M is for... Marshal of Atrios

 

The commander of the military forces of the planet Atrios, which had been at war with its neighbour in space, Zeos, for many years.

Obsessive and single-minded, he had at some point fallen under the mental control of a being known as the Shadow - servant of the Black Guardian. This was achieved through a small device attached to his neck, hidden under the collar of his ostentatious uniform. He would communicate with his master via an object shaped like a crystal skull, hidden in a secret chamber behind his war room.

He initially attempted to have the Doctor killed, and K-9 destroyed - until he learned that the mobile computer might be able to help him win the war. He was influenced by the Shadow not to harm the Doctor immediately. The Doctor's suggestion of ending the war through peace fell on deaf ears.

When his battle fleet had been reduced to only a couple of vessels, the Marshal decided to launch one final attack on Zeos in person - not realising that this was part of the Shadow's plans to wipe out the whole galaxy. 

Zeos was a dead world, its war machine run by the computer Mentalis which had been developed by a rogue Time Lord named Drax. The Marshal's attack would have triggered its self-destruction. The Doctor was able to use the Key to Time to temporarily place the Marshal's ship in a time loop.

Once Mentalis had been disabled, the Doctor used the Key deflect his missiles to blow up the Shadow's hidden lair. Drax then set about arranging a salvage deal with the Marshal, now that the war was over - though he didn't know it yet.

Played by: John Woodvine. Appearances: The Armageddon Factor (1978).

• Woodvine is probably best known for his role as Dr Hirsch in 1981's An American Werewolf in London.
• He was the player king opposite David Tennant and Patrick Stewart in the 2009 RSC production of Hamlet.
• He has some 70 theatre credits to his name, and just as many television roles. His first TV was in 1958, and his work has ranged from detective drama such as Midsomer Murders and Vera (set around his native Tyneside), to soaps Emmerdale and Coronation Street.