10 Doctor Who Moments You Didn't Get As A Kid (But Do As An Adult)

3. The Eleventh Doctor's Sonic Extension

Doctor Who The Crimson Horror Matt Smith sonic screwdriver
BBC Studios

The sonic screwdriver as a phallic metaphor has been a Steven Moffat trope since The Empty Child and The Doctor Dances, but nowhere is it more prominent than in the bizarre scene from The Crimson Horror in which the Eleventh Doctor suddenly becomes a bit of a sleazeball.

Blame it on bad writing or the effects of the Mr Sweet's poison, but the bit where a revitalised Eleventh Doctor forces himself on Jenny is a touch uncomfortable to watch, and to make matters worse, he's still lusting after her even after she gives him a slap!

Later in the episode when Jenny whips off her ordinary Victorian garb to reveal a leather catsuit underneath, the Doctor, watching on, casually moves his sonic screwdriver from a horizontal position... to a vertical one.

Doctor Who The Crimson Horror Eleventh Doctor
BBC Studios

D'you get it guys? D'you get it?!

Innocent kids at home hopefully wouldn't make the connection, and would likely be confused, or just wouldn't even notice the moment at all. Or maybe they thought the Doctor was just getting his sonic screwdriver ready to help Jenny fight the bad guys!

Elsewhere, Jenny's leather costume is a clear reference to Crimson Horror guest star Diana Rigg's iconic character Emma Peel from The Avengers TV series, another reference that would completely pass by all of the kids watching this episode.

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Citizen of the Universe, Film Programmer, Writer, Podcaster, Doctor Who fan and a gentleman to boot. As passionate about Chinese social-realist epics as I am about dumb popcorn movies.