10 Most Cringeworthy Doctor Who Moments From The '80s

2. The Timelash - Timelash (1985)

Ugh. "Timelash-up," more like. It's common knowledge that Doctor Who always struggled with its budget, and the fact that the special effects and costume designers were able to do anything with the pittance they were given is a minor miracle. But there are times when that pittance went a longer way than others, and Timelash is not one of them. The Bandril Ambassador from this story was already included in the original cringeworthy moments list; and who can really leave David Chandler's performance, with the immortal line "Avaunt thee, foul fanged fiend!", off this list? But we're choosing to do so, mainly because the eponymous Timelash itself is far, far worse. The outer shell of it is little more than a doorway with tinsel draped over the opening while the interior, supposedly a tunnel through space-time, looks more like a scaling wall made out of styrofoam pylons and more tinsel. It's an active embarrassment, and no amount of hemming and hawing about "the budgets in that era" will ever get a non-fan to look at it with any sort of indulgence. Hell, fans can barely look at it without screaming, so why should anyone else care to?