13 Darkest Doctor Who Endings Ever

The ending of Doctor Who and the Silurians shares a lot of DNA with Cold Blood and is another textbook example of the ‘humans ruin everything’ style of ending. After the Third Doctor has spent seven episodes trying to broker peace between humanity and the Silurians, it all goes horribly wrong.

But before then though, the Doctor has finally got through to the Silurians and for the most part has solved any further conflict with the trigger-happy humans. He entrusts his buddy, the Brigadier, to keep them safe. And Doccy Who wouldn’t have one of its loyal companions and main protagonists do anything bad, like say, a war crime, right?

Wrong.

As the Doctor walks away, exhausted yet hopeful, the Brigadier blows up the cave system, wiping out the defeated Silurians in a flash. The Doctor turns back, horrified. There’s no big showdown, no final speech, just a quiet look of betrayal.

It’s a chilling moment, wrapped in rubber suits and ’70s synths, but make no mistake – it’s one of the bleakest, most thought-provoking finales in Classic Who. Peace was possible, but humanity, quite literally, blew it.