h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: Doctor Who Enemies: Sil and the Mentors - A87849021
Author: Bluebottle - U43530

Everyone knows that a drama is only as good as the baddy. Sil is my favourite baddy of 1980s Doctor Who, purely based on Nathan Shaban's larger-than-life performance. His voice, eyes and facial expressions dominate every scene he is in, and you can tell that as an actor he's having fun. Sil is an odious, unnerving self-centred slug, which makes him a joy to watch.

'Sil and the Mentors' definitely sounds like a band name.

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Excellent - I'm familiar with Nabil Shaban and Graeae from my early days on the Beeb, but didn't know he had been in Doctor Who so this was very interesting

You're not a true British actor until you've either been knighted or appeared in 'Doctor Who'

Nabil Shaban is an actor I probably should see more of, though he seems to court controversy. I'd love to see him back in 'Doctor Who' as Sil. Lot's of actors have been Cybermen, Sontarans and Daleks, more than one actor has been Omega, the Master and Davros – but I can't imagine anyone else ever being Sil.

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"Unusually in a recurring Doctor Who monster, the Mentors show no interest in conquering Earth, never even mention the planet."
-->
"The Mentors show no interest in conquering Earth and in fact never even mention the planet, which is unusual for a recurring Doctor Who monster."

"Thorus Beta, unusually, may also be home"
-->
"Curiously, Thorus Beta also appears to be home"

"The Mentors appear like a cross between"
-->
"The Mentors look like something of a cross between"

"have their slaves bring them ambiotic fluid" - do you actually mean ambiotic, with a 'b'? If so, what exactly is this?

"The methods by which they do this is by selling advanced weapons to both sides of more primitive cultures"
-->
"Their methods include the sale of advanced weapons to both sides of conflicts amongst primitive cultures"

"maintained a monopoly" --> 'maintain', as you've used present tense otherwise.

"the Doctor's time machine" --> 'The' with a capital 'T'

"and the resulting sweat resulting in his headpiece coming unglued"
-->
"and the resulting sweat led to his headpiece becoming unglued"

"an 18-month long hiatus"
-->
"an 18 month-long hiatus"

"14-episodes per year"
-->
"14 episodes per year"

"'Mindwarp' consisted on four 25-minute episodes" --> *of*

"Sil also appeared in an episode of Blue Peter and has appeared in an"
-->
"Sil also appeared in an episode of Blue Peter and in an"

Thanks for going through in such detail – I hope it didn't take too long
I've made all the changes you've suggested and there's only one suggestion I think I should comment on.

"have their slaves bring them ambiotic fluid" - do you actually mean ambiotic, with a 'b'? If so, what exactly is this?
I'm guessing the writer, Philip Martin, wanted to invent something that sounded plausible, sounds a bit like 'amniotic fluid', and came up with 'ambiotic fluid' as a bit of technobabble. I don't think it is anything other than a fictional fluid.
Unless, of course, it is a fluid that creates a nice ambiance, in which case it is presumably the stuff found in lava lamps…

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I didn't think it was a real thing, but that it might be a typo. Perhaps you could put 'ambiotic fluid' in quote marks.

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