10 Doctor Who Episodes That Had The Balls To GO THERE

If there's one thing Mark Gatiss can be relied upon to deliver, it's a memorable episode of Doctor Who – for better or worse!

The Crimson Horror is bonkers to the extreme, and unabashedly so. Set in 1890s Yorkshire, it's a body horror period piece involving a prehistoric red leech attached to Dame Diana Rigg's chest, whose venom paralyses people and turns them bright red.

Stylistically it's unlike almost anything in the modern series, fully leaning into its B-movie premise and Victorian trappings – particulary part way through, when the cast and crew of The Crimson Horror turn what would otherwise be a clunky, exposition-heavy middle segment into a truly unique sequence.

Rather than having the Doctor explain how he ended up blind, petrified, and held captive, the episode pauses for a silent-movie, hand-cranked flashback sequence that fills in the gaps. It's incredibly stylish and delightfully macabre.

The Crimson Horror leans heavily into penny-dreadful camp, showing a story that understands exactly how bizarre it is and gleefully leans all the way into it.

Like most Gatiss episodes and like a lot of Series 7B, it may be divisive and doesn't quite live up to its potential, but at the same time there's nothing else quite like it in the show.