10 Doctor Who Episodes That Took Risks And Failed
Which episodes of Doctor Who were more miss than hits?
When a show has been around for as long as Doctor Who has, reinvention is the only path to longevity, something best displayed in the frequent changing of the guard. The regenerations were key to helping the main character keep going, even after the departure of lead actor William Hartnell. This massive risk is still the most successful attempt to switch things up that the franchise has ever taken, though it was far from the last one.
Changing the acting talent every few years is one of the easiest ways to change the formula, yet even the writing and filming styles have changed along with this as well. The end of Russell T. Davies’ tenure saw the coral-themed TARDIS become the demented sweet shop of Stephen Moffat’s reign. It was a drastic difference that could have lost viewers, yet it became as endearing as any desktop theme had ever been.
Now, those are the good ones. There are those risks that really didn’t pay off at all. This list is essentially a list of failures, so let’s just remember that we all love a trier, right?
10. Shaky, Found Footage
Sleep No More was an obvious attempt at trying to get in on
the found-footage craze of the noughties, even if the show truly wasn’t ready
for what they were attempting here. Written in the style of a Blair Witch or
Rec type monster movie, the episode really just seems to be a bit silly.
Moffat’s era of Doctor Who introduced some fantastic baddies to the canon. The Weeping Angels, the Silence, the Whisper Men and the Vashta Nerada are all memorable and frightening beasts that stick in the mind. The monster that lives in the gunk at the edge of your eye, less so.
Unfortunately, while Mark Gatiss was an excellent addition
to the franchise when he started working with Davies, some of his scripts have
been a little underwhelming. This is true with Sleep No More as well. Perhaps it
was simply the format that didn’t work or the characters who weren’t
memorable. Either way, plenty of z’s were caught during this one.