Commander Maxil

Commander Maxil appeared in the Doctor Who Episode Arc of Infinity played by future 6th Doctor Colin Baker. Maxil was a hard nosed Security Chief on Gallifrey. Maxil was ordered to kill the 5th Doctor after having been recalled to Gallifrey. The Doctor had been recalled to Gallifrey to prevent the Rogue Time Lord Omega from bonding with him. Commander Maxil is famous for his first action in meeting the Doctor by shooting him in the first episode cliffhanger - though this was only a stun blast. Maxil is also seen disabling the TARDIS to prevent the Doctor escaping after being told of his emminent execution on Gallifrey to avert the crisis with Omega. Maxil was then ordered to place with Doctor on a chamber to carry the execution which he complied with. Thinking the Doctor at first atomised, Maxil was then ordered to investigate further to see if the Doctor had actually survived the execution. Maxil did find that the Doctor had survived and subsequently assisted the Doctor in apprehending a traitorous Time Lord Counsellor who had been working with Omega.

Maxil was somewhat portayed as a villian in the episode when in reality he would have just been a good soldier carrying out his orders to protect all of Gallifrey from the evil Omega would have wrought had he bonded with the Doctor on the planet.

As an aside note, actor Colin Baker carried his helmet throughout most of the series because, according to the DVD special features, he was unable to wear it due to the helmet being knocked off when going through doorways as the set was built with a low clearance. In hindsight, this story also essentially shows the 6th Doctor shooting his predecessor!

(with thanks to Dan Lambert)