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Sometimes huge things happen in the Whoniverse and end up meaning absolutely nothing.
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00:00As the series tries to progress since its debut in 1963, Doctor Who has had its fair share of
00:05huge moments. With 15 so far actors taking up the mantle of our titular Time Lord, each Doctor goes
00:12through their own adventures, adding to their incarnation's personal stories, as well as the
00:17larger story of the Time Lord and those around them. Everyone has their own personal favourite
00:22moments, but some events are literally entrenched within the DNA of the show. Huge moments in Who
00:28include first landing on Scarrow, the Doctor's exile on Earth in the War Games, fighting the Time
00:33War and the fall of the 11th on Trenzalore, all having lasting consequences for the Who-niverse
00:39and the characters within it. But sometimes these huge moments don't stick. We bear witness to so
00:45many revelations in one story, but by the following week it has meant very little, and any development
00:50is unwritten, forgotten about or simply replaced by something totally different. So with that in
00:56mind then, I'm Ellie with Who Culture, and here are 10 huge moments in Doctor Who that no one cared
01:02about. Number 10. The Doctor, Lord President of Gallifrey. This is a tricky one. Lord President
01:08of Gallifrey is the highest level of office among Time Lord society, and once or twice the Doctor has
01:14found himself raised to that position. In the five classic stories including Gallifrey, starting with
01:19the deadly assassin, the Doctor goes from running for president but declining at the end to coming back
01:24the following season to take the role to defeat a foe, before returning in his next incarnation to
01:29find he is no longer president, to then being offered it again in the 20th anniversary later
01:34that year, but still runs from the responsibility. The Doctor makes one final return to Gallifrey in
01:39season 23, where the sixth Doctor is met by the line, since you willfully neglected the responsibility
01:45of your great office, you were deposed, resetting this moment once again. So whilst this does pop up on
01:52and off in the classic era and is touched on in Hellbent, the presidency of the Doctor is never
01:56actually explored, besides in the odd expanded media story. Hello big finish. It's a thread which
02:02comes and goes when the Doctor revisits Gallifrey depending on the story and the writers. The Doctor
02:07as Lord President is a big deal, but never seems to carry any weight or last beyond a story. Surely
02:12President Doctor would make a great storyline if fleshed out beyond one outing. Although that may be a
02:18little tricky now. Number 9, the death of the Master again. We all know the Master is the Moriarty to the
02:25Doctor's homes. That was always his intention during his original conception in the 70s, and like the
02:31Doctor, we've had a fair share of incarnations. But unlike our titular Time Lord, we barely see these
02:36regenerations taking place on screen. Sometimes we are simply left believing the Master is dead. A common
02:41thread of the Master story in the 1980s especially, their appearance would often end with their death
02:47before reappearing a few stories down the line inexplicably. Looking at you, Planet of Fire,
02:52this season 21 story sees the Aenly Master literally burning to nothing with the Doctor
02:58just watching on. However, the following season's Mark of the Rani just has the same incarnation turn
03:03up with no real explanation. The trope returned in New Who, with the first three storylines including
03:08the Master, Saxon, End of Time and Death in Heaven, all ending with the death of the character.
03:14However, two of these occasions, we're actually provided with reasons for the return, through both
03:19resurrections and very handy last-minute teleports. It's an endearing character trait, and we don't
03:25always need the exposition of how the Master survives each encounter, but when death to the
03:29character becomes so casual, you start to wonder why the writers bother, when realistically, all major
03:34fans know they will not properly call it quits on such a bankable villain after one appearance,
03:39leading to a lack of caring towards the stakes of their life.
03:43Number 8. The Time Lord Victorious
03:452009's Waters of Mars is regarded by many as one of Tennant's finest hours, and the ending of the
03:52story has some major ramifications for the character. But guess what? It doesn't beyond this
03:57story. The end of The Waters of Mars has the Doctor declare himself the Time Lord Victorious,
04:02as the last survivor of his race, and gaining a god-like complex when it comes to the laws of time.
04:08However, after changing time and saving the last few residents of Bowie Base One,
04:12one member, Adelaide Brooke, does not believe this is right. Returning home, Brooke kills herself,
04:18setting her timeline back on course, leaving the Doctor to wonder if he's gone too far.
04:22But by the next episode, The End of Time, this seemingly huge moment is totally forgotten about.
04:28Yes, 2020 saw a massive, multi-expanded media storyline exploring the moments after this, but in the show,
04:35the moment the Tenth Doctor almost became comparable to a god is swiftly moved on from.
04:39This entry is a real shame. The fact this is glossed over, as this would have provided a
04:45fascinating new dimension to the show. The Time Lord Victorious is almost like an anti-hero arc,
04:50where Tennant is doing what he believes is right when it actually goes against everything he and
04:55the Time Lords should stand for. Non-interference.
04:59Number 7. The Flux
05:00Okay, okay, Jodie and Chibnall's tenure in control of the TARDIS is not over yet,
05:05so there is still room to rectify this, but right now, this is a hugely glossed over plot point from Series 13.
05:11For the first time in New Who, Series 13 embarked on one interconnecting serialised arc,
05:17a refreshing change that updates Who to the style of other modern series.
05:20The series focused on the titular Flux, a huge apocalyptic event in time and space,
05:26described as a hurricane ripping through the structure of the universe. Pretty cool, right?
05:30Doctor Who is going pretty bold here. Well, obviously being a show which isn't entirely
05:35bleak, the Doctor and co. stop the Flux, after it wipes out the combined forces of the Daleks,
05:40Cybermen and Sontarans, and finally when it is absorbed by a passenger. The passengers were an
05:45endless space intended to hold prisoners, and the vast space within was seemingly enough to
05:50extinguish the chaos. Fair enough, but what about all the destruction?
05:54Azure states that the Ravagers would restore the universe after the final Flux event,
05:58but did that happen? The end of Series 13 is a little vague-slash-confusing,
06:02and come the next episode, Eve of the Daleks, the events are barely mentioned.
06:06The Daleks know a considerable amount of their fleet was destroyed, not the entirety we're
06:11originally led to believe, and Dan mentions how the Doctors saved the universe, but is that it?
06:16We just gloss over the cataclysm that just occurred. For now, yes.
06:206. The Doctor is Merlin
06:22Sylvester McCoy's seventh Doctor is renowned from going from a clown-like buffoon in his first season
06:28to becoming the great schemer by his final adventures, using his companion Ace as his pawn.
06:33As a part of this, 1989's Battlefield introduces the idea that the Doctor at some point in his life
06:39will be the man behind the myth of Merlin. As Merlin, the Doctor would help Arthur fight the
06:44Sorceress Morgaine. As the Doctor had no memory of being Merlin, he assumes that this must be a fate for
06:49him that'll occur later in his life. We've had plots of the Doctor being woven into various histories,
06:54occasionally arriving sometime before this in his timeline, but the legend of Merlin is quite a big
06:59position to fill. Sadly, Season 26 is Doctor Who's final classic season, with both the TV movie and
07:05New Who providing reboots, so whether this would develop further if a Season 27 happened, we may never
07:11know. Therefore, the idea goes nowhere. The concept has been followed in expanded media in various
07:17differing ways, but on screen, this is simply a loss we have to bear.
07:215. Daleks without the Doctor Asylum of the Daleks gives us our first introduction
07:26to Jenna Coleman in Who, playing Oswin Oswald, who's seemingly connected to our future companion
07:32Clara Oswald. However, in the end, it is revealed poor Oswin has been converted into a Dalek.
07:37As a last gift to the 11th Doctor to escape, she reveals to him that she removed every trace of
07:42him from the Daleks' database, allowing him to escape the asylum. Upon making it back to the
07:47Dalek Parliament, we are left with the final knowledge that all the Daleks have forgotten
07:51him, and not just those in the asylum, leaving them to question Doctor Who. So with that ending,
07:57surely the next appearance of the Doctor versus the Daleks – it's Doctor Who that's obviously
08:01going to happen – is going to be pretty interesting, right? Wrong! The next appearance of the Daleks,
08:06barring their 50th anniversary appearance in the Time War, is in the time of the Doctor, and once
08:12again, the Daleks remember their arch-nemesis. When asked by the Doctor how they knew who he was,
08:17we get the convenient explanation of they took the memories of Tasha Lem, a character we are only
08:22just introduced to in this episode, who is apparently significant enough to provide the Daleks with
08:27everything they need to know about the Doctor. In the end, it feels lazy to write the ending of
08:32Asylum to then simply do a full 180 as soon as they reappear for convenience. And why bother in
08:37the first place? 4. I'm Half Human On My Mother's Side
08:42Love It or Hate It, the 1996 TV movie did one thing absolutely perfect – the casting of Paul
08:48McGann as the 8th Doctor. But one major aspect of his character has not ever been taken too seriously.
08:55I'm Half Human On My Mother's Side is a comment made various times throughout the American-produced
09:00special. Now that is pretty huge – not a lot is ever really discovered about the Doctor's past
09:05in the classic series. The only family member we are introduced to is granddaughter Susan in the
09:10first seasons of the show. But otherwise, it is always just assumed the Doctor is 100%
09:15Time Lord. Of course, once again, the Chibnall era has decided to add its own spin on the character's
09:20origins and currently seems a lot more concrete of an explanation than this throwaway line. But even
09:25before this retconning in 2020, the half-human comment is never really taken as gospel. It's
09:31a storyline that maybe could have worked properly, but almost feels too cliché. With no follow-up to
09:36the TV movie, we'll maybe never truly know the intentions. Both RTD and Moffat have mentioned
09:42before they don't truly believe into it, with another widely believed theory of whom the Doctor's
09:46mother is being the nameless woman in the end of time. This could be a monumental moment for the show,
09:52but after the TV movie is pushed aside, many chalk this up to post-regenerative trauma.
09:57Maybe lineage should be left alone, keeping the mystery in Doctor Who.
10:013. Morbius Doctors
10:04In 1976's The Brain of Morbius, during a mind battle with the titular villain,
10:09it is revealed the Doctor had faces before the Hartnell incarnation. Did the fandom go mental?
10:14What did this mean for the series going forward after such a shock reveal? Not a lot.
10:19Granted, this potentially means more now in 2022 with the Timeless Child plot, but in 1976,
10:25this meant nothing in the show or to fans, really. It is a widely known fact that New
10:30Who is definitely a lot more plot-lore heavy than classic, with various contradictions in the original
10:36run, some of which we will get into later. The Morbius Doctors are brought to life on screen by
10:41members of the production dressed in classical outfits, meant to boost up the scope of the Doctor
10:46and Morbius' mind battle. These incarnations were portrayed by directors Graham Harper,
10:51Douglas Canfield, and Christopher Barry, as well as writer Robert Holmes and producer Philip Hinchcliffe.
10:56Some fans believe these incarnations were Morbius' rather than the Doctors, however,
11:01this seems to have been proven wrong since. Yes, we now have the wonderful Joe Martin, who we are
11:06currently led to believe is a pre-Hartnell Doctor, and a very brilliant montage in the Timeless
11:11Children. But before this, these chaps had no acknowledgement in canon, besides maybe being
11:16considered a gag. More Doctors should be huge events, as the War and Fugitive Doctors were,
11:22but it's taken 44 years for this true potential meaning to come to screen.
11:262. The Valiard
11:28The Sixth Doctor's era receives mixed reviews from the fans, but his final story drops a bombshell to rock
11:34the character to their core. The Trial of Time Lord sees the Doctor put on trial for his exploits
11:39through time, and is being prosecuted by a Time Lord referred to as the Valiard. As the series comes
11:44to a head, the Master returns and reveals that he knows the Valiard as the Doctor.
11:49The Valiard is an amalgamation of the darker sides of your nature, somewhere between your 12th and
11:54final incarnation. So surely something exciting must happen with this character next? An evil
11:59incarnation of the Doctor? Surely a big deal for our hero? Nope.
12:03Whilst he goes on to play various parts in expanded media, the Valiard only appears in Season 23,
12:09and is briefly mentioned in Capaldi's final story. As a premise, the Valiard is a really
12:14interesting idea, and has so much potential, especially since after David Tennant's second
12:19incarnation, the Valiard is meant to come about. When written in 1986, obviously the intention of
12:25the Doctor is to have 13 lives, so this fits between Tennant and Smith. However, since the time of the
12:30Doctor, the Doctor's lifespan has been expanded, and so there is now a full cycle of possibilities.
12:36Hopefully, this is one moment which is eventually addressed,
12:39as seeing what happens when all the darkness of the Doctor takes form would be a real treat.
12:44But for now, this is another moment no one has cared about.
12:47Number 1. Gallifrey Returns
12:50The planet of the Time Lords has been a part of the show's history since the late 60s,
12:54with later seasons fleshing out the planet, society and people. But turn to New Who,
12:58and Gallifrey is gone, wiped out by the Doctor in the Time War. That, again, is until the 50th
13:04anniversary, where the planet was saved. So surely now, Gallifrey is back as a staple of the Hooniverse.
13:10I think again. Series 9's finale Hellbent marks our first proper exploration of the Doctor on
13:15Gallifrey, with the planet being stuck at the end of the universe, but very much there. However,
13:20the next time we see Gallifrey in Series 12's Spyfall, the Master has reduced the planet to a smouldering wreck.
13:26Yes, the shot in Spyfall is beautiful, but after the work of the 50th, the 11th Doctor's last stand
13:32on Trenzalor and the arc of Series 9, Gallifrey and the Time Lords are once again taken from us.
13:38Some may argue that the Time Lords as a species aren't that interesting. We'll tell them to go check
13:43Big Finish's Gallifrey series. But there is so much potential, and another monumental U-turn makes
13:49you question the point of the build-up to its return if not to be explored. Of course, there is
13:53every chance Gallifrey and the Time Lords are restored once again. That could be useful for the
13:58Timeless Child arc, since it is literally its foundation. But right now, the return of Gallifrey
14:03feels like a meaningless waste of time. And that concludes our list. If you can think of any other
14:08huge moments that no one cared about, then do let us know in the comments below. And while you're
14:12there, don't forget to like, and subscribe, and tap that notification bell. Also, head over to
14:16Twitter and follow us there, and I can be found across various social medias just by searching
14:21Ellie Littlechild. I've been Ellie with Who Culture, and in the words of Riversong herself, goodbye, sweeties.
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