10 great British baddies

In order to avoid offending foreign audiences, some Hollywood execs are reportedly banning the use of sinister Asian characters, foppish Frenchmen and, would you believe, fiendish British villains.

'But some of the best rogues in cinema history have been dead-eyed, tea-sipping Brits', we hear you scream. And you're right, of course.

So here, in celebration of them and their dastardly deeds, is a run-down on 10 of our favourites.

(For the record, we've excluded British actors playing foreigners and using accents, so there's no room for, say, Alan Rickman and Jeremy Irons as the German Gruber brothers in the 'Die Hard' movies, we're afraid. Both stars get a look in anyway…)

Sir Ian McKellen as Magneto (X-Men, 2000)
Ranked number one in a recent Top 100 Comic Book Villains list, Magneto is the arch-enemy of the X-Men and is fantastically vamped up on screen by one of our finest thespians. Capable of manipulating matter through telekinesis (specifically metal) he's like Uri Geller - but infinitely scarier and most importantly, more British.

Tim Roth as Archibald Cunningham (Rob Roy, 1995)
Tim Roth revels in his role as the stunningly vile henchmen of John Hurt's Marquis. Cunningham steals, rapes and murders his way to sealing his place as quite possibly the nastiest piece of work ever seen on screen.

Peter Cushing as Grand Moff Tarkin (Star Wars, 1977)
Playing the very epitome of the ruling British imperialist, Cushing lends his gravitas to the Governor of the Imperial Outland Regions and commander of the Death Star. For a measure of Cushing's Anglo-genius, imagine the role played by Gene Wilder or Chevy Chase. Not quite the same is it?

Anthony Hopkins as Dr Hannibal Lecter (Silence of the Lambs, 1991)
The American Film Institute's number one movie villain of all time bagged Sir Tony a Best Actor Oscar. Okay, okay, technically Lecter was born in Lithuania, but Hopkins is the embodiment of the masterly, erudite and cruel Brit here.

Terence Stamp as General Zod (Superman, 1978)
Gene Hackman's Lex Luthor may have been Superman's nemesis, but without that British brogue, he's nowhere near as terrifying as Stamp's Zod. Intent on overthrowing the Kryptonian government and then the US, when Zod commands you to kneel before him, you'd better do it…

Jason Isaacs as Col. William Tavington  (The Patriot, 2000)
Mel Gibson had form for vilifying the English after 'Braveheart' and was happy to kill them again, this time during the American Revolutionary War. Isaacs is deliciously cold and psychotic as the leader of the murderous Green Dragoons cavalry, setting people alight for Queen and (eventually, someone else's) country.

James Mason as Phillip Vandamm (North by Northwest, 1959)
What could be more frightening than the calmly sinister tones of James Mason? A dastardly character who looks so innocent, he could be a comforting boss or father-in-law - until he tries to throw your bride-to-be out of a plane (as he does here).

Jeremy Irons as Scar (The Lion King, 1994)
British men abroad often get a bad rap: being loud and drunk and throwing plastic furniture around market squares. Luckily the press hasn't heard about our lions. You see, even in animations us limeys are typecast.

Christopher Lee as Saruman (The Lord of the Rings, 2001)
This list would be woefully incomplete without an appearance from Count Dracula himself and arch-villain of 'The Wicker Man', 'Star Wars' episodes I & II and 'The Man with the Golden Gun'. His turn as Saruman could make the top ten based on the sheer evil magnitude of his beard alone in 'The Lord of the Rings'.

Alan Rickman as The Sheriff (Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, 1991)
He may have less impressive facial hair, but he's no less impressively evil, Rickman's Sheriff of Nottingham is the quintessential British bad guy. Never have so many people rooted for the villain of the piece. Mind you, it was either that or Kevin Costner, wasn't it…?

So what do you think? Have we missed any of your favourite stiff-upper-lipped British bad guys? Let us know below.