A stray comment on the DWC the other day got me thinking about past Doctor Who episodes that insulted and/or actually angered me. 

We know that each person has their own favourite episodes, as well as ones that they’d love to chuck down into the time rotor never to be seen again. The amazing thing is, an episode one person thinks is the best ever might rank at the bottom of the barrel for the person next to them.

But why is that? 

We are the sum of our memories and past experiences, all shaping us into the people we are. It’s only natural that each episode of Doctor Who is going to affect each person differently, be it on a small scale or a complete 180. 

Some people are wide open, very tolerant, and will accept almost any episode that is broadcast. Others have a locked set of expectations that a new story must conform to, no matter what. If not, it’s an abysmal, total failure. The rest of us are scattered about the myriad shades of grey in between. 

But what I’m digging into today are those episodes that angered and insulted me for different reasons. And if possible, examine why. 

But never fear: there’ll be a piece at some point where I talk about episodes or the moments that brought me joy and we’ll converse about that too….

Arachnids in the UK is first up; though not necessarily the worst offender, this one riled me up. Chris Chibnall wrote it and this might have been when I realised I really disliked his writing, and his view of what and who the Doctor is. No, forget about Noth’s character, Jack Robertson, or even the fact that Yaz (Mandip Gill) had several moments where she might shine in her profession as a cop, but was wasted as usual.

No, it was the fate of the spiders. The lead spider was in pain and dying. Even Robertson wanted to put it out of its misery and end its pain. But the Doctor (Jodie Whittaker), that champion of life, insisted it die in prolonged agony. Then, instead of coming up with a way to destroy the remaining army of spiders, she rigged up a signal to lure them all into a bunker, so they’d still be alive, but trapped away forever, unable to hurt anyone else. And, protector of life that she is, she allowed them to live, knowing they’d eventually either slowly starve to death, or attack and eat each other. A truly grisly end. To my mind, this made the Doctor look like a complete, cock-eyed moron. Better to keep all the spiders alive and torture them for as long as possible, instead of giving them a merciful end?!

I felt Chibnall really did the Doctor a huge disservice there, dressing up cruelty as compassion. 

Next up: the Doctor and the Master. Both Russell T Davies and, to a lesser extent, Steven Moffat are guilty of the Doctor putting the Master’s well-being before that of humans. In The End of Time, the Doctor (David Tennant) and Wilf (Bernard Cribbins) sit alone in a spaceship. After finding out that the worldwide tyranny of the Master, and the dangerous mockery that Earth had become, could be ended if only the Doctor would finally end the Master, poor Wilf hands the Doctor his old service revolver, begging, crying, and pleading with the Tenth Doctor to end the nightmare. The Doctor refuses. Noble? Selfish? This illustrated that the Doctor’s principles, and the Master, were worth more to him than the fate of the human race. It was a bad look for the Doctor, and the truest example of him putting the Master first. It, along with other petty actions of that incarnation in that story, made me dislike the Tenth Doctor. 

My third and final example is from Can You Hear Me? After easily dispensing of a powerful god-like being with a speech about humanity, love, and compassion, the Doctor’s back in the console room with a very shaken Graham (Bradley Walsh), who opens up to the Doctor about his fears of his cancer returning. The Doctor slowly backs away, saying she’s trying to think of something to say. 

Now, the intention of Chibnall and his co-writer was ostensibly for the Doctor’s loss of words to be relatable to regular folk who sometimes have the same problem when faced with that situation. They don’t know what to say. Understandable.

Unfortunately, the Doctor is not regular folk. The Doctor is thousands of years old and just delivered a speech on love and compassion. By basically backing away from a member of her “fam” at that moment, it sent the worst possible message, and was totally avoidable. Misguided, ham-fisted, awkward, and insensitive. I felt it spoke to how insecure and inadequate the writers must be in real life to so totally screw up the interpersonal dynamics of the scene.

If Graham was indeed part of her family, and she somehow couldn’t find the words? That’s what hugs are there for. 

Plenty of complaints about that scene found their way to the BBC after that. 

I really found myself hating the Thirteenth Doctor at that moment. Yes, hate’s a strong word, but I love the Doctor, usually. To have the character mishandled in such a horrible and amateurish way felt wrong. It felt insulting. Insulting to the character, to the fanbase, to me.

But on a personal level, there was another dimension to it for me as a cancer survivor. It was just the year before that episode came out that I had my own bout with cancer. I was treated and it went into remission, then I was cancer-free. But the thing is, it’ll be back. Cancer always comes back; it’s just an unknown timetable. In my case, we took as many steps as possible to ensure the longest possible delay of its return. It’s been five years now, and like all cancer survivors, there’s the fear it could return today, or in 25 years from today. It’s a horrible reverse lottery.

So Graham’s fear in the scene was very, very real. I was right there with him. 

It was painful how poorly the scene turned out. 

I’m sure there are other stories, scenes, examples out there, but none got the negative reaction from me that those three did. Thinking back, there weren’t any classic stories that fit the bill at all.  

Over to you, readers. Have there ever been stories which actually upset you? Infuriated you for whatever reason? Feel free to unburden yourself.