Winter is Coming
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Doctor Who and my “behind the sofa” moment: Bubble wrap in The Ark in Space

By James Aggas

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It’s the month of Halloween, so expect us to celebrate a lot of horror this month at Doctor Who Watch! First off: how did bubble wrap leave such a lasting impression on this site editor?

Happy October, everyone! There’s a lot to look forward to this month. We’ve got a brand new series of Doctor Who, not to mention a brand new Doctor. (And judging from the clip that they’ve released so far, she certainly looks very promising in the role.) Audio fans also have several new releases to look forward to, including Ravenous 2 and a new series of Torchwood.

But we’ve also got something else to look forward to: Halloween! If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the years, it’s that there are many fans of Doctor Who out there who are also fans of horror.

It’s not surprising, really. One thing that everyone remembers about Doctor Who is how scary it can get. For many, it can be an introduction to the horror genre, especially for children. And of course, Doctor Who is infamously associated in the UK with the phrase, “behind the sofa”.

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These were words used by our contributor Luke to describe one of the earliest moments that he was genuinely terrified of Doctor Who. For him, it was the sight of the Devil in The Impossible Planet. For me? Bubble wrap.

It was the first Tom Baker story that I had ever seen. And it was one of his very best: The Ark in Space. Set far into the future, after solar flares had wiped out all life on Earth, the survivors sleep on Space Station Nerva. Resting in complete stasis for thousands of years, they wait for the moment when life returns to the Earth and they can be awake again.

But something has found them.

In the second episode, Noah, the leader of the human race, has been attacked by some kind of gigantic green slug. Afterwards, he starts to behave very strangely. He becomes more aggressive and out of character. He even kills one of his friends.

Throughout this episode, after his attack, he’s been keeping his hand in his pocket. It’s only at the very end that we see what has happened to it. Instead of a human hand, what he pulls out is something covered in green alien skin, without even any fingers. It is also completely and horrifyingly alien.

It might just be green spray paint and bubble wrap, but The Ark in Space’s cliffhanger for part two is still awesome.

(Image credit: Doctor Who/BBC.

Image obtained from: official Doctor Who website.)

The horror of bubble wrap

The first time I watched that when I was eight years old, I must admit, that really freaked me out. It was a moment that stuck with me, particularly Noah’s reaction to it. Props to Kenton Moore as Noah for selling the sheer horror of that moment. Especially when it is, looking back, just obviously bubble wrap that’s covering his hand.

I think one of the biggest reasons that it stuck with me as a kid was that it was essentially my introduction to body horror. The idea of your body turning into something you’re not, something horrific that you have no absolutely no control over, is terrifying.

And even now, even as an adult who’s a massive fan of movies like The Thing and The Fly, that moment from The Ark in Space has still stuck with me. It’s a great moment from my childhood that I look back fondly on, and helped to shape not just my love of the horror genre, but also of Doctor Who.

Also, it really says a lot about the sheer power of Doctor Who that it can terrify viewers with just bubble wrap and green paint. No wonder this show has lasted for almost five and a half decades.

Next. TARDIS TripAdvisor: Top 5 alien planets. dark

Have you seen The Ark in Space? If so, what did you make of it, both the story and this moment? And were there any scenes from Doctor Who that horrified you as a kid? Let us know in the comments below.

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