10 Doctor Who Episodes Where Everybody Dies

4. The Caves Of Androzani

The Caves Of Androzani Fifth Doctor Peri
BBC

The Fifth Doctor era had an unfortunate fondness for no survivors, with his final episode, 1984's The Caves of Androzani, even killing him off too.

Arriving on the deadly Androzani Minor, the Fifth Doctor and Peri face peril, countless agonising deaths, theatrical villains, and a lot of mud. Captured by robot-building terrorist and Phantom of the Opera mask-wearing lunatic Sharaz Jek, an all-out war between Jek's crew and soldiers from the civilised twin-planet Androzani Major ensues.

With Sharaz Jek fighting for control and his nemesis Morgus wanting him eradicated and the Spectrox mines beneath the planet claimed, substantial bloodshed follows. As the Doctor and Peri battle their way through the caves, they face Magma Beasts, murderous androids, gun-runners, and Spectrox poisoning. Both succumb to the deadly poison by the end of the episode, and the Doctor only has enough cure for Peri.

The final fight ends in Sharaz Jek being fatally shot by Morgus but managing to push his head into an extractor fan. The terrorist dies in the arms of one of his androids, and the Doctor is free to carry Peri to safety over the magma fields. With the effects of the poison killing him, he's further injured by the exploding magma plains - the same explosion that traps the gun runners and soldiers in the caves below.

Finally reaching the TARDIS, the Doctor saves Peri but slumps into another regeneration, unable to fight the poison.

Death Toll: It's a bloodbath. 34 on-screen including Sharaz Jek and everyone else on the planet, plus the Doctor himself.

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Eden Luke McIntyre is a Scottish writer, editor and script consultant, with an MA in TV Fiction Writing. He writes content for TV, radio, stage, and online, and was appointed as a BBC Writers Room Scottish Voice in early 2020. Eden can usually be found rambling about Doctor Who, The Beatles, and obscure things that no one cares about.