The history of Doctor Who has been littered with a plethora of superbly written characters who were cast and performed beautifully by their actors. David Tennant was majestic; Matt Smith danced his way between crazy, compassionate and genius; Clara was brought to life through the warmth and strength displayed by Jenna Coleman and John Simm gave The Master a whole new level of depth as a villain. Ecclestone tried desperately to conceal his pain and Tom Baker truly wrestled with his morality. Tony Curran's Van Gogh was a masterpiece and Jessica Hynes complimented the Doctor perfectly as Joan Redfern. In spite of these performance highs, the show has had some absolute clangers over the years too. Some performances were just a little average, and some took the show to whole new lows that relegated even the most positive of Whovians to huffing and grunting at the TV.
10. Richard Briers (Chief Caretaker) - Paradise Towers
Richard Briers has been through the ringer for his performance as the Chief Caretaker, which was a rare blip in an otherwise successful acting career. Before his death in 2013 he had been active in the entertainment industry for over 50 years and the tributes that flowed in after his passing were a testament to the quality he had managed. That doesn't mean that he was infallible though, and from the moment he was possessed by the evil spirit of Kroagnon his performance completely fell apart. It was a shame because up until that point he had been fine. But with the possession came a terrible awkwardness and stiffness that, when coupled with the Hitleresque costume and Basil Fawlty moustache, meant that what began as another solid Richard Briers performance turned into a perfect storm of rubbish-ness. It was as though Briers couldn't conjure up any kind of ideas of how to play the character and, in a cold sweat, bumbled through his lines hoping that nobody would notice his discomfort.