Maxil
Maxil was a Time Lord commander of Gallifreyan Chancellery Guard and Castellan of the High Council.
Biography
Early life
When Maxil was taken to look into the Untempered Schism at the age of eight, he was inspired by what he saw. (PROSE: A Brief History of Time Lords [+]Loading...["A Brief History of Time Lords (novel)"]) He went on to join the Chancellery Guard and became its commander, (TV: Arc of Infinity [+]Loading...["Arc of Infinity (TV story)"]) serving under Castellan Jerricho (PROSE: A Brief History of Time Lords [+]Loading...["A Brief History of Time Lords (novel)"]) during Borusa's presidency. (TV: Arc of Infinity [+]Loading...["Arc of Infinity (TV story)"])
Chancellery Guard
Following Omega's attempt to bond with the Fifth Doctor, Maxil was ordered by Borusa to recall the TARDIS to Gallifrey and bring the Doctor and Nyssa before the High Council. He did so, although he had to shoot the Doctor when he attempted to escape, and subsequently detained the two of them until the Doctor's execution, after which he realised that the execution had been sabotaged using Borusa's codes. He sealed the Capitol and led a search for the Doctor, but, after Hedin was exposed as Omega's accomplice, Borusa allowed the Doctor to live. (TV: Arc of Infinity [+]Loading...["Arc of Infinity (TV story)"])
Maxil was promoted to a Chapter Castellan and regularly trained Wynter, his Arcalian counterpart, as he had little experience and had not served in the Chancellery Guard. (AUDIO: Lies [+]Loading...["Lies (audio story)"])
Inquisitor Prime Darkel contacted him to escort her into the Vaults so that she could speak with her advisor (AUDIO: Imperiatrix [+]Loading...["Imperiatrix (audio story)"]) and, during the Gallifreyan Civil War, he sided with Pandora over Romana. Afterwards, he was demoted to Commander. (AUDIO: Appropriation [+]Loading...["Appropriation (audio story)"])
References
Discussing the coincidence of look-alikes with Peri Brown, the Sixth Doctor mentioned Maxil. (AUDIO: Prime Winner [+]Loading...["Prime Winner (audio story)"])
Personality
Maxil could be gruff and impatient (PROSE: Arc of Infinity [+]Loading...["Arc of Infinity (novelisation)"]) and followed his orders loyally. (TV: Arc of Infinity [+]Loading...["Arc of Infinity (TV story)"]) He was resentful of the Castellan, (PROSE: Arc of Infinity [+]Loading...["Arc of Infinity (novelisation)"]) who once called him a fool, (TV: Arc of Infinity [+]Loading...["Arc of Infinity (TV story)"]) and sided against the liberal President Romana in the Gallifreyan Civil War in favour of the more conservative Darkel. (AUDIO: Appropriation [+]Loading...["Appropriation (audio story)"])
Appearance
Maxil was a burly man with square jawed features (PROSE: Arc of Infinity [+]Loading...["Arc of Infinity (novelisation)"]) and curly brown hair. (TV: Arc of Infinity [+]Loading...["Arc of Infinity (TV story)"]) He shared a resemblance to the Sixth Doctor. (AUDIO: Prime Winner [+]Loading...["Prime Winner (audio story)"])
Behind the scenes
- Maxil was portrayed by Colin Baker, who later became the Sixth Doctor.
- Maxil was intended to appear in The Five Doctors [+]Loading...["The Five Doctors (TV story)"]. As Baker was unavailable, however, he was replaced with the Commander.[1]
- Maxil shoots the Fifth Doctor at one point during Arc of Infinity [+]Loading...["Arc of Infinity (TV story)"] — namely in the closing moments of part one. As a result, Baker has often joked that he gained the role of the Doctor by shooting the previous incumbent.[source needed]
- Colin Baker has said he made the suggestion that, in The Mysterious Planet [+]Loading...["The Mysterious Planet (TV story)"], Commander Maxil should have arrested the Doctor and taken him into the courtroom on Space Station Zenobia.[source needed]
- This was the first time that a future actor to play a Doctor was involved in an earlier production on screen. Baker would be succeeded in this regard by Peter Capaldi. Prior to being cast as the Twelfth Doctor in 2013, Capaldi played both Lobus Caecilius in The Fires of Pompeii [+]Loading...["The Fires of Pompeii (TV story)"] in 2008 and John Frobisher in Torchwood: Children of Earth in 2009. Furthermore, David Tennant participated in several Doctor Who audio dramas for Big Finish Productions (the first being Colditz [+]Loading...["Colditz (audio story)"]) and had a minor voice role in Scream of the Shalka [+]Loading...["Scream of the Shalka (webcast)"] before being cast as the Tenth and Fourteenth Doctors. David Bradley, who stood in for William Hartnell as the First Doctor in The Doctor Falls [+]Loading...["The Doctor Falls (TV story)"], Twice Upon a Time [+]Loading...["Twice Upon a Time (TV story)"] and The Power of the Doctor [+]Loading...["The Power of the Doctor (TV story)"], previously played Solomon in Dinosaurs on a Spaceship [+]Loading...["Dinosaurs on a Spaceship (TV story)"] and voiced Azure of the Claw Shansheeth in Death of the Doctor [+]Loading...["Death of the Doctor (TV story)"].
Footnotes
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