10 Most Cringeworthy Doctor Who Moments From The 60s

From Aridius to Zarbi, Doctor Who gave us plenty to cringe about in the 1960s.

It would be pretty to think that all those missing episodes of Doctor Who from the 1960s contain nothing but brilliant and exciting moments that we're all missing out on just because that bad ol' Beeb went and erased them. But if the existing episodes are anything to go by, that's just wishful thinking. We all love this show, we really do, but there are times when it's downright difficult to watch it. It's not necessarily the low-budget special effects, or the occasional uncontrolled coughing fit that simply doesn't justify an expensive retake (anyone else wish they could give Jacqueline Hill a cough lozenge during episode three of The Keys of Marinus?). If we were to judge '60s Doctor Who on the special effects alone, we'd have a list of cringes for each episode, not just for the decade - even more now that VidFire has revealed folds in the backdrops, nails in the scenery, and things the audiences of the time would never have seen. That would be woefully unfair. Instead, it's when a script, an actor, or a director decides to do something that's just so dumb or awful that even the most enabling fan can't excuse it. That's the sort of thing we're talking about in this list. If we missed anything, or if you feel we've been unfair, let us know in the comments below.
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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.