10 Doctor Who Episodes Where Evil Won

10. The Sound Of Drums

Has the Doctor ever been more on the back foot than he is during The Sound of Drums?

His arch-nemesis the Master has stolen his TARDIS and convinced the United Kingdom to vote him into 10 Downing Street. That's already a pretty big victory for the Master, but his hot streak only continues once he's installed in the PM's office.

From there he orders the destruction of the Racnoss ship and also provides the funds for Professor Lazarus to turn into a giant scorpion monster. All while orchestrating the fateful first contact between Earth and the Toclafane – just so he can be in a room with the American President.

This of course wasn't for a happy meet-and-greet. By the end of The Sound of Drums, the Master has assassinated said President, unleashed the Toclafane on Earth, and had the Doctor and his gang arrested. Worse still, everyone then spends 12 months enslaved and imprisoned by an increasingly insane dancing Master.

Even when the effects of the Master's year of terror are reversed, the trauma remains with the Doctor, Jack, the Jones family, and Lucy Saxon. A cold-hearted victory if there ever was one.