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glitter_n_goreIt is Gothmas season once again, and I'm doing something a little different this year: tallying up the 13 Scariest Episodes of Doctor Who! Why 13? Because we're up to 13 Doctors. (Yes, technically fourteen because of timey-wimey stuff, but never mind that right now.) I polled people on Twitter, and Dreamwidth, and at my work, and this is what we came up with. All episodes were suggested by others and then ranked by vote. I spent the past several weeks reacquainting myself with episodes I already knew and loved, and catching up on the ones I hadn't seen yet.
Note: I didn't specify episodes from the 2005 reboot onward, that's just what people replied with. Which is fine I guess. The older show was playing to a different demographic, even though some episodes were definitely terrifying, shoestring budget effects notwithstanding. (Am I the only one who really loves "Paradise Towers?" Anyone else? Just me?) I might have to do another list at another time just for Classic!Who.
As always, remember that fear is a subjective emotion, so while there is some consensus here, a lot of this is based on individual tastes, phobias, and stuff with a Gothic flavor that's just inescapably cool. Because I did this by polling instead of going with my personal favorites, some that I would've put on my own Top 13 list didn't survive the elimination rounds (such as "The Crimson Horror" and "Under the Lake"), while others wound up a lot higher ranked than I expected.
There were a few clear frontrunners, so I put those at the top of the list. We'll get into the more obscure choices later. Obviously these posts will include SPOILERS spanning all of the New!Who era, although I won't be giving the actual endings of individual episodes away.
All right, let's do this!
Number One: "The Empty Child" / "The Doctor Dances"
The feedback for "the one with those creepy children in the gas masks" was overwhelming. I'm not surprised people voted for it, but I am surprised it landed this high. I forgot how frightening it is until I watched it again for this blog series. After this, the words, "Are you my mummy?" will send a guaranteed chill down your spine.
"The Empty Child" / "The Doctor Dances" was the first New!Who episode written by recent showrunner Steven Moffat. There's something innately unnerving about a threat that appears as a child. It's become something of a cliche, sure, but there's a reason the cliche exists. The sheer wrongness of an entity that's supposed to be innocent or vulnerable taking a dangerous turn feels so unnatural. Combine that with the insect-like faces of those gas masks, and you've got a perfect cocktail of nightmare fuel. This two-parter also has the advantage of coming into the show at a time before the Doctor visited World War II so many times the audience started to get tired of it. This is a terrific Body Horror episode, and I recommend going in cold if you possibly can.
Number Two: "Blink"
The one episode that I knew going into this would show up near the top was "Blink." It's another Moffat-penned story, this time starring Carey Mulligan as amateur investigator Sally Sparrow. It's a "Doctor-lite" episode, meaning the Doctor is barely in it, but that doesn't make it any less gripping. Also, perhaps even more important to the greater fandom: this is where the "Timey Wimey" speech came from.
"Blink" introduced a now-iconic monster in the Weeping Angels, elegant but ravenous creatures who take the form of statues and hide in plain sight. The scary thing about the Weeping Angels is they can only harm you when you aren't looking at them. When you're scared of something, you probably want to shut your eyes and look away. But with these beasties, that's how they kill you. And then there's the ending, which breaks the fourth wall mercilessly. The Weeping Angels showed up a few more times after this, but there is something enduring about their introductory episode. Don't look away, don't turn your back, and don't blink.
Number Three: "Midnight"
If I had gone with my personal Top 13 instead of polling, I would have put "Midnight" at No. 1. Every other episode on this list has at least some humor and whimsy to temper the horror. That is not the case here. Original showrunner Russell T. Davies leans hard into the darkness for "Midnight," and it is stunning. It helps that the scares here are almost completely psychological. No reliance on special effects or a monster you can see. It's all coming from the way the characters in the scene react to their situation.
This is the only time the Doctor has completely failed to save the day. He's had some missteps where he had to throw together a Plan B, or take himself out of the equation and rely on his companions, but this is different. The entity in "Midnight" is so powerful, and so mysterious, that every choice the Doctor makes just seems to make things worse. The experience rattles him so much that even though he survives, he can barely talk about it afterwards. If you have any lingering skepticism regarding David Tennant's acting skill, this will fix it.
I'll be back next week with numbers 4 through 6. Happy October, everyone!
Note: I didn't specify episodes from the 2005 reboot onward, that's just what people replied with. Which is fine I guess. The older show was playing to a different demographic, even though some episodes were definitely terrifying, shoestring budget effects notwithstanding. (Am I the only one who really loves "Paradise Towers?" Anyone else? Just me?) I might have to do another list at another time just for Classic!Who.
As always, remember that fear is a subjective emotion, so while there is some consensus here, a lot of this is based on individual tastes, phobias, and stuff with a Gothic flavor that's just inescapably cool. Because I did this by polling instead of going with my personal favorites, some that I would've put on my own Top 13 list didn't survive the elimination rounds (such as "The Crimson Horror" and "Under the Lake"), while others wound up a lot higher ranked than I expected.
There were a few clear frontrunners, so I put those at the top of the list. We'll get into the more obscure choices later. Obviously these posts will include SPOILERS spanning all of the New!Who era, although I won't be giving the actual endings of individual episodes away.
All right, let's do this!
Number One: "The Empty Child" / "The Doctor Dances"
The feedback for "the one with those creepy children in the gas masks" was overwhelming. I'm not surprised people voted for it, but I am surprised it landed this high. I forgot how frightening it is until I watched it again for this blog series. After this, the words, "Are you my mummy?" will send a guaranteed chill down your spine.
"The Empty Child" / "The Doctor Dances" was the first New!Who episode written by recent showrunner Steven Moffat. There's something innately unnerving about a threat that appears as a child. It's become something of a cliche, sure, but there's a reason the cliche exists. The sheer wrongness of an entity that's supposed to be innocent or vulnerable taking a dangerous turn feels so unnatural. Combine that with the insect-like faces of those gas masks, and you've got a perfect cocktail of nightmare fuel. This two-parter also has the advantage of coming into the show at a time before the Doctor visited World War II so many times the audience started to get tired of it. This is a terrific Body Horror episode, and I recommend going in cold if you possibly can.
Number Two: "Blink"
The one episode that I knew going into this would show up near the top was "Blink." It's another Moffat-penned story, this time starring Carey Mulligan as amateur investigator Sally Sparrow. It's a "Doctor-lite" episode, meaning the Doctor is barely in it, but that doesn't make it any less gripping. Also, perhaps even more important to the greater fandom: this is where the "Timey Wimey" speech came from.
"Blink" introduced a now-iconic monster in the Weeping Angels, elegant but ravenous creatures who take the form of statues and hide in plain sight. The scary thing about the Weeping Angels is they can only harm you when you aren't looking at them. When you're scared of something, you probably want to shut your eyes and look away. But with these beasties, that's how they kill you. And then there's the ending, which breaks the fourth wall mercilessly. The Weeping Angels showed up a few more times after this, but there is something enduring about their introductory episode. Don't look away, don't turn your back, and don't blink.
Number Three: "Midnight"
If I had gone with my personal Top 13 instead of polling, I would have put "Midnight" at No. 1. Every other episode on this list has at least some humor and whimsy to temper the horror. That is not the case here. Original showrunner Russell T. Davies leans hard into the darkness for "Midnight," and it is stunning. It helps that the scares here are almost completely psychological. No reliance on special effects or a monster you can see. It's all coming from the way the characters in the scene react to their situation.
This is the only time the Doctor has completely failed to save the day. He's had some missteps where he had to throw together a Plan B, or take himself out of the equation and rely on his companions, but this is different. The entity in "Midnight" is so powerful, and so mysterious, that every choice the Doctor makes just seems to make things worse. The experience rattles him so much that even though he survives, he can barely talk about it afterwards. If you have any lingering skepticism regarding David Tennant's acting skill, this will fix it.
I'll be back next week with numbers 4 through 6. Happy October, everyone!