10 Times Doctor Who Became The Weirdest Drama On TV

4. Ghost Light

The Seventh Doctor era took time to get its act together, and despite Sylvester McCoy evolving into the dark, manipulative figure of "Time's Champion", there were some decidedly oddball moments along the way. A dissident being drowned in strawberry sauce... cat people riding horses... the Cybermen being flummoxed by jazz... not forgetting of course a deranged robot bus conductor. But his number one tale that witnessed madness had to be Ghost Light, which saw the Doctor and Ace rock up at Victorian pile Gabriel Chase, a house in the midst of a bizarre occupation. Cobwebbed naturalist Josiah Samuel Smith (Ian Hogg) battled to keep the husky, Gollum-like Control (Sharon Duce) locked in the basement. And speaking of husks, an insect and a lizard (another one!) roamed around beneath the floor in dinner suits. A disapproving vicar being turned into a primate via a tainted banana is worthy of note, but the really eye-popping element was Light, the superbeing eventually released in Part Three. Dressed like an Aztec version of Liberace, it surprised viewers up and down the country when imposing actor John Hallam opened his mouth... and an extremely high-pitched voice came out!