In Doctor Who, the Doctor has faced countless fear-inducing foes throughout his travels across time and space, but his true greatest fear is far darker than any villain. On his latest adventure with Ruby Sunday, the Fifteenth Doctor has encountered a twisted new foe who’s unveiled what he fears above all else, just as another infamous enemy did in the show.
In Doctor Who: The Fifteenth Doctor #3 by Dan Watters and Kelsey Ramsay, the Doctor and Ruby have traveled to the last shopping mall on Earth. However, as is par for the source in this series, a dark threat soon rears its head and upends their plans. The Scream Sommelier separates the duo, and the Doctor takes a young child named Maria under his protection as he navigates an eerie realm of nightmares. After facing off against the Doctor, the Scream Sommelier uncovers his true fear and exposes it by kidnapping Maria.
As the Scream Sommelier takes Maria from the Doctor, he says, “I know what scares you now…it’s losing isn’t it? Losing the little people.” This declaration of the Doctor’s deepest fear sheds light on a secret that fans have wondered about for decades, while giving a recent moment in Doctor Who history a haunting new layer of depth.
After 61 Years, The Doctor’s Darkest Fear Is Finally Revealed
The Scream Sommelier Makes the Doctor’s Nightmare a Reality
While not wholly unexpected, considering the Doctor’s heroic role in the series, his fear being laid out in an explicit manner is significant. He’s often perceived as fearless, so it’s a change to see him as petrified as he is when he loses Maria. It makes sense for the Doctor to fear losing people, too, as it’s been stated numerous times that he can’t resist aiding those in need however he’s able to. From defending the Earth to preserving peace on distant alien worlds, his primary goal is to save people. As such, losing them shakes the Doctor to his core.
The villain behind this perverse scheme, the Scream Sommelier, is unlike any other foe the Doctor has faced before. He’s a being who feeds off of fear, and he isn’t the only one who thrives off of that emotion. At his command is an army of zombie-like Cybermen fueled by fear. Everything this enemy does is to uncover the Doctor’s secret fear, and in the end, he manages to succeed by snatching up the child he’s sworn to protect. The Scream Sommelier isn’t the only villain in recent memory who’s used the Doctor’s fear against him, however.
The Toymaker Already Knew The Doctor’s Fear All Along
The Doctor’s Fear Makes an Iconic Scene From the Show Even Scarier
In the third of Doctor Who’s 60th anniversary specials, “The Giggle”, the Doctor is confronted by a celestial being known as the Toymaker. As a reality-bending entity from early on in the Doctor’s vast history, he has intimate knowledge of his past and is able to use that to his advantage. To mess with the Doctor, the Toymaker puts on a puppet show where he re-enacts how he lost each of his past companions. This recreation of his most painful losses cuts deep on its own, but knowing that the Doctor’s biggest fear is losing people makes this sequence more devastating.
The Toymaker’s powers allow him to manipulate reality so he can create puppets that resemble the companions the Doctor wasn’t able to save. This makes him one of the two villains who utilize the Doctor’s guilt over loss as a means of getting under his skin. While the Toymaker can play with the Doctor’s fears, though, the Scream Sommelier acts on them in a much more tangible, horrifying way. He triggers the Doctor’s worst case scenario in the present day rather than relying on past memories to catch him off guard, putting the Doctor in a seemingly hopeless situation.
“His Whole Thing Is Kinda Looking After People”: The Doctor’s Name Proves He Can Conquer His Fear
Just As He Defeated The Toymaker, The Doctor Can Defeat the Scream Sommelier
The secret to the Doctor overcoming his fear – and the Scream Sommelier – lies in plain sight. Earlier in this issue, Ruby says the following about the Doctor: “I think his whole thing is kinda looking after people. It’s in his name.” While the Doctor’s real name remains a mystery, his chosen name is a testament to his true calling. Regardless of any obstacles that get in his way, the Doctor will always help others, and his name proclaims this. Losing people means he’s failed at living up to his name – but his name also reminds him to keep trying to help when all seems lost.
Regardless of any obstacles that get in his way, the Doctor will always help others, and his name proclaims this.
The Doctor has overcome insurmountable odds before, including during his battle with the Toymaker. Once the Fifteenth Doctor regenerates and joins forces with the Fourteenth, the two of them play a game of catch to defeat him and banish him out of reality. Now, the Doctor will undoubtedly find a way to beat the Scream Sommelier as well and save Maria – because saving people is what he does best. What everodds are stacked against him, the Doctor will stop at nothing to help others, living up to his name in Doctor Who lore.