Sil (Doctor Who)

Sil is a recurring antagonist of the Sixth Doctor in Doctor Who. He is the main antagonist of "Vengeance on Varos" and the secondary antagonist of the "Mindwarp" segment of "The Trial of a Time Lord".

He is portrayed by Nabil Shaban.

History
Sil was one of the Mentors from Thoros-Beta and represented their interests on Varos. Despite it being the only known source of the rare mineral zeiton-7, Sil was determined to acquire it for a low price, negotiating harshly with the Governor, who would be killed by popular vote if he was unable to make a favourable deal. Sil conspired with the Chief Officer and Quillam, the head of the punishment dome, to undermine the Governor's position. He enjoyed watching the suffering of the punishment dome inmates and considered selling recordings of the tortures and executions.

When the Doctor and Peri arrived on Varos, Sil worried worried that they were from a rival company and would expose his deceit. He thus tried to have the Doctor executed and had Peri handed over to Quillam for experimentation. When that failed, and with the Chief Officer and Quillam dead, Sil called in an invasion fleet to take over the planet. However, it was cancelled when his superiors found traces of zeiton-7 elsewhere and instead ordered him to pay any price the Varosians asked.

Sil was meant to reappear in "Mission to Magnus", a story from the originally planned Season 23 until it was delayed for nine months. This would have seen him team up with the Ice Warriors in a plan to alter a planet's orbit. Despite the story being adapted as a novel and audio play, this was ignored when the series returned with "Mindwarp" being treated as the Doctor and Peri's first meeting with him since Varos.

The Doctor and Peri encountered Sil again when they travelled to Thoros-Beta to investigate arms sales to the primitive worlds of Vordon and Krontep. Sil was overseeing an attempt to transfer the mind of his master Lord Kiv into a new body. He had the mindwarp machine used on the Doctor, changing his personality and causing him to assist Sil in his business dealings. Peri was captured and chosen as Sil's new host by the scientist Crozier. During the transference, King Yrcanos of Krontep attacked the laboratory and Sil was possibly killed when he raked the room with staser fire.

Although not seen in the series again, Sil was shown to have survived in the audio "Antidote to Oblivion", in which he had gained a position in the government of a future Britain and was working with Crozier's daughter to curb the population with viruses, capturing the Doctor for experimentation.

The straight-to-DVD fan play Sil and the Devil Seeds of Arodor saw Sil on trial for introducing an addictive drug to Earth. He escaped execution or imprisonment by threatening to stand as prime minister, but had his profits confisgated and used in a rehabilitation programme.

Trivia

 * Sil's appearance varies wildly between his two television appearances. In "Varos" he is shown as having brown skin, but in "Mindwarp" it has become green.