10 Most Hated Doctor Who Episodes

You knew it was coming.

Once upon a time, Series 2’s Love & Monsters might have taken the top spot here, but in recent years, it’s slipped down the list. Besides, plenty of fans are starting to come around on this strange little 45 minutes of telly. It's something of a relic, a product of its time.

The first Doctor-lite episode of NuWho follows Elton Pope and his friends as they attempt to track down the Doctor with the help of Victor Kennedy - a character who might just hold the title of the worst villain in almost 60 years of Doctor Who.

A mixture of juvenile writing, the casting of Peter Kay, and the decision to let a literal child design the monster of the week culminates in a monstrosity of a final act, that derails what is otherwise a charming story about a group of wanderers finding purpose in each other. Nowadays though, all we can remember is Peter Kay waddling around in that disturbingly small loincloth.

The Abzorbaloff might be the main reason for the intense hatred this episode receives, but we would be remiss to not mention that ending. You know, the one where the Doctor ‘saves’ Ursula by subjecting her to an eternity of suffering and captivity as Elton’s slate sex toy. Did RTD even realise how bleak an ending this was, all for him to justify Doctor Who’s weirdest joke ever? It still makes us shudder.