Shaman, or priest, of the Tribe of the Sevateem on a primitive unnamed planet. The Sevateem were the descendants of an Earth space mission which had crashed here generations ago. The name Sevateem was a corruption of "Survey Team". As tokens of his authority, Neeva wore the tattered remains of a spacesuit and wielded pieces of technology, their true purpose long forgotten.
Neeva held considerable power in the community, which was led by the chief Andor. They saw their purpose in life as the rescue of their deity, Xoanon, from a rival group known as the Tesh. They dwelt beyond a mountain on which was carved the face of the Evil One.
When Leela blasphemed against Xoanon, Neeva had her banished from the village - and then secretly sent men to kill her. He later lied to the tribe about the Doctor's death.
Shortly after arriving on the planet, the Doctor had discovered that the face on the mountain bore his own features. He had visited the spaceship crew not long after they had crashed here, and used part of his own personality to repair their computer - Xoanon.
It had actually developed its own personality, which came into conflict with this - driving it mad. It deliberately kept the Sevateem and Tesh (Technicians) separated as part of a eugenics experiment.
It also kept contact with Neeva through the discarded technology, manipulating the tribe through him.
This included a number of unsuccessful rescue attempts to breach the mountain.
When the tribe finally succeeded in getting to the spaceship which held Xoanon, Neeva's psychosis prevented him from being taken over by the computer. He used a Tesh weapon to fire upon the machine, killing himself in the process.
However, it distracted Xoanon long enough for the Doctor to reset it.
Played by: David Garfield. Appearances: The Face of Evil (1977).
- Garfield had previously portrayed the alien Von Weich in The War Games. He has also voiced the Master for Big Finish.
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