Support the channel! (especially because Heaven Sent review is soon and it's MASSIVE) www.patreon.com/harbowholmes

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

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

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!

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.

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!

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 :)

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

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.

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

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

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.

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.

If I was gonna pick the scariest stories from the Non Doctor Who shows in the Doctor Who Multiverse I would pick Coutrycide for Torchwood and The Nightmare Man for The Sarah Jane Adventures.

Dipping into the comics, the DWM Eleventh Doctor two issue storyline Forever Dreaming. It has a trippy dreamworld quality that Adrian Salmon’s distinctive art style fits perfectly as Amy is stalked by shadow men saying creepy things and the Doctor isn’t able to help her solve this until late in the second part. Major shoutout to The Nightmare Man from The Sarah Jane Adventures, where Julian Bleach plays perfectly the titular bad guy. He preys on Luke’s insecurities about leaving home, presenting scenarios designed to play on the insecurities and gets to Clyde and Rani too. Particularly chilling is how he makes Luke unable to communicate to anyone about him, allowing him to further exacerbate Luke’s fears. The resolution is cheesy but still works thematically.

Night terrors is the one that had me giving behind the sofa for sure

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

that doctor in distress line at the start was great

I really like the Daemons' tribute to occult/folk horror, and it's for sure one of the very best master stories, but for me, it's not particularly scary. The Third Doctor story that really scared me is without a doubt Inferno. I had many nightmares after watching that one when i was a kid, and I still think it's effectively tense and unnerving, especially episodes 5 and 6. The story trips all my horror switches bigtime, from the end-of-the-world scenario to the body horror to loss of sanity to waking up one day to find all your friends have turned into fascist goons.

For the 7th Doctors most scary story I thought you’d choose when he went up against Bertie Basset 😂

I always thought the body horror of The Seeds of Doom was the scariest 4th Doctor Story - I get why the claustrophobic nature of Fang Rock might fit the bill.. but I feel the final reveal of the Ruton really lets it down. And as many people are scared of Clowns... surely The Greatest Show in the Galaxy should be the 7th?

pretty sure Love And Monsters should be on this list but still /j

The Horror of Fang Rock is one of my favorite stories! I knew it would be on the list.

I wish you included one TV story in each. Maybe if the top isnt a TV story, you could include it as an honourable mention

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.

Speare parts is the scariest 5th doctor story, hands down

Grave Matter is a scary Sixth Doctor novel. It’s an isolated setting, a scientist performing experiments and an alien assimilation virus which plays on zombie movie tropes. Even Peri gets infected.

well Fear her is a spooktacular episode

1st: The Edge of Destruction??? 2nd: Fury From the Deep 3rd: The Dæmons 4th: Horror of Fang Rock 5th: Enlightenment????? 6th: Vengence On Varos?????? 7th: The Curse of Fenric 9th: The Empty Child 10th: Midnight 11th: The God Complex 12th: Listen 13th: The Haunting of Villa Diodati

I have not really gotten into Big Finish, but for me the Seventh Doctor's Ghost Light, while not really that horrific, is probably his scariest. Although the Curse of Fenric has its own horror as it is the first time (except maybe the Sixth's infamous hitting of Perry) that we actually get a little terrified of the Doctor when Ace realizes just how manipulative he really is.

The Holy Terror ("Who is my father?") Night Thoughts ("Not my eyes!")

Midnight is my favorite tube you just got yourself a new subscriber

Midnight was so scary because of fear of the unknown

My dad does not like sci-fi in any way, shape or form, and he outright hates Doctor Who but he loves Midnight!

Happy Spooky Week sexy people. whatever you are doing for Halloween stay safe, look after yourselves and spread kindness.

I feel like Ashad is a waste of potential. The idea of a zealot so driven to the cybermen that he doesn't even need the emotional inhibitor, that he's so fuelled by rage and, apart from Villa Diodati, plays second fiddle to The Master in his other appearances

Personally, I think that ‘Heaven Sent’ is Capaldi’s scariest episode.

The gas mask one scared the shit outta me as a kid

The Daemons and Horror Of Fang Rock are two of my favorites! Glad they made your list. But Midnight over Blink?!? I so sorry but I can't agree.

So glad to see some love for Hide. I think it's so underrated

Ghost Walk is a worthy Fifth Doctor audio for this list. The story starts with a ghost tour where a ghost turns up, and it’s the Doctor. The bad guy is voiced by Stephen Greif, and the companions end up in different perils connected by hooded members of a sinister brotherhood. The Cradle of the Snake is another one because the Mara goes one step scarier by possessing the Doctor. Peter Davison does nasty very effectively and with the Mara having the knowledge and resources of the Doctor without his morality it gets chilling when you realise it took back over a few lines ago when the Doctor seems to be coming through again.

6 could have been The Spectre of Lanyon Moor, made the mistake of listening to that story at night, can't bring myself to touch it since

god the empty child absolutely scared me shitless when i first started watching who!! even worse than blink, somehow. the impossible planet also realllly got me on my first watch.

Shocked that you didn't choose a TV story for the Seventh Doctor. Midnight over Blink or Silence In The Library/Forest Of The Dead is also a surprising choice.

hell, wild blue yonder scared the crap outta me

Last time I was this earlier was the big bang

The Impossible Astronaut and Day of the Moon was one of the scariest episodes of the 11th Doctor. The SIlence Are so scary

So since this we’ve added Wild Blue Younder for 14. Wonder what 15’s will end up being (73 years looks to be a good contender)

No joke Love and Monsters scared the hell out of me, (more than blink) when I was like 8 😭

Midnight is one episode I will definitely never rewatch

Have to disagree here as someone who saw these as a kid :) The most frightening story of the 3rd was Green Death - to this day those giant maggots are horrific. As for the 4th he had some of the most terrifying stories ever - top of the list - Planet Of Evil.

14:43 my headcannon for midnight is that it was a not thing like in wild blue yonder

I didn't realize that the brilliant Paul McGann had done so much other work in the role.

sweet video idea

For me, 10th doctor's scariest is an audiobook called "Dead Air" by James Goss... so creepy!

The silent child is the reason I stopped watching Dr who at the age of about 8. My best friend has got me back into the franchise as of the 2023 Children in Need special.

I began watching dr who when the abc repeated the classic series prior to the release of new who, so little three-year-old me ended up having a lot of nightmares about genesis of the daleks when I watched that. when I began watching s1, and didn't fully understand it wasn't serialised, I saw the teaser at the end of dalek and thought it was the next part - I thought that the beam of light going into the brain chip in the long game was a human being converted into a dalek, and THAT gave me more nightmares! of course I forgot that I watched classic who over the years because I had other stuff to remember, or at least I just didn't think about it, so when I recognised clips of classic who episodes when watching one of the documentaries put out for the fiftieth, I was very confused.

I legit might need to give ‘Static’ a listen. I purposefully ignore 6th Doctor era episodes, as the couple i DID SEE were just GOD AWFUL (Terrible Doctor, Annoying companion, atrocious stories…just bleck!). However, THIS story ACTUALLY sounds good. LOL

Welp, now I need to go watch Fury from the Deep! 😂🤔

Lets be honest. We came here to see if for the tenth doctor it was gonna be blink or silence in the library

Never thought about Midnight as a horror story... And still don't. It's a nice but not great episode and it is many things but scary is not one of them. I think that Waters of Mars and Blink fill that horror bill much better.

I know dr who was created to be educational, but the second story is the daleks. Sure they’re an allegory but it’s still funny

I dont think many compare to the empty child and the forest of the dead

Wellp I submit Wild Blue Yonder xD

Scherzo no my being the scariest 9th story is will but tbf I haven’t listened to the red lady so j no might be wrong and I respect your opinion

If you had NOT chosen The Red Lady, there would be a riot of Big Finish fans!! 😂 The Red Lady is in my Top 10 Doctor WHO stories of all time easily. I reject that Maxine Alderton actually fully wrote the Haunting of the Village of Diodati. This story is stolen from Marc Platt's The Silver Turk, (and Mary's Story by Jonathan Morris). What makes me the most angry about it is that they never give Marc Platt any mention in the credits, no "inspired by the novel by Marc Platt," or anything, and that's literally a crime and it is called plagiarism.

Smh didn’t include the scariest Fugitive Doctor episode

I'd say the 4th Doctor should be Scratchman, it has such a creepy atmosphere and is also just a fantastic story written by the legendary Tom Baker

👍

Was looking for some Who horror episodes to show family wanting to watch the show, first 2 entries are a book and a lost episode that can't be seen. Stopped watching after that.

Ahh I saw twitter as X who? ahh Elon Musk ruined the website I never used.

blink. Blink is the worst

🙂👍

Why does everyone say Midnight was the scariest? It really wasn't There wasn't even an explanation or intresting alien, so therefore boring

Ooo this is good while I do love midnight I do think blink is better. It has everything I love in horror a gothic atmosphere, phycological horror and no reliance or inclusion of violent blood and gore which is kind of boring and just makes u want to puke and that isn’t what I think horror is meant to do, it also theatres the weeping angels aka the most scary thing in doctor who

I still didn't like Listen.

Listen, Hide and Midnight are BORING! Also, The Haunting of Villa Diodati is not canon so it doesn't count