What makes a great sinister assistant in Doctor Who, and how do they get their dirty work done? Scott Gray investigates…

Alex Price as Francesco in The Vampires of Venice (2010).

Imagine you’re a Doctor Who villain. Maybe you’re greedy, or angry, or vain, or insecure. Quite possibly you’re all of the above. The one thing you certainly are is busy – and that means you’ll want somebody clever and reliable to do a big chunk of your legwork; someone to carry out all those robberies, extortions and executions your nefarious lifestyle demands. Go on, admit it, you need help! You need a henchman. Or a henchwoman. Or a henchthing.

The list of evil assistants in Doctor Who is almost endless, and often unfairly overlooked. The spotlight inevitably shines brightest on the Big Bad, ignoring the loyal figures standing behind their thrones, holding spreadsheets, mobile phones and electro-gloves. Being an evil aide-decamp is a challenging position that requires many diverse skills. They need to be diplomatic when delivering bad news to their employer (there’ll be plenty of that when the Doctor arrives), but also lethally blunt if any dissension grows among the rank and file. A good henchperson must be a mixture of sergeant-major, public relations expert, therapist and office manager. No two are alike, of course, but they can be corralled into a few broad categories. Here are some of the finest examples…

Henry Van Statten (Corey Johnson) and Diana Goddard (Anna-Louise Plowman) in Dalek (2005);

Belasz (Patricia Quinn) and Kane (Edward Peel) in Dragonfire (1987)

THE ULTRA-EFFICIENT SECRETARY always has the facts and figures at hand, knows all the staff by name and looks great in their tailor-made suit. But beware: their hyper-competence often masks an ambitious nature. Consider the super-slick DIANA GODDARD ► in Dalek (2005), who finds Democrats “so funny”. Diana gets a chance to show her skills while man-baby billionaire Henry van Statten plays with his alien toy collection; by the end, she’s in charge and he’s destined to be a homeless, brainless junkie living on the streets of someplace beginning with ‘S’. You can’t help but wonder if the world is heading into even worse straits with Diana in the driver’s seat.

BELASZ ► in Dragonfire (1987) has much simpler ambitions. Despite her apparent obedience to her boss Kane, she just wants to escape his icy clutches and isn’t above a bit of thermostat-related attempted homicide to get it. Kane is well aware of her suppressed hatred and enjoys her discomfort. It’s a toxic relationship that ends with a cold death for her and a hot one for him.