Forgotten Villains: Doctor Who’s The Borad

By Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues

I was recently made aware of just how many movies and television shows the younger generation have never heard of, never mind seen. So to that end, we look back at some characters you really need to see before you kick the bucket.

Whilst not the greatest story in the history of Doctor Who, season twenty two’s Timelash did offer a striking looking alien that is both evil yet sympathetic. With H.G. Wells along for the ride gaining more than a few ideas for his future books, the Doctor and Peri land on Karfel, visited by the 3rd Dotor in an unseen adventure. Back then he befriended and ultimately reported scientist Megellen for unethical experiments on a species of creature called the Morlox.

Despite this Megellen continued with his work in secret and in a tragic twist became fused with one of the creatures he was working on on a molecular level thanks to mustakozene-80. While he retained his intellect, Megellen now was subject to the base urges of the Morlox. Horrified by his appearance, Megellen became the Borad and his new form gave him greater strength and a longer lifespan than normal but was confined to a chair due to his deformed legs.

He became the dictator ruling from the shadows of the planet, using the Maylin as a mere figurehead to carry out his orders. Maylin Rennis was killed and replaced by Tekker played by Blake’s 7 antihero Avon, Paul Darrow.

When the Borad spoke to the people he used the image of an old man while building an android to be his hands and legs now crippled by his transformation. He was also able to create a weapon attached to his chair that could age a person to death in seconds. All mirrors were subsequently banned as he despised his appearance. He cemented his power by creating the Timelash, a weapon in which problem people were tossed to fall into time lost forever. Borad was plagued by loneliness and manipualted their neighbours, the Bandril, into provoking a war that would devastate Karfel. When that happened, the Borad could repopulate the planet with creatures like himself as Morlox were immune to the Bandril weapons.

However resistance is brewing and the Borad orders Rennis’ son thrown into the Timelash to stop ant retaliation following his faher’s death. But his lover, Vena, grabs the control amulet and falls into the Timelash instead. As the Timeleash is a one way trip the Doctor is forced to go after her in the Tradis when Peri is held hostage. Vena has arrived in Scotland where she has met Wells who stows away on the Tardis.

The Borad holds Peri hostage and intends to use her to repopulate the planet. In order to achieve this he chains her up near Morlox nests and ties a canister of mustakozene-80 round her neck to duplicate the original accident. When the Doctor confronts him, the Borad fires at him with his aging beam but the Doctor has a crystal from the Timelash round his neck that reflects the beam right back and ages the Borad to death in seconds.

But the Borad was not as frail as he seemed and revealed his foresight when he revealed the Doctor had killed a clone put in place to protect him from assassins. He grabs Peri intending to blind her to his ugliness but is shoved into the Timelash where he falls back to 12th century Scotland. Legend says he has been mistaken for the Loch Ness Monster.

Robert Ashby does a great job in a thankless part from his vocal intonation to his movements. Borad is a broken creature it seems more Morlox than human now in motivation. The physical appearance is sunning and there is a truly great villain screaming to be born from underneath the poor story and strange reasoning of the Borad’s ultimate plans. The Borad could so easily have been a classic villain up there with the likes of Davros and Sutekh but poor writing disappointed completely.