10 Times Doctor Who Definitely Wasn’t A Family Show
1. 3 Words - Dark Water / Death In Heaven
This may not be the most memorable, standout moment of Doctor Who ever, but it is most certainly the least family friendly concept ever explored in the show. Season 8’s two part finale Dark Water / Death in Heaven starts off with the unceremonious killing off of Danny Pink, whose consciousness is uploaded to a database known as the Nethersphere. Here, he grapples with trying to make amends with a young boy he shot and killed whilst serving with the military in Afghanistan, but the child is understandably terrified of him. Worryingly, this is only the third most disturbing plot thread in this episode.
Danny, along with every character that has ever died in the show (presumably including the likes of Amy and Rory) is brought back to life as a Cyberman, with the suggestion that every corpse on the planet has now been reanimated. This, understandably, upset a fair few viewers, and that’s without even touching on resurrecting the Brigadier as a metal murder machine just a few years after actor Nicholas Courtney’s passing.
Despite all this, there is one moment from the episode that resulted in the most Ofcom complaints that NuWho has ever received - a whopping 124 (and for good reason). Whilst it is a gloriously dark concept, it would have been far better suited to an episode of Torchwood, and wouldn't even look out of place in Black Mirror. I am, of course, referring to the scene in the 3W facility, where Doctor Chang plays Twelve and Clara a transmission that is supposedly from the voices of the recently deceased. In the transmission, voices can be heard crying and calling out:
“Don’t cremate me! Don’t cremate me!”
This was deemed too far by many due to many younger viewers finding it harrowing and deeply upsetting. Whilst it is hinted in the episode that this transmission is just a con, most viewers didn’t find this was explained explicitly enough.
Nice one, Moffat.