Sil is a fictional alien from the television series '' Doctor Who'', first appeared in the 1985 serial '' Vengeance on Varos''. Sil was portrayed by

Nabil Shaban Nabil Shaban (born 12 February 1953) is a Jordanian-British actor and writer. He co-founded Graeae—a theatre group which promotes disabled performers. He's best known as the recurring villain Sil in ''Doctor Who''. Early years and career ...

Overview

Sil was the representative of the Galatron Mining Corporation present on the planet Varos to extract concessions from the current Governor. Unbeknownst to the Varosians, the mineral Zeiton-7 which was abundant on their planet was not as they thought nearly valueless, but in fact rare, particularly to

time travel Time travel is the concept of movement between certain points in time, analogous to movement between different points in space by an object or a person, typically with the use of a hypothetical device known as a time machine. Time travel is a ...

lers. The Varosians lived barely above the poverty line due to the exploitation of companies like the Galatron Mining Corporation and others. Sil was a particularly vile creature by any standard, more so since a fault in his translation device made his voice sibilant, with a ululating laugh. Devoid of morality and dedicated to getting the cheapest price he could for Zeiton ore by any means, he also enjoyed the various tortures which passed for entertainment on Varos, taking particular delight in making the

Sixth Doctor The Sixth Doctor is an incarnation of The Doctor (Doctor Who), the Doctor, the protagonist of the BBC Science fiction on television, science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. He is portrayed by Colin Baker. Although his televisual time ...

companion Companion may refer to: Relationships Currently * Any of several interpersonal relationships such as friend or acquaintance * A domestic partner, akin to a spouse * Sober companion, an addiction treatment coach * Companion (caregiving), a caregive ...

Peri In Persian mythology, peris (singular: peri; from fa, پَری, translit=parī, , plural , ; borrowed in European languages through ota, پَری, translit=peri) are exquisite, winged spirits renowned for their beauty. Peris were later ad ...

suffer a transformation into an avian creature. The Doctor interfered with Sil's plan and informed the Varosians of the true value of their natural resources, forcing Sil to concede to offer the true value of the Zeiton-7. The Sixth Doctor and Peri encountered Sil once again on the planet Thoros Beta, where he was that time involved in arms dealing. At the end of the segment of evidence presented by the Valeyard in the Doctor's

trial In law, a trial is a coming together of parties to a dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court. The tribun ...

, it appeared that Sil was killed by a rampaging King Yrcanos. It later transpired that the evidence of the

Matrix Matrix most commonly refers to: * ''The Matrix'' (franchise), an American media franchise ** '' The Matrix'', a 1999 science-fiction action film ** "The Matrix", a fictional setting, a virtual reality environment, within ''The Matrix'' (franchi ...

had been tampered with, so it is not clear whether Sil in fact survived.

Other appearances

Sil also features in the Philip Martin's novelisation of the never-made serial '' Mission to Magnus'', in which he was in league with the Ice Warriors.

Big Finish Productions Big Finish Productions is a British company that produces books and audio plays (released straight to compact disc and for download in MP3 and m4b format) based, primarily, on cult science fiction properties. These include ''Doctor Who'', the ...

released a new audio version of ''Mission to Magnus'' in December 2009, with Nabil Shaban reprising his role as Sil. Sil made another appearance in the Big Finish Audio story ''Antidote to Oblivion'' in 2014 alongside the Sixth Doctor and Flip. A script was pitched for the never-produced Season 27 where he would return along with the Autons and

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 ...

. In early 2019, Reeltime Pictures announced Nabil Shaban would reprise his role as Sil in a new film, entitled ''

Sil and the Devil Seeds of Arodor ''Sil and the Devil Seeds of Arodor'' is a 2019 direct-to-video mini-series produced by Reeltime Pictures. It stars the character of Sil (Doctor Who), Sil from the television ''Doctor Who'', as well as other elements licensed from the series. Nab ...

''. Also starring Sophie Aldred, the production was released as DVD, Download, Stream and

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of s ...

List of appearances

Television

*'' Vengeance on Varos'' — January 19–26, 1985 *'' The Trial of a Time Lord'': '' Mindwarp'' — October 4–25, 1986

Audio

*'' Mission to Magnus'' (2009) *'' Antidote to Oblivion'' (2014) *''

The Widow’s Assassin ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in En ...

'' (2014)

Web/Home Entertainment

*''

— ''November, 2019''

References

External links

{{Doctor Who villains Television characters introduced in 1985 Sil Doctor Who aliens Male characters in television