10 Doctor Who Episodes Where Evil Won
Winning? Is that what you think it's about?
You can't win them all, even when you're the Doctor. This is a character for whom the stakes are always insanely high, as a loss could mean the destruction of life as we know it – which does put football scores and romantic rejections firmly into perspective.
It's a rare occurence, but there are several times when evil wins the day in Doctor Who. Sometimes it's a small victory, like the Cult of Skaro living to fight another day. Other times however, the victories are much larger – and when the Doctor does lose, there are often dark and devastating consequences.
Look at the impact of the Tenth Doctor's death in Turn Left for example. In the space of two years, Britain was ravaged by a nuclear explosion and became a full-on fascist state. Thankfully this was in an aborted timeline, but the Doctor's other losses have dramatically affected the prime Doctor Who timeline too.
It's not often that evil wins outright, but when this does happen, it leaves a lasting mark on the Doctor's psyche.
10. The Sound Of Drums
Has the Doctor ever been more on the back foot than he is during The Sound of Drums?
His arch-nemesis the Master has stolen his TARDIS and convinced the United Kingdom to vote him into 10 Downing Street. That's already a pretty big victory for the Master, but his hot streak only continues once he's installed in the PM's office.
From there he orders the destruction of the Racnoss ship and also provides the funds for Professor Lazarus to turn into a giant scorpion monster. All while orchestrating the fateful first contact between Earth and the Toclafane – just so he can be in a room with the American President.
This of course wasn't for a happy meet-and-greet. By the end of The Sound of Drums, the Master has assassinated said President, unleashed the Toclafane on Earth, and had the Doctor and his gang arrested. Worse still, everyone then spends 12 months enslaved and imprisoned by an increasingly insane dancing Master.
Even when the effects of the Master's year of terror are reversed, the trauma remains with the Doctor, Jack, the Jones family, and Lucy Saxon. A cold-hearted victory if there ever was one.