5 Biggest Doctor Who Anti-Climaxes (That Ruined the Stories They Were In)

5. Boom Town

Who to Blame? Russel T.Davies Boom Town is one of those episodes often referred to as a failure, particularly by die hard fans of the classic series. Personally I like the way it pays off or references several strands of plot introduced earlier in Series 1. It features the return of Blon Fel Fotch Passamere Day Slitheen for one and shows the second opening of the Torchwood rift first introduced in 'The Unquiet Dead'. However, the plot itself leaves a lot to be desired. Sort of like a giant anti-climax itself, the episode - so near to the end of the series - which should be raising the stakes and putting our heroes through some trying times instead features a nice meal out, boyfriend and girlfriend troubles and fixing an extrapolator for over half of the episode. True, the scenes in the diner between the Ninth Doctor and his Slitheen arch-nemesis are playfully tense. Power is passed from one to the other a few times and we get to see the Doctor assert himself in a new way but really it just wasn't what people wanted to see, a powerful episode six or seven perhaps but not an eleven. The worst sin that the episode commits is the deus-ex-machina cop out at the end. Blon the Slitheen has Rose, choking in her claw. If Jack or the Doctor take one step forward or do anything to save her then she will have her head cut off. Instead of following up on some clever element introduced earlier in the episode - perhaps Micky, determined to prove his worth comes through the TARDIS door to save the day - what happens is that the TARDIS opens up and we are introduced to a new, magical, as yet unmentioned power. The 'Heart of the TARDIS' when witnessed can make Slitheens turn into Raxacoricofallipatorian eggs. Instead of a heroic dénouement or an answer to the question that the entire episode has been asking - does the Doctor have the right to judge the lives and deaths of his enemies - we get a deus-ex-machina turning the enemy in question into an innocent unborn child. Its all very nice but is also a major anti climax.