10 Cringeworthy Doctor Who Moments

The times we regret being Doctor Who fans.

As easy as it is to cringe at embarrassing moments in other shows such as Star Trek (as we've already addressed here, here, and here), there are few shows that have the sheer amount of years necessary to promise decades worth of cringeworthy scenes like Doctor Who does - and this is coming from a fan. Over the course of 50+ years, the show has at times risen to narrative heights unimaginable - but at times it's also dropped to unimaginable lows. Some of this comes from the fact that, bless 'em, they often just didn't have the money necessary to perfect that effect or make that costume more convincing (or convincing at all, as seen above). Sometimes it's a matter of a guest actor getting just a little too happy at having a death scene, or not realizing that delivering a line in that particular way will make it a mini-meme for decades to come. What follows is a mere smattering from the entire show's run - a Whitt-man's sampler of cringe, if you will - but we're planning to address the cringeworthy moments in every decade of the show's existence soon enough. Tell us below in the comments about those Doctor Who moments that made you facepalm, and we may include them in an upcoming article! As usual, your mileage may vary, and what make strike us as cringeworthy may strike you as mere nitpicking. All's fair on the Internet, after all.
Contributor
Contributor

Tony Whitt has previously written TV, DVD, and comic reviews for CINESCAPE, NOW PLAYING, and iF MAGAZINE. His weekly COMICSCAPE columns from the early 2000s can still be found archived on Mania.com. He has also written a book of gay-themed short stories titled CRESCENT CITY CONNECTIONS, available on Amazon.com in both paperback and Kindle format. Whitt currently lives and works in Chicago, Illinois.