10 Most Cringeworthy Doctor Who Moments From The 70s

8. The Captain - The Pirate Planet (1978)

For the most part, guest stars on Doctor Who in the 1970s didn't feel the need to ham up their performances unless the script called for it, and sometimes they even resisted the siren call of the scenery calling to be chewed upon. Bruce Purchase, playing the Captain in The Pirate Planet in 1978, is not one of those guest stars. Granted, Douglas Adams' script specifically calls for a larger-than-life character who blusters all over everybody, and on that score Purchase delivers. But the script also calls for the Captain to be brilliant and to be putting on the bluster as a sort of act - and sadly, that part of the character never seems to come through. As far as the audience is concerned, it's all bluster - and it's all pretty cringey, at that. It's still an enjoyable story, despite the fact that so much of it revolves around this performance - and it's not even the most OTT performance that '70s Who has to offer. That's still coming. Oh, god, is that still coming...