10 Terrifying Doctor Who Monsters That Had Us Hiding Behind The Sofa

Remember the time that Doctor Who chose to casually drop Satan himself in as the monster-of-the-week, mid series? Fun times.

The Impossible Planet / The Satan Pit is a fan favourite two-parter and the clear highlight of the otherwise cringe-laden series two. The episode strands Ten and Rose on Krop Tor, an asteroid circling a black hole, along with your standard base-under-siege crew and an army of Ood. The Ood are iconic but they aren’t in and of themselves frightening, nor is the CGI disaster that is The Beast itself.

Instead, the true horror in this episode comes early doors, when the disembodied consciousness of The Devil possesses Toby. As the crew’s resident archaeologist studies an artifact, he hears a voice taunting him. After initially assuming it’s a fellow crew mate winding him up (in typical Doctor Who fashion) he concedes that the voice is something else entirely. The voice tells him not to turn around and look, or he will die. It mocks Toby, telling him that it’s coming closer, and is right behind him. The voice gets louder and louder, and then, just as this disembodied presence is about to reach out, it disappears. We think for a moment that Toby is safe, that is, until his skin is suddenly covered in ancient runes and his eyes turn red. It’s a simple scene, but thanks to some claustrophobic direction and stellar voice acting from Gabriel Woolf, it’s atmospheric and creepy as hell, playing on the inherent horror of possession, and establishing the threat level of The Devil quickly and efficiently. The following scene where a possessed Toby murders Scooty by depressurising the hallway she’s in is also pretty haunting stuff.