"Behind the sofa" is a British pop culture phrase describing the fearful reaction of hiding behind a sofa to avoid seeing frightening parts of a television programme, 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.[1]
The cliché about Doctor Who — that it had us "hiding behind the sofa" — is more telling in its tone than its questionable factuality. It connotes nostalgia, and a pleasurable mixture of fright and fascination — but above all it connotes domesticity. It united fear and soft furnishings in the British mind.