Andrew counts down Doctor Who’s 50 scariest moments, feat.
Daleks, Cybermen, and Nicholas Parsons…
Doctor Whoexists to scare children.
There are obviously hundreds more out there, and a Comments Thread waiting for your suggestions.
We begin at the beginning, but not necessarily in that order.
Thats before we even consider what might be outside…
2.
Shes not as alone as she thought shed be.
And now she has to go back.
Aaaah-aaaah, Sensorite
Once we know more about the Sensorites, their menace diminishes somewhat.
Having trapped the human crew of an orbiting ship using mind-control, the Sensorite ships begin their approach.
Which is why its a bit of a shock when Ian sees one looking in through the window.
Death is very far away…
Barbara Wright quietly went about setting the bar very high for future companions.
Its the kind of line that would be on a t-shirt within minutes if it appeared inGame of Thrones.
Spaceships land, and the crew of the Antarctic base are busy investigating the TARDIS.
Like its remembered warm blood.
I gave you life.
Yes, a Dalek replies, You gave us life.
The Cyberman appears instead of Packer
This is a pretty simple one.
Packer, Tobias Vaughns uber-dench henchman extraordinaire, communicates with his boss by video-screen throughoutThe Invasion.
Near the end, when the Cybermen crush the unexpected human resistance, Tobias Vaughns factory is being over-run.
He calls for his trusted sidekick, but there is no-one onscreen.
Then a Cybermans face suddenly looms large in the scanner.
In the great DVD commentary in the sky, Dougie Camfield chuckles to himself.
But then,oh then, it getsworse.
And poor Ransomes body completely disappears.
When I first saw this, my Grandad gave me some raisins to make me calm down.
The Many Deaths of Geoffrey Palmer
If you see Geoffrey Palmer inDoctor Who, dont get attached.
His character is going to die promptly.
Palmer his face dotted with scabs flops forward onto some railings, and then slithers down them.
Its like his spines melting.
This is perhaps why so many of us fans fear human contact.
These sprayed a plastic film over the nose and the mouth, suffocating their victims and then melting away.
Widespread asphyxiation and heart failures are soon reported across the country.
As the Master says Death is always more frightening when it strikes invisibly.
Death to the DaleksPart One is mainly set in the dark.
It seems dead, all is dust, all is OH MY GOD ONE OF THEM MOVED.
Yes, thats probably just an itch.
Consider the Wirrns wasp-like modus operandi: the Queen lays her eggs in a host body.
The larvae consume the body and mind, absorbing knowledge as they eat.
Theyre literally going to eat us alive.
In General
Davros is obviously Hitler.
By this stage, admittedly, hes just wiped out most life on Skaro just to safeguard his creation.
If he was played by Michael Wisher as a humanoid scientist, Davros would still be terrifying.
We see close-ups of eyes, a hand, an arm, and then from nowhere the full reveal.
Even when you know its coming, the cliffhanger of Part One still delivers.
And it all happens so fast, you dont fully have time to process it.
Namin is killed by the Servant of Sutekh
Namin seems a very humourless man.
All in all, its been a good episodes work for the henchman.
I bring Sutekhs gift of death to all humanity.
At this point, its impossible to see how he can win.
Do you know what the Grim Reaper lacks?
The Deadly Assassin
So far, the Doctors trip to the virtual reality Matrix has been a total hassle.
Its a place of lots of AND SUDDENLYs.
AND SUDDENLY theres a train track.
And the points have been changed by a masked man, trapping the Doctors ankle.
The door is not a barrier.
It helps that some of them have subtle personalities, despite the neutral inflections of their voices.
This tone makes their death threats all the more disturbing.
Doors, traditionally, are barriers.
The Doctor gives Stael the gun
The Doctor is never cruel or cowardly, as Terrence Dicks famously said.
This is kinda boring though, and patently untrue.
You might want to dispute both, but where theres shades of grey you get a more interesting character.
You could argue that its a cowardly act.
You could argue that where theres life theres hope.
The Doctor gives Stael the gun.
Obviously he cant really be.
But then again…
24.
Ogridi, ogrida, life goes on (briefly)
It really shouldnt work.
And just for a second, it looks like he means it.
But mainly, its a skull exploding a crystal ball and the herald of oncoming evil.
Hes like the Mark Knopfler of synths, only good.
Malus come
Funny how things look different when youre a child.
Now, the Malus looks like a chicken-wire model, or a slow-moving giant head prop.
You have to suspend disbelief.
More effective than any visuals could ever be.
The Masters Madness Manifest
The drums, the endless drums are not remotely sufficient to explain the Masters insanity.
Its almost as if hes never heard of walls.
And his own TARDIS.
Then, after hes divested himself of his cack-strewn straw vestments, he kills a dog.
Take that Hollywood, the Master cares not a jot for your conventions.
We are all to become Daleks
Davros is converting humans into Daleks.
He believes that this is what people of intellect and ambition would want of their dying bodies.
It then alternates between begging him for death and ranting about racial supremacy, until she shoots him.
The Doctor is watching at his trial, and he doesnt know whats about to happen.
Theres something to contrast.
At the time, though, its astonishing.
The Vervoids
Its the thorns.
Thats what does it.
The Vervoids are walking plants, and perhaps the costumes arent the most flattering.
Mainly though, its the thorns.
The thought of their piercing your skin, hurting even before the life drains out of you.
The Chief Clown
Clowns are inherently wrong.
Theyre meant to make you laugh, but theyre caked in crusting falsehoods.
The Psychic Circus Chief Clown has a pointed smile which hides a malicious streak.
Nicholas Parsons is dead inside
The two Cockney vampire girls are out to get the Reverend Wainwright.
Everyone is lost, they tell him.
They kill him, and because hes a good man he cant do anything.
He cant fight, and his faith has been crushed by war.
It wasalwaysgoing to be this way.
SometimesThe Curse of Fenricis really depressing.
The Master would appreciate it if no-one discovered him killing you.
Ah, so thats where the line is
New series, new dangers.
That was too far.
Silent Exterminate
Sweet ol Lynda.
A better companion than some who actually travelled in the TARDIS.
Obviously she had to die.
The Daleks are burning down the door, and her fate is inevitable.
The camera cuts back to the Doctor.
you might only imagine.
Being Moffat, though, it also features a brief bout of terrifying the bejeezus out of children.
What else could that noise be, but the monster beneath our beds?
The Doctor lifts the bedsheets, and… Dont turn round, or youll die.
Dont blink
Try not to blink.
By the way, that which holds the image of an angel becomes itself an angel.
Try not to blink.
Even if hes clever.
There are a lot of zombies on this list.
Roman is caught by one drop.
We never see him again.
No deaths from dehydration have been reported.
Live Chess
Steve Moffat throws away great ideas as window dressing much like Philip K. Dick.
One of his best comes fromThe Wedding of River Song.
As sudden deaths go, being buried alive in and then eaten by severed skulls is certainly unnerving.
