- 18 hours ago
There's so much amazing Doctor Who out there, but what about some of the brilliant stuff we didn't get?
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00:00Over the years, we've seen many talented showrunners and writers all bring fresh ideas to spice up our beloved Doctor Who.
00:07Once upon a time, the Sontarans were a mere thought in Robert Holmes' mind, and now look at them, obsessed with Mars bars and riding horses.
00:14But for all of the things that have since become staples of the show, there are an equal amount of interesting concepts that sadly failed to materialise.
00:22And so, with that in mind, I'm Ellie with WhoCulture, here with 10 awesome Doctor Who ideas that nearly happened.
00:30Number 10. The Weeping Angel Factbook
00:32The Weeping Angel's first appearance after Blink revealed quite a bit more about the species than most fans expected, for better or for worse.
00:41However, one crucial element in the time of Angels that went unexplained was the origin of the Weeping Angel book,
00:47described by River as the definitive work on the Angels written by a madman, that the Doctor then flicks through.
00:53Despite its importance, we never learn where this book came from, and that's because writer Stephen Moffat removed an entire subplot about its origins.
01:02He intended to reveal that the book had been written by one of Octavian's clerics.
01:06This cleric came on the mission we see in the episode, encountered an Angel, got zapped back in time, and then wrote the book, allowing the Doctor to access it in the future.
01:16However, this plot point was ultimately axed due to a lack of story space.
01:20The Angels don't zap anyone back in time in this story, so it would have been cool to see a subplot revolving around that ability.
01:27And learning more about the book, one of the only known in-universe works about the Angels, would have been fascinating to boot.
01:33Number 9. Sibling Rivalry
01:35Without a doubt, the Doctor's deadliest foe is the Master.
01:39First introduced in 1971's Terror of the Autons, he was originally portrayed by Roger Delgado,
01:45who reveled in being John Pertwee's most hated enemy.
01:49The Doctor-Master rivalry was intended to come to a head in the serial The Final Game, which was also set to be Pertwee's regeneration story.
01:56It would also include the shock revelation that the Master was in fact the Doctor's brother, before the Master would be killed off for good.
02:03However, this story was never made due to a truly tragic event.
02:07While filming the miniseries Bell of Tibet in Turkey in 1973, Delgado was killed in a car crash.
02:14This event shook everyone involved with Doctor Who, and as a result, this epic final battle between the third Doctor and the Master sadly never got made.
02:23It's a shame, because the brother reveal would have added a very interesting layer to the Doctor-Master conflict.
02:28And getting one more story with Delgado in the role would have been a real treat as well.
02:33Number 8. The Age of the Toclefane
02:35For Doctor Who's return in 2005, Russell T. Davis commissioned writer Robert Shimmerman to create a story which would see the show's most iconic villains back on our screens.
02:45The eventual episode, Dalek, proved to be a huge hit, and is now regarded as a quintessential Doctor Who story.
02:52One slight obstacle stood in RTD's way, however, as the Daleks were the property of the Terry Nation estate, with the BBC needing their permission to bring the creatures back.
03:01Just in case he wasn't granted permission, RTD prepared a backup idea, which featured most of the same elements and plot points, except the Daleks were replaced with what we would later know as the Toclefane.
03:13Thankfully, the Terry Nation estate and the BBC eventually reached an agreement, but the idea of the Toclefane, potentially being this overarching villain of early New Who, like the Daleks ended up being, is pretty darn intriguing, especially considering their link to humanity, a species we know the Doctor is rather fond of.
03:31Number 7. An Enterprising Crossover
03:33Doctor Who and Star Trek have crossed paths in comic book form with the 2012 limited series Assimilation, featuring the 11th Doctor and Jean-Luc Picard dealing with a Cybermen-slash-Borg alliance.
03:46And seven years previously, these two sci-fi juggernauts almost crossed paths on TV, too.
03:52In 2005, the first year of the Doctor Who revival, serious consideration was given to the idea of the TARDIS zooming over to the Star Trek universe, and would presumably have seen either the 9th or 10th Doctor meet Captain Jonathan Archer, the lead of Star Trek Enterprise, which was the Trek show on TV at the time.
04:11However, when Enterprise was cancelled after its fourth season, any potential crossover plans were nipped in the bud.
04:16Though it probably wasn't the right timing for a dwindling Star Trek series and a fresh, full-of-potential Doctor Who series to combine forces, there's no doubt that this would have been a pop culture event for the ages, and a real treat for fans of both properties.
04:31And on that note, if you are a fan of Star Trek, then make sure that you're subscribed to our sister channel, Trek Culture, for all the latest and greatest about Star Trek as well.
04:40Number 6. Evil Doctor
04:42Like the creation of any new show, the inception of Doctor Who in late 1963 was, to say the least, a difficult time, and there were many interesting ideas and concepts that were scrapped along the way.
04:54One of these concepts was put forward by writer C.E. Weber in the original briefing describing the character of the Doctor.
05:00It posited that the Doctor was a sinister character who had an ulterior motive for his travels in time and space.
05:06This motive was that the Doctor was searching for a perfect society in the past, and would go so far as destroying the future in order to achieve his goals.
05:15This idea was vetoed by Sidney Newman, who sought to make the Doctor more of a kind figure rather than an evil genius.
05:22A malicious Doctor is an intriguing concept, and is something we've seen flashes of over the years.
05:27It would have definitely been an intriguing way to kick-start the show, that's for sure.
05:31Number 5. The Raggedy Tenth Doctor
05:33In 2008, Russell T. Davis announced that he was leaving Doctor Who, and that he would be replaced by Stephen Moffat, who had written some of the most iconic episodes of the show under Davis.
05:43Fans were relieved at the announcement because they knew they were safe in Moffat's hands.
05:47But one unanswered question was the fate of David Tennant, with even Moffat wondering if he would stay on under a new showrunner.
05:54This was not the case, however, as Tennant announced his departure in October 2008.
05:59But Moffat was not unprepared for the possibility that he would stay, and in fact, he had an alternative version of the Amy Pond storyline ready to go.
06:08This storyline would see the Tenth Doctor appear to young Amelia Pond, like we saw in The Eleventh Hour with Matt Smith's Doctor.
06:14But in a typical Moff twist, it would later be revealed that the Tenth Doctor was at the end of his life here, and had arrived in Amy's garden, dying after travelling with her older self for an entire series.
06:25There's no doubt that a series of Doctor Who led by Moffat and Tennant would have been amazing.
06:30And though this would have robbed us of Matt Smith's wonderful incarnation, we wouldn't have known that at the time.
06:35Number 4. The Martha Jones Adventures
06:37Martha Jones is one of the most underrated companions of the Revival era, likely due to falling in the middle of much more popular supporting characters like Rose Tyler and Donna Noble.
06:48However, Martha gets bonus points over those two companions because she's the only one who appeared in Torchwood, popping up in the second series for a handful of episodes.
06:57And at one point in time, there were even bigger plans for the character too, which would have almost transformed her into the Nick Fury of the Hooniverse.
07:05After her stint in Series 2 of Torchwood, the plan was to bring Martha back for Series 3, and integrate her closer into that team.
07:12But unfortunately, Freema Adjaman's successful career outside of Doctor Who prevented this from happening.
07:17Furthermore, Martha was also slated to appear in the second series of the Sarah Jane Adventures, only for Adjaman's other commitments to again throw a wrench in the works.
07:26On the plus side, this did lead to Martha's role being filled by the marvellous Nicholas Courtney as Brigadier Lethbridge Steward, so silver linings.
07:34Giving Martha an even bigger role in the Hooniverse would have been fantastic, so it's a damn shame these plans fell through.
07:41Let's hope she returns for that rumoured unit spin-off then, eh?
07:45Number 3. Tom Baker and the Talking Cabbage
07:48Starting off in 1963 with Ian, Barbara and Susan, the Doctor has always had a friendly and familiar face by their side.
07:55Whether it's a human, an alien, a fellow Time Lord, or a creaky old robot, shout out to Chameleon, the Companion exists to represent us, the audience, and to ask the Doctor questions about the plot.
08:07The Companions also introduce human emotion in contrast to the Doctor's otherworldly madness.
08:12After the departure of Companion Leela, however, Tom Baker had a slightly different idea for his next companion.
08:18A Talking Cabbage. He even pitched this idea to the producers, that this magical cabbage would sit on his shoulder and play the role of companion in the next season.
08:27In a somewhat understandable decision, the BBC declined Tom's idea.
08:31Now, would this have been a disaster? Quite possibly.
08:34But would we have given everything we own to see it? Hell yeah!
08:38Look, Doctor Who thrives on silliness. Sometimes this doesn't work. The Absorbaloth, for example. But sometimes it works brilliantly. Sentient fat taking over London, anyone?
08:48This damn cabbage could have been the next Doctor Who icon. If anyone could have made it work, it's Tom Baker.
08:54But at least we did get a stick of celery later on down the line, so the vegetables are represented in some form.
09:00Number 2. The Day of the Ninth Doctor
09:0250th anniversary special The Day of the Doctor was a triumph, and celebrated everything that made the programme so wonderful and special.
09:10One element that contributed to this was the much-anticipated return of David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor, alongside John Hurt as a totally new incarnation of the Doctor, known as the War Doctor.
09:21However, the special was originally going to be a very different episode, and would have seen all of the modern Doctors on screen together.
09:28When writing those early drafts of the story, Stephen Moffat spoke to Christopher Eccleston about returning as the Ninth Doctor.
09:34Eccleston listened to what Moffat had to say, but upon reading the script, politely said that it wasn't right for him.
09:39As a result, Moffat created the War Doctor to fill the gap that was intended for Nine.
09:44Eccleston has since admitted that he's not a fan of multi-Doctor stories in general, so that's probably another reason he was reluctant to join Smith and Tennant in the episode.
09:53But needless to say, it would have been amazing to see him.
09:56Number 1. The Doctor's Temporary Recast
09:59If you all knew how many times I had to record that, because I cannot say the word temporary, temporary, temporary, you get the gist.
10:08Modern Doctor Who peaked in popularity at the end of the 2000s, and the peak within that peak was arguably the stolen Earth and Journey's End.
10:16The end of that first episode, where the Doctor starts to regenerate, is one of the biggest cliffhangers in Doctor Who history.
10:22And there was genuine uncertainty among fans as to whether or not Tennant would turn into someone else.
10:28Bookies were even taking bets about which actor would replace him.
10:31And while it did feel like a bit of a cop-out for the cliffhanger to be resolved so easily,
10:35there was a chance we could have had a vastly different and totally brilliant opening scene, as explained by showrunner Russell T. Davis.
10:42He said,
10:43If I had my time again, I'd have milked that. I'd have cast a whole new Doctor, a superstar, for one scene.
10:50Ian McKellen, Judi Dench, have them run around the TARDIS, then discover the hand and regenerate back.
10:55Imagine, why didn't I?
10:57As fate would have it, RTD is back at the helm once again.
11:00So don't be surprised to see David Tennant regenerate into a Hollywood A-lister for a scene or two.
11:05What if Neil Patrick Harris is actually the Doctor, and we're all just being tricked?
11:09I mean, stranger things have happened in this show, let's be honest.
11:13And that concludes our list.
11:14If you can think of any other examples, then please do let us know in the comments below.
11:18And while you're there, don't forget to like and subscribe and tap that notification bell,
11:22so you never miss a Who Culture video ever again.
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11:27and I can be found across various social medias just by searching Ellie Littlechild.
11:31I've been Ellie with Who Culture, and in the words of Riversong herself, goodbye, sweeties.
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