Random Scariest 'Doctor Who' Moments (13 items)

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  (#12) 'State of Decay' Pitted The Doctor Against Gothic Vampires

  After arriving on a planet that's still operating under feudalism, the Doctor and his companions come across a group of vampiric lords who carry out a yearly tradition of draining some of the youngest villagers under their thrall.

  Aside from the vampires, one of the scariest things about this episode is the way that the three lords keep their people devolved into a medieval state rather than allowing them to advance technologically. This episode features one of the more upsetting concepts, an amphitheater floor that pulses to a heart beat. That may not be a jump scare, but it's a concept that is almost Lovecraftian in nature.
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  (#13) 'Love & Monsters' Is A More Comical Episode, But Its Villain, The Abzorbaloff, Is Pure Nightmare Fuel

  Fans can and will argue about the best episode of Doctor Who until the Medusa Cascade folds in on itself. "Love & Monsters" is one of the most joyous episodes of the series, but also features easily the most disturbing creature in the show's history, the Abzorbaloff.

  The Abzorbaloff is something that craves human contact - so much so that it absorbs any person that it touches, including their thoughts and memories. When someone is absorbed, their faces stretches through the alien's skin. The creature is truly gross looking and there's something that's always going to be disturbing about people shoving their faces through drippy, latex skin. Upping the creepy factor: the Abzorbaloff was designed by a child who won a contest to create a new Doctor Who monster.
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  (#10) The Foretold From 'Mummy on the Orient Express' Is A Genuinely Creepy Mummy

  As far as mummies go in film and television, the Foretold is absolutely the most upsetting version of this classic horror trope that has maybe ever existed. The mummy, or Foretold if you want to be technical, has all of the trappings that you look for in a creepy Egyptian evil being: bandages, the staggering gait, and even a sarcophagus.

  The Foretold turns out not to be a cursed Egyptian creature, but rather a stealth soldier. Still, this horrific mummy is creepy enough to give audiences the heebie-jeebies. The opening scene of this episode is genuinely chilling, especially when the Foretold sucks the life force out of an elderly woman's skull.
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  (#7) The Creatures From 'Waters of Mars' Spew Water From Their Demonic Mouths

  From 2008-2010, Doctor Who aired a series of specials that were essentially short films that allowed the Doctor to explore worlds without tethering himself to a specific storyline. Arriving on the last day of Bowie Base One, he finds the place overrun with water demon/vampire-like entities.

  The monsters are fairly lo-fi, with soaking wet faces and disturbingly cracked mouths. As the creatures track down the Doctor, the special ratchets up the tension, and even though the audience knows that the Doctor is getting out of this, it’s not entirely clear how he’ll stop these creatures.
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  (#3) An Invisible Threat Chews Through Characters In 'Silence in the Library'

  In what is ostensibly a gothic ghost story, the Doctor is drawn to a library in the 51st century where spooky things immediately start happening. The lights in the main library go out one by one in a fairly terrifying scene, and that's after the Doctor and Donna encounter a disembodied head. It's a cute disembodied head, but it's still freaky.

  Those scares don't compare to the Vashta Nerada, particle-sized creatures that are extremely carnivorous. This episode could have been a standard Doctor Who episode, but there are astronauts chased down long corridors by unseen creatures and an imminent threat that's only discernible as a double shadow. "Silence in the Library" is an intriguing story that will make you think twice about visiting unknown planets on a whim.
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  (#2) 'The Empty Child' Features A Creepy Little Boy And People's Faces Transforming Into Gas Masks

  "Are you my mummy?" Those four words are the soundtrack to one of the most horrifying episodes of Doctor Who's return to form in 2005. "The Empty Child" features the Doctor grappling with a creepy little kid with a gas mask for a face. That visual is freaky enough, but it's what happens to people who come into contact with the boy that's really upsetting.

  Anyone who comes in contact with the boy with a gas mask for a face grows a gas mask of their own. The episode shows this transformation in a lengthy take that is downright Cronenbergian (which originally featured a skull-cracking sound effect the BBC ultimately cut for being "too horrible"). It's hard to watch even for the most dyed-in-the-wool horror fan. Parents reportedly flooded the BBC with complaints the episode terrified their children, and to this day the network hosts a parental advisory guide for "The Empty Child" on their website featuring children's "fear ratings."

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