Is This Classic 1980s ‘Doctor Who’ Villain Returning?
Doctor Who villains almost always come back. Daleks and Cybermen appear again and again. Now a certain serpentine baddie may return, too.
If you’re not deep in the Doctor Who weeds, you might not know about the ongoing library of Blu-ray releases. Basically, they announce a season of the classic series is getting a Blu-ray release. And the announcement comes in the form of a mini-episode.
Recent minisodes feature past companions like Jo Grant and Ace. Most recently former 5th Doctor companion Tegan Jovanka got her own story to go along with the announcement that Doctor Who series 20 is coming to Blu-ray.
Something Jo, Ace, and Tegan all have in common is their recent appearance in the final Jodie Whittaker episode “The Power of the Doctor”. In that episode, there’s an implication that a number of past companions may return in the future. Specifically, Kate Stewart may need former companions in UNIT.
So there’s a precedent that Tegan may appear in the current era of Doctor Who again. And as it happens, this promotional minisode for the upcoming Blu-ray collection features a very interesting villain return. So let’s talk about the possibility of the Mara returning and why that is a good idea.
Courtesy of BBC Worldwide
Who is the Mara?
There are two episodes from the Peter Davison era of Doctor Who featuring the Mara. In the serial “Kinda” Tegan falls asleep alone in “the place of dreaming”. Her subconscious find falls prey to the Mara, a malevolent being trapped in the realm of dreams. The Mara uses Tegan to piggyback its way into the waking world.
The Kinda themselves are a group of people who live in a paradise. Most of them only communicate through telepathy. And the gist of the episode is that humans show up to colonize creating conflict. The Mara leaves Tegan and takes over one of the Kinda to effectively turn the conflict into war. But it’s Doctor Who so everything gets resolved in the end. It seems like the Mara is dead.
But, in season 20 of Doctor Who we find out that the Mara still exists in Tegan’s mind. And the Mara manipulates Tegan into bringing it back to its homeworld Manussa in the serial “Snakedance”.
“Snakedance” is effectively an origin story for the Mara. We discover that the Manussans create crystals to harness their own mental energy. However, all their negative emotions combine to create the Mara.
Basically, the Doctor tries to find out why the Mara is so evil and warmongering and it turns out it’s because the Mara was created by man. Quelle surprise.
“The Passenger”
The Mara appears in a number of places after “Snakedance”. It appears in Big Finish Audios and books. The Mara notably appears in a short story explaining all the battles the Eleventh Doctor fights while defending Trenzalore. But the Mara never appears in the main continuity again.
However, for the 20th series Blu-ray minisode “The Passenger” Tegan does see the Mara again. At first, it seems the story is about Tegan meeting up with her friend Nyssa and the Doctor for more adventures. Instead, it turns out the whole affair is a trap by the Mara.
In the end, though, the Mara only exists inside Tegan’s mind. She is able to fight the Mara off and keep it back in its box. The relevant information here is that the Mara does still exist in Tegan’s mind all these years later. And with Tegan’s recent appearance in “The Power of the Doctor,” there’s no reason both she and the Mara can’t turn up during Ncuti Gatwa’s era of Who.
In fact, now may be the perfect time for the Mara to return.
Courtesy of BBC Worldwide
Bringing Back the Mara
So there are a few obvious reasons to bring back the Mara right now. I’m not sure how much we need to labor the point here but humanity seems to be in a constant state of war. You could easily have the Mara return because of A.I. if you want to. It’s pretty plug-and-play.
But more than that it’s a chance for Russell T Davies to resurrect more baddies from classic Doctor Who. Keep in mind that for every Dalek and Cyberman, Davies also brings back Autons or the Macra. So it’s hardly out of left field for such a die-hard fan to bring the Mara back.
And, perhaps the best selling point of all is who else might return if the Mara gets the green light. Yes, it likely means more Tegan, but it can also mean the return of one of Doctor Who fan’s favorite writers–Steven Moffat. If you don’t know Moffat is a fan of the Mara and considers “Kinda” and “Snakedance” two of the best classic Doctor Who episodes.
Long story short: bringing back the Mara means more Tegan, more Moffat, and a chance to imagine a classic Who baddie from a modern vantage point.
