Great Intelligence
| Great Intelligence | |
|---|---|
| Doctor Who character | |
 Richard E Grant as the Great Intelligence |
|
| First appearance | The Abominable Snowmen (1967) |
| Portrayed by |
on television: Wolfe Morris (1967) Jack Woolgar (1968) Ian McKellen (2012) Richard E Grant (2012–13) in spin-offs: Jack Watling (1995) |
| Information | |
| Species | Disembodied Intelligence |
| Home planet | Unknown |
| Home era | Unspecified |
The Great Intelligence is a character from the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Although the Great Intelligence has no physical form, it is capable of communicating, both by itself and through possession, with other characters within the series. The Great Intelligence was originally created by Henry Lincoln and Mervyn Haisman and first appeared in the 1967 serial The Abominable Snowmen where he encountered the Second Doctor and his companions Jamie and Victoria. The Great Intelligence tries to form a physical body so as to conquer the Earth, making use of Yeti robots that resemble the cryptozoological creatures. Initially the Great Intelligence used the Yeti robots to scare off curiosity seekers, only later using them as an army. Both the Intelligence and the Yeti returned in its sequel The Web of Fear.
After disagreements arose between Lincoln and Haisman with the BBC in 1968 over their rights to the Great Intelligence and Quarks, the writers departed from the series and both the Great Intelligence and Yeti were retired. The Great Intelligence and its Yeti minions have since appeared in the 1990s Virgin Missing Adventures range of novels and the 1995 Reeltime spin-off production Downtime. The Great Intelligence returned in the 2012 Christmas Special "The Snowmen", where it is voiced by Sir Ian McKellen, which details the entity's origins. Richard E Grant assumed the role in subsequent appearances in the seventh series of the revived show.
Both the Great Intelligence and the Yeti appeared twice in the fifth season of the series as adversaries of the Doctor's second incarnation (Patrick Troughton). The 1967 serial The Abominable Snowmen depicts the Great Intelligence as having possessed the body of the High Lama Padmasamabhava (Wolfe Morris), ever since encountering the man on the astral plane some centuries ago. Using Padmasambhava the Great Intelligence moves small Yeti pieces around a chess-like map of the monastery and mountainside, with the Yeti protecting a cave hiding a pyramid of spheres that house the Great Intelligence. The Great Intelligence intends to create a physical body for itself, but these plans are foiled by the Doctor and his companions.
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