Article #48873

Violent drug barons, brutal monarchs, interdimensional murderers … television has no shortage of horrifying baddies. Here’s our pick of the worst

Javier Bardem biting off toes in Cape Fear. Richard Gadd stomping on heads in Half Man. Nightmare neighbour David Morrissey whipping up mob violence in Tip Toe. Yes, TV villainy is everywhere. Which got us thinking about the biggest baddies in small-screen history.

When compiling our list, we discounted children’s TV, which is a whole separate category. We also omitted reality TV pariahs, from Nasty Nick to Lisa Vanderpump, as well as talent show judges such as Simon Cowell and Craig Revel Horwood. Instead, we concentrated on comedy or drama, where villainy is at its fictional worst.