10 Doctor Who Fates Worse Than Death
9. Turned into a Cyberman
The Cybermen are essentially human remains held together by cybernetic technology. That horrifying idea isn't explored much in the original series after the 1960s, aside from the cheap looking silver augmentations in the likes of Attack of the Cybermen and Silver Nemesis.
From 2005 onwards, there has been the Itchy & Scratchy style whizzing blades to infer the horrors of the conversion process, but it doesn't quite land. Cyberised Jackie is just a bloke in a Cybersuit, whilst the less said about James Corden's botched conversion the better.
It's not until World Enough and Time/The Doctor Falls that Steven Moffat finally cracks it. He converts Bill into a Cyberman, in order to save her life from the gaping gunshot wound in her chest. The fact that Bill's strength of will means that she retains her memories and knowledge of what happened to her is utterly nightmarish.
It's an astonishing performance by Pearl Mackie, and doubles up as one of the Master's few victories over the Doctor. Thankfully, Bill gets to escape her hellish, painful existence with the help of her girlfriend, a sentient puddle. Doctor Who's quite mad isn't it?