The Great Intelligence is a fictional character from the British

science fiction television Science fiction first appeared in television programming in the late 1930s, during what is called the Golden Age of Science Fiction. Special effects and other production techniques allow creators to present a living visual image of an imaginary ...

series '' Doctor Who''. Although the Great Intelligence has no physical form, it is capable of communicating, both by itself and through possession, with other characters within the series. The Great Intelligence was originally created by

Henry Lincoln Henry Soskin (12 February 1930 – 23 February 2022), better known as Henry Lincoln, was a British author, television presenter, scriptwriter, and actor. He co-wrote three '' Doctor Who'' multi-part serials in the 1960s, and — starting in t ...

and

Mervyn Haisman Mervyn Oliver Haisman (15 March 1928 – 29 October 2010) was a British screenwriter of film and television. Prior to this career he worked as an actor and managed a theatre company as well as working in insurance. Biography Haisman was bor ...

and first appeared in the 1967 serial ''

The Abominable Snowmen ''The Abominable Snowmen'' is the mostly missing second serial of the fifth season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which originally aired in six weekly parts from 30 September to 4 November 1967. In this seri ...

'' where it encountered the Second Doctor and his companions Jamie and Victoria. The Great Intelligence tries to form a physical body so as to conquer the Earth, making use of

Yeti The Yeti ()"Yeti"
''

cryptozoological Cryptozoology is a pseudoscience and subculture that searches for and studies unknown, legendary, or extinct animals whose present existence is disputed or unsubstantiated, particularly those popular in folklore, such as Bigfoot, the Loch Ness ...

creatures. Initially the Great Intelligence used the Yeti robots to scare off curiosity seekers, only later using them as an army. Both the Intelligence and the Yeti returned in its sequel ''

The Web of Fear ''The Web of Fear'' is the partly missing fifth serial of the fifth season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in six weekly parts from 3 February to 9 March 1968. The serial is set on the ...

''. After disagreements arose between Lincoln and Haisman with the BBC in 1968 over their rights to the Great Intelligence and

Quarks A quark () is a type of elementary particle and a fundamental constituent of matter. Quarks combine to form composite particles called hadrons, the most stable of which are protons and neutrons, the components of atomic nuclei. All commonly ...

, the writers departed from the series and both the Great Intelligence and Yeti were retired. The Great Intelligence and its Yeti minions have since appeared in the 1990s ''

Virgin Missing Adventures The ''Virgin Missing Adventures'' were a series of novels from Virgin Publishing based on the British science-fiction television series '' Doctor Who'', which had been cancelled in 1989, featuring stories set between televised episodes of the p ...

'' range of novels and the 1995 Reeltime spin-off production ''

Downtime The term downtime is used to refer to periods when a system is unavailable. The unavailability is the proportion of a time-span that a system is unavailable or offline. This is usually a result of the system failing to function because of an u ...

''. The Great Intelligence returned in the 2012 Christmas Special "

The Snowmen "The Snowmen" is an episode of the British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who'', first broadcast on Christmas Day 2012 on BBC One. It is the eighth ''Doctor Who'' Christmas special since the show's 2005 revival and the first to be ...

", where it is voiced by

Sir Ian McKellen Sir Ian Murray McKellen (born 25 May 1939) is an English actor. His career spans seven decades, having performed in genres ranging from Shakespearean and modern theatre to popular fantasy and science fiction. Regarded as a British cultural i ...

, which details the entity's origins. Richard E. Grant assumed the role in subsequent appearances in the seventh series of the revived show.

Appearances

Both the Great Intelligence and the Yeti appeared twice in the fifth season of the series as adversaries of the Doctor's second incarnation (Patrick Troughton). The 1967 serial ''

'' depicts the Great Intelligence as having possessed the body of the High Lama Padmasamabhava (

Wolfe Morris Wolfe Morris (born Woolf Steinberg, 5 January 1925 – 21 July 1996) was an English actor, who played character roles on stage, television and in feature films from the 1950s until the 1990s. He made his film debut in ''Ill Met by Moonlight''. ...

), ever since encountering the man on the astral plane some centuries ago. Using Padmasambhava the Great Intelligence moves small Yeti pieces around a chess-like map of the monastery and mountainside, with the Yeti protecting a cave hiding a pyramid of spheres that house the Great Intelligence. The Great Intelligence intends to create a physical body for itself, but these plans are foiled by the Doctor and his companions. In the sequel ''

'', aired in 1968 and set forty years after ''The Abominable Snowmen'', the Great Intelligence returns when a control sphere is activated and enters a Yeti. The Great Intelligence uses an army of Yeti to take over the

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The ...

and begins filling London with a Web. The Great Intelligence primarily possesses the mind of Staff-Sergeant Arnold ( Jack Woolgar) to sabotage the military resistance to the Yeti invasion. The invasion is revealed as a trap designed to draw in the Doctor so that the Great Intelligence can drain the Doctor's mind, but it is again defeated and banished. The 2012

Eleventh Doctor The Eleventh Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the BBC science fiction television programme ''Doctor Who''. He is played by Matt Smith in three series as well as five specials. As with previous incarnations of the Doct ...

(

Matt Smith Matthew Robert Smith (born 28 October 1982) is an English actor. He is best known for his roles as the eleventh incarnation of the Doctor in the BBC series '' Doctor Who'' (2010–2013), Daemon Targaryen in the HBO series '' House of the Dr ...

) episode "

" provides an origin for the Great Intelligence, whose voice is provided by

. It reveals that the Intelligence originated as a crystalline organism that looks like snow and responds to the thoughts of others. The snow-like organism became influenced by the thoughts of a young boy, Walter Simeon, during the 1800s, forming a mental symbiosis. From there, the Great Intelligence had the adult Dr. Simeon ( Richard E. Grant) create "The Great Intelligence Institute" and orchestrate a scheme to obtain the DNA of a governess who froze to death in the Latimer family's pond. He intends to use her DNA to create ice-based lifeforms incapable of melting to take over the world. After the ice creature is destroyed, the Doctor uses a "memory worm" on Dr Simeon to erase his memories, expecting this to destroy the Intelligence. However, the Great Intelligence has existed long enough to become an independent entity and uses Simeon's brain-dead husk to attack the Doctor, briefly taking on the voice of the young Simeon (Cameron Strefford) during the confrontation. The intelligence withdraws from his vessel when the Latimer family cries for the dying Clara, triggering his snow to melt. It is implied these events lead to ''The Web of Fear'' as the Doctor shows a map of the London Underground from 1966 to the Great Intelligence. The Great Intelligence appears in the 2013 episode "

The Bells of Saint John "The Bells of Saint John" is the sixth episode of the seventh series of the British science fiction television programme ''Doctor Who''. It premiered in the United Kingdom on 30 March 2013 on BBC One; the episode was the first of the second ha ...

", set in the present day. The Great Intelligence uses a woman called Miss Kizlet (

Celia Imrie Celia Diana Savile Imrie (born 15 July 1952) is an English actress and author. She was described in 2003 as one of the most successful British actresses of recent decades. She is best known for her film roles, including the '' Bridget Jones'' f ...

) to aid him in creating an organization based at

the Shard The Shard, also referred to as the Shard of Glass, Shard London Bridge, and formerly London Bridge Tower, is a 72-storey skyscraper, designed by the Italian architect Renzo Piano, in Southwark, London, that forms part of The Shard Quarter dev ...

to collect and harvest the minds of people using

Wi-Fi Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols, based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by radio wav ...

for it to feed on. The Eleventh Doctor manages to upload Miss Kizlet into this "data cloud", forcing the workers to free the minds trapped in the data cloud and return them to their bodies. To preserve its secrecy and hinder

UNIT Unit may refer to: Arts and entertainment * UNIT, a fictional military organization in the science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'' * Unit of action, a discrete piece of action (or beat) in a theatrical presentation Music * ''Unit'' (a ...

's investigation, the Great Intelligence has Miss Kizlet wipe all memories of its existence from her and the other employees's memories. It communicated with humans on video screens using the likeness of Simeon. In the Series 7 finale, "

The Name of the Doctor "The Name of the Doctor" is the thirteenth and final episode of the seventh series of the British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who''. It was first broadcast on BBC One on 18 May 2013. It was written by Steven Moffat and directed ...

", the Great Intelligence manifests through and manipulates dark creatures called the Whisper Men, changing the one it inhabits into the form of Dr Simeon. The Whispermen kidnap the Paternoster Gang, close associates of the Eleventh Doctor, taking them to Trenzalore, the site of the Doctor's future grave. Having thereby lured the Doctor to his own grave, the Great Intelligence gains access to Doctor's tomb (his future dead TARDIS), by threatening the lives of the Gang. It is revealed the Doctor's travels through time have created a temporal rift "body" inside the dead husk of the future TARDIS. The Great Intelligence claims that it plans on getting revenge on the Doctor for foiling its schemes by scattering itself along the Doctor's timeline. Through scattering itself, the Great Intelligence intends to overturn all of the Doctor's various victories and destroy him, even though this would destroy the Great Intelligence itself. After it has entered the rift, however, the Doctor's companion

Clara Oswald Clara Oswald is a fictional character in the British science fiction on television, science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. She was created by series producer Steven Moffat and portrayed by Jenna Coleman. Clara was introduced in the Doc ...

follows him, likewise scattering herself along the timeline, saving the Doctor, who in turn enters his own timeline to rescue Clara. The Intelligence is presumed destroyed, though multiple versions of it are laced in the Doctor's timeline.

Spin-off appearances

The Great Intelligence and its Yeti servants are featured in the 1995 spin-off video film ''

'', produced by Reeltime and featuring

Victoria Waterfield Victoria Waterfield is a fictional character played by Deborah Watling in the long-running British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. A native of Victorian England, she was a companion of the Second Doctor and a regular in the p ...

(

Deborah Watling Deborah Patricia Watling (2 January 1948 – 21 July 2017) was an English actress who played the role of Victoria Waterfield, a companion of the Second Doctor in the BBC television series ''Doctor Who'' from 1967 to 1968. She began her career a ...

), the

Brigadier Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. I ...

(

Nicholas Courtney William Nicholas Stone Courtney (16 December 1929 – 22 February 2011) was an Egyptian-born British actor. He was known for his long-running role as Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart in the BBC science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. Ea ...

) and

Sarah Jane Smith Sarah Jane Smith is a fictional character played by Elisabeth Sladen in the long-running BBC Television science fiction on television, science fiction series ''Doctor Who'' and two of Doctor Who spin-offs, its spin-offs. Sarah Jane is a dogged in ...

(

Elisabeth Sladen Elisabeth Clara Heath-Sladen (1 February 1946 – 19 April 2011) was an English actress. She became best known as Sarah Jane Smith in the British television series ''Doctor Who'', appearing as a regular cast member from 1973 to 1976, alongside ...

) with a now deceased Professor Travers (Jack Watling) serving as a vessel for the Intelligence. Here the Great Intelligence plans on infecting the Internet so as to use it as a new body, using control spheres to transform humans into Yeti servants. ''Downtime'' was novelised by Marc Platt as part of Virgin's ''Missing Adventures'' range in 1996. The Great Intelligence also features in several novels (''

All-Consuming Fire ''All-Consuming Fire'' is a novel written by Andy Lane and the 27th entry in the ''Virgin New Adventures'', a series based on the long-running British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. The novel is a crossover with Arthur Co ...

'', '' Millennial Rites'', ''

Business Unusual The ''Past Doctor Adventures'' (sometimes known by the abbreviation ''PDA'' or ''PDAs'') were a series of spin-off novels based on the long running BBC science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'' and published under the BBC Books imprin ...

'', ''

The Quantum Archangel ''The Quantum Archangel'' is a BBC Books original novel written by Craig Hinton and based on the long-running British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who''. It features the Sixth Doctor and Mel, the Master, and an appearance by an a ...

'' and '' Divided Loyalties'') in which it is identified with H. P. Lovecraft's

Yog-Sothoth American author H. P. Lovecraft (1890–1937) created a number of fictional deities throughout the course of his literary career. These entities are usually depicted as immensely powerful and utterly indifferent to humans who can barely begin to c ...

, a being from the universe before this one. The Great Intelligence also appeared in a back-up comic strip in '' Doctor Who Weekly'' Nos. 31–34.

Powers

The Great Intelligence had no physical form and thus relied on possession of living creatures to manipulate its environment. It existed on the astral plane and could enter the people it encountered. It allowed Padmasambhava to live over 300 years while he created the Robot Yeti and it also reanimated dead bodies like Staff Sergeant Arnold. It had considerable mental powers such as mind control and could even mentally attack the Doctor, causing him great pain, and travel through time and space. The Great Intelligence could also manifest itself in simple forms such as a slime that glowed brightly, a dense fog that consumed anything that entered it, and a poisonous web/fungus that could trap the Doctor's TARDIS and could not be destroyed by chemicals, explosives or flamethrowers.

Physical servants

Yeti

The Yeti were an effort by the production team to create more recurring antagonists for the Doctor in lieu of the

Dalek The Daleks ( ) are a fictional extraterrestrials in fiction, extraterrestrial race of mutants principally portrayed in the British science fiction on television, science fiction television programme ''Doctor Who''. They were conceived by write ...

s, whose creator and part-copyright owner

Terry Nation Terence Joseph Nation (8 August 19309 March 1997) was a British screenwriter and novelist. Especially known for his work in British television science fiction, he created the Daleks and Davros for ''Doctor Who'', as well as the series '' Surviv ...

desired to have appear in an American spin-off series. Writers

and

chose the stories of the

yeti The Yeti ()"Yeti"
''

The Yeti are controlled by the Great Intelligence through control spheres. These are depicted as capable of seeking out inactive Yeti, emitting a series of whistle-like beeps whilst doing so. ''The Web of Fear'' shows the characters experimenting upon one of the spheres and eventually able to control the Yeti it is stored within by using a short-range remote control.

Snowmen

In "

", the Great Intelligence's first appearance in the internal chronology of the series, the Great Intelligence in the form of psychic snowflakes – animated snowmen across Victorian London to fight for it. In the course of the episode, it also reanimates and takes control of a woman who died by freezing to death in a pond, and later still possesses the brain-dead body of its aide Dr. Walter Simeon ( Richard E. Grant) after he was bitten by a Memory Worm that wipes out all his memories.

Spoonheads

The Spoonheads are robots used by the Great Intelligence's operatives in "

" to harvest human minds for him to feast upon. They are also referred to as "Servers" by Miss Kizlet (

) and as walking Wi-Fi base stations by the

(

). They have a spoon-shaped head through which they absorb a person's soul, and are able to disguise themselves as figures from the target's subconscious.

Steven Moffat Steven William Moffat (; born 18 November 1961) is a Scottish television writer, television producer and screenwriter. He is best known for his work as showrunner, writer and executive producer of the science fiction television series ''Doct ...

said that he wrote "The Bells of Saint John" as an "action rollercoaster", with the Spoonhead robots devised in contrast to other monsters he had created such as the

Weeping Angels The Weeping Angels are a race of predatory creatures from the long-running science fiction series ''Doctor Who''. They were introduced in the 2007 episode "Blink (Doctor Who), Blink", making repeat appearances in later episodes. They also appear ...

and

Silence Silence is the absence of ambient audible sound, the emission of sounds of such low intensity that they do not draw attention to themselves, or the state of having ceased to produce sounds; this latter sense can be extended to apply to the c ...

with a focus on scares. He has also said that the Spoonheads are not a critique on contemporary obsessions with technology and that the Wi-Fi concept was more of an invasion method new to ''Doctor Who''.

Whisper Men

In "

", the Great Intelligence is assisted by the Whisper Men, invulnerable manifestations that whisper in rhymes. They appear as Victorian gentlemen, with no facial features other than mouths with sharp teeth. The Great Intelligence is able to physically manifest in place of any of the individual Whisper Men, taking the form of his last human host, Walter Simeon ( Richard E. Grant). Their whispers are implied to be prophetic, when chasing the Doctor on Trenzalore, whispering rhymes such as: "the man who lies will lie no more, when this man lies at Trenzalore," and "This man must fall as all men must, the fate of all is always dust." The rhymes often cryptically refer to past or future events that the Whisper Men had no obvious way of having knowing about.

Reception

Critic Graham Sleight commented in an analysis of ''Doctor Who'' monsters that the use of Yeti robots by the Great Intelligence was uninteresting as they provided merely a physical and voiceless threat. Some reviewers have seen this as a strength, with Nick Page feeling that the Yeti being controlled by the Great Intelligence gave them greater menace, arguing that because "the Great Intelligence... always turned off their power when it was not required", this creates suspense when the characters interacted with a dormant Yeti. Ian McKellen's performance of the Great Intelligence's voice for its return in the 2012 Christmas Special was generally well received. Patrick Mulkern, writing for '' Radio Times'', said "hats off to Steven Moffat" for reintroducing the character and described the casting of Ian McKellen as "a coup" and "wizardly". The character was seen by some reviewers as being underdeveloped, with Kyle Anderson of the

Nerdist Nerdist Industries, LLC is part of the digital division of Legendary Entertainment. Nerdist Industries was founded as a sole podcast (The Nerdist Podcast) created by Chris Hardwick but later spread to include a network of podcasts, a premium conte ...

feeling that although McKellen and Richard E. Grant, who portrayed its human minion Dr Simeon, were excellent casting choices the Great Intelligence's plan was "the least fleshed out part of the script". Matt Risley's review on IGN similarly praised the acting of McKellen and Grant, but felt the story was "stuffed with ideas" and the Great Intelligence's return was overshadowed by the "fully formed and utterly unpredictable" performance of

Jenna-Louise Coleman Jenna-Louise Coleman (born 27 April 1986), known professionally as Jenna Coleman, is an English actress. She is known for her roles as Jasmine Thomas in the soap opera ''Emmerdale'', Clara Oswald in the science-fiction series '' Doctor Who'', ...

. The character's appearance, portrayed by Richard E Grant, in "

", was perceived as establishing the Great Intelligence as a prominent antagonist for Series 7. Simon Brew felt that the Great Intelligence's appearance was "very welcome" and compared the character's use to that of Moriarty in Steven Moffat's series ''Sherlock''. Mark Snow described the Great Intelligence in his review as a "

Big Bad Big Bad (abbreviated to BB or BBEG for ''big bad evil guy'') is a term to describe a major recurring adversary, usually the chief villain or antagonist in a particular broadcast season, originally used by the ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' televi ...

" and felt that the character's involvement tied nicely into the Spoonhead plot. Neela Debnath of ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

'', despite feeling that the episode was a "rehash" of elements of " Blink" and ''Sherlock'', commented that it appeared to be establishing the groundwork for a battle between the Doctor and Great Intelligence.

List of appearances

Television

*''

'' *''

'' *"

" *"

Comics

*''Yonder...the Yeti'' (''Doctor Who Weekly'' #31-34)

Direct-to-video

*''

Novels

*''

'' *'' Millennial Rites'' *''