Day 630: Vengeance on Varos Part 2

The best part of Vengeance on Varos is clearly the enemies which it uses, in particular the work of one nasty little creature from Thoros Beta, known as Sil. Sil is at first an odd accompaniment to the rest of the cast, appearing as the other villains discuss the executions and getting rather excited at the prospect of death and torture. This excitement is actually rather disturbing, rubbing himself all over in such a fashion that it looks like he's getting an almost orgasmic thrill from all the events that are taking place.

But the real reason why Sil is so good is the motivation behind his actiions. He's actually a businessman, pure and simple. His role on Varos is to find a stock of Zeiton-7 and buy it from them, at a price that suits Sil but not the people of Varos. His comeuppance comes at the end of the episode when Thoros Beta informs him that they are running low on Zeiton-7 and they are to accept it at any price, something which the Governor of the colony relishes in informing Sil about, as he more than doubles Sil's original price for the Zeiton-7.

But what's immediately clear about Sil is that, even though he looks like a fantastical alien from some distant planet, he is one of the most realistic threats that is dealt with in this episode. Sil's interest is not conquest by force, but instead conquest through business and making deals with other planets. One can easily imagine certain aspects of Sil's persona being desirable traits for a high reaching businessman, seeking to make as much profit as they can possibly muster. It's also quite pertinent for the time, given that this was written in the 1980's, an era of "Greed is good" and seeking to make money at all costs. It's little wonder, then, that Sil was successful enough to be one of only two enemies in the Colin Baker era of the programme to return for another appearance. The second is one that we shall deal with tomorrow, as this odyssey continues.