R is for... Ravagers

A pair of ancient beings who acted as agents for the entity Time - a sentient force which waged an eternal battle against Space. They were brother and sister - Swarm and Azure.

The Division - a secretive Gallifreyan organisation which once actively intervened in the affairs of other planets and species - created the Temple of Atropos, on a planet called Time, as a means to capture and imprison them. Creatures known as the Mouri dwelt in the temple, where they were able to control the flow of Time.

Swarm was held captive on a barren planetoid, whilst Azure was transformed into a human woman and placed on Earth with her memories of her true self suppressed.

Swarm was able to escape and regenerate into a younger version of himself, and he freed his sister. Together, they were responsible for an anti-matter force known as the Flux, which they exploited to destroy the universe in revenge against the Division, as well as acting to free Time by sabotaging the Temple.

The leader of the Division, Tecteun, decided to travel to a neighbouring universe and allow the Flux to do its work. She was based on a vessel which was travelling through the void between the universes, and captured the Doctor in the hope that she would join her - claiming that this other universe might even be where she had originally come from. 

Swarm and Azure arrived and killed Tecteun. They could harvest the lifeforce of physical beings for their regeneration, and could disintegrate people and objects with their touch.

Other powers included telepathy and the ability to teleport across both time and space.

Swarm revealed that he knew the Doctor's true history, which was contained within a fob watch. The Doctor later obtained this - but chose not to open it.

Time was eventually released, but because the Doctor had stopped the Flux, the entity destroyed Swarm and Azure. They accepted their fate as they deemed this an ascension from the spatial plane to become purely creatures of time.

Played by: Sam Spruell (Swarm), Rochenda Sandall (Azure), Matthew Needham (Old Swarm).

Appearances: Flux / Series 13 (2021) - The Halloween Apocalypse, War of the Sontarans, Once Upon Time, Survivors of the Flux, The Vanquishers.

• It was originally intended that the Ravagers (also known as the Ravages) would be adolescents, who slowly grew older until they resembled the Old Swarm. They could only communicate telepathically due to their underdeveloped features, becoming more crystalline as they matured. Masks were even made for them, and some scenes filmed on the Temple set - but these were then cut.
• The Older Swarm is played by an actor seven years younger than the one who plays the regenerated version.
• Sam Spruell's biggest screen appearance to date was as the brother of the witch-queen in Snow White & The Huntsman (2012), but more recently he has featured in GoT spin-off A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. He is currently working on the second season of Alien: Earth.
• Rochenda Sandall has appeared in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, and the hugely popular crime drama Line of Duty. She was also a regular on the ecological sci-fi series The Rig.
• Matthew Needham plays Lord Larys in House of the Dragon. His first movie role was a minor one in folk horror The Ritual in 2017, and he has also featured in an episode of Sherlock.