Why The Empty Child Is the Scariest Doctor Who Episode

Russell T. Davies had a lot to prove when the BBC put him in charge of giving Doctor Who a new lease of life after the 16-year gap between Classic Who in 1989 and New Who, which launched in 2005. Davies achieved success with the premiere episode “Rose” bringing in over 9 million views overnight, and he created some of the most iconic episodes in Doctor Who history.

Coming hot on the heels of the Time War, Davies introduced a darker Doctor played by Christopher Eccleston. The Doctor struggled with the grief of being the last of the Time Lords. This grimmer slant extended to the episodes themselves, including one that haunts viewers who grew up watching New Who to this day.

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“The Empty Child” introduced one of the Doctor’s most rakish companions, a lovable con man from the 51st century known as Captain Jack Harkness played by John Barrowman. It was also the first Doctor Who episode written by Steven Moffat, who later took over from Davies as Doctor Who’s showrunner in 2010.

The most important thing about “The Empty Child” is that it remains the scariest episode of Doctor Who’s first season alongside its follow-up, “The Doctor Dances”.

The episode follows the Doctor and Rose played by Billie Piper as they arrive in London during the Blitz in 1941. While the Doctor investigates the metal cylinder that brought them there, Rose encounters a boy in a gas mask on a rooftop. Frightened, she is rescued by Jack Harkness. The Doctor, Rose, and Jack soon reunite at a hospital treating victims of the London bombings. They discover the cylinder is connected to the boy’s appearance and that several other patients have gas masks glued to their faces.

On the surface, a gas mask protected people during the Blitz from poisonous gases and other chemical warfare. Beyond its uses, its appearance features sunken, circular eyes, an elongated mouth, and tubing.

Steven Moffat added a creepy child who terrorized the Doctor, Rose, and Jack while moving with the slow, unnatural gait of something not quite alive.

Steven Moffat gave the child a catchphrase: “Are you my mummy?”

In an interview with Half the Picture, Steven Moffat explained that the child was originally supposed to just say “Mummy” all the time. Once Steven Moffat saw the payoff for the two-episode arc where a character named Nancy reveals she is the child’s mother, he shifted the catchphrase into a question.

The question creates unease and raises questions about why the child cannot recognize its mother, whether it is blind, and whether there are more like it.

The phrase, repeated by the child and every individual with a gas mask on their face, makes “The Empty Child” feel like something from a Clive Barker movie.

Steven Moffat recalled how he convinced the BBC to keep the phrase in the episode, telling Half the Picture that children repeated it in British playgrounds.

Other terrifying creatures followed, including the Weeping Angels and Satan, but the quiet unease of a young boy in a gas mask remains a lasting creation.

Source: Polygon