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20 terrible moments from 20 years of modern Doctor Who.
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00:00We've already covered the greatest of the great in an earlier video, so now let's take a dive
00:05into the baddest of the bad. I'm Ellie for Who Culture and these are the 20 worst moments in
00:11modern Doctor Who. Number 20. Lazarus' Transformation, The Lazarus Experiment
00:17Criticizing mid-2000s CGI from a 2025 perspective can often seem a little unfair,
00:24and so for the most part I can ignore and accept it. But the transformation of Professor Lazarus
00:29in the Lazarus Experiment was perhaps a little too ambitious for the resources available at the
00:35time. The intention was to create a terrifying hybrid scorpion-human monster, but instead the
00:40creature is laughable in the fact that the head looks completely out of place on top of the skeletal
00:45scorpion body. Poor Mark Gatiss. What did they do to you? The sad part is that the actual concept of
00:51this episode in Lazarus desiring youth and longevity is a very interesting one, but the moment the
00:57monster is revealed, all credibility is lost, and it struggles to regain it for the rest of the
01:01runtime. Let's hope for a special edition remaster one day. Number 19. A Family Conversation, Resolution.
01:10What's frustrating about this particular moment is that writer Chris Chibnall actually makes a really
01:15funny joke at first, only to beat you over the head with it and completely kill that momentum.
01:20Ryan's overly dramatic line,
01:21what a monster, in response to the reconnaissance scout Dalek shutting down all of the UK's
01:26internet on New Year's Day, works really well, only for the gag to drag on and on and on in the
01:32form of a Family Guy-esque cutaway scene in which a horrified mother proclaims,
01:36I suppose we'll have to have a conversation, in front of her equally horrified kids.
01:41The how-do-you-do-fellow-kids energy is off the charts with this one, and it feels terribly misplaced
01:47during a part of the episode where the stakes are ramping up and we're hurtling towards the climax.
01:51You had your cake, Chibnall. Why did you have to try and eat it too?
01:55Number 18. An Unshaktacular Ending. The Power of Three.
02:01It's an open secret why the closing scenes of Stephen Berkhoff in The Power of Three are so
02:05poorly put together. The actor was allegedly so difficult to work with that an alternate resolution
02:10to the plot had to be scrambled together at the last minute, and that resolution left a lot to be
02:15desired. Bishakri, played by Berkhoff, suddenly disappears, the Doctor waves his sonic a bit,
02:20everyone looks slightly concerned, they jump through a hole, and it ends. Uh, what just
02:25happened? And why did it happen? Throw in some blatantly obvious close-up inserts of Matt Smith
02:30and Karen Gillan against a green screen, and the scene is so chaotic that it's hard to follow
02:34exactly what you're watching. We also never actually see any of the cubes defibrillate anyone
02:39back to life. There's no tension, no build-up, nothing. It all just amounts to the Doctor waving his
02:44sonic at a sci-fi TV screen and saving the day. Now, to be fair, that's roughly 93% of Doctor Who
02:49resolutions, but this one was clunkier than most.
02:53Number 17. Male Presenting Time Lord. The Starbeast.
02:58The Starbeast arrived with enormous levels of hype back in 2023, though it ended on a bit of a weird
03:04note with Rose and Donna's lines to the Doctor that he doesn't understand because he's no longer a
03:09male-presenting Time Lord. There's nothing wrong with wanting to empower a particular group of
03:14people, but to put another group of people down in the process feels quite reductive, and quite
03:18unlike Doctor Who itself. But what really makes this a misjudge moment is the fact that the Doctor
03:22was literally a woman literally several hours ago, and as a result, the very important gender-fluid
03:28aspect of the character feels like it's being conveniently ignored, at best. Moreover, the Doctor is an ancient
03:34alien from a society that has long since moved beyond our petty human obsession with gender, to quote the
03:39Twelfth Doctor. So of course they would understand, regardless of what form they're currently taking.
03:44It's not really clear what Russell T. Davis was trying to say or do here, and it's a strange moment in an
03:49episode that otherwise made important strides with trans representation in Doctor Who.
03:54Number 16. Rory's Bathroom Accident. The Rebel Flesh.
03:58Doctor Who and dodgy CGI. Name a more iconic duo.
04:02While there's a lot of great creepy body horror in Series 6, The Rebel Flesh, and The Almost People,
04:07the scene in Part 1 where Jennifer channels her inner Mr. Fantastic to give Rory the fright of his
04:12life in the bathroom is more laughable than anything else.
04:15Just let us live!
04:17There's a distracting contrast throughout the story between the excellent practical effects work of
04:22the Flesh doppelganger's normal humanoid forms, and some of the over-egged CGI monstrosities they turn
04:27into. Bonus points in this category for the big hulking four-legged Jennifer Beast at the end of
04:32The Almost People. But it's her earlier toilet encounter with Rory that truly takes the rubbish
04:37biscuit.
04:38Number 15. Martha Marries Mickey? The End of Time Part 2.
04:43Poor Martha. She spent the entirety of Series 3 playing second fiddle to Rose in the eyes of the
04:48Doctor, discovered her self-worth, and removed herself from an unrequited love situation, only to
04:53be written into a marriage with none other than Rose's rejected ex, Mickey. Seemingly for no other
04:58reason than they were two of the spare characters from RTD1, and he wanted to cram them both into the
05:03end of Time Part 2's already overly self-indulgent farewell tour. Martha was in a happy relationship
05:09with Tom Milligan for crying out loud. He was a great guy! And then you go and lump her with Mickey
05:13the Idiot for literally no reason. Did those two characters ever share a single line of dialogue
05:17together? I mean, come on, Russell. You're making this list way too easy.
05:22Number 14. Dodgy CGI Baby Mouths Space Babies
05:26While I can let the mid-2000s CGI issue slide, the same cannot be said for an episode that released
05:33in 2024. Space Babies could have been a stronger episode if it wasn't for the overly distracting
05:39CGI mouth movements of the talking babies. This very much feels like an example of less is more.
05:44The babies could and should have spoken through a toy, or even telepathically. Much less work in
05:50post-production, not to mention cheaper. And yet, by adding the extra detail of moving mouths,
05:55the whole concept fell flat and became more of a gimmick than a clever use of VFX. Not exactly a great
06:01note to start your bold new Doctor Who era out on.
06:03Number 13. The systems aren't the problem. Kablam. Kablam is one of the strongest episodes in Jodie
06:11Whittaker's first year as the 13th Doctor. But oh boy does it fumble the bag at the end. Given the
06:16current AI boom, the story almost feels ahead of its time in its warnings about 90% of jobs being
06:22overtaken by machines. They want us to be grateful that 10% of people get to work, bemuses maintenance
06:27worker Charlie, in one of many examples of the episode sticking up for the working man and woman.
06:32That is until writer Pete McTie decides to pivot and give two big thumbs up to the blood-sucking
06:37corporation by having the Doctor declare the systems aren't the problem, before doing very
06:42little to prevent Charlie from being blown to smithereens. McTie either didn't understand his
06:46own message, or worse, willfully ignored it. For the Doctor to not acknowledge that Kablam exploiting
06:52its workers and treating them like dirt is the problem is just bad writing, and very un-doctor-like,
06:57resulting in a clunky and muddled end to the episode.
07:01Number 12. Farting Slitheen. Aliens of London.
07:05The idea of ugly green aliens with uncontrollable flatulence who disguise themselves as members of
07:09Parliament sounds like something a child would submit to the show. But alas, this gem came from
07:14the mind of Russell T. Davis. Aliens of London is full of many great moments, including a spaceship
07:20crashing into Big Ben, a crossover from what would eventually become Torchwood, Harriet Jones' debut,
07:25Rose returning home after she was believed abducted, and even good old Space Pig. But the
07:29Slitheen letting rip every two seconds is not one of its strong suits. In particular, the scene where
07:34a bemused General Asquith encounters a trio of piping public servants inside a room in Downing Street.
07:39We get the metaphor, Russell, but that doesn't make it clever or insightful. While many areas of that
07:44original 2005 series have aged very well indeed, this certainly isn't one of them.
07:49Number 11. Sea Devil Sword Fight. Legend of the Sea Devils.
07:54The climax of Legend of the Sea Devils is a confusing mess, and basically the whole episode
07:59could go on this list. But if I had to pick one moment, it's the thrilling sword fight that happens
08:04near the end. And yes, thrilling is in air quotes. Chopperly edited, badly directed, and confusing as
08:10hell, it's a neat summation of the episode itself, which to be fair was a bit of a rush job as we were
08:15coming out of the pandemic, which no doubt impacted production. Oh, and it was also written in
08:19basically three days, which I mean, you can kinda tell. This should have been a grand epic return
08:24for the Sea Devils after decades away. And this sequence should have been awesome, but it wasn't.
08:29And what makes it extra rubbish is the painfully obvious ADR'd line from the Doctor,
08:33Don't let the swords touch your skin. Really? Gee, thanks for that, Doc. I was totally gonna let
08:38them whack me before you said something. Frankly, it's a relief when Ji-Hun finishes off that Sea
08:43Devil on the floor, as it meant we didn't have to watch any more of this scene, and the episode
08:47itself was over quicker.
08:49Number 10. Toilet Trained Gorilla. The God Complex.
08:53The God Complex is a genuinely unsettling episode of Doctor Who, about a hotel with rooms containing
08:59everyone's darkest fears. It co-stars comedian David Walliams, whose room is presumably full
09:04of outdated Little Britain sketches. We see laughing puppets, sad clowns, weeping angels,
09:09and even overly stern parents, all representing the fears of the story's core cast. Most of these
09:14fears are effectively portrayed, but one that doesn't fare so well is this laughable gorilla
09:19which attacks Lucy Hayward during the pre-title sequence. Now sure, the BBC didn't have the budget
09:24call in Andy Serkis for a bit of mocap, but was this thing supposed to look so fake? Either way,
09:30this bizarre sight completely destroys the tension of the scene, as does the unusual choice to add
09:35a toilet-flushing sound effect as the gorilla lumbers out of the bathroom. So is Lucy scared
09:39of gorillas in general, or gorillas in toilets? Who trained that gorilla to use an indoor toilet?
09:44Why did it take the toilet paper out of the bathroom? We could go on, but let's just summarise
09:48by saying it's cringey and I don't like it. 9. Random girl appears in a bush in the forest of
09:55the night. In the forest of the night is certainly an episode of Doctor Who. It's actually a pretty
10:00great premise for a Hooniverse story, but it's squandered under a mess of bad child acting and a
10:05dull plot that basically sees our characters walking in the woods for 40 minutes. It then ends on a big
10:10emotional moment that was aiming for Pixar, but lands somewhere closer to the sci-fi channel,
10:15as kid protagonist Maeve is reunited with her sister- hang on, what even was her name again?
10:20Hold on one second, I need to google this.
10:25Annabelle! Ah yes, Annabelle, that very important and memorable Doctor Who character.
10:29By the time you get to the end of the episode, you'll almost certainly have forgotten why this
10:33final scene is relevant, and that's if you cared enough to remember in the first place.
10:36Bonus points for the hilarious sight of Annabelle just crouching in a bush for no reason.
10:41At least we got a laugh out of it.
10:42Number 8, Thumb Sucking, Orphan 55
10:46Honestly, the whole of Orphan 55 could have been on this list, but for the sake of everyone's
10:51health, we've limited our selections to just two moments from the episode. While everyone else is
10:56running around saving the day after things kick off at Tranquility Spa, Ryan is hiding under a table,
11:01sucking his thumb, which apparently stops hallucinations brought on by the Hopper virus.
11:05Okay then. As luck would have it, he meets fellow thumb sucker Bella, and the two bond over the
11:10course of the episode. Ryan is ultimately forced to leave Bella behind after she chooses to stay
11:15with her estranged mother and fight off the dregs, which could have been a tender goodbye had Bella
11:19not decided to signal it by shoving her thumb in her mouth. It's a laughable attempt at forcing a
11:24meaningful emotional moment with some dramatic music and lingering close-ups. These characters
11:29have no real chemistry, and they both just stood there sucking their thumbs like a pair of babies during
11:33the big action climax. All it's missing is for someone to yell, Benny, in the background, and the
11:38Razzies would be flowing in.
11:41Number 7. Wish Upon a Lamp Post. Empire of Death.
11:45When we first met Ruby Sunday in the church on Ruby Road, we're told that she was named after the road on
11:50which she was abandoned as a baby. And at the end of Empire of Death, it's revealed that Ruby's mother
11:55chose the name by pointing at a street sign that magically appears before our very eyes at the end of the
12:00episode. Literally. It literally just appears out of nothing. Confusingly, Ruby's mother doesn't
12:06point at anything in the church on Ruby Road. She just walks off into the night. The pointing only
12:10starts in Space Babies, where it's framed as a portent of something sinister, which it isn't.
12:15Factor in that both the sign and the pole it's attached to don't even exist in the church on
12:20Ruby Road, and it's a plot development of head-scratchingly baffling proportions. It gets
12:24even worse with Russell T. Davis' recent reveal that Louise wished the lamp post into existence,
12:29which reeks of a guy just making nonsense up after the fact and claiming it was the plan all along.
12:34All we can say is it's a good job she didn't leave Ruby on Butthole Lane, which, before you ask,
12:38is a real street in England. Look, there it is, right there, on Google Maps.
12:43Number 6. Amy Kisses Eleven, Flesh and Stone
12:46The Doctor has had his fair share of kisses in the modern era, but one of the most uncomfortable
12:51moments comes at the end of Flesh and Stone when Amy pounces on Eleven. Firstly, Amy just spent two
12:57episodes watching the Doctor and River flirting to high heaven, and even deduce that River is his
13:03wife. So to then make a move on him seems like a major violation of the girl code, and very messy
13:08when we realise that River is her daughter. But even more egregious is the fact that Amy is literally
13:13set to marry Rory in the morning. The entire basis of their relationship is that Rory always feels
13:18second best compared to the Doctor, and yet Amy always chooses him. But this moment throws that entire
13:23notion out the window and suggests that Rory has good reason to feel uncertain. Obviously,
13:27the writers needed a way to get Rory into the TARDIS team, but this felt like the wrong choice
13:32for Amy's character. Wouldn't it have been more poignant for her to have opened up to her imaginary
13:36friend about her fears, and he then offered a way to help alleviate those worries? This just made Amy
13:41seem shallow and careless. And don't even get me started on how chill Rory seems to be about the
13:45whole thing in the next episode. He doesn't even ask her about it. Number five. Chocolate. The
13:53Vanquishers. If you told someone in 2020 that one of the most divisive Doctor Who moments of the next
13:59few years would be a Sontaran addicted to chocolate, then you know what? They probably believe you. This
14:03is Doctor Who, and crazy stuff does happen. With the Potato Heads having finally conquered our feeble
14:08little rock, they start to get a taste of human culture, which leads to one particular Sontaran
14:13developing an insatiable appetite for our sweet, delicious chocolate. He stuffs it down his gullet
14:18like an excited kid on Christmas morning, before proclaiming CHOCOLATE with a crazy sugar-induced
14:23look in his eyes. It's quite gross, actually, but also weirdly mesmerising. Chris Chibnall was
14:29initially praised for balancing the comedic and serious aspects of the Sontarans better than in
14:34the Moffat era, where they were 100% comedic relief. But then along came a couple of Mars bars to
14:39completely destroy all that good work. We don't remember any of the great Sontaran scenes in
14:43Flux anymore. All we remember is CHOCOLATE! Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to scoff some
14:49Maltesers before the next entry. Number 4. The Slab Who Loved Me. Love and Monsters.
14:55Love and Monsters is often labelled as the worst episode of Series 2. And while I might disagree
15:00with that statement, I can absolutely agree that it includes one of the worst moments in the entirety
15:05of modern Doctor Who. We spend the whole episode waiting for Elton to pluck up the courage to admit
15:10his feelings to Ursula, only for her to end up being absorbed by the Absorbalov before their
15:14relationship can blossom. Or so we thought. The ending vlog reveals that the Doctor managed to sort
15:19of save Ursula as a strange pavement face. A weird but happy ending, then. That is until Elton
15:25reveals that they've even got a bit of a love life, leaving the older viewers with some truly horrific
15:30mental images and a lot of logistical questions. Did we really need to know about their love life?
15:36No. But as ever, Russell T. Davis just couldn't help himself. No doubt he was absolutely hooting
15:40while his keyboard typed these cursed words into the script. Number 3. Plastic Mickey. Rose.
15:48It's sort of a miracle that Rose was as successful in launching New Who as it was when you consider
15:53that it contains one of the worst moments in the modern era. Again, we can ignore the of the time
15:58CGI. But what we can't ignore is Plastic Mickey. His slapstick behaviour is pretty cringey and so
16:04on the nose that it really doesn't make sense that Rose doesn't notice it immediately. I mean,
16:09his reckless driving alone should have had alarm bells ringing. Some might argue that Rose being
16:13oblivious to it was meant to highlight her obsession with the Doctor and missing what's right in front
16:17of her. But it was a stretch too silly for me to believe that she wouldn't have gone,
16:21why are you being so weird? And don't even get me started on pizza! Pizza! Or that rubbish wheelie bin.
16:28Pun intended.
16:29Number 2. Benny! Orphan 55.
16:34Good lord, where do I even start with this one?
16:36Within one of the worst Doctor Who episodes ever made, we also have one of its cringiest
16:41moments for good measure, as poor sweet Vilma repeatedly cries out for her husband,
16:46Benny! after he's taken by the dregs. It's hard to know whether the acting or the writing is at fault,
16:52but practically every single time Vilma speaks, it's utterly laughable. Clearly aiming for heartwarming,
16:57but missing in spectacular fashion. The worst moment is Vilma and Benny's interaction inside the
17:03truck, where Benny's disembodied voice politely asks that he be put out of his misery rather than
17:09be left to the dregs. Despite the shell-shocked faces on the rest of the cast, it's just funny.
17:13On the plus side, Benny! is now a truly iconic character in Doctor Who history, but not for the
17:19right reasons. Number 1. The Absorbaloff Love and Monsters
17:23Love and Monsters is so bad that it holds the dubious honour of being given a second entry in this list.
17:30While the rest of the episode is actually pretty sweet and an interesting story to tell, it all goes
17:34down the toilet in the final 15 minutes. Every single second that Peter Kay is on screen as the
17:40Absorbaloff is just bad. Bad, bad, bad. And not good bad either. The kind of bad that gives Doctor
17:47Who a bad reputation. The kind of bad that wouldn't feel out of place in a comedy sketch.
17:51This alien may have been designed by a child, but that doesn't excuse the woeful direction and
17:57performance that brought it to life. And in fact, the world would be a better place had it never been
18:01brought to life at all. Peter Kay has since admitted that this episode is one of the only regrets of
18:06his career. And you know what? I can see why. And that concludes our list, but please do let us know
18:12in the comments down below if you think we missed a really obvious one. What is your worst moment in
18:17modern Doctor Who? In the meantime, I've been Ellie for Who Culture, and in the words of River Song
18:21herself, goodbye, sweeties.
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