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00:00Doctor Who has been around longer than me, longer than Sean, and longer than many of you watching this video,
00:06so it's understandable that across its many years it's caused quite a bit of controversy.
00:11But which episodes cause the most controversy?
00:14Let's start with number 10, Victory of the Daleks.
00:19It was smart of Stephen Moffat to identify that people had become used to the over-reliance on Daleks
00:25during the first Russell T. Davis era, and he sought to rectify this during his tenure.
00:30While the Daleks were only retired in Moffat's second series,
00:34and even then there was still a Dalek cameo in The Wedding of River Song,
00:37Victory of the Daleks attempted to reinvent the metal meanies.
00:41The result was a bold reimagining to say the least,
00:44which saw the previous bronze design upgraded to every colour of a packet of Skittles.
00:49The upgrade was partly practical, as the older models were dwarfed by Matt Smith and Karen Gillan,
00:54and the new Daleks were designed to be taller to accommodate for this.
00:58While the designs were admirable for their looming stature,
01:01and for paying homage to the multicoloured Daleks of the Peter Cushing movies,
01:06they were also ridiculed by many sections of the fanbase, for obvious reasons.
01:10Whether it was people picking apart their weird hunchback stature,
01:14or comparing their bright colours to the Teletubbies,
01:17Moffat was forced to make a U-turn and bring back the previous bronze models,
01:21after having exterminated them in this same episode.
01:25Moffat later acknowledged that the new Dalek design was a bit misjudged,
01:28saying, quote,
01:29It's all my fault. No one else's fault. I don't think that was a great idea.
01:33Hey, at least he's honest about it.
01:35Number 9. The TV Movie
01:37Tonally, the 1996 TV movie, was a wild departure from the classic series,
01:43and was a tough pill for many fans to swallow at the time.
01:46Well, today, the episode feels rather quaint. At the time, its more modern storytelling
01:51and the perceived Americanisation of a quintessentially British show caused a bit of a stir.
01:57And at times, it does feel like the people behind this failed pilot
02:01had never watched an episode of classic Doctor Who.
02:03One of the most bizarre moments was a throwaway line that Paul McGann's Doctor utters
02:07about being half-human on my mother's side.
02:10This opened the floodgates to questions about why the episode was seemingly rewriting the character's history,
02:16even if it was probably just meant as a joke.
02:18And of course, there's the infamous kiss between the Doctor and Grace,
02:21a first in Doctor Who's history after his previous indifference to these more romantic urges.
02:27While controversial at the time, this has since paved the way for modern Doctor Who's more romantic Doctor portrayal,
02:33as seen most noticeably in David Tennant and Matt Smith's incarnations,
02:37with storylines like Thasmin and Rogue to follow.
02:40There have even been stories of the TV movies writer Matthew Jacobs and producer Philip Siegel
02:45being confronted by angry Whovians, which, while obviously a step too far,
02:49is indicative of how fans have reacted to the story across the years.
02:54Number 8. The Time of Angels and Flesh and Stone
02:57Stephen Moffat's two-parter The Time of Angels and Flesh and Stone
03:01is one of his best stories during his time as showrunner.
03:05Perhaps the most notorious, albeit unintentional, controversy
03:08occurred during Matt Smith's dramatic monologue in the final few minutes of The Time of Angels,
03:13as an animated Graham Norton danced across the screen advertising his new show Over the Rainbow.
03:19While this was an unintentional goof from the BBC, it still attracted thousands of complaints
03:24and was mocked on Twitter by the likes of Simon Pegg and Charlie Brooker.
03:27However, it was Flesh and Stone that featured two incredibly divisive plot points
03:32that rubbed some up the wrong way.
03:34The first was the decision to show the previously static Weeping Angels
03:37moving at the climax of the episode.
03:40While it was a bold decision to unveil this mystery,
03:43it was ultimately disappointing to find out that the silent assassins move exactly like we do
03:47and aren't very frightening when they do it.
03:49But the bigger polarising moment was the last scene in the episode
03:53when Amy Pond basically proposed a one-night stand with the Doctor.
03:57This divided opinion, with some noting that it was an inappropriate plot point for a family series,
04:02and once again Stephen Moffat came out and admitted it was a mistake,
04:06observing, quote,
04:07There's a brilliant scene to be written there and I entirely avoided writing it.
04:11I played it for laughs and it's so wrong.
04:14Number 7. The Deadly Assassin
04:16During Tom Baker's third season as the Doctor,
04:19the show began testing the waters regarding how far it could go,
04:23which resulted in a story called The Deadly Assassin.
04:26This four-parter was flagged by one outraged critic, Mary Whitehouse,
04:30who claimed it showed excessive graphic violence being dished out and received by the Doctor.
04:35Whether it was the Doctor appearing to shoot the Time Lord president
04:38or the Master appearing as a horrific rotten skeleton
04:40in what one critic called one of the, quote,
04:43most revolting images presented on Tea Time TV,
04:46it felt like the show had taken a darker turn
04:48after the more light-hearted romping of the third Doctor's unit era.
04:52This is best encapsulated by the infamous cliffhanger
04:54of the Doctor being held down in some water on the verge of drowning
04:58before the episode cuts to the end credits.
05:00That last image of the Doctor being essentially waterboarded
05:03was deemed so controversial that Mary Whitehouse publicly campaigned against it,
05:08and the BBC issued an apology and cut out the sequence from the Master tape.
05:12While it may have been pushing the boundaries of what was acceptable
05:14for primetime television at the time,
05:16it certainly didn't warrant that kind of censorship.
05:19And looking back, it's nowhere near as bad
05:21as some of the other crazy violence we've seen elsewhere in the show.
05:25Number 6. Kill the Moon
05:26Kill the Moon took perhaps the biggest risk in the modern show's history
05:31concerning the character of the Doctor,
05:33and it was one that alienated some viewers,
05:35and even the Doctor's own companion.
05:37Halfway through the story,
05:38Peter Capaldi's Doctor leaves in his TARDIS,
05:41and in the process forces Clara to make a decision on behalf of the human race,
05:45which not only causes a rift between them for the episode,
05:48but for the rest of the series.
05:49Clara is forced to decide whether or not she should kill the Moon,
05:53and potentially also kill an alien that lay dormant within it.
05:56While you have to admire the show for taking such a big swing,
05:59it greatly divided fans as to whether it was a good idea
06:02to manufacture such a hostile dynamic between the Doctor and Clara.
06:06Clara fortunately made the right choice,
06:08and the unnamed winged creature emerged from the Moon
06:10before laying another Moon egg exactly the same size in its place.
06:14A truly preposterous twist that further contributed
06:16to the divisiveness around the episode,
06:18and has since been lambasted by many
06:20as one of the worst moments in the modern series.
06:24Number 5. The Twin Dilemma
06:25Universally considered one of the worst episodes in the show,
06:29The Twin Dilemma was dubbed by Russell T. Davis as
06:32quote,
06:32the beginning of the end for the classic series of Doctor Who.
06:35Much like Space Babies was the beginning of the end for the Disney era.
06:39It's incredible to think that The Twin Dilemma
06:41was Colin Baker's first ever story,
06:43meaning he was fighting an uphill battle from the start.
06:45The intention to make The Sixth Doctor
06:47a more prickly incarnation was interesting,
06:50particularly having not attempted this dynamic
06:52since arguably William Hartnell,
06:54and even then not to the same extent.
06:56But the execution here was...not good.
06:59Baker's job was made even harder
07:00by having to follow one of the show's strongest stories
07:03in the caves of Androzani,
07:05which waved farewell to The Fifth Doctor.
07:07The Twin Dilemma is marred with controversy,
07:09from The Doctor's abrupt standoffish manner
07:11to the infamous Technicolor dreamcoat
07:13that made Peter Davison's cricket attire look subtle in comparison.
07:16This is before we even get to The Doctor strangling Perry
07:19on the floor of the TARDIS
07:20in what is one of the lowest moments ever.
07:23Consequently, the serial has the...honour, I guess,
07:26of being voted either the worst or second-worst Doctor Who story ever
07:30by readers of Doctor Who magazine on a couple of occasions.
07:34Number 4. Hellbent.
07:36Has there ever been another Doctor Who episode
07:38that has people calling it a masterpiece
07:40or a failure in equal measure?
07:43After the heartbreaking Face the Raven and the stunning Heaven Sent,
07:47the Series 9 finale had a lot of expectations on its shoulders,
07:50and depending on who you ask,
07:52it either failed miserably or knocked it out of the park.
07:55The conclusion to the hybrid arc of Series 9 does fall a little flat,
07:59and the return of Gallifrey and the Time Lords was mixed.
08:01The biggest sticking point, though, is the resurrection of Clara,
08:04which undermined how well her death was handled in the previous episode.
08:08Not to mention the bold decision to make the Doctor the villain of the piece,
08:11which unsurprisingly divided opinion.
08:13But when Hellbent works, it really works.
08:16Peter Capaldi and Jenna Coleman are in electric form,
08:19and they carry the episode so damn well.
08:22The framing device of the Doctor and Clara in the diner,
08:24along with the revelation that the Doctor has forgotten her,
08:27is an example of Moffat's timey-wimey writing at its absolute best.
08:31And though there are definitely more people in the
08:33Clara-should-have-stayed-dead camp,
08:34plenty find her resurrection a natural way for the story to go.
08:38The Doctor and Clara were always a duo that pushed each other's limits,
08:41and so for the Doctor to go this far to save her was a fitting final note.
08:45No doubt Hellbent will be debated until the heat death of the universe.
08:49Is it the pinnacle of all that was wrong with the Moffat era,
08:52or misunderstood genius?
08:53Ask a hundred Doctor Who fans,
08:55and you're likely to get an even split of responses.
08:58Or just check the comments on this video, I guess.
09:01Number 3, The Talons of Wang Chiang.
09:03The Talons of Wang Chiang is considered one of the best classic stories,
09:07not just of Tom Baker's era, but of the whole of Doctor Who.
09:10Russell T. Davis has even called it, quote,
09:12the best dialogue ever written.
09:14However, this may be the ultimate example of history catching up with the show,
09:18as in parts, the story is almost unwatchable now.
09:21The serial sees the Doctor in the middle of a Victorian mystery,
09:24complete with a Sherlock-esque deerstalker hat,
09:27but with uncomfortable Chinese stereotypes sprinkled throughout,
09:30most notably with white actors dressed up as Asian characters
09:33with exaggerated Chinese accents to match.
09:36For obvious reasons, the serial has proven quite a controversial one
09:39as the years have rolled by.
09:41Streaming service Britbox was forced to slap it with a content warning
09:44amid complaints from viewers,
09:46while the story also contains an apologetic content warning on its iPlayer page,
09:50explaining that the serial reflects the broadcast standards
09:53and attitudes of its time.
09:55While yes, to some extent, the story is a product of its time,
09:58it's a shame that the episode sunk to these levels
10:01and tarred the reputation of this serial with lazy stereotypes
10:05that have aged horrifically.
10:07Number 2. Dark Water and Death in Heaven
10:10Remember that Doctor Who story where the afterlife was fake news?
10:14Following the 12th Doctor and Clara as they attempt to find
10:17the dead-as-a-door-nail Danny Pink in what is claimed to be heaven,
10:21Series 8's penultimate episode, Dark Water, has some awesome visuals,
10:25an effective slow-burn mystery surrounding the Cybermen,
10:28and a killer twist with the mysterious Missy revealing herself
10:31to be our newest and perhaps craziest incarnation of the Master.
10:35But concluding episode Death in Heaven unfortunately isn't as good,
10:38with a thoroughly underwhelming resolution
10:40in which Missy weirdly tries to give the Doctor a cyber army,
10:44while Danny lumps Clara with a kid who she then has to somehow return to Afghanistan
10:48without the Doctor's help,
10:49to a family she's not even sure is still alive.
10:52Middling quality and some other questionable decisions aside,
10:55hello there, Cyberbrick,
10:56This story was divisive for a whole other reason,
10:59with Dark Water becoming one of the most complained about Doctor Who episodes in history,
11:04thanks to its infamous Don't Cremate Me twist.
11:07The BBC was forced to issue a response to the criticism, saying,
11:11quote,
11:11Doctor Who is a family drama with a long tradition of tackling
11:14some of the more fundamental questions about life and death.
11:17We were mindful of the themes explored in Dark Water
11:20and are confident that they are appropriate in the context
11:23of the heightened sci-fi world of the show.
11:25Whether or not you feel that this moment went too far,
11:27it undeniably pushed the show into a highly disturbing place,
11:30especially for something broadcast at tea time.
11:33No doubt poor little Timmy was thoroughly traumatised
11:35while polishing off his turkey dinosaurs and potato waffles.
11:39And number one,
11:40The Timeless Children
11:41One way to cause instant controversy is to play around
11:45with the 60-plus year mythology of Doctor Who.
11:48And no story in the show's history has been accused of contradicting
11:51and overwriting the mythology as much as The Timeless Children did in 2020.
11:57While the Russell T. Davis and Steven Moffat eras played fast and loose with the Time Lords,
12:01wiping them out one second and reintroducing them the next,
12:04this episode touched more on a nerve because it directly rewrote the history of The Doctor.
12:09The revelation that The Doctor was the Timeless Child who had lived many lives
12:13and was the template that Time Lords are based on
12:15is something that is still a heavily contentious issue among Whovians today.
12:19There's the implication that it rewrites the incarnation count of The Doctor,
12:23potentially meaning that The First Doctor could well be The 76th Doctor,
12:27not to mention the billion other small ways
12:29the revelations of this episode affected previously established Doctor Who canon.
12:33Proving how controversial the twist was,
12:35it was even criticised by former Doctor Who creatives.
12:38Classic era script editor Andrew Cartmel said that it
12:41depletes the mystery of the show, adding that
12:43I think as soon as we delve into the minutia,
12:46into the fine detail of what Chibnall's done,
12:49you're back in the same old problem that you're explaining too much.
12:52While elsewhere, the BBC yet again had to issue another response to viewer complaints,
12:57which read in part,
12:58We wholeheartedly support the creative freedom of the writers,
13:01and we feel that creating an origin story is a staple of science fiction writing.
13:05What was written does not alter the flow of stories from William Hartnell's brilliant Doctor onwards,
13:10it just adds new layers and possibilities to this ongoing saga.
13:13We appreciate that it's impossible to please all of our viewers all of the time,
13:17and your feedback has been raised with the programme's executive producer.
13:21This can all arguably be traced back to Moffat,
13:23who introduced a previously unseen incarnation called the War Doctor in the name of the Doctor,
13:28meaning technically the Ninth Doctor is the Tenth Doctor, and so on.
13:32However, Chris Chibnall took that baton and didn't just run with it,
13:35he went supersonic with it.
13:37And it's not hard to see why the Timeless Children caused the fuss that it did.
13:42And that concludes our list.
13:43Thank you everybody for watching,
13:45and in the words of Riversong herself,
13:47goodbye, sweeties.
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