As any dedicated television viewer knows, we are currently enjoying a wealth of quality TV shows. Indeed, one might argue we are in a new “Golden Age” of television. While debates rage about the best shows, a more universal truth is that even the most acclaimed series often have episodes that miss the mark. It’s simply the law of averages. This brings us to a recurring exploration: revisiting those episodes deemed the absolute worst in otherwise beloved TV programs to see if they truly deserve their reputation.
For our first deep dive into television missteps, we turn to a show deeply familiar to this writer: Doctor Who. Specifically, we’re focusing on the revived series, from 2005 onwards. The original run of Doctor Who certainly had its share of less-than-stellar moments, and revisiting something like “The Twin Dilemma,” often cited as a low point of the classic era, isn’t on today’s agenda.
Doctor Who Fear Her episode promo image featuring David Tennant and Billie Piper.
According to a comprehensive Doctor Who Magazine poll, where readers ranked every story from best to worst across both the classic and new series, one episode stands out as the lowest ranked from the modern era by a significant margin: Series Two, episode 11, “Fear Her.” Nestled between “Love & Monsters,” another frequently criticized episode, and the emotional two-part finale “Army of Ghosts/Doomsday” which marked Rose Tyler’s (Billie Piper) heartbreaking departure, “Fear Her” occupies a unique space in Doctor Who infamy.
To be completely transparent, my own experience with “Fear Her” was limited to a single viewing during my initial watch-through of Series Two. My recollection wasn’t of utter awfulness, but rather of an episode easily forgotten and not worth revisiting. Episodes like “The End of Time,” in contrast, evoke genuine dislike, and personally, I’d rank them far lower than “Fear Her.” Yet, “Fear Her” consistently draws the most negative attention, making it the prime candidate for this examination. Before re-watching for this article, I realized it might be the only Doctor Who episode I had only ever seen once. Could it truly be as bad as its reputation suggests?
Doctor Who Fear Her episode promo image featuring David Tennant and Billie Piper.
Honesty compels me to admit: this episode is indeed weak. Perhaps I had subconsciously downplayed its flaws, remembering it as merely unremarkable rather than truly terrible. Its forgettable nature doesn’t help its case. Adding to the initial viewing experience, the episode’s production values are clearly rooted in the early Standard Definition era of the show, predating the feature-film quality special effects that became a hallmark later on. It’s easy to forget the show’s humbler visual origins before it reached its global phenomenon status. While the SD quality isn’t the root cause of the episode’s problems, it certainly doesn’t enhance its appeal in retrospect.
Let’s delve into the episode’s specific shortcomings. “Fear Her” unfortunately embodies a recurring issue within Series Two: an abundance of saccharine, romantic glances and asides between the Doctor and Rose. To borrow a phrase, it’s excessively sentimental. This tendency was prevalent throughout the series, largely intended to amplify the tragedy of their impending separation in the finale. (Rose’s subsequent return in Series Four somewhat diminishes the impact of that goodbye, but that’s a separate issue.) While this romantic subplot is a series-wide characteristic, it’s particularly noticeable and distracting in “Fear Her,” serving as unwelcome window dressing.
Doctor Who Fear Her episode promo image featuring David Tennant and Billie Piper.
“Fear Her” was penned by Matthew Graham, a seasoned television writer then riding high from the success of Life on Mars, a critically acclaimed series blending science fiction, police procedural elements, and interpersonal drama. Regrettably, “Fear Her” draws on none of these strengths. Instead, it awkwardly attempts to be a neighborhood-centric comedy intertwined with family drama, and the result is profoundly underwhelming. The episode is inexplicably set in 2012 during the London Olympics, six years in the future at the time of airing. However, beyond the Olympic Games serving as a backdrop detail, it has virtually no bearing on the plot. It merely provides a flimsy justification for the episode’s climax: the Doctor inexplicably lighting the Olympic torch. A truly baffling and unnecessary plot device.
But let’s address the core narrative. The episode centers on Chloe Webber, a young girl who becomes host to a diminutive alien jellyfish-like creature. This alien, inexplicably entering her mouth, grants Chloe the power to make anything she draws vanish. Consequently, drawings of neighborhood children and other figures result in their actual disappearance. The motivation behind this is vague at best. This alien is portrayed as an immature, lost youth, separated from its family and drawn to Chloe due to her own loneliness and difficult past. It’s heavily implied that Chloe’s deceased father was abusive, evidenced by a disturbing drawing of him adorning her closet wall. The Doctor deduces that the alien needs to rejoin its pod to return home, but the pod requires heat to function. After the Doctor himself becomes a victim of Chloe’s drawings, Rose must resolve the situation independently. She succeeds just as everyone in the Olympic stadium vanishes (apparently Chloe drew each individual person, but not the stadium itself?) and just as Chloe is poised to complete a drawing encompassing the entire Earth.
Doctor Who Fear Her episode promo image featuring David Tennant and Billie Piper.
Beyond the overarching plot issues, several specific elements contribute to the episode’s failings: 1) The child actress’s performance, while not inherently her fault, is hindered by the direction to portray the alien’s voice as a loud whisper emanating from Chloe. 2) The episode features a “graphite squiggle monster.” Yes, a monster constructed from graphite squiggles. Furthermore, the Doctor remarkably defeats it by erasing it with a standard eraser. 3) The confined setting to a single, sparsely populated neighborhood raises questions. Where is this neighborhood located in relation to the bustling Olympic Games? Any area near an Olympic stadium in 2012 would have been teeming with crowds, not eerily deserted streets with a handful of onlookers. 4) The alien’s powers and their mechanics remain utterly unexplained and nonsensical. 5) The logic of Chloe drawing the Earth and potentially disappearing herself, being on the planet, is never adequately addressed. 6) The resolution, where returning the drawings somehow breaks the spell and inexplicably revives the drawing of her abusive father, is convoluted and makes little sense. She didn’t make the father disappear in the first place. 7) Rose’s impatience is exaggerated to comedic levels. She begins complaining about the Doctor’s absence mere seconds after he vanishes.
Are there any redeeming qualities? Scarcely. David Tennant delivers his characteristic “word-vomit” style dialogue with some entertaining moments, but overall, the episode is remarkably devoid of substance. “Fear Her” was reportedly a last-minute replacement, conceived and written rapidly when a Stephen Fry script was delayed. The rushed production is painfully evident. It’s undeniably one of the least developed Doctor Who stories, with a production value that feels remarkably low-budget. Is it definitively the worst Doctor Who episode ever? While personal opinions may vary, and arguably worse episodes exist, it’s easy to see why “Fear Her” consistently ranks so low and why many fans might understandably never choose to watch it again.
Doctor Who Fear Her episode promo image featuring David Tennant and Billie Piper.
And there you have it: a re-examination of “Fear Her.” Hopefully, this exploration wasn’t too painful. We aim to continue this series, delving into other television shows and their infamous episodes. Let us know in the comments which TV programs and their widely disliked episodes you’d like us to investigate next. There’s certainly ample material to choose from. And perhaps, if there’s enough conflicting opinions, we might even revisit some shows multiple times.
