Doctor Who's WORST EPISODE EVER came out in 2006 - and it will always be the worst 

A playlist of videos covering the issues with the BBC and transphobic reporting: ru-vid.com/group/PLmWFOeT2jEofVIDW9X3OL7GqWuX3Dxopu

Rose: "He's your dad" Toymaker: "Well that's alright then!"

As someone with abusive parents (also growing up queer in an incredibly homophobic family and under Section 28 in the 80s/90s in the UK) who has been re-traumatised a million times by people ‘pulling a Rose’ because “you only get one mum/dad!”, the strength of your rant did me the world of good. Thank you for helping people to recognise the problem. No matter what the kid does, it’s never ever their fault, or their responsibility to have to pander to or emotionally regulate their abuser. You don’t have to forgive in order to heal.

The action/words from Rose are understandable. The acceptance and framing of her words by the episode is not.

It is in character for Rose, but Tommy should respond with "No he isn't. He's my father, but he hasn't earned the title dad." something along those lines anyway. Let it be a lesson for Rose about how a parent is more than a biological relationship. It would also work for The Doctor to say it, but it would be more powerful coming from Tommy. Obviously, The Doctor should be on his side.

As an abuse victim I literally did not realize rose was wrong because that is what has been normalized for me. 😶

Worst part is Gatiss said he based it on his own relationship with his homophobic dad.

I like to think Tommy came up to him and went "here let me carry that for you to the station to make sure you're actually leaving :)" And Eddie leaves, and when he writes where once used to be his home, Tommy silently burns the letter without opening it.

Being through Tommy's position myself makes it hard to imagine the writer really understands abuse/trauma to write that ending.

Honestly, you can can Eddy a cartoon character all you want, but people have called my father cartoonishly evil, and he behaves remarkably like Eddy. We stopped going to church when I was about 10 because the new pastor confronted my father about punching my brother in the pews. These people very much still exist.

Incoming rant about the part at the end where Rose makes the boy forgive his father instantly and reunites him with his abuser

I think what also separates the idiots lantern from other morally gross episodes is that it has the such a higher chance of leading to actual real world harm. Nobody is going to watch kill the moon and change their view on abortion. Someone might watch the idiots lantern while wanting to leave an abusive situation but feeling guilty about it and think okay maybe I'll give it one more chance. That's the real issue with these narratives is that it plays into the insecurity of victims to keep them victimized.

Rose: "he's your dad" Tommy: "I'll trade him for a dead one"

I'm not sure if I've said this before or just thought it. If it was just Rose pushing the "better a bad dad than no dad" idea because of her own hang-ups, then that would be less problematic - not a free pass by any stretch of the imagination, but an understandable misguided in-character position. I completely agree that having everything else in the scene take Rose's side is what takes it from "oops" to "oh hell no!" levels of wrongness.

I watched this episode as a teenager and I remember it gave me hope about my situation with my abusive mom (it wasn't really in my mind that much, but I remember how I liked it). As expected, that wasn't the reality. I broke off contact eight years ago and have no desire to return, because I know she won't change. And I am happy this way. I am free, I am learning that I am loved the way I am, and I can surround myself with people of my chosing and that help me come to accept myself. I honestly forgot about this episode and how bad the message is until I watched your video. It's so wild looking back to this now. He should have never been told (and even worse by another person using their authority over him!) to run after his dad. Thanks for making this video and also thank you for your message in the end.

Another good moment the doctor says Mr connelly what gender is queen , Mr connelly says female and the doctor says and are you suggesting the queen does the housework , Mr connelly says well no , then the doctor says then get to it

I think the main theme of that ending is forgiveness. Does it portray it well? Absolutely not. I know I've thought about forgiving my abuser, but I've also had to think about would it be worth it? What would be the point? if the abuser feels bad and genuinely wants to change, and has taken steps to do so, is forgiveness earned? Do they even deserve it? The ending was too quick for the theme to really apply well, like you said, it's been less than a minute, that's not enough time for anyone to reflect and change. I think that's what Gatiss was trying to imply, but it didn't work at all.

The only kind thing I can say about this episode is that it highlights/demonstrates the cycle of abuse (which is increasing tension -> incident -> reconciliation -> calm or "down time" as Vera says -> rising tension -> incident -> etc, rather than the layperson/fandom definition of "person is abused who goes on to abuse others") really well without holding the audience's hand or holding up a whole bunch of flashing neon signs pointing at it. As for the rest, I hold the same opinion about "Idiot's Lantern" that Vera does.

The Wire started off as a creepy and chilling villain, but quickly became an annoying 1 dimensional entity that screams "Hungry!" every few seconds. This villain had legs and could've been memorable for all the right reasons...instead we got something that was either irritating or just forgettable. The ending of Tommy walking with his dad felt like a complete U-turn for the character, what they should've done is have Tommy say to Rose "Yes, he is my dad. But, that doesn't excuse his actions. The house will be quieter and a better place to live in without him." and the episode ends with Eddie walking down the street, alone.

Vera, this sounds personal to you. You know what this situation is like. So do I. Thank you for pointing it out. I felt the same way at the end of this episode. I was screaming at the screen, “No, Tommy! Don’t go to him. Let the asshole go!” I let the asshole go and have never regretted it. I had peace in my life ever after. Hope you did too.

Even disregarding the abuse, it is NEVER the responsibility of the CHILD to save the PARENT. And then to add the abuse on top of that. Yeah, this episode is absolutely awful

For decades I thought my mom was like the woman in this episode, afraid to stand up to my abusive step-father. One day she mentioned that I left home so I could drop out of school. I was floored. I _ran away_ from home because my verbally abusive step-father crossed the line into physical violence. "But you weren't _really_ hurt, though." 😳 The fuq? She _literally_ couldn't imagine that ignoring physical violence in her home was the reason I left. Not only that, she _told_ people I was just a selfish kid who wanted to drop out of school. We do not forgive abusers. We do not reconcile with abusers. They victimized us. They deserve what they get.

"But family!" is one of the worst things people say. No one should ever put the wishes of "the family" above their own needs. Like all relationships, family relationships need to be properly established and maintained. No one is entitled to any kind of relationship with anyone.

I don't think it would even be difficult to rewrite the ending on the same hopeful note - Tommy: .....should I go after him? Doctor or Rose: It's up to you. He did horrible things to you and your mum, but if you and she are willing to give him another chance, that's your choice. cue hopeful music as Tommy steels himself to go have a hard conversation. It's still not perfect, but it gives Tommy some *agency*, agency that he did not have under his father's control. It's not a responsibility, it's a choice, and one that he would be perfectly valid to say "no" about. I don't know. I understand the narrative desire to imply redemption, but they also didn't give Eddy any hints that Eddy has even the potential to be redeemable during the episode beyond "He is sad now." Maybe they should have just let him leave without fanfare, or had Rose confront *Eddy* and warn him that if he doesn't make it up to his son now he will never get another chance. Almost anything would be better than the ending they went with.

This episode always pissed me off. As someone who grew up with a wildly verbally abusive mother i just couldn't with this episode. Our mother never hit us, but the verbal abuse, manipulation, control, gaslighting, etc still took its toll. The abuse doesn't have to be physical to be irreparably damaging and deeply traumatizing. My whole life I've heard that "but she's your mother" bullshit and it never stops pissing me off. Because yeah, she is, so why the fuck does it only go one way? "That's your parent" and somehow that means that we're duty bound to forgive them no matter what. But it NEVER goes the other way, it's never "but that's your child, so how could you do that?" "But that's your child, so why didn't you do better, why don't you try harder?" And I don't blame Rose. I get that her own trauma surrounding losing her dad is closing her judgement. She's human, and SO young in the show, like 20 or 21 if I recall correctly. The Doctor though, being like 900 years old and a lot wiser than Rose, and having seen so much shit, he should've known better. He should've never suggested Tommy reconcile with his father, or set Rose up to say what she did. The tacit endorsement of this episode that you should always forgive your abuser, try to "save them" and that above all "that's still your parent" is bullshit. Thank you for your rant. From someone who's no contact with my parents for good reason, it's much appreciated.

I wish they had the Wire feed off the Doctor and steal his other faces. Like Rose and the Doctor both get ambushed in the TV shop and while Rose loses her face, the Doctor doesn't seem phased until he sees Hartnell's face on the TV. Or, if they did this episode today, you could even have the Doctor be the solution, where he overloads her with his many faces (which we know are more than we've seen on the screen)

What hurts me is that given the time Tommy would likely have been physically abused as well as emotionally. Likewise his mum, there was little protection for women from their abusive husband’s. Material r@pe wasn’t criminalised until the 90s here in the UK, it wasn’t until the 60s that ‘no fault’ divorce became legal but it was still taboo for the woman up until the 80s. Sadly we British have a ‘put up with it, smile on, think of England, stiff upper lip’ etc etc. Even now inter partners abuse, child-parent abuse isn’t recognised unless extreme or physical. It breaks my heart that when I watched this as a child I noticed a similarity between my father. 😢

You're completely right! That was an absolutely horrendous ending to an already crappy episode! Making it far the worst Doctor Who episode.

As someone who had a biological father that was as bad as Eddy, and in other ways far far worse, the ending of this ep felt horrible to me. Like, I saw it coming and I hoped with every fibre of my being they'd avoid it but nope, they charged into it with gusto. And I also felt sorry for Magpie, a victim in all of this, that was eliminated just for the sake of not having an 'everybody lives' moment. He's the one pleading to be freed and he gets blinked out like a nothing. I wish there was a way for Magpie to have survived and maybe Tommy to take an apprenticeship at his shop. Stand on his own away from Eddy, yes it's still a big ask to put that on Tommy's shoulders but it's better than what we got. Two sufferers gaining strength in two very different ways to face the next day without regret.

While Idiot's Lantern is both repugnant and bad, I think that Kill the Moon and Kerblam! have the issue that they're morally repugnant on a systemic level instead of just an interpersonal one. I actually don't think Arachnids in the UK is morally repugnant, just bad and confused. Suffocation is, apparently, how spiders are disposed of during testing, but it just comes off as weird nonsense as opposed to humane termination. Also if I had a nickel for every time The Doctor murdered spider babies through asphyxiation, I'd have two nickels, which isn't a lot but it is weird that it's happened twice.

TW/CW: ABUSE Thank you so so much for being so goddamn angry about the abuse "but he's your dad" BS that they wrote in, as an abuse victim who has fully cut off my entire (extended) family from 21 years of abuse (I'm 21) causing many issues including C-PTSD, as well as having been in a extremely abusive relationship that thankfully ended a few months ago. I have to go to the supreme court in my state to appeal a deeply flawed and biased domestic violence protection order being denied because "they're your parents and I'm a parent so I understand 🥺" BULLSHIT. It's just caused a lot of issues and when people talk about parents being abusive, if they change the word parent to partner, people seem to understand, whereas if it's your parent, that somehow makes it okay?!! So again, thank you so so much, it is refreshing to hear 😅❤

As someone who has gone no contact with their parents, this analysis is spot on. Sadly, in real life, I've heard Rose's advice far more often than I've heard support for what I've done to protect myself.

Re the comparisons to other episodes (Kill the Moon, etc) - The Idiot's Lantern is also a problem because its message is more likely to actually negatively affect people's lives. Arachnids in the UK isn't going to make anybody think shooting something is worse than letting something suffocate to death, and even if it did, that's probably not a scenario they'll find themselves in. Kerblam has that same second problem - even if it does end up influencing someone's views on capitalism, they're probably not going to find themselves in a situation where that actually matters. The Kill The Moon abortion reading is probably the closest to influencing someone negatively, but due to it being a confused allegory (intentional or not) rather than a depiction, "we should be against abortion" probably isn't the main takeaway from Clara choosing to save the Moon (and then it laying another egg so everything's ok). Instead, most people are going to think it's just a bad episode. And that's the case for all these: there's a technical problem with the writing, so that's what's criticised more. The message becomes unimportant, and even when it's not, it's likely treated with more scrutiny like the rest of the episode. Meanwhile, Tommy's situation is something many abuse victims WILL likely be in - the choice to stay in contact with the abuser or to cut them off. The main takeaway here IS that the first option is positive, and has a much higher chance of influencing an abuse victim to stay/get in touch with their abuser than say Arachnids in the UK has to get someone to make a spider suffocate to death. And there are no technical writing flaws or other dimensions to it to balance that out. Great video!

The thing is for those of us who experienced this type of toxic abusive environment, this was the reaction when we told people! We were told, oh they just can't communicate, oh we miss understood, oh but he's a good man in public, he's just teasing, he's just kidding, don't be so sensitive. My friends said those things! They were roses age. The difference is their parents loved them. I completely agree with what you said, but I also think a mirror needs held up here that that is true to the real life story. The Dr should have said something different, but roses lines were spot on Incidentally the cartoonish display of his abuse also leads into this point, because its so over the top you can't miss it but people still take his threats as jokes. That's so close to the bone

This same crappy message is also why I ended up hating the new Color Purple movie after I'd been totally on board for most of it. The movie literally says that any abuse victim who doesn't forgive their abuser and become friends with them will go to Hell. Maybe that's true to the original book, I haven't read it, but I definitely don't remember it in the Spielberg film, and you'd think anyone adapting the story now would know not to include it.

No Vera, why would you put yourself through this again!!!???

It's a shame that The Master isn't The Doctor's secret sibling, because then The Doctor might be aware of the fact that Just Because Someone Is Related To You, That Doesn't Mean They're Not A Monster.

Idiot’s Lantern: Second Turn

"Is his son too good to do the work that his old man does?" If you'd asked my dad that question, his answer would have been "YES!" He absolutely didn't want me to end up like him. Then again, he also knew (or claimed to know) Jamie Foreman's father, back when he was involved with the seedier side of life in London. Speaking of, while I haven't seen a massive amount of Jamie Foreman's work, in this he is very similar to his role in "Law and Order: UK", in which he played a bigoted Metropolitan PC who left a gay colleague alone to die rather than render aid.

Before seeing the video I am cautiously disagreeing with open to changing my mind once I learn which specific episode and your reasoning. But for now I think the worst Doctor Who episode ever is the one where the moon is an egg

I think the story could have worked more by combining the character of Eddie and Magpie. If Eddpie was a proud business owner who feels guilty that his business and livelihood are underwater and also feels emascualated by his partnership with the wire, his nature becomes more foregrounded, and maybe the episode would have forced him to have properly atone (or just for him to die, as the relatively blameless Magpie did).

To be fair, monsters yelling "HUNGRYYYYY" is typical Dr Who, they've been doing it since the Classic days. But yeahhhh they had a chance to say something about abuse and seriously failed

37:01 …holy shit, uncensored Vera, that’s how you know she’s pissed

I remember watching this in 2006 and thinking how wrong it was that the son was encouraged to forgive and “fix” his Father. And what about the Mother and her decisive action to protect herself and her family? Shes’s “allowed” because she’s not blood related to her husband, but her son doesn’t get that freedom because genetics?

This episode is disturbingly relatable for my experience and I never noticed until I saw your earlier reviews of this episode a few years back. I saw this episode when I was 14 in a abusive place in my life and have since not realized how the toxic idea of trying to save my abusers has been engrained in my mind. Thank you for the video ❤🎉

This is the essence of being a whovuan. Hating and loving the show in equal measure.

I 100% agree with the point about the ending. If it wasn't for the ending it would be another meh episode from RTD1 era

I have to admit i can sympathize with Rose in this episode. I had a strained relationship with my Dad. It wasn't abusive but we were different people so we didn't mesh like he and my brother did. He also died when i was a young teen so we never had a chance to grow. There were mental health issues with my dad as well. When i was Roses age i could see myself offering the same advice even though i know how abhorrent it is now that i am mid 40s. I can definitely understand why this is your least favourite episode due to it messaging.

Great Video. I can't describe how much I hate this trope of "you have to forgive them they are your blood relative" "blood is thicker than water" and other BS. You described it so good with the random DNA. You don't have to forgive them. It's apways annoying when media resorts to this.

No, I'm not sitting comfortably, I'm actually standing here eating custard that was supposed to be the filling of the pastry my mother's dog ate, but thanks for asking. For me, it's really the Doctor's handling of it, like you said, and the show's framing of it at the end. Rose only saw Eddie in that one scene before she got defaced, and that was enough to conclude he was a controlling ass, but the Doctor knows more about what he's like. Then again, as smart as he is, he isn't always the best at human psychology. Just last iteration, he took Rose to see the end of the world as a fun introduction to the TARDIS. They weren't the people to be advising Tommy in that moment. I wonder how it would be if the show revisited those characters at a later point in their lives, examined the mistake it had made at the end. I don't necessarily think it should, but it might be interesting.

When I watched this as a kid, I never really gave it a second thought. I trusted that the doctor would make the morally right choice, and that what he and rose were telling the kid to do was the right thing to do. If placed in the same position as that kid, it terrifies me to think how this episode could have influenced my thinking.

This is one of the only episodes of the show where the ending completely tanks the rest of the story. Until those final few minutes this one is…whatever I guess, but that last scene makes me genuinely angry. If I could wipe one episode out of existence I’d probably make it this one.

Eddie was a vile bastard whom had to be excessively controlling by verbal abuse. My alcoholic father was such a man which didn't help me as I was being bullied every day at school and then had to go home to be bullied even more by my dad. These days my life is shit and I just "survive". I have nothing to live for.

Yep, Rose has major daddy issues, but the Doctor should have known better.

I think this episode needed a different ending cause it just leaves a very sour taste in your mouth with Rose encouraging Tommy to go to his abuser dad. I get she doesnt have a dad anymore but its a really bad message to end the episode on. Ending aside its a meh episode with a annoying antagonist in a tv and a little dodgy green screen on the tower with Tennant (it happens just thought to note it). Its placement in-between the big two parters of the series doesn't help either. While i find fear her another bad episode its still got more to it than this and actually deals with abuse and trauma better with the drawn dad.

As a victim of sibling abuse I totally agree with Vera. Throughout my life my elder sister was incredibly abusive to me. Now I have nothing to do with her, I'm happier than I've ever been.

I honestly believe that Gatiss thought this was a happy ending. Abuse is a funny thing. I clearly remember thinking that if my dad could just be taken down a notch and could stop drinking, we had so many shared interests that we could be good friends. My brother and sister had it worse; as far as they could see, the problems all started because of me, so they just wanted their old dad back. You know to walk on eggshells, you know to be quiet, because anything you say or do will lead to a verbal beatdown, but yeah: if I thought, at Tommy's age, Dad had been humbled and I could reach out to "the real father" who had to be hiding somewhere in there. He got me into computers, he introduced me to fantasy, there had to be something somewhere. I appreciate the thought that the dad in the episode was cartoonishly evil, and I completely understand where you're coming from, but as a 50 year old who remembers ten years of that father, I would have written it the same way.

One of the common themes throughout the show, not just in this episode, is that everyone gets saved or everyone can be saved. The Doctor legit thinks everyone can/should be saved. It doesn’t mean he’s right. It doesn’t make this a bad episode though either. It’s a character flaw of the doctor and if there aren’t flaws than he’s not much of a character.

yeah, when Rose said to Tommy, "he's your father!" It felt awful.

As someone who's dealt with abuse, I 100% agree with your reasons for disliking this episode

She is also doing a parody of Listen with Mother an iconic British children's show. The catchphrase Are you sitting comfortably? Then I'll begin is from that.

Thank you for the video, Vera! Watching this episode for the first time as a teenager (and still in the closet), the behavior of Eddie (Tommy's father) did come out as very toxic initially. However, after he did reveal that he want to send away "faceless" Grandma out of shame, and not out of fear, I did finally realize: Eddie is truly disgusting! I will also admit that, at the time, most of the depictions of abuse did fly over me because I was still holding to the notion of "blood-related relatives just want what is best for you, not matter how abusive their behavior is towards you" (*urf!*). The big problem with this episode is: the people involved on producing it did probably not experience abuse by parents and relatives in general. It seems that they were trying to speak about a very serious situation from an external perspective. And the ending, where Tommy (the victim) tries to reconcile with his father (the abuser) immediately: the episode is trying to have its cake and eat it too. "Let's send the abuser away, but let's be superior and try to make peace with them." That is bullsh*t! I definitely believe that an abusive person could change, however they must want it and take the first step first. They must come to the realization of why their behavior is harmful by themself. Any ostracism they suffer for that is entirely their fault. And regardless how much the abuser wants and does to repair their victims, at the end, it is still the choice of the victims to forgive them or keep any contact with them. Something which I did experience very closely multiple times: I really hate the discourse of abusers begging for forgiveness and asking their victims to take them back under the promise of changing. First, it is literally rewarding bad behavior. And, second, they expect to return to a status-quo situation without abuse which did never exist in first place. And doing it so, they will just enact more abuse again. That is a cycle of abuse!

I don't super often watch this channel because I haven’t been big into doctor who anymore for almost a decade now, but when I realised what episode this was about I was intrigued because I always remembered this episode with vaguely positive feelings. I even liked the ending as a kid, because the framing you mentioned with the hopeful music gave me the hope that everything was gonna be okay. Watching this video now I have a new distate for the episode, because I've recently gone no contact with my father and this hope that everything might turn out okay if I just tried one more time is such a poisonous thing to hold on to. Fuck this episode, truly.

(hi if you read this!) I think theres also a point to be made about Doctor leaving Rose behind to persue the police; Rose has been with the 9th for his whole run, and now this is a quarter of the way with Ten. The Doctor knows how competent Rose is and how capable she is of actually helping and solving problems (also why shes one of my favorite companions, she actually gets shit done!)

I always loved this episode because of the parallels with the Olympic Games episode, and I remember I haven't read this ending as problematic because he was out of the house so the power dynamic got changed and ultimately it's grown-ups responsibility (boy's mother in that case) to keep it that way. It's definitely simplistic and cartoonish (the whole episode is) and reads like Gatiss tried to put a nice bow at the end and make everybody happy for the "kid show".

Maureen Lipman cast perfectly as an evil monster in Doctor Who.

the real horrible bit of this episode is child viewers of the show, the core audience, getting told it's okay if your dad beats you and you should stay with him because he's your dad

If anyone's curious to experience the single worst Doctor Who story out there, pick up *'Exile'* from Big Finish. Nothing the TV show's ever done even comes *close.* And then maybe check out *'Sympathy for the Devil'* to experience one of the best. It's from the same audio range ('Unbound' -- basically, Doctor Who "What If" stories) which just so happens to feature one of David Tennant's first performances, ever -- from before he was cast as the 10th Doctor, even.

The way Rose acts in season 2 is the worst, she is sooo annoying

I saw 2006 and I was ready to defend my favourite ugly little duckling, Love and Monsters, but that's just because Idiot's Lantern is so bad I completely forgot it existed and I just finished rewatching Tennant earlier this year. Looking forward to hearing the video !

Why write a "forgiveness" for Eddy? My guess is someone in production felt called out and wanted to feel better about themselves.

I actually love this episode. I liked the villain and the premise. The ending I didn’t quite think about. I thought it was about getting to say one final goodbye to someone to end on a good note even if they’re horrible. It never really struck me that the message was ‘forgive your family members’. The ending is quite weak in that respect but it’s still one of my favourite episodes

It's a testament to the show's popularity that it survived this episode.

Ah yes, the Idiot's Lantern, or as I call it, Little Electronics Shop of Horrors.

As atrocious as that was, I think they could've saved that ending. As you said, it DOES fit Rose's character. So have her say that. But here's how it could've been salvaged. Take out the Doctor encouraging her. And after she says that, have him interject. "But maybe not now. I do believe people can change. But it's not on you do help him do that. It's on him. You're angry right now. Be angry. If you see he's put in the effort to change down the road, reach out if you feel like you can. Give it time. This doesn't have to be the end, but that's up to him. He needs to realize what he's lost. Maybe he will and he'll make it up to you. But until then, live your life. He's not your responsibility." I think the Doctor stepping in and saying something like that could absolutely save the ending and send a much better message. Cause it does fit Rose's character due to her issues to say that. It's very realistic for people who lost a parent to project that onto other's along the lines of 'some people didn't have a father, you should be grateful that you do, no matter how awful he was'. It's awful but it's realistic. So have the Doctor step in and counter what Rose said, validate the boy's anger, and advise him to not go to him and try to save him.

Kerblam does have the issue the computer kills someone to reveal the villain (even though it wasn't needed, since the Doctor got the message from his reaction and didn't need to see an innocent woman die) and it's never addressed. I hate that episode.

Several thoughts: 1) Can we also tack on the fact that 90% of the shots in this episode are dutch angles? That's one of the worst things a director can do. 2) @CouncilofGeeks your discussions of this episode (including this video) have helped me to understand what abuse is, though there's still a lot I'm unclear about; do you happen to know any further resources for anyone who would want to know more? 3) I agree that the worst episode came from 2006, but I think it aired about four weeks later 4) This video makes me consider changing my choice for worst episode ever 5) Given that there are script editors, and Davies himself also talks about editing most other writers' scripts in general, I wonder who actually wrote the ending, and who made Eddie so undeniably abusive, and if they were the same person. 6) I swear I read an article with one of the Doctor Who writers saying Kill The Moon is not an allegory for abortion, but for the life of me I cannot find it again. Berenstain Bears effect. 7) Great video, btw

I always hated this episode. Eddie reminded me so much of my (at the time of first viewing, not yet) ex and the "loudness means I'm right" stance he took. But the tears your anger brought me were so damn good to shed. Thank you for being so upset at this. I hope it doesn't come from a personal place, but I fear that it does. If so, I hope you are healing from it.

Orphan 55’s vilification, monsterizing, and “other”ifying of climate refugees will always take the cake for me.

There's also one person who keeps claiming that "Doctor Who Has *_Just_* Died" I mean, yeah, the _Doctor_ can regenerate when mortally wounded but I didn't think that extended to the *show* itself. But apparently, it's true, according to a certain RU-vid critic: the show has *_Just Died_* every. single. episode. he reviews.

I really hope we get to see Mark Gatiss' planned sequel to 'An Adventure in Time and Space' that covers the troubled production of Trial of a Time Lord.

To this day, I still don't understand why people put Acharnids in the UK (we all have that friend who's gung ho about animal rights and won't let you kill the spider inside your apartment but won't help it if it's hurt because they're scared and don't want it running around) in the same category as The Idiot's Lantern (it's your responsability to make your abuser change) or Kerblam! (capitalist exploitation is normal and the only thing that will ever exist so don't fight it otherwise you're the villain)

When I was young and first saw this I saw Tommy walking with his dad, I saw it as him walking with and maybe talking with him as he goes to the train station to see him off and never see him again. Let’s just say things have happened in my personal life I now do not agree with Tommy being anywhere near his dad for a while

I would have enjoyed an alternative version where Tommy is hesitant, Rose tells him she would, and the doctor insists that it's his choice but not his reponsability. If I wrote the scene I would then have him choose not to go, but at least even if he did go you wouldn't get the sense that the meta-narrative suggests it's his responsibility.

I appreciate you making this video because my Dad was both physically and mentally abusive to me for my entire childhood. I still have to consciously fight the programming he put into my mind which was all lies. There's no telling how being away from him would have helped my mental health. Did he ever say I'm sorry? Never. His justification for his actions was that his father treated him much worse. WHAT? Then you should know how it feels dummy! Oyyy. Anyway thanks for pointing this out. I remember enjoying the episode till I saw him go back to his Dad at the end which infuriated me. And he even offered to help his Dad by carrying his bag...UGHHH!!! Seriously?

Me: I really don't understand what the issue with this is Me getting to the forgive scene: oh, I've straight up repressed this ending because it hit too close to home. Go off! Worst episode ever 100%!!

I think if any episode could be considered "the worst", it's the Fifth Doctor story Warriors of the Deep. Not because it's a bad episode, but because Michael Grade, director of the BBC in the 1980s, cited that episode specifically as his reason to axe the show.

I can understand why the show wanted to frame Tommy going to Eddie at the end as a positive thing, David Tennant has a very consistent theme of no one is beyond redemption (he does after all try to redeem The Master AFTER he has slaughtered at least 10% of the human race). I get why they want to imply that Eddie ultimately will be redeemed... but god damn, Tommy is not the person they should have used to do it. At the very least, if they are going to use Tommy, and even allowing for Rose to stay in character with her daddy issues, have Rose tell him something like, "don't write him off completely, he may just come around someday." We can still see that Rose is projecting her desire for her father to come back onto Tommy, we still get the message that no one is beyond redemption, even Eddie could come around some day, AND no one is putting it on Tommy to be the one to fix his dad.

Again, I would argue that this is not as bad as the Doctor saying that giving the "untrustworthy" alien slave race an intelligence boost as bad as giving the same to a monkey.

The only episode I would have put into the same conversation as _The Idiot's Lantern_ as far as moral fucked-upness goes, is _Journey's End_ . As a Tumblr user whom I can sadly no longer find wrote about _Hell Bent_ : one of the vanishingly few good things that episode did is establishing that wiping someone's mind against their will -- essentially, to use a Sci-Fi term, Mind Raping them -- even if it is to save their life, is, in fact, NOT a good thing to do.

I hated Rose throwing Tommy back into abuse because she has daddy issues.

Start of this video: no way…what’s wrong with The Wire episode? End of the video: oh….how did I completely forget about that? The funny thing is, I’ve had to deal with this exact messaging my whole life. In fact, I went on a very similar rant about Encanto. I’ve been forced to maintain contact with my abusers my whole life and the burden is always on me to “be the bigger person”. In fact, I’m sitting here typing this, very sick right now because I don’t know how to enforce my boundaries with my family. I’ve asked my mother and brother numerous times to not visit me when they have the flu because it takes me WEEKS to recover and they never listen to me because it’s only a couple of days for them and I’m being “overdramatic”.

There are lots of episodes that I find really disappointing or even frustrating, but I can't think of any as deeply offensive to me (as someone who grew up with an abusive stepdad) as the end of Idiot's Lantern. That's what sets it apart from other bad episodes for me. I also really don't like the scene where Tommy stands up to his dad. While it's a nice fantasy to fight back, it's also a quick way to get the shit beat out of you in real life. I don't want to think about what an episode would have to do to be worse than Idiot's Lantern.

I Think this was an accident. I Think it was supposed to be like „dont let your anger take you over, forgivness is important” but they didnt Think about boy as a abuse victim

Thank you for this. It took me decades to realise I could actually leave my abusers. I knew I could leave an abuser I allowed into my life, but no one ever told me I could leave abusers that I was born to. We all need to keep telling others that you don't owe anything to your abuser- not even if they are blood relations. **Edited to add that I have cut off all contact with them. It was an act of self-preservation, and it worked better than I imagined. I didn't just survive without them, I have thrived. I won't lie as it's difficult to maintain the no contact at first, but it got so much easier as time went on and I saw what and who I could become. I do not regret my choice.

Thank you so so much for mentioning this in an extra episode! TW: This episode is so triggering for me! I grew up with an abusive, narcissist of a mother who never missed a chance to make us feel miserable (verbally and sometimes also physically). I tried to escape that environment by marrying and surprise surprise, as a 21 year old I married something familiar: a narcissist who charmed his way. He was all what was also my mom and worse. After 15 years I managed to get me and my 4 kids out of that misery and had to hear from his brother (uncle of the kids) I should force the two older kids who decided they don´t want any contact with their father to still see him because "but he is the dad!". I am grateful that in Germany after a certain age (teen) the kid can say I will go no contact. After the death of my dad I deciced to also go no contact to my mother and I still hear that shitty argument "but she is your mother". I read somewhere "It´s your parents job to raise you. Your adult relationship with them is their performance review."

Amen. Seeing the end of this episode at 13 years old is *_A MAJOR REASON_* I didn't leave my abusive parents years ago. EDIT: Wanted to chime in and add to the point at 28:50, what's worse is when that fear is affirmed when you DO go to them for help, and it turns out they just actually do in fact believe you're being "silly" or "crazy" because your abuser got to them first/established rapport with them before you could confide in them. OTHER EDIT: Also wanted to add, while this episode is no doubt awful, that my nomination for worst episode is probably John Wiles entire stupid run.

I have to admit, I was expecting this to be about Love and Monsters! But I suppose that episode was at least *trying* to do something clever, even if it did it badly...

When I was 6, I got a box set of the highlights of Australian television, celebrating 50 years of Australian television. Television was first rolled out in Australia for the Melbourne Olympics in 1956 (an event my grandmother thoroughly enjoyed on TV and in person at the age of 16). I was always a history nerd and also loved listening to and watching old media, old television shows, old radio shows, old films etc. For a time, I became sort of obsessed with the history of TV in Australia. I was older when I got into Doctor Who, about 11. And I think I was 12 when I saw ‘Idiot’s Lantern’ for the first time, but we’d just studied “Communication” at school and I got to flex my dormant knowledge of Australian television history. When I saw ‘Idiot’s Lantern’, I thoroughly enjoyed the historical aspects of it. I loved that they made a point of the Coronation being the catalyst for the roll out of TV in the UK just like the Olympics was here. I’m autistic. Can you tell? 😂 I do think the moral of the episode though is really bad. I also find ‘Kerblam!’ to be morally reprehensible. I mean, that one is messed up in so many ways. I think it’s actually antithetical to everything the Doctor has ever stood for.

I didn't find Eddie to be a caricature or cartoonish at all. His performance was over the top at times but was otherwise very believable. I get the feeling that they amplified some of the abuse to make up for the abuse they couldn't show. You get the impression that he absolutely DID hit his wife and son off camera. His attitude was very prevalent at the time. Corporal punishment of wives was illegal (since 1891) but caning children at school was still legal at the time and parents smacking their children is STILL legal in England (even though it is banned in Wales and Scotland) hence the "You should beat it out of him" line, that sort of talk was very common. We also have to remember that homosexuality was not just frowned upon, it was actually illegal. Just remember what happened to Alan Turing. This is why the implication that Tommy is gay would be so damaging to Eddie's (imaginary) status, not just being known in the community as the father of a gay man but the father of a criminal. But yes, getting Rose to IMMEDIATELY push Tommy back to his abusive father solely on the basis that he is related to him is abhorrent. Letting him walk away would not have ruled out the possibility of future reconciliation at some point, after a great deal of time and healing had taken place and once Eddie had shown sincere regret and evidence of change. But that would have been Tommy's decision to make.