13. Richard Wilson in The Empty Child and The Doctor Dances
Richard Wilson is really just a good actor in general, and despite his flourishing career in BBCs Merlin, whenever I see him in it or anything else I immediately think, Hmm. Doctor Constantines doing well. It should be a crime to typecast such an amazingly talented human being but I just cant help myself he sticks in your mind so well. Growing up, I always thought the Empty Child arc was the most frightening pair of episodes in the shows history and looking back Im not entirely sure why. Maybe its because I came in late watching the show that night so I had little to no context; maybe its because I was still at the age were saying Mummy was still relatively socially acceptable and thus I had something to remind me of those gas masks every time I saw mother; maybe its because of the faceless freaking zombies everywhere creeping around at the dead of freaking night! Damn you, Moffat! But for whatever reason, the Richard Wilson scene still scares the living daylights out of me even now. If you havent seen it (and shame on you if you havent) the scene depicts Wilsons undeniably chilling voice echoing around a dark, abandoned ward full of gas-mask wearing corpses and flickering lights, describing in full detail the plague that has struck London. Theyre not dead, Wilson reveals in that haunting tone of his, shortly before a gas mask slowly and agonisingly forces its way out of his face, Wilsons stunning performance pulling us in all the way. Horrifying stuff.
