We all have our own “behind the sofa” moment. The appearance of the Autons in Rose, the first episode of New Series Doctor Who, is one such moment.
I was nine when Doctor Who came back to television in 2005. My personal relationship with elements of the horror genre was, to be expected, limited. I had been scared prior by a few children’s entertainment properties.
My young moments of fright were largely through the vice of the supernatural and general fantasy themes. The various creatures in 1986 film Labyrinth, Lord Zed from Power Rangers and just about everything in hit 00’s CBBC show Jeopardy – to name a few prominent examples from my earlier childhood.
But my relationship with horror was to be taken to new heights – and new fears – on 26th March 2005 when Doctor Who returned with Rose and delivered an Auton invasion.
Series One of the modern series is tonally and stylistically considered one of the darkest. Various haunting imagery immediately springs to mind when considering the villains during this series. The macabre Gelth and their possession of the dead. The ghoulish Gas Mask Zombies infesting the homes and streets of war-torn London. The gargoyle-esque Reapers consuming humans during a wedding.
But, not many would factor in the Autons as a paragon of fear and terror. For me, however, they have the honour of giving me my first Doctor Who “behind the sofa” moment.
The Autons breaking out of the shop windows is a classic moment, one that echoes their earlier appearance in Spearhead from Space.
(Photo credit: Doctor Who/BBC. Image obtained from: official Doctor Who website.)
The “behind the sofa” moment
The first scene containing the Autons is what has been emblazoned onto my mind most of all. The atmosphere and crafting of tension was handled smartly by writer Russell T. Davies.
As Rose Tyler traverses the dark, dingy underbelly of the department store, I knew something wasn’t quite right. Bumping into the window shop dummies affirms this suspicion. They begin to slowly creak and groan as the plastic figures progressively become animate. The pace steadily quickens as life floods into them.
This scene matched with the creepy setting causes an alarming, claustrophobic air of danger. The circumstance in which Rose found herself in also really ramped up the sense of dread. “Oh God”, I thought. “She shouldn’t have been down there.” But there she was, with no one to help her and she’s paying the price.
The subversion of the mundane is what really struck a chord with me and sent shivers through my soul. After all, it was feasibly possible that, I too, could be trapped in a department store. The relatability, at age nine, felt all too real.
The relatability factor and the subversion of the ordinary, of course, apply to the Autons. Even when inanimate in the real world, window shop dummies do have unsettling qualities. The fact that they look like us, but they’re not quite us, is subtly unnerving. The blank, featureless faces seem to have a piercing stare too. Imagine what it felt like to actually see them move and become a mortal threat.
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Throughout the rest of the episode there were moments that really stood out to me, and left me reeling once the credits rolled. Such as the sole Auton arm that attacked both Rose and the Doctor. Or when an Auton shot Clive Finch point blank in front of his wife and children. The latter in particular was an astonishingly dark scene and I feel it gets incredibly overlooked.
Even Auton duplicate Mickey was scary to me. It may have been played for laughs at times, but it gave me my first memorable insight into body horror.
Doctor Who and the Auton invasion in Rose was unprecedented new ground for me. Never had I been so unsettled, yet so intrigued, exhilarated and impressed. The Autons may have scared me, but I liked the fact that they did.
It was my first “behind the sofa” moment and indeed, my first experience with Doctor Who that led me to fall in love with the show. Even today, when I re-watch Rose, a small part of me taps into my 9 year old self and feels just a little bit terrified.
Were you terrified of the Autons when you first saw them, either in Rose or in Third Doctor stories Spearhead from Space and Terror of the Autons? Which moment stands out to you as a “behind the sofa” moment? Let us know in the comments below.
And if you’re looking for more memorable “behind the sofa” stories, click here and here for fellow writers Luke and James’s articles, respectively.