Doctor Who Anniversary Specials Will Be The Scariest Of The Sci-Fi Franchise
One of the most fascinating things about Doctor Who is that the franchise is just as capable of creating terrifying episodes and characters as it is in creating whimsical adventures. Because of this, fans have been curious about what to expect from the latest Doctor and latest season, and a star of the upcoming series, Yasmin Finney, revealed the answer in an interview with Elle. “You can look forward to a lot of scary things,” she said, specifically comparing the tone of the series to the early appearance of The Weeping Angels, which she said was “the scariest episode in history.”
You can look forward to a lot of scary things. I think when you think of Doctor Who, you think of the scariest episode, the weeping angels. It’s the scariest episode in history and the most popular. I think in this series, I was scared when I saw some of the things. It’s shivers down your spine.
Yasmin Finney on the upcoming Doctor Who special
Finney could only say so much about the upcoming series because only a portion of this interview focused on Doctor Who (and likely because the BBC would like to avoid “spoilers, sweetie”). For example, she didn’t go anywhere near fans’ big question: whether her Rose character will have anything to do with fan-favorite Companion Rose Tyler.
But if you like the scariest episodes of the franchise, you’re in luck: she said that when shooting the new series, “I was scared when I saw some of the things,” which she insists will be enough to send “shivers down your spine.”
Conversely, if you like the more lighthearted side of Doctor Who, Finney clarified that the series wouldn’t be going full grimdark anytime soon. According to her, while the next season “is going to be full of scares,” it will also be “full of laughs” and, ultimately, “full of all of it.” Reading between the lines, it sounds like this next season is going to be very reminiscent of David Tennant’s time on the franchise.
That’s promising because Tennant remains the most popular series lead on Doctor Who, and through the usual timey-wimey shenanigans, he will be briefly returning to play the Doctor once again before passing the torch (or should that be Sonic Screwdriver?) to new franchise lead Ncuti Gatwa. During Tennant’s time on the show, we got really scary eps, including the introduction to the aforementioned bad guys The Weeping Angels.
But we also got some very funny episodes, especially once Catherine Tate came on the show to play Donna Noble, so it sounds like we may once again get the salty/sweet vibe of a season that mixes big frights with hilarious delights.
“To act with Ncuti Gatwa is just amazing because we are both very young as well, and it’s just really nice to have that. He’s making history literally, and I’m just really happy to be a part of his world.”
Yasmin Finney on the next Doctor Who special
Of course, that’s not exactly a coincidence: while Doctor Who has had a number of different showrunners over the years, the next series has Russel T. Davies returning to the helm. Davies is notably the showrunner who helped popularize the 2005 Doctor Who revival and directed the first four seasons before handing over the reins to new showrunner Steven Moffat.
Per Yasmin Finney’s statements about the new season being scary, Davies brought us the Weeping Angels, made The Master scary again, and generally mastered the art of making new Who fans hide behind their couches while watching, just like their parents did way back when.
Doctor Who has had terrifying episodes in the past, notably involving the Weeping Angels, so what is coming that’s scarier than the quantum-locked monsters?
While part of us wishes that Finney could dish more on the next season of Doctor Who, we can’t help but find it a bit charming and refreshing that we don’t know exactly what to expect from this venerable franchise as it heads into its 60th anniversary and, for the first time, to Disney+.
So far, there’s a lot to be hopeful for, including the return of Davies, the return of Tennant, and the introduction of rising star Ncuti Gatwa as the Doctor. And now that we know the new season will be full of iconic scares, we can’t wait for episodes that scare us so much that we’ll need comfort food (you’re not eating those fish fingers and custard, are you?).
