"Behind the sofa" is a British
pop culture phrase describing the fearful reaction of hiding behind a
sofa
A couch, also known as a sofa, settee, or chesterfield, is a cushioned item of furniture for seating multiple people (although it is not uncommon for a single person to use a couch alone). It is commonly found in the form of a bench with up ...
to avoid seeing frightening parts of a
television program
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...
me, the sofa offering a place to hide from the on-screen threat, with the implication that one wants to remain in the room to watch the rest of the programme. The phrase is most commonly associated with ''
Doctor Who''. Although the phrase is sometimes employed in a serious context, its use is usually intended to be humorous or nostalgic.
Origin in ''Doctor Who''
The expression originated from popular media commentary on young children being frightened by episodes of the
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'', particularly during the 1960s to the 1980s. The idea that young children would hide behind furniture when especially frightening scenes and monsters were being shown, as they were unwilling to miss the programme altogether, was also popularised in the media as early as 1973.
The phrase is strongly associated with ''Doctor Who'' in the United Kingdom, so much so that in 1991 the
named its exhibition celebrating the programme "Behind the Sofa".
"Everyone remembers hiding behind the sofa," journalist Sinclair McKay wrote of the programme during its thirtieth anniversary year of 1993. "Remember hiding behind the sofa every time ''Doctor Who'' came on the television?" the ''
'' newspaper asked its readers in a feature article two years later. In a 2006 interview with
settee while watching ''Doctor Who'' as a child. ''
'' has presented "hiding behind the sofa whenever the Daleks appear" as a British
...