Doctor Who: 11 Previous Stories That The Peter Capaldi Era Should Learn From

7. Earthshock

It's hard to imagine how this story's production schedule would have played out if it had been made in the age of the internet. As things were, 1981 was the height of the new fan culture. Fanzines, official and less-so, were constantly scouring for news about the series. And the series, it must be remembered, had at this time a producer who was only to eager to play with that new fanbase with varying degrees of success (depending on whether he remembered to promote the show or just the American conventions at any given moment.) It's hard enough for a show being made today to pull off one surprise, let alone the one-two punch that Earthshock managed to pull off. First we made it to the end of the first episode without realizing that the story featured the Cybermen. (Sorry - mild spoilers for 1982 there...) Then, before we'd properly managed to process that we got to see Adric killed in a fiery Spaceship-crash. (Sorry - fairly major spoilers for 1982 there...). In this internet age, where we have access to so much production information that we're already beginning to discuss the thematic implications of what underwear Jenna Coleman might be wearing in episodes 9 and 10 of the next season. There's such a thing as too much, and it would be an amazing and wonderful thing to have a story take us that completely by surprise.