Doctor Who: Every Series 1 Episode Ranked Worst To Best
5. The Unquiet Dead
One of the things people remembered most about Doctor Who when it wasn’t on the air was a particular feeling. It was exceedingly common for tabloids and the British public to nostalgically look back on how the Daleks could make viewers “hide behind the sofa."
Series 1 has no shortage of jump scares and creepy moments, but The Unquiet Dead represents a great example of something that the show doesn't do as often as it should: straight-up horror.
Arriving in 1869 Cardiff, the Doctor and Rose find themselves trapped in what appears to be a ghost story. They then deduce that the "ghosts" haunting a funeral home are in fact aliens made of gas, trapped in a temporal rift. The episode is short on action but is made up for by its consistently brilliant mood, and by being a unique period piece for the series.
The episode's true stars are guest actors Simon Callow in a brilliant turn as Charles Dickens, and Eve Myles as Gwyneth, so good that she famously came back later as Torchwood lead Gwen.
As a demonstration of the show's range, The Unquiet Dead slots nicely into the wheelhouse that Series 1 was building.