Sutekh comeback ‘proves Doctor Who hasn’t severed its roots’, says Russell T Davies

The villain’s return was also influenced by a certain Marvel series.

By James Hibbs

Published: Monday, 22 July 2024 at 11:07 AM

With the most recent season of Doctor Who being billed as a fresh start to introduce new viewers to the world of the show, some fans were surprised that the two-part season finale revealed the big bad to be Sutekh, a classic villain from 1975 serial Pyramids of Mars.

Now, Davies has explained his decision to bring Sutekh back, saying that it was a deliberate choice to prove to fans that the Disney Plus deal didn’t mean the show was severing its roots, while also explaining the inspiration of MCU show WandaVision.

He told the latest issue of Doctor Who Magazine: “I remember Nicola Shindler, a producer I work with, getting so excited about Agatha Harkness arriving in WandaVision. She thought it was the most brilliant reveal.

“I asked her, ‘Do you know who Agatha Harkness is?’ She went, ‘No, I’ve no idea!’ And I’m fascinated by that – that you can introduce a character from the lore, who a modern viewer doesn’t know, and yet they get the thrill of it.”

Davies continued: “Also, being on Disney Plus now, this is a very deliberate choice to bring back an old BBC enemy – we’ve even cast the same actor [Gabriel Woolf] – to prove that the show hasn’t severed its roots. To delve into your backstory is a very fine thing. That’s thrilling for new viewers, and for old viewers it’s a great reward.

“Also, you’re guaranteed that the internet will do your work for you. In the old days, you could feasibly have said, ‘Will people know who Sutekh is?’ Now, it’s on our official site. It’s on our Instagram posts. Type in the word ‘Sutekh’ and there’s an entire Wikipedia article, full of the history.”