Doctor Who classic villain Omega returns – with new voice actor after recast

The return of Omega had been teased in last week's outing Wish World, with the Rani (Archie Panjabi) revealing her plan to crack open reality and enter a realm called the Underverse, where the "most terrifying Time Lord of all" resided.

The Reality War saw the devious Time Lady further her quest to restore Gallifrey by any means necessary, with Omega making his first on-screen appearance in Doctor Who since 1983's Arc of Infinity.

And it's fair to say, time hasn't been kind to the twisted Time Lord...

Emerging as a monstrous, larger-than-life creature that even surprised the Rani, the Doctor explained: "The Underverse is a world of legends, so Omega has become his own legend. He is the Mad God! The Titan! The Original Sin!"

"I will become the God of Time, with Time Lords to feast upon," Omega roared, as he picked up and ate the Rani – noting: "So sweet!"

Thankfully, the Doctor was able to grab the Vindicator nearby – armed with "the power of 1 billion supernovas" – and drive Omega back from where he came.

The role of Omega was recast for The Reality War, with Doctor Who icon Nicholas Briggs providing the voice for the character, whose physical appearance was – unlike in previous appearances – rendered using CGI.

Briggs is, of course, Who royalty, having voiced the Daleks and Cybermen since the show's return in 2005, as well as a number of other monsters, while he has also worked extensively with Big Finish and on various audio dramas.

The recast was necessitated by the fact that the two previous actors to have played the part on television have since passed away – Ian Collier in 2008 and Stephen Thorne in 2019.

Omega was first introduced, played by Thorne, in the 1972 serial The Three Doctors – in this anniversary story starring Jon Pertwee, Patrick Troughton and William Hartnell, a mysterious energy force begins attacking UNIT headquarters and draining power across the universe.

The Time Lords, facing a crisis, break their own rules to unite the First, Second, and Third Doctors to confront the culprit, revealed to be Omega.

He returned 10 years later in Arc of Infinity, now played by Collier, for a story which saw the treacherous Time Lord attempt to escape the anti-matter universe he was trapped in by stealing the bio-data of the Fifth Doctor (Peter Davison).

Millie Gibson – who plays the Doctor's returning companion Ruby Sunday – had previously hinted at what to expect from Omega's on-screen return, telling RadioTimes.com: "He's terrifying... I think people are going to be really shocked.

"[The Rani] kind of worships Omega. I think it's a really cool two-villain dynamic. The more the better! This is why it's the biggest battle for the Doctor – there are two of his biggest villains that he has to defeat."

Read more:

• Doctor Who's Archie Panjabi reveals how she pays homage to classic Rani star Kate O'Mara
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