Random Scariest 'Doctor Who' Moments (13 items)

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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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  (#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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  (#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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  (#4) 'Midnight' Is One Of The Darkest 'Doctor Who' Episodes Ever

  As one of the smallest Doctor Who stories, “Midnight” squeezes every ounce of terror that it can out of a single setting. Nothing about this episode is fun or lighthearted, making it an outlier in the early run of the series. In the episode, a mysterious creature mentally rips apart a group of people - the Doctor included.

  “Midnight” features an unseen creature that takes over the mind of a passenger on a transport ship. Rather than fight off the being, the Doctor nearly loses everything to the creature when it convinces everyone that he’s been possessed.

  As always, the Doctor gets out of the situation, but he doesn’t really win anything, and writer Russell T. Davies never explains the backstory of what the audience has just seen. It makes the episode all the more chilling.
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  (#11) Mirrors, Alternate Dimensions, And Creepy Caves Abound In 'It Takes You Away'

  Alternate dimensions are never a good thing, especially in Doctor Who. If any episode of this series is similar to Event Horizon, it's "It Takes You Away," an episode that sees the Doctor and her companions stuck in a series of parallel dimensions conversing with their deceased spouses.

  The conversations are caused by the Solitract, a sentient universe that's so desperate for company that it traps the Doctor's companions. On top of the pseudo ghosts of everyone's wives, there's a creepy looking alien named Ribbons that has a very Buffy the Vampire Slayer look. All in all, it's deeply upsetting.
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  (#1) 'Blink' Introduced Audiences To The Terrifying Weeping Angels

  No discussion of the most unsettling Doctor Who moments can be had without mentioning the Weeping Angels. These extremely old creatures that look like Victorian statues wait until someone turns their back on them or blinks, and then they strike. 

  With enough time, the Weeping Angles can drain the life from their victims while sending them back into an undetermined era of time seemingly at random. Their first appearance in "Blink" shows just how well Doctor Who works at telling a horror story.

  It's hard to decide what's scarier - the idea that you won't even know that you're being zapped to the past or the sharp fangs and furrowed brows of the Weeping Angels. Strangely enough, the writer behind the episode - Steven Moffat - claims that the creatures are based on a real object.

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