Boo!!!
Happy Halloween!! Hey, who turned out the lights?
The scary episodes are always my favourite - being given a jump scare, monsters lurking in the shadows, physiological terror, the Doctor and their companions morals being tested.
Here are some of those episodes that really test our metal.
Blink (Series 3, Episode 10)
You knew I'd start with this didn't you? How obvious of me! It is a Steven Moffat classic though. Do you remember the first time you watched this? How many times did you jump?
Blink introduced us to the Weeping Angels, creatures that look like statues when you’re looking at them but move the second you blink or turn away. Their eerie appearance, coupled with a lot of suspense, makes this episode stand out as one of the most unnerving. It is even more unsettling when the Doctor and Martha are nowhere to be seen - other than an Easter Egg on a few DVD's. We had grown to like Sally and Larry over the episode, but ordinary human beings in Doctor Who are expendable, so there was every chance we might of seen a gruesome ending for one or both of them. It is a horror masterpiece wrapped in Moffat timey-wimey goodness.
Scariest moment: The Weeping Angels approaching Larry. One of the great scenes of Doctor Who.
Village of the Angels (Series 13, Episode 4)
More Weeping Angels!! The Thirteenth Doctor gets her chance to face the iconic monster, and eventually even become one!
In Village of the Angels, the Doctor faces one of her most dangerous encounters with the Weeping Angels yet. Set in a 1960s rural village mysteriously cut off from the rest of the world, the Angels stalk the inhabitants, turning them into stone and manipulating time. The atmosphere in this episode is haunting, from the isolated setting to the omnipresent threat of the Angels, making it one of the most suspenseful stories in modern Doctor Who.
Chibnall got a lot of stick during his time, but his work with classic Doctor Who monsters was very commendable. He made the Daleks scary again, and he handled the Weeping Angels brilliantly here.
The final scene is both beautiful and scary as shit as the Doctor is transformed into a Weeping Angel, one of the great shots of Jodie's time as the Doctor.
Scariest moment: A Weeping Angel made out of fire anyone?
Midnight (Series 4, Episode 10)
Another sure-fire episode to make a scary list. Scary because I think we would all be throwing possessed people off vehicles as well. The Doctor finds himself on a stranded tour bus on a planet where sunlight can destroy everything. But it’s not the planet that’s the true terror - it's the unknown. The unknown is always the most scary.
This is a simple, claustrophobic setting that really does shine. The simplicity of it all adds to the terror. The guest cast in this is great, it elevates the episode even more.
Scariest moment: Sky shouting throw him out as she completely takes over the Doctor's voice.
73 Yards (Series 1, Episode 4)
This one had me on the edge of my seat. Creepy and unsettling, with a masterclass of acting from Millie Gibson as Ruby Sunday.
A mysterious woman always 73 yards away, if anyone speaks to her they run off shit scared, but we never know what she says.
This was my favourite episode of the most recent series, I must love being put on edge.
Scariest scene: The woman finally approaching Ruby in the hospital.
The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances (Series 1, Episodes 9 & 10)
Are you my Mummy? Christ do I even need to say more than that? The war setting, the gas mask, Moffat doing Moffat things, this really is one of the great Doctor Who episodes. Who will ever forget seeing Doctor Constantine transformed?
Scariest moment: When the Doctor realises they are in the child's room he sent him to, the tape they are listening to ends and the child says "I'm here."
The Waters of Mars (2009 Special)
This special episode is very fucking special. Honestly, I will never tire of this one. The Flood look amazing, and equally scary. The constant water coming out of them just adds a level of freakiness. Some may argue that the biggest monster in this episode is actually the Doctor.
Why it’s terrifying: There are a fair few jump scare moments in this, but the scene that always gets me is Steffi's 'death'. Watching her kids as the water soaks her, then seeing her back to us as she shakes as she transforms, yikes!
Listen (Series 8, Episode 4)
Listen explores the fear of something being under your bed, or just behind you. What if we are never alone? This is Moffat of course, he is so good at taking simple fears and elevating them into the Whoniverse. We have all had that feeling, maybe, just maybe, there is something in this?
Scariest scene: The moment everyone's ankles are being grabbed from under the bed. Eek!
Heaven Sent (Series 9, Episode 11)
A highly psychological episode, Heaven Sent focuses almost entirely on the Doctor, trapped in a strange castle with a horrifying creature called the Veil relentlessly pursuing him. As the Doctor tries to figure out the rules of this prison, he’s forced to relive his torment over and over again, dying repeatedly in the process.
Scariest moment: If you are digging a grave the last thing you want is a terrifying monster jumping out at you.
World Enough and Time/The Doctor Falls (Series 10, Episodes 11 & 12)
Pain, pain, pain, pain...!! Need I say more? I will though - this was the first time in modern Doctor Who that the Cybermen were truly revealed in all their goriest, creepiest shit yet.
People begging to be killed, people in constant pain, the cloth face, cor blimey!!
Scariest moment: Bill being revealed to have been converted into a Cyberman. Scary and bloody tragic!
The Haunting of Villa Diodati (Series 12, Episode 8)
The name gives it away! Often looked on as one of Thirteen's best episodes, and with good reason.
The episode takes place at the Villa Diodati, the real-life location where Mary Shelley, Lord Byron, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and their companions spent a stormy night in 1816, leading to the creation of Frankenstein. The historical backdrop alone sets the stage for gothic horror. Old mansion, check. Stormy weather, check! Flickering candlelight, check!
Scariest moment: A fucked up looking Cyberman telling us how he slit his children's throats, I mean that is some scary arsed shit for Doctor Who. Potentially a bit too OTT.
Which Doctor Who episode gave you nightmares? Let me know in the comments below!
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