Classic Doctor Who is Surprisingly Violent and Eerie

I just recently started watching the Classic Doctor Who. I was over the moon when I realized it was now free to watch on Tubi, and I immediately took advantage of starting the series. I have been enjoying it immensely since the first episode.

I began watching from Jon Pertwee’s 3rd Doctor, and I was surprised to learn that the old Doctor Who was really not for kids. The episodes portray a lot of death scenes and moments that can be a little scary. A set of episodes I just watched last week was called “Carnival of Monsters.” This mini story was about the Doctor and his companion finding themselves caught in a machine, where humans and monsters are imprisoned for entertainment, almost like a zoo attraction.

And what's crazy is that two humans are responsible for this kind of torture, all because they were hoping to entertain aliens on another planet.

Think that’s already bad enough?

It only gets worse.

The worst part is that the humans aren’t even aware they are trapped in the machine, they believe they are in their timeline of 1926, going on a relaxing cruise, not aware they are repeating the same events over and over. They are being mind controlled like robots, being used for amusement to bring money for the people who own them.

It’s so scary to imagine a situation like this, I was in shock that this episode was even made, it is such a dark story. Watching the owners treat the people like ‘livestock’ made me so angry, it’s crazy that these episodes were even allowed on TV.

Another episode set I found to be quite bold was “The Time Monster.” It featured the Doctor and his sidekick venturing back in time to Atlantis, where they must stop Kronos, a god from destroying the city. The Doctor fails to stop the rise of the god, and Kronos murders the entire city, only leaving the queen alive, as she drops her weapon, defeated. It is a wicked move to end a Doctor Who episode like that, and I adore this bold move from the writers of the show.

And if you think that's insane already, the real culprit was an enemy of the Doctor, known as the Master, but he decides to spare him from getting killed by Kronos. Despite knowing that he pretty much murdered an entire city, he didn't want him to suffer for it. Wow.

It’s amazing how the writers were able to produce such great content through Jon Pertwee’s Doctor. After doing some research of my own, I was sad to hear that these five seasons of the 3rd Doctor are the only ones that are this action packed and insane. Due to a terrible tragedy, the production team began to sort of spiral after this sudden accident.

The Doctor’s rival known as the Master was played by Roger Delgado, who had passed away from a horrible car accident, shocking the crew. Then the Doctor’s main companion and Jon Pertwee himself made the choice to leave the show as well. Jon Pertwee was supposed to stay much longer, but due to the tragic accident of his friend, and other reasons, he made the choice to depart from the show. The producer also left the series, resulting in the show taking a completely different direction later on when the Fourth Doctor was introduced.

Despite these sad departures for everyone, the cast and crew left a huge impact for fans and the Doctor Who series. We were given a James Bond adventure in space, and it was a lovely treasure.

Thank you for reading!

Emy Quinn