10 Doctor Who Moments That Broke The Fourth Wall

1. The Clumsy Zarbi (The Web Planet)

Doctor Who The Shakespeare Code witch
BBC Studios

While this is a different kind of fourth wall break when compared to the rest of our list, it's just too funny to not give a shout-out to.

So far, we've discussed moments where characters talk (or look) directly to the camera. But did you know there are a couple of moments in the show where characters interact with the camera, on a physical level?

Just over five minutes into the third episode of 1965's The Web Planet, there's a quick moment where one of the ant-like Zarbi creatures is charging down a narrow opening, only to run straight into the camera, causing the shot to wobble out of position. The poor stunt guy bolted into that bug suit clearly couldn't see where he was going, creating a bizarre blooper that, strangely, wasn't removed from the final edit - check it out for yourself in the video below.

The Zarbi weren't the last villains to interact with the camera either. During the battle between the Imperial and Renegade Daleks in the fourth episode of 1988's Remembrance Of The Daleks, the scene ends with one of the Renegades firing a blast of energy right at the camera, destroying it, and causing a transition to the next scene.

It's an interesting touch that effectively demonstrates the power of these Renegade models... until they're completely obliterated by the Special Weapons Dalek moments later, that is.

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Danny has been with WhatCulture for almost nine years, and is currently Doctor Who Editor and WhoCulture Channel Manager, overseeing all of WhatCulture's Whoniverse coverage. He has been writing and video editing for 10+ years, and first got a taste for content creation after making his own Doctor Who trailers and uploading them to YouTube (they're admittedly a bit rusty by today's standards). If you need someone to recite every Doctor Who episode in order or to tell you about the making of 1988's Remembrance of the Daleks, Danny is the person to ask.