Morgus is the the main antagonist of the 1984 Doctor Who serial "The Caves of Androzani".
He was the corrupt chairman of the Androzani Sirius Conglomerate and the arch nemesis of Sharaz Jek.
He was portrayed by the late John Normington.
Biography[]
Early Life & Rise to Power[]
In the past Morgus built up his wealth and position of respect, power and high authority through his partnership with the man Sharaz Jek in order to gain some hold over the toxic substance known as Spectrox. He would pay the talented robotics expert to build several androids and devices to harvest the substance safely and deliver it in a secure manner and the two stuck to this routine for several years.
One day however Morgus betrayed Jek by giving him faulty detection instruments; when one of Androzani Minor's mud bursts erupted, Jek had no warning and was horribly scalded. He travelled into one of the baking chambers saving his life. Jek survived but was horribly disfigured, leaving him wearing a leather suit and mask. With Jek out of the equation Morgus continued to fight his way higher and higher to the top of the crowd eventually finding himself in a fairly comfortable position as the Chairman of the Androzani Sirius Conglomerate. Through more shady business deals and killings, Morgus gained control of a large amount of Spectrox although much to his anguish a stubborn Sharaz Jek still withheld a large amount of the same substance leading to a raging war between the two.
Morgus also pressured the corrupt President of Androzani Major into passing a law confining all those without valid work permits to slave labour camps in the east, which Morgus owned. He then began closing down his factories so that his workers would be sent to the camps, allowing him to continue using their labour without paying them.
The Caves of Androzani[]
For some time Morgus had been making business deals with the corrupt military official Stotz who sold Jek large amounts of weaponry on Morgus' behalf in exchange for supplies of Spectrox. He did this as it would be of benefit to him in every way since he had guessed that Jek would in return decide to plan out an invasion on the the government and federal forces securing Morgus' place in the highest possible ground while he himself would be able to secure an even larger supply of wealth. Further stress was poured onto Morgus' mind however after Jek began to refuse payments and he grew paranoid the government had began catching on to his shady ideas.
Sometime later he had discovered one of Stotz' newest prisoners from Minor; a heavily weakened and ill Fifth Doctor one of Jek's newest prisoners who was searching for a cure to Spectrox Toxemia a deadly illness one contracts from making contact with raw Spectrox for both him and his companion Peri Brown. Mistaking him for an agent of the president and refusing to hear otherwise. Morgus ordered for The Doctor's real death and to make sure Jek doesn't allow him escape through androids. This backfired however when The Doctor took control of Stotz ship and forced it to crash back on Androzani Minor resulting in Stotz and the Smugglers being delayed while they chased him down. Deciding the time was right for him to take on full control and to stop the president from sending any more of his presumed troops Morgus quickly shoved the man down an elevator shaft to his demise.
Morgus and Stotz then rendezvoused and came up with a plan to invade Jek's base and to go their separate ways with Morgus planning on securing hideout on one of his many planetary mansions. This plan was put on halt however when Morgus' assistant took over his position and informed him he was now a fugitive much to the fury of Morgus who had now been betrayed by everybody with the exception of Stotz who only cared for getting more. The two quickly infiltrated Jek's base and upon hearing a rotor and following the direction of the noise, they found Jek cradling a dying Peri before attempting to kill him and steal the Spectrox. Much to his horror however Jek fought back with brute force and with complete ease forced Morgus' head into a laser beam melting his brains, before being shot by Stotz. Jek died shortly after this from gunshot wounds before Stotz was also murdered by Jek's most advanced android a replica of Salateen.
Whatever was left of the three men was destroyed after Jek's base was blown up in the ensuing mudstorm.
Personality[]
Morgus was a cruel, malicious, greedy, heartless and unfeeling man who disregarded everybody and was willing to kill anybody if it gave him self gain or not. Morgus had no qualms about betraying and killing anyone once they served their uses for him and wasn't at all afraid to get his hands dirty. Deep down all Morgus cared for was absoloute power.
Trivia[]
- While he is in his office, Morgus frequently talks directly to the camera. This arose through actor John Normington misunderstanding a stage direction. The Director, Graeme Harper, felt the asides effectively ramped up the dramatic tension, and decided to keep them.
