G is for... Garron

Garron was an intergalactic con-man, who specialised in selling planets. He possessed a large lump of the mineral jethrik, which was highly prized. He and his accomplice Unstoffe would plant the jethrik, so that the potential buyer would believe the planet to be more valuable than it really was. They would pocket the deposit and make their escape before their ruse was discovered. Garron originally came from Earth, often reminiscing about Hackney Wick in London. At one point he had tried to sell Sydney Harbour to someone. The Doctor encountered Garron when he arrived on the planet Ribos in search of the first segment of the Key to Time. Garron was attempting to sell the planet to the Graff Vynda-K - a ruthless military man who had been deposed from his throne whilst off on one of his endless campaigns. The Doctor's interference helped expose Garron's deceit, and he had to flee into the catacombs beneath the city. Unstoffe had the jethrik, and this proved to be the disguised Key segment. After the Graff and his men had been killed, Garron tried to steal the jethrik off of the Doctor but he was able to substitute it for a piece of ordinary stone. Garron could at least console himself with the Graff's plunder-laden spaceship.

Played by: Iain Cuthbertson. Appearances: The Ribos Operation (1978).

• Glaswegian actor Cuthbertson came to fame through the TV series Budgie, starring Adam Faith, in which he played the comic-villain Charlie Endell. This led to a spin off series called Charles Endell Esq. Genre fans will also remember him as the villain in the cult series Children of the Stones. He was a baddie yet again in the late 1980's series Super Gran - playing the Scunner Campbell.