Doctor Who: 10 Most Infuriating Cliffhangers Of The Classic Series

4. Attack Of The Cybermen (Episode 1)

This isn't the worst Cybermen story of the 80s (that honour would have to go to Silver Nemesis!) but this serial still features an awful cliffhanger ending to Episode 1. As Cybermen invade the TARDIS (whatever happened to that "temporal grace" feature the TARDIS has that viewers learned about in Hand of Fear, where weapons couldn't be fired inside it? Guess the writers forgot about that one!), the Doctor stands watching them, looking on impassively. Peri screeches "No!" at the top of her lungs. Russell, an undercover cop accompanying them, also screams "No!", and is promptly shot dead. Peri screams "No!" again. Then, as the Cybermen surround Peri and threateningly raise their weapons in her direction, she screams "No!" one last time, scrunching her face up in a vague approximation of terror. It's just flat out goofy, really. The effect is more or less like something out of an episode of Mighty Morphing Power Rangers than anything approaching Doctor Who. The resolution in the following episode (the Doctor threatens to destroy the TARDIS unless the Cybermen spare Peri, and they believe him for apparently no reason whatsoever) is just plain weak as well. Lesson learned by the series makers? A bunch of people shouting "No!" at each other absolutely does not constitute a proper cliffhanger. Moving on...