10 Doctor Who Moments That Broke The Fourth Wall

3. Morgus Madness (The Caves Of Androzani)

Doctor Who The Caves Of Androzani Morgus
BBC

The Caves Of Androzani is remembered for two main reasons: one, the regeneration of the Fifth Doctor (and subsequent introduction of the Sixth); and two, it's just a ruddy fantastic story all around.

But another, more overlooked reason why this serial is particularly notable is that it contains the most unusual fourth wall break in the entire show.

The villain of the piece, Morgus, will frequently turn to the camera mid-speech, delivering his next menacing line straight down the lens. These instances are so random and unusual that they'll absolutely take first-time viewers aback, but at the same time, they do give Morgus a bit more of a sinister air - the fact that he's able to break the fourth wall almost makes him seem more powerful.

These moments are said to have arisen when actor John Normington misunderstood a stage direction, only for director Graeme Harper to ultimately approve of his odd creative choice.

Incidentally, The Caves Of Androzani also contains another, likely more intentional fourth wall break, with the newly-regenerated Sixth Doctor delivering one of his first lines directly to the viewers at home.

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Danny has been with WhatCulture for over ten years, and is currently Doctor Who Editor and WhoCulture Channel Manager, overseeing all of WhatCulture's Whoniverse coverage. In 2022, he took charge of WhoCulture and has grown it into the biggest Doctor Who channel on YouTube, and one of the biggest Doctor Who communities on the web full-stop. He has been writing and video editing since his early teens, and first got a taste for content creation after making his own Doctor Who trailers, off the back of a burning obsession with the Matt Smith era of the show. Like many his age, he first got into Doctor Who with the 2005 revival, but has since gone back and fallen in love with the classic years too. If you need someone to recite every Doctor Who episode in order, or to give you a random factoid about the making of Gridlock, Danny is the person to ask!