Doctor Who: Best And Worst Story Of Each New Who Doctor
3. Tenth Doctor - Worst: Fear Her
David Tennant and RTD were a powerhouse together; never was the show more tonally consistent from episode to episode than in this run from seasons 2-4 and the subsequent specials. However, as will be the case in any show with such a broad scope and so many guest writers, there were definitely a few duds in the mix.
Episodes such as “Love and Monsters”, “The Idiot’s Lantern” and “Planet of the Dead” are often cited as being amongst the weakest of the Tenth Doctor era. None of those are worse, however, than “Fear Her.”
To be clear on something here; there’s no one single person who can be blamed for the failure of “Fear Her.” This episode wasn’t even meant to exist, with the eleventh episode slot originally earmarked for a script written by former QI-host Stephen Fry. Unfortunately, for whatever reason, Fry was unable to deliver his script and a replacement had to be made quickly.
The episode was further limited as it explicitly had to be “produced on the cheap” as they were saving money for the big finale that would be coming.
Matthew Graham’s script does quite a lot within the limitations that it faced. It does feel like an episode more aimed at kids than adults and apparently this was intentional. Abisola Agbaje plays Chloe Webber, the central antagonist of the episode. Although her performance is often criticized, the script does ask an awful lot of a child actor.
Requiring her to be simultaneously sinister, vulnerable, scared and angry. There are seasoned adult actors who would struggle to play all of those simultaneously, so there’s no wonder her performance falters a bit.
Although it surely was supposed to provide an iconic moment, setting the episode in such a short term future (this episode aired in 2006 and is set in 2012) has cheapened the story retroactively. The 2012 London Olympics have now passed and that seems really strange when looking back at the episode. Having The Doctor carry the Olympic torch after the runner collapses though errs just on the wrong side of cheesy.