Doctor Who: 10 Worst Things That Have Happened To The Doctor At Christmas
9. Getting His Brains Sucked Out By A Dream Crab
The 2014 Christmas special was a literal nightmare for the Twelfth Doctor.
Not only did he have the difficult task of trying to discern dream from reality (both are just as ridiculous as each other in the Doctor Who world, so it's tough to tell them apart), but he spent a good chunk of the episode having his brains munched on by horrifying aliens called Kantrofarri - also known as dream crabs.
These facehugger-esque creatures attach themselves to the faces of their victims, drill into their temples, and start slowly dissolving their brains. Even Time Lords are powerless to defend against an assault like this, and even though the dream crabs place their victims into a comfortable dream state, it's still quite a disturbing situation for the Doctor (along with the episode's entire supporting cast) to find himself in.
In the end though, the Doctor was able to escape the dream crabs with a little help from Santa, and his brains were prevented from being turned into bland, mushy goop.