The TV section rank the greatest villains ever assembled on the small screen.

#1
The Master
Doctor Who
Not just a villain, the villain; the Master is the Professor Moriarty to the Doctor’s Sherlock Holmes. Driven mad by a Time Lord initiation ceremony in which he is forced to stare into a gap in the fabric of space and time (snappily known as the Untempered Schism), he encapsulates the evil, power-hungry nemesis determined to achieve universal domination. Immortal and capable of regenerating and changing appearance, the Master is every bit as intelligent and cunning as the Doctor… except, rather obviously, he isn’t – as evidenced by his evil plans being constantly thwarted. He does try though, bless him.
Alistair Grant

#2
Tricky Dicky
Coronation St.
Soap-land is bursting at its frothy seams with nefarious characters, and leading the charge is surely Coronation Street’s Richard Hillman, aka Tricky Dicky. 15.6 million people watched him murder Maxine Peacock; 19.4 million tuned in for the attempted demise of the Platt family. Murder sells, and no one did killer-chic quite like Dick. Played effortlessly by Brian Capron, the character gave soaps a lasting, insatiable appetite for crazed psychopaths.
Alistair Grant

#3
The Demon Headmaster
Brilliantly portrayed by a menacingly spectacled Terrence Hardiman, villains don’t come much worse than the Demon Headmaster, the eponymous villain of this 90s classic. Not content with ensnaring a whole school with his hypnotic powers he proceeded to utilise increasingly ridiculous storylines as the series progressed, moving into barmy scientific research and technological madness in his attempts to gain power. He was also apparently bloody hard to get rid off – in fact, the more the kids tried, the more powerful he would be on his inevitable return for the next series. Perhaps you should just leave him alone, eh kids?
Alistair Grant

#4
Don Beech
The Bill
Anyone who watched The Bill in the late nineties remembers the charming Detective Sergeant who went rogue. Even as a ‘good cop’ Beech had his own rules, lining his own pockets before laying down the law. But as a ‘bad cop’ Beech led a huge scandal storyline which began with accepting a £20,000 bribe from a gangland boss to lie in court. Characters were brought in to catch this corrupt maverick, and his downfall dragged many of his fellow officers down with him. It is a little ironic that the only time we see Beech’s actor Billy Murray now is in an advert for lawyers.
Nina Seale

#5
Dan Scott
One Tree Hill
Dan Scott enjoys comparing himself to Professor Moriarty. He also enjoys killing his own brother out of jealousy then proceeding to seduce the woman he left behind, driving his son near insane in an attempt to live vicariously through his basketball career, abandoning his first child to go to college, influencing his grandson through creepy school visits and outright emotionally abusing his wife. He’s quite a bastard, and he runs the little town of Tree Hill like a puppet master. Despite his disturbing activities, his motives are somewhat understandable - driven by the failings of his own father and somewhat determined by the follies of his youth, Dan Scott is a remarkably well written villain.
Daniel Swain

#6
Dick Dastardly
Wacky Races
Dick Dastardly brought down the North American rally racing scene during his career in Wacky Races. Wielding his vehicle like a weapon more than a vessel of speed, the poor sportsmanship displayed was only overcome by a capacity to fail that Wile E. Coyote would find embarrassing. But has there ever been a more tragic case of wasted talent? Time and again, despite magnificent feats of engineering, the double-dealing do-badder would fall short of victory. Malfunction, misfortune and misery would take their toll on any man, especially him who chases Penelope Pitstop. Drat, drat, and double drat!
Zack O'leary

#7
Monty Burns
The Simpsons
Charles Montgomery Burns, a living lesson to an entire generation that money cannot buy happiness, but it sure helps. This nuclear power plant owning miser may go down as one of the greatest villains in all Springfield-dom. He set the hounds on countless passers by, stopped his town in its tracks for his own amusement, and corrupted the souls of innocents. If ever a man made an unholy pact for eternal life, it must be Monty. Who else could earn a gunshot from an infant so sweet as Maggie Simpson?
Zack O'leary

#8
Malcolm Tucker
The Thick of It
The Thick of It’s Communications Director, this man has got to hold the record for most profanities uttered on screen ever. Let it be said, Tucker does nothing to refute the ‘angry Scot’ stereotype - but he is, at least, hilarious with it. He is quite rightly feared by his colleagues who have to suffer through every “f**k” and “c**t”, and his death stare leaves them quivering. He gets the job done because, somehow, he always knows just what needs to be said. Just don’t ever, ever, call him a bully...he’s so much worse than that.
Kirsty Wareing

#9
Rita Repulsa
Power Rangers
It’s Morphin’ Time! As an after school special show, the Power Rangers had to overcome the mischievous schemes of Rita Repulsa. In retrospect Rita Repulsa can be summed up thus: if the Wicked Witch of the West received fashion tips from Madonna. Taking over the world becomes a tedious day to day task for the Witch using her bizzare but cheap-looking monsters and her army of Putties. Rita Repulsa may not appear to be terrifying but the source of terror lies in her voice– surely the worst sound a person can live to hear. To this day I still question what Lord Zedd ever saw in Rita. Maybe he has an Asian fetish.
Jalen Vasquez

#10
Jeff
Peep Show
Not so much a villain, more just a massive prick. In fact, his constant dickishness (yes, this is a word) scales such fantastic heights you find yourself continuously willing the socially repressed Mark to just snap and strangle the bastard. What’s more, he even gets the girl (in this case colleague Sophie), leaving aside Mark’s disastrous period with Sophie in which he fathers a child. Perhaps the real reason Jeff is such a brilliantly infuriating character is the fact that he is depressingly recognisable: everyone has met, and subsequently hated, a Jeff. And if you haven’t, you’re more than likely a Jeff yourself.
Alistair Grant