For decades, Doctor Who has served as a cornerstone for science-fiction stories. Each adventure places the Doctor and their companions in a harrowing position where only their wits can get them out of it. While most of them involve classic villains like the Daleks or situations that include preserving important events in human history, others are far more frightening in nature.
This article will run down some of the spookiest adventures the Doctor has ever had. That being said, with decades of episodes to comb through, this list will only be taking a small handful. However, there are countless more equally petrifying adventures that will help to fill out this Halloween season.
In Season 3, Episode 10, "Blink," the episode is mainly devoid of the Doctor. Instead, the episode focuses on a young woman named Sally trying to get clues to why her friend suddenly disappeared. In doing so, she encounters the Weeping Angels. While they look like ordinary statues, they are actually aliens that feed on energy from people they transport to different time periods. But the catch is they move incredibly fast and only freeze when a person stares at them. This creates the iconic phrase uttered by the Doctor, "Don't blink," and also gives birth to a nemesis that plagues the Doctor for years to come.
In Season 4, Episode 10, "Midnight," the Doctor takes a solo adventure to a waterfall of sapphires. However, a mysterious entity attacks him and the passengers on a transport bus. The episode strongly relies on the actors to adequately convey their fear and paranoia as none of them know who may be possessed by the entity. The terror doesn't come from monsters but people's own fears of the unknown.
In the revived series' Season 1, Episode 9, "The Empty Child," The Ninth Doctor travels to London during The Blitz, where he and his companion, Rose Tyler, encounter a young boy wearing a gas mask. As it turns out, the boy is something far more deadly, and his presence is often preceded by a child's voice asking, "Are you, my Mummy?" This episode is the first in a two-part story where the second takes a more somber turn. However, for those watching solely for the scares, "The Empty Child" is a perfect addition.
In Season 12, Episode 8, "The Haunting of Villa Diodati," the Thirteenth Doctor takes her companions to stay at a villa to watch Mary Shelley craft her horror masterpiece, Frankenstein. However, it's revealed that things are going bump in the night at the villa leading many to believe it's a spirit. In reality, it's something the Doctor is far too familiar with. The episode has all-around spooks and is perfect for fans of classic horror literature. However, the big reveal ensures that there is still something for classic Doctor Who fans to enjoy.
In Season 11, Episode 8, "The Witchfinders," the Thirteenth Doctor and her companions travel to the 1600s and end up in the middle of a witch hunt. The series plays up the fear and paranoia surrounding witch hunts in the era, but things are more alien in origin than they appear in classic Doctor Who fashion. Nevertheless, the effects in the episode are top-notch, and the enemies are a terror in their own right.
In Season 1, Episode 3, "The Unquiet Dead," Rose Tyler and the Ninth Doctor travel to 1800s London on Christmas Eve to see the sights. However, an anomaly of ghostly origin catches their attention and puts the duo in the crosshairs of dangerous apparitions that put their lives and Charles Dickens at risk. For the most part, the episode is light-hearted with its scares but not without its sad moments. In fact, it's these moments that make audiences ponder the fragility of life, making it one of the season's more thought-provoking episodes.
The 2009 TV special, "The Waters of Mars," has the Tenth Doctor visiting the first manned station on Mars. However, he quickly learns that its inhabitants are doomed to perish as the event is a "fixed point" in time. As a fixed point, the Doctor cannot interfere with the events or risk jeopardizing the timeline. But that doesn't stop him from trying to save as many as he can from an infection born from a glacier on Mars. These zombified creatures are terrifying to look at and consistently leak water as they try to infect the other astronauts. Sadly, those infected cannot be saved and only add even more to the existential impact of the episode's conclusion. "The Waters of Mars" has it all in terms of scares. From its terrifying monsters to its heart-breaking conclusion. This is a must-see episode for scares ranging from the tangible to the mental.
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