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Metro
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Metro
Violent Doctor Who scene 'put show at risk of being cancelled before it started'
For the last six decades, Doctor Who has had kids (and adults) around the world hiding behind the sofa, and it's easy to see why. While travelling through time and space, the titular Time Lord has battled devious Daleks, sinister Cybermen, and, who could forget, the wicked Weeping Angels. All of these monsters have served as nightmare fuel for fans, but according to one Doctor Who writer, there was one scene involving an iconic monster that took things a little too far. Robert Shearman is the writer in question, and he penned the fan favourite episode, Dalek, for the first season of the Doctor Who revival. Speaking at a recent BFI Southbank event held in partnership with the Doctor Who Appreciation Society (and reported on by Radio Times), the 55-year-old writer admitted in the early days he wasn't sure where to draw the line with onscreen violence. Wake up to find news on your TV shows in your inbox every morning with Metro's TV Newsletter. Sign up to our newsletter and then select your show in the link we'll send you so we can get TV news tailored to you. 'We weren't sure in the first couple of drafts if we could even kill people on-screen anymore,' he explained. 'It was that bizarre thing – I thought for a while we might have simply to stun people.' However, when Doctor Who boss Russell T Davies gave the all clear to start killing characters, Robert got a little carried away. '''I went away and that day I wrote the scene where Simmons gets suckered – but it was much, much worse,' he explained. 'It went over his head and his skin had burnt off and Russell wrote back to me saying, 'Please don't try and get the entire show cancelled before we start'.' Despite Russell making Robert tone down the violence, Dalek remains one of the revived series' darkest episodes, with the story exploring the Doctor's (Christopher Eccleston) bigotries and survivor's guilt. Robert did admit during the event that he was worried he'd made things too dark, especially after reading the relatively light and frothy Aliens of London and Rose, but Russell pushed him to take things further. Our Deputy TV Editor Tom Percival shares his picks for the 10 scariest Doctor Who (2005-2025) episodes ever… Blink – The grandaddy of Doctor Who scary episodes, this story introduced the world to the Weeping Angels and is in a two-horse race with Midnight for the title of 'scariest New Who' episode ever. – The grandaddy of Doctor Who scary episodes, this story introduced the world to the Weeping Angels and is in a two-horse race with Midnight for the title of 'scariest New Who' episode ever. Midnight – Speaking of which. Midnight is an absolutely terrifying tale about an invisible monster that turns the Doctor's greatest weapon, his gift for the gab, against him. – Speaking of which. Midnight is an absolutely terrifying tale about an invisible monster that turns the Doctor's greatest weapon, his gift for the gab, against him. Dalek – Doctor Who's most iconic villains had become something of a laughing stock before this episode aired, but after watching Dalek, I can guarantee those laughs turned to screams. – Doctor Who's most iconic villains had become something of a laughing stock before this episode aired, but after watching Dalek, I can guarantee those laughs turned to screams. The Waters of Mars – A Doctor Who episode that makes water scary… need I say more? – A Doctor Who episode that makes water scary… need I say more? Hide – Boasting one of the creepiest monster designs ever seen in the history of Who, Hide is an underrated banger. – Boasting one of the creepiest monster designs ever seen in the history of Who, Hide is an underrated banger. Heaven Sent – Heaven Sent sees the Doctor trapped in a labyrinthine castle and is rightly remembered as the best Peter Capaldi episode, but it's The Veil – the creature that haunts the castle's corridors – that earned it a spot on this list. – Heaven Sent sees the Doctor trapped in a labyrinthine castle and is rightly remembered as the best Peter Capaldi episode, but it's The Veil – the creature that haunts the castle's corridors – that earned it a spot on this list. The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances – 'Are you my Mummy?' – 'Are you my Mummy?' The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit – A genuinely disturbing story about demonic possession and satanic worship in space. – A genuinely disturbing story about demonic possession and satanic worship in space. The Haunting of Villa Diodati – A brilliant haunted house story that reveals Frankenstein was inspired by the Cybermen. What more could a Doctor Who fan want? – A brilliant haunted house story that reveals Frankenstein was inspired by the Cybermen. What more could a Doctor Who fan want? Lux – Everyone seems to agree that Lux was the highlight of Ncuti Gatwa's second season, in part because of how downright creepy the villainous living cartoon at the centre of the story was. 'The scene where Chris meets the Dalek for the first time,' he revealed. 'I was holding off for ages, and it was Russell who was always saying, 'Just make it vicious', and so I was allowed to go as dark as I possibly could.' More Trending The latest season of Doctor Who recently came to a close with Ncuti Gatwa seemingly regenerating into Billie Piper. The decision to cast Billie as the 16th Doctor (if that is who she's playing) has split the fandom, with some decrying it as desperate stunt casting while others have hailed it as revitalising their interest in the show. Doctor Who is available to stream now on BBC iPlayer. Got a story? If you've got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@ calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we'd love to hear from you. View More » MORE: Legendary TV star 'busy' as he joins Casualty MORE: BBC drama scoring rave reviews hailed 'Queer as Folk for new generation' MORE: Gary Lineker agrees deal with new broadcaster after controversial BBC exit
Newsweek
26-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Newsweek
Review: Doctor Who The Well is a Master of Tension that Lives Up to its Predecessor
Entertainment gossip and news from Newsweek's network of contributors If there is one episode of Doctor Who I never wanted to see a sequel to, it's Midnight. That story about an unseeable, unknowable monster that completely and thoroughly beat the Doctor and terrified them more than anything they'd ever known – a story about how unrestrained, unquenchable fear can turn even the best of us into the worst people – is simply perfect. You can't top perfection, so don't even try. It's horror movie sequel syndrome, the Weeping Angels all over again; learning more about the monster kills everything that's special about it, so just don't bother. And yet...I think The Well nails it. We learn just the tiniest amount more about the monster, just about what it does, not about what it is, and that's the crucial difference. That's how you keep a monster terrifying. We now know that it kills anyone who tries to perceive it and has seemingly unlimited strength when doing so, yet we still don't know how or why, and that keeps it scary. The Doctor talking to a woman sat on a box in the middle of a futuristic room. The Doctor talking to a woman sat on a box in the middle of a futuristic room. BBC I applaud the visual work here. There is one shot where it shifts in the shadow that I could've done without, but aside from that, it is masterful VFX work where we see something move, just out of focus, just behind the characters, for barely two frames of screen-time. It puts us in that terrifying uncertain mindset of the characters, where they're not even sure they saw anything at all, and yet they can't shake the feeling that something is there. The episode revels in this feeling, and it's glorious. I had seen rumours going around that this episode might be about the Midnight Entity, but I didn't know for sure and that feeling enhanced the experience for me as I tried to pick up on every clue I could to work out if this was what I thought it was or something different. In an amazing twist, that put me in the shoes of the Doctor, who spent the first half of the episode slowly putting the pieces together. It barely needs to be said at this point in his run, but what an actor Ncuti Gatwa is. From the word go, you can see this glimmer of dread in his eyes, this sense that he desperately hopes he's wrong – that he's not about to re-encounter the one foe that truly terrified him. It takes just over half the runtime for the Doctor to realize he's on Midnight, and yet it flies by as I was thoroughly gripped by the creeping build to the creature's first kill. Belinda entering a room in a futuristic suit, flanked by two soldiers pointing guns. Belinda entering a room in a futuristic suit, flanked by two soldiers pointing guns. BBC The human dynamic isn't forgotten either. Such a huge part of what makes Midnight so brilliant is that we get to see what the fear of this unknowable entity does to the ordinary people who are trapped in a room with it. This isn't as big of a focus in The Well, we still get a great taste of it, as the disciplined military man who always follows The Rules™ slowly acts more and more irrationally as the fear warps his mind at the cost of many lives, including his own. The other big thing that keeps the mystique of the monster is that The Doctor doesn't beat it this time, either. We get our triumphant moment where he finally gets one up on it, but he still can't win. The moment was set up perfectly, too. I'm sure I wasn't the only one to put "it broke all the mirrors" and "we're in a mercury mine" together, and yet it waits just long enough that you let it slip your mind until the moment the Doctor floods the room the mercury to force the creature to perceive its own reflection. Yet that triumphant moment can't stand. Even though perceiving it has been instant death for anything we've seen up until this point, this entity somehow survives, and we're dragged right back into the tragedy, partly because the Doctor just can't stand not knowing what this thing is. I must once again complement Ncuti's performance, as you see on his face how deeply his encounter with the Midnight Entity scarred him before, and how it means he can't stop himself from trying to know what this thing is, as I'm sure many people watching do too. The Doctor and Belinda crouching in front of a woman in the middle of a futuristic room. The Doctor and Belinda crouching in front of a woman in the middle of a futuristic room. BBC Then, for the second time, the Doctor only survives an encounter with it because someone sacrifices themselves on his behalf. Then it caps things off in the perfect horror movie-esque way, teasing us with the idea that maybe we made the wrong assumption about who the entity latched onto, and maybe it did get away with the crew like it wanted. Like last time, I like not knowing, and I hope we never find out. I am ecstatic that The Well is as great an episode as it is. Living up to what I believe to be the greatest Doctor Who episode of all time is no small task, but it captures all the things that made Midnight great and gives us hints of the entity's lore without giving us so much as to ruin the mystique. Is it as good as Midnight? No, but it comes about as close as a sequel ever could, making for a fantastic duology of episodes, and that is an astounding achievement. Now, Russell, that's it. You did one sequel and you got away with it. No more.
