Fear Forecast

Forecast by season S1 • S2 • S3 • S4

Fear Forecast was a feature on the Doctor Who website during series 1, 2, 3 and 4. Intended as an advisory for parents, the reactions of the four "Fear Forecasters" were described in detail, minute-to-minute, for each new episode. It was launched on 21 April 2005 and the first episode they previewed was TV: World War Three.

The team of children rated each episode's "Fear Factor", usually from 1 to 5 (notable exceptions being Blink and The Impossible Planet). 2 was Quite Scary, 3 was Very Scary, 4 was Chilling, and 5 was Terrifying.

Typically a preview Forecast would be added during the mid-week website update (usually on Wednesdays). This version did not contain screenshots and had any spoilers redacted; then after each episode had transmitted the full Forecast would be revealed.

Series 1
The highest Fear Factor score in series 1 was for The Empty Child / The Doctor Dances, both episodes unanimously "Terrifying".

In addition to previewing the episodes, the Fear Forecasters also visited and reviewed the Doctor Who Exhibition at Brighton Pier.

Series 2
Series 2 was the first to give an episode a Fear Factor rating higher than 5. The Impossible Planet was deemed "Beyond Fear", at 6/5. The Fear Forecasters retained their original images for this season. Fear Forecast Samuel.jpg has grown. 'She's really old now,' ponders Samuel, 'she must be about 20!'"

"'I thought that the TARDIS translated all languages,' grumbles Samuel. 'That should include horses.' 'He has a point...' concedes Dad."]]

† At the end of the forecast for the previous episode a note stated ''... And that's the final Fear Forecast for this series. Next week's episode is so secret, not even the Fear Forecasters have seen it''.