People convinced forgotten ‘spooky’ BBC episode was the original Squid Game

After sitting down and binge-watching Squid Game, a lot of viewers were left with a myriad of thoughts whirling around their minds.

The main one being - who the hell comes up with this stuff?

Some people think this BBC show had a hand in the process:

A series which pins 456 people against each other to compete for a life-changing amount of cash in challenges with deadly stakes is certainly an interesting idea to throw around during a pitch to a streaming platform.

Squid Game creator Hwang Dong-hyuk spent a decade trying to flog his story until Netflix finally picked up the show.

He explained he had drawn on his own family's experience of financial hardship as well as reimagining some childhood games he had played while growing up in South Korea.

Dong-hyuk said he believes Squid Game was so successful because the show is motivated by a simple idea which people can relate to - "We are fighting for our lives in very unequal circumstances."

The concept proved so popular that Netflix actually made a reality spin-off of the series, which was recently released, where real people compete for $4.56 million in Squid Game: The Challenge.

Netflix

But some viewers have a very different perspective on what might have inspired the record-breaking series which was released in 2021.

TV geeks spotted that it seems to follow a somewhat similar pattern to that of a 'spooky' Doctor Who episode which aired on BBC in 2005.

The ninth Doctor, aka Christopher Eccleston, finds himself with quite the challenge on his hands after being secretly brought on board a game-show-broadcasting satellite by its controller who needs a hand defeating the Daleks.

Accompanied by his right hands - Billie Piper's character Rose Tyler and Jack Harness, played by John Barrowman - the trio have temporary amnesia and have to wander through various TV shows, where losers face fatal consequences.

BBC

The Doctor manages to escape Big Brother while Jack flees from the set of What Not to Wear, but Rose isn't doing too well on The Weakest Link.

While being quizzed by the host, Anne Droid - yes, that is a clever tribute to Anne Robinson - she answers four questions wrong due to her lack of knowledge due to being in a different time period.

Rose loses the game and the mechanical presenter prepares to annihilate her, while the Doctor and Jack rush to save her but they are a few seconds too late.

And she is the Weakest Link - so she's zapped within an inch of her life and turned to dust.

Doctor Who fans believe the 'brilliant' episode, titled 'Bad Wolf', could have easily sowed the seeds for Squid Game to flourish.

Along with a screenshot from the BBC show, one Reddit user wrote: "Squid Game? I feel like I've seen it somewhere before..."

An X user added: "Doctor who did squid game first."

While someone else put: "Doctor who did squid game before squid game did squid game."

Topics: Netflix, TV and Film, Doctor Who, BBC

Olivia Burke

Olivia is a journalist at LADbible Group with more than five years of experience and has worked for a number of top publishers, including News UK. She also enjoys writing food reviews (as well as the eating part). She is a stereotypical reality TV addict, but still finds time for a serious documentary.

@livburke_