Doctor Who classic moments: Death by plastic chair (Terror of the Autons)
By James Aggas
We look at one of the more bizarre deaths in Doctor Who history: a murderous plastic chair, as seen in the classic serial Terror of the Autons.
Recently, I’ve learned of what sounds like one of the most bizarre horror movies made in the past five years: Killer Sofa. (I say “one of them” because, if killer tire movie Rubber is anything to go by, there have definitely been stranger.) And yes, going by the trailer, it’s exactly what you’d expect from such a title: a sofa (or armchair, to be more accurate) that goes around killing people.
What does this have to do with Doctor Who, I hear you ask? Well, the fact that – as I’m sure many Classic Series fans know already – Doctor Who kind of already did that. Admittedly, not as the basis for the main plot. But it did feature a death by plastic armchair.
In Terror of the Autons, the Master is running a plastics factory. Production manager James McDermott isn’t exactly happy with the way that the Master’s been running things, and is proving to be very problematic to work with.
You can see where this is heading.
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Horror and humor
As you can see in the above clip, the Master invites McDermott to try out his new plastic armchair. McDermott (reluctantly) decides to try it. The chair – controlled by the Nestene consciousness – proceeds to suffocate him to death.
This moment stands out as one of Doctor Who‘s more memorable deaths for a couple of reasons. The first is that it relies on something relatively everyday and normal taking a sinister turn. Being suffocated to death by your own chair is certainly a horrific idea – especially when you consider that many fans claimed to “hide behind the sofa” while watching the series. Clearly, writer Robert Holmes didn’t want anywhere to feel safe for the series’ fans!
Another reason the moment works? Black comedy. Along with McDermott describing the thing as a “black pudding”, (which always brings a smile to this writer’s face,) Rex Farrel (who’s helping the Master under hypnosis) inquiring about McDermott’s “entitlement on termination of employment” is a darkly hilarious moment. Doctor Who has often used death as a form of humor over the years, and this is one of the best examples.
Am I saying that Doctor Who inspired Killer Sofa? No, definitely not, the synopsis sounds way too strange for that, even for our favorite show. But that’s the wonderful thing about Doctor Who in the first place: you can come across something as bizarre as a film called Killer Sofa and still find out that Who did it first.
Next. The War Master will face the Unbound Master in his final series!. dark
Do you remember this classic moment from the series? What’s your favorite horrific or even comical death from the series? Let us know in the comments below.