PLEASE The 97 Missing Episodes need more attention and I won’t stop commenting until it happens

Man, I really wish the weeping angels were in more episodes. They are such a great villain. They are horrifying, the music is always great, they have a great defense that is impossible to beat (cuz if they get damaged they can repair themselves), and the actors who play the angels are always amazing

Midnight is easily one of my few favorite episodes. Actually had me on the edge of my seat. Such a suspenseful episode.

The "Vashta nerada" episode, I loved it. One of my favorites.

You forgot to mention that The Valeyard is also a future version of The Doctor, so even if he had died, we would still theoretically see him again.

The Black Guardian needs to come back. And get Charles Dance to play him.

“How do you defeat a shadow?” Me: turn the lights on 😂

I think the biggest monster the Doctor could never defeat... is itself. It has been made apparent through several storylines during NuWho, as well as a few select storylines from Classic Who, that the Doctor himself is a Monster. Storylines like the Pandorica, the Waters of Mars, The Family of Blood, the Timeles Child, and the various court cases of the Second, Sixth (and possibly fourth but I can't remember) highlight that the Doctor itself is ruthless. While The Doctor (most of the time) has good intentions, very bad things have resulted from it. The Doctor has been responsible for several other monsters as well - notably the Toclofane and the Master in Utopia/Sound of Drums/Last of the Time Lords (in helping the rocket to fly and his part in reawakening the Master); the Gelth (in allowing them through the rift); and the Daleks (by not leaving Davros when he was a child, even with full knowledge not only of the Daleks, but of his own actions with the usage of the moment - which he still partly believed happened at the time - and yes, leaving Davros to die would also have made him a bit of a Monster). The most notable monstrous event of the Doctor's however, is the Timeless Child. The Doctor/Timeless Child is responsible for the Time Lords of Gallifrey, who really, up until their defeat, were essentially dictators. They 'ruled' the universe by watching over the timelines, vowed not to intefere yet broke this promise to keep their version of the ideal amount of peace. The Time Lords - and all Gallifreyans - have been responsible for a number of calamitous events, including driving the Master insane by sending a signal through the Time Vortex through the Untempered Schism when the Master was 8, and with their oligarchal-at-best high court, which doesn't seem to ever have any of a say, and it is solely up to the Lord President to decide due to his magic gauntlet. Now, yes, the Doctor didn't intentionally create Time Lords (as far as we know but there's still time for Chibnall to make this worse), but the Doctor was directly responsible for them.

Something I've never understood with the Weeping Angles, is why no-one ever even tries to destroy them a sledgehammer. Like you can kill basically everything if you take a sledgehammer and just smash it to bits. Unless they can somehow piece themselves back together, they're gone, especially because when you're looking at them they're stone.

The biggest Doctor Who villain of the newest series is: Bad Writing

TARDIS when the Doctor is in danger: Aight ima head out

The sand creatures in “Sleep No More” the Doctor was unable to defeat them. All he could do was escape with Clara and the other survivors.

The midnight episode was so depressing in the end. The poor hostess :(

“The Valeyard is an amalgamation of the darkest side of you Doctor somewhere between your 12th and final incarnation”- The Master

You forgot Chris Chibnall, heck he should even be number one on the list.

I love things like this as I always think that the doctor doesn't kill some of his enemies because he is being kind. Like how he gave the family of blood a chance but eventually they pushed him to far and he had no choice but to "get rid" of them

Actually the Black and White Guardians aren't representations of Darkness and Light. Its Chaos and Order

Theres one more villain: The Master Edit: Also!!! In the Episode The Almost People, he died saving everyone from The Flesh and his copy "became" him and was seen to be the original thing

The master keeps on coming back. The third doctor defeated him every time for his first season, but he kept on escaping and coming back. Again and again.

Honorable mentions: The Reapers The Flood, The Beast, The Cybermen as they always survive, the 456, Sutekh, Rassilon in many ways despite him being defeated in convenient circumstances a couple times

This is my favorite 2-parter and top 3 stories of doctor who. That said, it has always hit a weird spot for me. I don't think The Doctor should have tried to destroy the Vashta Nerada. They are a necessary part of the life cycle on any planet. And as he said, they normally live off of roadkill- already dead meat. Being trapped in the library against their will, they came in the books, of course they were going to eat whatever meat they could get- River's team on the planet. If The Doctor had time to think, he wonder if he could have had the Vashta Nerada stay in a body suit, and transfer them back to a forest on an inhabited planet where they would go back to their natural lifestyle. Obviously that wouldn't have translated the same way and would completely change the impact of the story. Still, I never saw the Vashta Nerada as villainous. More a creature of circumstance like many of the others on Doctor Who

Can't remember the doctor defeating the cybermen for good.

"The daleks are never defeated!" -Dalek Supreme, Planet of the Daleks

The one villain he can never beat is the Master, although thought to be dead after her defeat at her own hands, she reappears 2 seasons later and causes more problems for the Doctor, due to the dynamics of their relationship, they may still be friends but she is still none the less a villain and the Doctor would never directly kill his oldest friend

He did kill the stingrays, after the episode he bounced their portals to barren planets until they starved iirc.

The Mandragora Helix from "The Masque of Mandragora" comes to mind. The Fourth Doctor manages to send it back to its own constellation but mentions it will be in position again for another attack on Earth in 500 years' time.

The Vashta Nerada weren't defeated but was scared of the Doctor after he told them to look up his history. They backed off quickly.

id argue that the vasta nerada were just as scared of the doctor as he was of them. the moment he said look me up they backed off. oh shit this guy could possibly kill us. ok truce.

The way you described Cold Wars ending sounded profound but then you called it a crap episode. Quite polarising in tone there

I love the cold war episode, it's one of my favourites

An opponent that the doctor never got rid of, even if you thought, but now he's gone: *The Master* He (or she) keeps coming back.

I didn't watch doctor who in ages but remember watching that shadow episode when I was a kid (10yo or something like that) at the time it was the scariest episode I've watched

River song technically start/ended as a villian depending on the timeline.

Just a statement; 10. I wasn't really sure about Skaldak's status as a bad guy in Cold War and I kinda felt some sympathy over how he had a daughter and is never going to see her again (since the time they were together was about five thousand years ago and she is supposedly dead now). 9. I've been online somewhat and I've heard that the "Midnight Monster" was thought to have been either the Mara (a sort of giant snake that fed off the fear of others and faced of against the Fifth Doctor a couple of times, in case you didn't know), the Beast (a.k.a. the Devil from The Impossible Planet/The Saturn Pit) or the ghost of the Master, since they dabbled quite a bit in mind control (which the Midnight Monster was kinda doing with Sky Silvestry) and they were all old enemies of the Doctor (which may explain why they latched onto the Doctor and tried to drain him). 7. The Valeyard has faced off against the Doctor in off-screen stories, doing so against the Doctor's sixth incarnation and also his seventh and eighth selves (the last off-screen story the Valeyard has appeared in was set during the Time War, during which he ended up believing he was actually the Doctor and was last seen fighting against several Daleks). 6. When the Doctor had that Pting sucked out, I somewhat believed that that had killed it. 5. It is rather creepy we don't know what that thing in Listen was. 4. The Doctor had actually sent those Stingray creatures to some uninhabited planet. 3. I think if you recall, the Sontarans' weak spot is the probic vent on the back of their necks. 2. The Black Guardian has appeared in a couple of off-screen stories set after Enlightenment; one also involving the Fifth Doctor (and again being in a deadlock with the White Guardian) and the other in which he did not interact with the Doctor (who was in his seventh incarnation by then). Also, when you said that he couldn't defeat them, I took it in the respect that they won in their plans. He has stopped the Daleks, Cybermen, Silence and the Master in their plans, but they have always survived.

And actually you can kill a shadow… but that involves illuminating LITERALLY EVERYTHING leaving no shadows left

you had to remind me about the Ponds didn't you...

I feel like another villain that could be on here is the Kasaavin as they are never truly defeated by the Doctor, the just leave

I cried for like an hour at the end of Ángels of Manhattan

You forgot the master, that crow that "kills" Clara, I think the zygons would a technicality, and the cybermen

5) The Doctor didn't panic when it saw the creature that always hides come a little bit out of hiding. He knew Danny and Clara had forced it into a position where it could no longer completely hide, and that they were fixing to force a confrontation with it that was entirely avoidable. The creature wasn't interested in fighting anyone, and the Doctor knew that. It simply wanted to go back to a place where it could hide completely. So what did the Doctor do? He talked up the problem to Danny in a way a child would understand it-- perhaps knowing a creature which does everything it can to hide from all the world around it would have only a childlike understanding of things itself-- and in a way that would convince Danny to do the one thing that would terrify him the most. Because he might be tempted to lash out, and he might be tempted to try and run away. He might find himself paralyzed with fear, but what's the one thing you never want to do when faced with a threat? You don't want to turn around and simply stand there and wait for it to do whatever it's going to do... And this plays on a fear that, unless I miss my guess, I'm not the only person in the world who's ever endured. Haven't you had that time... you know the time. The time when you were sure you were alone in a room that was completely quiet, when you were facing away from the door, and suddenly you could feel it. You could feel that someone else was in the room with you. You could hear it-- the quiet, steady sound of their breathing-- and you were so, so scared. You were more scared than anything to turn around because somehow the idea that it might not be a monster, that it might just be your mom or dad standing there, staring impassively at you, not doing anything but stare at you and breathe... I mean, it was crazy, right? You knew your mind had to be playing tricks, but that didn't stop the hair on the back of your neck from standing up, the chilly tingle of goosebumps over your arms... that crawling feeling in your nethers. It didn't stop the fear, and the panic. Doesn't something deep down in your mind, even now that you're an adult, a part you don't show the world and laugh off and say doesn't really exist... doesn't it still fear finding itself in that position? Doesn't it tell you to do whatever it takes not to be in it? So what does it take to get you to willingly submit to it when you can catch just enough of a glimpse to see there's something real there, but not enough to show you the kind of monster it is? No, the Doctor did not panic in that scene. Not every confrontation is won by fighting. The Doctor didn't lose to the creature in that episode. The enemy in the episode wasn't the creature; it was fear, and it was fear every bit as much for the creature as it was for everything else. The Doctor was able to get Danny and Clara through that situation with no fight, with minimal fright, simply by reassuring the creature who didn't want to be seen that they would never look as long as that's what it wanted. They promised it that it could hide... What did the creature do? It gave Danny his blanket back-- it no longer needed it-- and went back to hiding. And in the end, the Doctor was even able to directly face his fears while helping the creature face its fears, because they both endured to the end of the Universe, and once the Doctor made sure they were alone, that no one but the two of them were there, the creature chose to come out of hiding at last, and the Doctor chose to finally see it for what it was, keeping the details of their interaction private. It was a great episode, with a villain a lot of people didn't really seem to notice, but one which the Doctor was able to help everyone-- not just the people he usually helps, but the creature he knew was suffering, too-- defeat along with him.

Amy's Choice. He can never defeat himself

5:20 I read a theory where this creature does exist, its the Silence.

The Vasta Nerada gave me a highly acute fear of the dark and shadows for years. Still haven’t entirely gotten over it.

The shadows weren’t villains though They just wanted their home back and done what any creature would

Honestly my favourite villain is the one in listen, we don’t even know if it exists and when I saw it at night I just loved that thought

The sleep-sand people in Sleep No More beat The Doctor, to the point where he still didn't know what was happening. That episode could use a follow up!

glad to know out of all of your channels, you have one dedicated to dr who

You can’t kill a shadow Flashlights: allow me to introduce myself

The Time Lords. Never defeated. Always return. The Doctors greatest rival.

Literally I was just watching on eof your vids and this came out lol

The Doctor can always be defeated by the scriptwriter, employing villain armor.

The creatures from the episode Hide, technically he never defeated them just appeased them.

The hardest villain to beat: Chris Chibnall

Don't know if it's already been said but the Reapers. Never properly defeated them just fixed the paradox.

Love your commentary. Top notch.

I really like how he doesn’t always win. Or when he does it isn’t just him.

See I don't think that the Doctor *couldn't* defeat the vashta nerada, I think he simply chose not to. Instead of destroying them he decided to make peace with them. After all, they aren't evil per se, they're just doing what they do. It's not their fault they were trapped in the Library. It's not their fault the only food source is us. I think he could have found a way to destroy them, but felt it would be wrong to do so.

Imagine if the doctor met other villains from crossovers, that might for the doctor's insurance health.

Even if you chucked the Library into a star by changing its orbit, the Vashta Nerada exist everywhere; though I believe it was mentioned that they usually occur in much smaller numbers

Cybermen. Technically in Death in Heaven, the doctor didn't defeat the Cybermen. It was Danny Pink with the controller who defeated both Missy and the Cybermen.

To kill a shadow: T H E S U N I S A D E A D L Y L A S E R

"Who are you?" "What? It's me!" "Who are you? Identificate yourself!" "Guys it's me! The man who always is there to defeat you! The reason of your lust for blood! The last of them!" "Identificate!" "Okay. Examine me." "You are... a Time Lord..." "Yes guys! It's me!" "Who are you?" "I'm the Doctor." "Doctor who? Doctor who? Doctor who? Doctor who?"

Uh, the Cybermen. Like the Darleks they ALWAYS come back, and it kinda makes sense. humanity itself will eventually end up with implants and augments, so going full on Cyberman isnt exactly stretching things too far XD

Thank you for adding Classic Who!!!!

So the time lords are the SCP Foundation of the universe neat

I would've said the Reapers, in 'Father's Day' weren't beaten. They drove the 9th Doctor and Rose until they were trapped inside a church together, and it's only through Rose's dad fixing what had been broken that they manage to actually survive. They were untouchable, unbeatable and the Doctor didn't have a chance against them. Also, 11th Doctor is amazing, Matt Smith is just phenomenal, but I love 9th Doctor the best. He was the one who got me into Who in the first place.

He never stopped the raven from "Face the Raven" either.

I just realized isn’t the Doctor literally just a one man SCP facility