In a series where anything can happen, it frequently does. There have been some truly head-scratching Doctor Who moments over the years, from unexpected regenerations to spontaneous piano-playing. Here are five of the most random…
5) The regenerating child
The writer Steven Moffat loves to throw in a good twist, and that’s certainly what viewers got in the closing moments of the 2011 episode ‘Day of the Moon.’ There is a homeless girl wandering the streets of New York, who walks up to a tramp and explains that she’s dying. “But I can fix that,” she adds. “It’s easy, really.” Her hands then start to glow with energy and she throws her head backwards. She’s regenerating.
This is one of the most random Doctor Who moments because, firstly, at this point in the series the Doctor is meant to be the only Time Lord left in the universe, and only Time Lords have the ability to regenerate. Secondly, this scene was unusual as viewers had never seen a child regenerate before. Plus, they had no idea who she was, or why she was dying, or why she had the ability to change her appearance – so many questions which, mostly, were answered by the end of Series Six.
4) Steven and Dodo’s musical performance
There are quite a few random Doctor Who moments in the 1966 story ‘The Gunfighters,’ but by far the most unexpected is the scene where the Doctor’s companion Steven is forced to perform ‘The Ballad of the Last Chance Saloon’ at gun point. And whilst it kind of makes sense, as the Clanton brothers are trying to give the impression that all is fine and dandy at the Tombstone bar, it does feel like a bit of an excuse for an additional performance of the story’s infamous number.
Steven’s singing isn’t what makes it one of our random Doctor Who moments, though. It is the fact that Dodo, who helps him perform, turns out to be a rather skilled piano player, and is able to perform ‘The Ballad of the Last Chance Saloon’ to perfection, with no rehearsal. This (kind of) makes sense within the logic of the story, as the Doctor told Dodo to pretend to be a piano player earlier in the episode, but the fact that she is such a true “wizard of the ivory keys” is… unexpected, to say the least.
3) Regenerating Romana
The next of our Doctor Who moments tends to be a little divisive among fans, who either applaud it as a testament to the genius of script editor Douglas Adams, or… something else.
Back in 1978, the Doctor’s companion Romana (played by Mary Tamm) decided that she didn’t wish to return to Doctor Who the following year, but the producers were keen to keep the character. They therefore decided that, as she was a Time Lady, she could simply change her appearance. And this would make sense if there was a reason for it, but when Season 17‘s ‘Destiny of the Daleks’ begins, Romana’s regeneration is already in full swing, with no explanation as to why.
What follows is a rather interesting sequence in which Romana tries on a number of different bodies before settling on the blonde-haired version modelled on Princess Astra from ‘The Armageddon Factor.’ The lack of any explanation for this it what makes it one of our most random Doctor Who moments. Was Romana actually dying? Or was she just bored?
Plus, it raises questions about how Romana was able to change her appearance so many times. Was she dying over and over again until she found a body that she was happy with? And does it really matter?
Love it or hate it, the regenerating Romana scene is one of the most intriguing Doctor Who moments on our list.
2) Flushing out the Master
It’s hard to tell whether the next of our Doctor Who moments was meant to be dramatic or comical. In the 1981 story ‘Logopolis,’ the Master is hiding somewhere in the TARDIS and the Doctor and Adric decide that he must be disposed of. The Doctor’s solution is to land the TARDIS underwater and open the doors, thus ‘flushing’ the Master out of his vessel. Ingenious!
Or at least it would have been had they not landed on a boat by mistake. It certainly would have been interesting to see what would have become of the Doctor and Adric had they actually been able to put their plan into operation. Presumably, Alzerians are immune to the dangers of drowning, and as for the Doctor… well, this was his last story anyway, so perhaps he was throwing caution to the wind!
This is certainly one of the more puzzling Doctor Who moments on the list, borne out of the mind of writer Christopher H. Bidmead, who had been brought onto the show in order to ground it in real science. And, to be fair, the Doctor’s brainwave was in-keeping with the laws of physics, as long as he didn’t mind dying in the process and causing irreversible damage to the TARDIS.
1) The cliffhanger
Every Doctor Who fan knows there is only one real cliffhanger in the series, and that is at the end of ‘Dragonfire’ part one where, for no reason at all, the Doctor hangs off a cliff with his umbrella and then acts surprised when he realises he’s… hanging off a cliff.
This is one of the most random Doctor Who moments because, as with the regenerating Romana, it’s so far out of left field and one wonders what the Doctor was hoping to achieve. Of course, there is the metatextual aspect in that the story needed a cliffhanger and the Doctor dutifully provided one by hanging off a cliff, but even Doctor Who for all its fourth wall-breaking tendencies needs to give some explanation before dangling its eponymous hero over an abyss.
Unless, of course, you just want to enjoy this moment for what it is – a little bit of fun. And ‘Dragonfire’ is certainly a fun story – perhaps one of the highlights of Sylvester McCoy’s first season as the Doctor. At the same time, it would be fascinating to know what the Doctor’s actual plan was.
So there we are – five of the most random Doctor Who moments of all time. Which one if your favourite? And which ones would you add to this list? Let us know in the comments below.
Well, the 7th Doctor hanging got me. He freaks when he’s meant to be brave.
There are random scenes which I;d add:
1. The 10th and 5th Doctor meeting. Their reactions tickel me in Time Crash.
2. The 4th Doctor and Sarah’s amusement to the Brig’s kilt, bruising his dignity. Serves him right for being a pompous, xenophobic, chauvisnitic rogue.
3. The song ‘Thats the Way to the Zoo’ from Ghost Light.
4. Ace clobbering the Imperial Dalek.
5. Barbara smashing through members of Dalek Earthforce.
6. The 2nd Doctor giving jelly babies to the Brig.
7. The jumbo surprise the 12th Doctor and Bill got from a certain pachyderm in the frost fair.
8. Morris’s comments of the trap with numbers, leading to the 100 per cent when Sutekh appears.
9. Romana’s snarks to Doggan.
10. The 3rd Doctor clobbering a scientist in Invasion of the Dinosaurs.
11. The 6th Doctor gettign annoyed about beign locked in some toilet.,
12. Jack annoying the 6th Doctor.. A comcial duo I wish had a series.
13. The Moment posing as Rose and acting as if the Moment was a chair.
14. The War Doctor thinking the 10th and 11th Doctor mad to mess with sonic screwdrivers.
15. Dan lewis’s buccaneer outfit.
16. Dan Lewis complaing in the 1900s.
17. The 4th Doctor’s antics such as breaking bricks and skip-roping.
18. The Tenth Doctor going bonkers with his voice to the Sycorax Leader.
19. The War Doctor muttering about ‘greybeard;.
20. Davros swearing to the 10th Doctor in Dalek Universe which was zero which one expect from him.