Doctor Who: 15 Most Disastrous Stories Of All-Time

12. The Armageddon Factor

The climax of the season long 'Key to Time' arc was written by Bob Baker and Dave Martin, a lot was demanded of them for this story. The extended run time of 6 episodes might have been a good opportunity to build up suspense, tension and development but instead the story spends hours introducing excessive, irrelevant and ridiculous elements to fill time only to be hurriedly disposed of by the end. Artistically it's all a bit of a muddle too. There is a space station seemingly made of stone on the inside, whilst an opposing planet is built like a vision in beige and peach by Ikea. Wouldn't it make more sense aesthetically to switch those around? Filling a space station with concrete is just daft! What about the story arc? The first scene of the series' opening episode featured the White Guardian, who dispatched the Doctor on a quest to locate the pieces of the Key to Time. However here he is pretty much forgotten about. The climax of 'The Armageddon Factor' provides a rather muddled resolution. 'The Black Guardian' appears pretending to be 'the White Guardian', in order to claim the Key, only for the Doctor to re-disperse the key in time and space. Apart from undoing the work of the entire series, the White Guardian is currently probably still waiting for the Key to Time to restore the balance in time and space.