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Metro
10-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Metro
I'm still mentally scarred by the darkest scene in Doctor Who history
The Doctor Who franchise is full of moments that have left a bruise on the British public's shared psyche. I'm thinking of scenes like Doctor Constantine vomiting up a gas mask, Amy sacrificing herself to the Weeping Angels, or a lone Dalek slaughtering an entire army of anonymous mooks. Yet there's one scene that I consider the darkest in Doctor Who's very long and storied history – and no, I'm not talking about James Corden's guest appearances. I'm talking about a scene in the Doctor Who spin-off Torchwood, specifically a horrifying moment in the third season, The Children of Earth. Now I've already written at length about how Children of Earth is one of the most shocking and, dare I say, harrowing stories ever set in the expanded Doctor Who universe. Wake up to find news on your TV shows in your inbox every morning with Metro's TV Newsletter. Sign up to our newsletter and then select your show in the link we'll send you so we can get TV news tailored to you. Yet, if you're not a dedicated reader of my Whoniverse ramblings, then I'll quickly explain the plot of the 2009 miniseries. Basically, a group of aliens known as the 456 travel to Earth and demand 10% of all the kids on the planet, otherwise they'll wipe out humanity. Why? Well, the 456 use the chemicals found in the blood of children to get high. It's a really disturbing revelation in a story that's already incredibly creepy was so different from any Torchwood story before it. Prior to this, I'd always thought of Torchwood as Doctor Who's try-hard younger brother who was so desperate to be edgy it almost veered into parody. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Children of Earth, however, was more akin to a Lovecraftian horror story where the villains were less pantomime baddies and more unknowable eldritch things beyond our comprehension. Still, there's one scene in this already horrifying story that takes things to an entirely new level. It happens in the final episode of the season, Day 5 – which was broadcast 16 years ago today – and involves the character John Frobisher (played brilliantly by Peter Capaldi, who obviously went on to play a much bigger role in the Doctor Who franchise). Throughout Children of Earth, Frobisher was the archetypical beleaguered bureaucrat, a dedicated civil servant who was completely out of his depth when he was thrust into the role of ad-hoc ambassador to the terrifying aliens. It's out of a grim sense of duty – and a genuine belief that he's helping humanity – that he helps decide which children will be given to the aliens and comes up with the cover story to explain their disappearance. In the final episode, however, the Prime Minister reveals a secret to Frobisher, telling him that to make the story believable, the Government must be seen to be 'victims' as well and that Frobisher's daughters Lilly and Holly are to be given to the 456. As Frobisher protests, knowing that would doom his daughters to an eternity as a living bong, the Prime Minister tells him that nothing he can say or do will save the girls from their fate. At this point I presumed I knew where the story was going. Things looked hopeless but this was a Doctor Who story. Surely our heroes could technobabble their way out of the problem or maybe the Doctor would land his Tardis and save the day? Sadly Children of Earth isn't that kind of story. So, Frobisher heads home and in a scene that's left a psychic scar in my brain ever since I saw it, we see Frobisher walking upstairs with a pistol hidden behind his back, while his daughters play in a bedroom with his wife. In silence, we watch Frobisher enter the room and close the door. Three gunshots then scream out. There's a pause before a final fourth shot, and Frobisher's story comes to an end. Frobisher's murder suicide is without a doubt the darkest thing we've ever seen in any Doctor Who story. A horrendous act, committed out of love for children, and a genuine desire to save them from a fate worse than death. It's unthinkable, while also somehow understandable, which just adds to the terror. Yet, the real sting in this tale is that Frobisher's horrendous act was ultimately pointless. Torchwood manages to save the day in the end and banish the 456 back to whatever hellscape planet they came from. John killed his family for nothing. Although he could never have known it, the Torchwood team figured out a way to stop the 456, although this required Jack Harkness to sacrifice his grandson to do so. I remember at the time being shell-shocked by what I'd just seen; the deaths of not one but three children in a Doctor Who spin-off were just unthinkable. After all, while death is the Doctor's constant companion (as Sutekh once told us), kids tend to be safe from the reaper's scythe. Not in Children of Earth, though. More Trending In Children of Earth, kids were fair game, and not just for shock value. Their deaths mattered and were to underline the fact that even in a fantastical world of Doctor Who, there are dangers that even the Doctor and his companions can't save everyone from. So, you can forget Cybermen invasions, the Judoon platoon upon the moon, or whatever those water zombies on Mars were up to – this is the darkest moment in Doctor Who history, and I'll argue with anyone who says otherwise. View More » After I've come out from behind the sofa. Do you have a story you'd like to share? Get in touch by emailing Share your views in the comments below. 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Metro
06-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Metro
It's been 16 years since the most 'disturbing' Doctor Who story ever
If you're reading this, you're likely a big Doctor Who fan and who can blame you? The iconic British sci-fi show has been on the box for 61 years now, charming viewers across the world with its colourful characters, creative stories, and wonky special effects (and it's showing no signs of slowing down, with the recent series fronted by Ncuti Gatwa having an episode described as the best in years). Yet while Doctor Who is nominally a family show, the series does have a reputation for being surprisingly scary when it wants to be. There are episodes where gas mask-wearing zombies swarm across London, companions have been chopped into bits and turned into Cybermen, and who could forget the Weeping Angels? Still, as terrifying as these Doctor Who stories are, there's one tale that's so terrifying it left viewers 'traumatised'. Wake up to find news on your TV shows in your inbox every morning with Metro's TV Newsletter. Sign up to our newsletter and then select your show in the link we'll send you so we can get TV news tailored to you. The story in question is called The Children of Earth, and it was told in the Doctor Who spin-off Torchwood. The Children of Earth was Torchwood's third season, and it saw Captain Jack Harkness and his team defending the Earth against a new alien threat called the 456. The 456 weren't invading aliens like the Daleks or Cybermen, though; they were far more insidious. These strange creatures came to our planet not to conquer but because they wanted our most valuable resource. So what were they after? Our children, of course. Specifically, they wanted 10% of the Earth's children or all life on Earth would be wiped out. What makes this premise so horrifying isn't just the fact that it involves children; it's the reason these strangers from another world want the kids. They don't need the children to survive; they want them because the chemicals in the children allow the 456 to get high. But surely the Doctor will arrive to save the day? Sorry, it's not that type of story. To say Children of Earth is darker than a goth's favourite pair of black jeans doesn't do it justice. It's a genuinely grim story that explores some really dark themes and ideas that I can't explain here without requiring a trigger warning or six – but they touch on governmental abuse of power, exploitation of children, and that old favourite of first-year philosophy students the world over, utilitarianism. Don't take my word for it, though, the fans agree with me. One reviewer on IMDB wrote that Children of Earth is 'one serious, intense bit of drama!' On Rotten Tomatoes – where the series has a 100% Rotten Tomatoes score – reviewers have written that this is 'easily the best Torchwood Season with great emotional scenes' while another added it's 'the best-written serial of a television show I have ever seen'. The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances – Gas mask wearing zombies? No thank you. – Gas mask wearing zombies? No thank you. Midnight – The Doctor battles an unseen entitiy that steals his voice? Terrifying stuff. – The Doctor battles an unseen entitiy that steals his voice? Terrifying stuff. The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit – Doctor Who does The Exorcist. – Doctor Who does The Exorcist. Countrycide – Torchwood battle a bunch of cannablistic villagers who aren't even aliens… they just like how the meat tastes. – Torchwood battle a bunch of cannablistic villagers who aren't even aliens… they just like how the meat tastes. Blink – You know it you love it. You'll be too scared to watch it – You know it you love it. You'll be too scared to watch it Children of the Earth – Need I say more… Another user, meanwhile, claimed, 'Torchwood's Children of Earth should be rated H (Humans Only) for disturbing scenes that might give ideas to extraterrestrials. It's an enjoyable mini-series, filled with humour, good acting, and a brilliant plot. It's bloody excellent.' More Trending On Reddit, Brimstone747 added: 'Children of Earth dropped my jaw like nothing else on television. I kept waiting for The Doctor to show up and save the day.' Jarita12 perhaps put it best however when they wrote: 'Bloody amazing but really hard to re-watch.' Torchwood Children of Earth is available to stream on BBC iPlayer. Got a story? If you've got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@ calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we'd love to hear from you. View More » MORE: 'I lost my daughter in the London 7/7 bombings, this is her story' MORE: BBC quietly adds second season of TV series fans hailed 'bizarrely dark' MORE: Gary Lineker claims BBC should 'hold their heads in shame' for shelving Gaza documentary
