P is for... Padmasambhava

The Doctor first met the spiritual head of Det-Sen Monastery in 1630, when it came under attack by Chinese bandits. On that occasion he was given a sacred relic for safekeeping - a small bell known as a Ghanta. When the TARDIS materialised near Det-Sen in 1935, the Doctor took the opportunity of returning it to the monks - and was shocked to find that Padmasambhava was still alive.

His body had become host to a malevolent alien entity known as the Great Intelligence, which sought corporeal existence whilst consuming all energy on Earth.

Padmasambhava was instructed to build a number of robots disguised as Yeti, which would be employed to scare people away from the area, including his monks, so that a bridgehead could be established unopposed. As well as great longevity, he was also gifted enhanced mental powers which included psychokinesis and hypnotism. He controlled the mind of Abbot Songsten - using him as a proxy for his own commands - and later that of the Doctor's companion Victoria, in order that she might try to dissuade him from intervening in the Intelligence's plans.

At times the venerable master's own mind could reassert itself, and he still saw the Doctor as an old friend whom he did not wish to harm.

The Doctor and his friends were finally able to destroy the Intelligence's control equipment which Padmasambhava had set up within his inner sanctum - breaking the mental and physical link with the entity. The only thing prolonging his life now shattered, the old man died in the Doctor's arms.

Played by: Wolfe Morris. Appearances: The Abominable Snowmen (1967)

• The Abominable Snowmen owes much of its inspiration, both narratively and visually, to the 1955 Nigel Kneale TV play The Creature, which was filmed by Hammer as The Abominable Snowman in 1957. Wolfe Morris played the lead sherpa character in both versions.
• The real Padmasambhava was a Buddhist guru, who was championed by a Tibetan monarch named Trisong Detsen - one of the three Dharma Kings. The other two were named Songtsen and Ralpachen, so you can see where Henry Lincoln and Mervyn Haisman were getting their character and place names from.
• Barry Letts, who was himself a Buddhist, objected to real figures from its history being used in works of fiction. He claimed that he would not have allowed it had he produced the story. He was at least able to get Terrance Dicks to make changes for the novelisation of the story - though this entailed only minimal differences in spelling, Padmasambhava became Padmasambvha for instance.
• It was originally intended to show Padmasambhava's face dissolving once the Great Intelligence had been expelled, but the effect was deemed too horrific.