'Who' writer 'cut out classic villain'

Doctor Who writer Gareth Roberts has revealed that his recent episode 'The Lodger' originally featured the return of an old villain.

He told Doctor Who Magazine that earlier drafts of the script featured the villain Meglos. The character previously fought Tom Baker's fourth Doctor in a 1980 story - also called 'Meglos'.

"I'd been joking about 'Meglos 2' for years," said Roberts. "But when I sat down to write the first draft [of The Lodger] it suddenly seemed right."

He explained that the villain was eventually dropped from the episode as his cactus-like appearance was too similar to alien race the Vinvocci, who appeared in the final David Tennant adventure, 'The End of Time'.

"Meglos survived in my script for quite a long while, but then we saw the Vinvocci," he confirmed. "And as the rest of the story was more comedic, we decided the villain had to be as scary as possible."

Doctor Who will return to BBC One this Christmas for a one-off special.