10 Most Terrifying NuWho Doctor Who Episodes
4. Listen
In Listen, the Twelfth Doctor explores the idea of an entity with the perfect ability to hide and how it may be tied to a childhood fear everyone has of something grabbing them from under their bed.
The Doctor and Clara confront the childhood fear when a mysterious creature rises and takes shape beneath the blanket in a young Danny Pink's bedroom. Things get spine-chilling when the Doctor confesses he's also paralysed with fear by the unknown creature, as he once believed something grabbed him from under his bed one night. The Doctor and Clara follow the unknown entity to the end of the universe, where they encounter Colonel Orson Pink, who has been stranded for six months at the end of the universe with no one else with him.
The Doctor notices Orson has written the words "DON'T OPEN THE DOOR" on the airlock and questions why he should have to write that if he's the only one alive. As curiosity takes over him, the Doctor unlocks the seal in hopes that he can finally see the entity he has been following around. Listen is a clever reflection on the mind's own ability to fool and trick itself.
Playing on old childhood fears is classic Doctor Who fashion as it makes us question if we were alone all those times. The twist ending shows it was Clara who grabbed a young Doctor's leg all those years ago, causing him to obsess over the creature with the perfect ability to hide.