Every Doctor's SCARIEST Story

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A fun little fact -- A lot of the darker, creepier episodes of the classic series were written by Robert Holmes. He sadly died before TV Show Interviews were a popular thing, so his approach to writing was talked about with Terrence Dicks. During an interview where the topic was Robert Holmes's work, Terrence Dicks made a very interesting remark that I suspect applies, sub-consciously, to a lot of writers -- (not verbatim, going by memory - would take forever to find the particular interview to quote directly) "He liked writing horror, but he wasn't particularly a big fan of horror - I think he liked writing it because it allowed a freedom that more conventional stories didn't allow."

Nah bro the happiness patrol was clearly the most terrifying story of all

For David Tennant, this is no contest. Midnight is HORRIFYING. Far more frightening than the Weeping Angels, the Vashta Nerada or even Satan himself. When Tennant was eye to eye with Satan, he wasn't scared at all. At most he was in awe, which is still impressive in itself since leaving the Doctor awestruck is no small feat, but he wasn't frightened. However, the mysterious Midnight Monster left him traumatised. Normally, it would take something as severe as the Time War to shake the Doctor that badly.

The scariest 5th Doctor story is definitely Spare Parts. Cybermen and their conversion shown in the most gruesome way possible. Just amazing!

“It’s hard to find a suitably scary story from the action packed third Doctor’s era…” Inferno: exists

The night terrors dolls are certainly scarier than the hide monster.

I agree on almost all of them. While Midnight was terryfying because of the monster, Waters of Mars was horror show to me. It terryfied the heck out of me, just the idea of water being an antagonist, something that you can't really beat is horryfying. And HARD AGREE with The haunting of Villa. It was perfect horror like episode. 13th era might have writing problems, but dear god, this episode was one of few that was perfect.

I love Static and The Red Lady, easily two of the creepiest Big Finish audios to date. Another great one is 'Seizure' from Ravenous 2, the audio that debuts the titular Ravenous creatures, but that story requires a fair bit of prior listening. Great vid as always, Harbo :)

The Doctor's outwitted cosmic entities like the Great Intelligence, the Time Lord nemesis the Master, and apparently the original Satan! The Doctor even tricked the Eternals, elemental beings of immense power, into losing their powers!

Agree with Midnight for 10, though Impossible Planet had a couple of marvellous scenes; when we first hear Gabriel Woolf's voice "don't turn around, don't" and when Toby appears outside the base, covered in writing and raises his hand, smiling. Fantastic music to this scene.

Forever autumn has to be one of the most horror style novels in the history of doctor who, I still find it’s description terrifying to this day

As an aside. For The Sarah Jane Adventures I think the top 3 scariest stories were The Curse of Clyde Langer, The Nightmare Man and The Day of the Clown. And for Torchwood Children of Earth, Miracle Day and Countrycide are the top 3.

My personal opinion on the scariest episodes of each Doctor 1st: The Celestial Toymaker - Maybe it's just a thing with clowns; this episode isn't intentionally scary necessarily, but some of the key scenes and the ending with the banishment of the Toymaker. 2nd: The Mind Robber - The feeling of the unknown is present when the Doctor travels through weird - not always creepy - dimensions makes this story unnerving. The robots in complete white space is iconic and the feeling of being trapped forever is terrifying. 3rd: Terror of the Autons - This episode scared the shit out of me as a kid with that Auton Troll Doll, and The Master's introduction teaming up with Autons makes this story great fun, and the Autons' blank faces smiling giving out plastic daffodils stays in my mind. 4th: Logopolis - Whilst the episode itself is more of a great adventure, the 4th Doctor's era was mainly focused on worldbuilding than the horror aspect. The reason I chose Logopolis is simply due to the eeriness of The Watcher, a blank-faced man stalking The Doctor. 5th: The Awakening - The Malus' creepy smile brings the aura of evil into the two episode story. The evil entity's existence makes this story creepy and unsettling. 6th: Vengeance on Varos - The 6th Doctor's episodes are silly and unecessary, but this story's collection of inhumane sets and aliens and Peri nearly transforming into a bird creature is a highlight for the 6th Doctor era, along with having a scary feeling. 7th: Paradise Towers - The Paradise Towers remind me of the Backrooms in a way, with almost abandoned hallways and an underwater crab robot that triggers thalassophobia in a seemingly endless building. Unsuspecting cleaner robots gradually begin to eliminate every living inhabitant all while being controlled by an angry man in a Hitler disco costume. 9th: The Empty Child - Entering the new era of Doctor Who, an alltime classic horror story that instilled fear into every child who witnessed the gas mask zombies that would turn you into one of them with a single touch. An obvious choice. 10th: The Satan Pit - An episode I was not allowed to watch as a child due to the demonic imagery. A ginormous beast is trapped in a black hole and possesses some of the nearby ships' crewmembers makes a very chilling story set in the outreaches of space. 11th: The God Complex - This was a difficult choice, but the ideal one as it literally contains the main characters' worst fears. The episode is stacked with unnerving music and a feeling like The Backrooms. The dummies are creepy, but I'd like to give an honorable mention to The Beast Below simply for the Smilers' appearance traumatizing me at the age of 4 and being the first memory I ever had of Doctor Who. 12th: Mummy on the Orient Express - A simple premise that was perfectly portrayed on screen. The mummy that hunts down a random person that only they can see is a such a well executed trope and I want the old-fashioned setting like the train to appear in episodes more often. 13th: Can You Hear Me? - Idk I never remember these episodes 14th: The Giggle - Out of the three specials, I enjoyed this one the most, and was also the most excited for based on the glimpses we saw of Stookie Bill in the trailer. Even though he wasn't the main focus, I've always been a sucker for creepy dolls and you can check out a video about them on my channel.

I haven't watched a lot of old Who so for me the list goes: 9th - The Empty Child 10th - Blink 11th - Amy's Choice 12th - Listen / Flatline tie 13th - Village of the Angels

4 deserves like 6 entires on this list lol Also know we know Wild Blue Yonder is 14s scariest.

Just recently finished the 10th doctor era and even tho Midnight is PEAK The Waters of Mars IS by far one of the best horror episodes ever to exist, its an cinematic masterpiece from start to finish and the concept of water being the main villain is terrifying

I saw this video in my recommended and just had to click on it, and I was not disappointed in these choices. The Empty Child was a bit of a meme with some of my friends who were Doctor Who fans irl, and Midnight was a really well made episode. I must say though, if there's one episode that, if I ever get back into the series, I'll be dreading watching again, it's Blink. It's arguably the best introduction for any Doctor Who monster, and just thinking about the Weeping Angels in general sends chills down my spine even as I'm typing this comment.

My picks: 1. Edge of Destruction - seeing our main characters paranoid and almost possessed is genuinely disturbing (I'd also accept Tenth Planet) 2. Fury from the deep would be if it accepted in full, but it's not as creepy animated. My new my pick would be Web of Fear. 3. Spearhead from space - genuinely creepy autons are always great to see 4. Almost anything from S13/14, but my pick would be Deadly Assassin 5. Caves of Androzani - I mean either that of Spare Parts 6. Revelation of the Daleks - genuinely disturbing across the board, almost too adult for Doctor Who 7. God so many options... but Curse of Fenric, it's flawless. 8. I need to listen to more of his BF, none of the ones i have were scary 9. Empty Child - had nightmares about it for a decade 10. Impossible Planet - but i will also accept Blink, Waters of Mars, or Midnight 11. God Complex - great atmosphere and themes 12. World Enough and Time - Jesus Christ. What the hell? 13. Village of the Angels - I'd argue the scariest the angels have ever been. 14. Wild Blue Yonder - genuinely an all time great 15. 73 Yards - creepy image and a society creeping towards fascism

The Doctor's Wife continues to be one of the most unsettling stories of Nuwho for me. There's just a constant sense of unease that I adore.