M is for... Malpha

Malpha was a member of the Grand Council of Outer Galaxies, an alliance brought together by the Daleks. They held a series of meetings on the remote jungle world of Kembel to plan an invasion of the rest of the cosmos. The Daleks had devised a super-weapon called the Time Destructor, to which each member of the Council contributed in some way. 

Malpha was a tall bipedal humanoid with mottled white skin. Tubes of a dark fluid snaked around his body.

He was the last of the Grand Council to arrive on Kembel for the 3999 AD meeting which was spied upon by Earth Special Security agent Marc Cory. Malpha delivered a speech proclaiming the doom of the Solar System, as Earth was to be their first target.

He was present a year later when the Time Destructor was completed. The Daleks quickly turned on their allies, killing some and imprisoning others. Malpha was one of those locked up, but he was freed by the First Doctor and his companions Steven and Sara Kingdom. He was encouraged to flee back to his own people and warn them to unite against the Daleks.

Played by: Robert Cartland, Bryan Mosley. Appearances: Mission to the Unknown (1965), The Daleks' Master Plan (1965/6).

• Malpha was for many years the only positively identified member of the Galactic Council, in that we didn't know which delegate was which.
• BBC paperwork states that the delegate names derive from the planet they come from. This explains why they look different between the two stories they appear in - they are simply other aliens from the same worlds, not necessarily of the same species.
• Whilst he is the last to arrive at the Council meeting, it is earlier stated that the last spaceship to arrive hails from the planet Gearon. It may simply be that Malpha hitched a lift with another delegate - but that doesn't explain how Gearon was already present before his ship landed. Did the ship drop off Gearon, then go back and get Malpha?
• A photograph of Malpha appeared in Issue 001 of World of Horror magazine in 1974, giving his name and stating that was a member of U.G.H. - United Galactic Headquarters. U.G.H. does actually feature in some BBC paperwork, but was never used on screen.
• Bryan Mosley played a second role in Master Plan - that of Buddy Windrush in the Christmas episode. He was best known for his long-running role in Coronation Street as Alf Roberts.
• Robert Cartland voiced the Rill in Galaxy Four.