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Those Doctor Who video games, movies, and shows that the BBC probably wishes it could exterminate.
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00:00With Doctor Who having one of the largest, most enduring fanbases in pop culture,
00:04any project bearing that brand name is guaranteed to be given a great deal of attention.
00:09But what isn't guaranteed is that the projects themselves will be popular or high quality,
00:14or that the fanbase will respond to them in a positive manner.
00:17Indeed, with so many spin-off shows, video games, comics, movies, audio dramas and animations
00:23having been produced throughout Doctor Who's long 60-year lifespan,
00:27it's inevitable that there are some the BBC probably wants you to forget.
00:31So with that in mind then, I'm Ellie with Who Culture,
00:34and here are 10 Doctor Who flops the BBC has buried.
00:38Number 10. Destiny of the Doctors
00:40Doctor Who hasn't had the best of luck in the video game space.
00:44Though things are looking more positive lately with Maze Theory's solid work on The Lonely Assassins
00:49and The Edge of Reality, the majority of previous titles, from old-school fare like The First Adventure
00:55to the recent MMO Worlds in Time, have either reviewed poorly, flopped or disappointed fans.
01:01Sometimes all three.
01:02But while we're singling out individual projects, one of the most notable failures in Doctor Who's
01:07gaming catalogue is the 1997 release Destiny of the Doctors, which initially showed a lot of promise
01:13due to the involvement of several actors from the show, including Tom Baker, Anthony Ainley
01:18and Nicholas Courtney, alongside Terence Dix, one of Doctor Who's very best writers.
01:24Unfortunately, though, the final product proved a big letdown.
01:28Bizarrely, the player didn't even control the Doctor, instead stepping into the shoes of a jellyfish-like
01:33alien called the Grark.
01:34And despite having a limitless universe to explore, the game also took place in dull, repetitive environments.
01:40But arguably, its worst offence was its sleep-inducing gameplay, which didn't come anywhere close
01:46to capturing the excitement or wonder of the show.
01:49All you really need to know is that one of the game's more favourable reviews labelled it
01:53a piece of crap.
01:54So it really isn't surprising that this underwhelming title has essentially been discarded from
01:58Doctor Who memory.
02:009.
02:01The TV Movie
02:02The TV movie was one of several unusual Doctor Who projects produced during the wilderness years.
02:07The period of time when the show was off the air between 1989 and 2005.
02:12Though the BBC was involved in making it, the TV movie was mostly an American-led production,
02:17with the Fox network reportedly considering a full series, but only if this backdoor pilot
02:23proved a success.
02:24And because that series never did materialise, it's clear that the parties involved felt that
02:28the TV movie didn't strike the chords they wanted it to, whether from a ratings, critical
02:33or fan-pleasing perspective.
02:34It's not terrible by any means.
02:36Paul McGann's 8th Doctor is actually rather wonderful, and it's worth watching for him
02:40alone.
02:41But the TV movie is widely considered the black sheep of Doctor Who's mainline television
02:46outings.
02:47What's more, the fact that the BBC decided to go in a new direction with Doctor Who in
02:51the years after the TV movie aired makes it clear that the corporation considered it something
02:56of a failed experiment.
02:57Number 8, Class.
02:59Modern Doctor Who spin-offs Torchwood and the Sarah Jane Adventures enjoyed a great deal
03:03of success during their lifetimes, so hopes were high that 2016's Class would be able
03:09to capture that same magic.
03:11And though the eight-episode series, which centres on a group of students battling aliens at the
03:15Hooniverse's iconic Coal Hill School, received positive reviews and a favourable fan response,
03:21it never felt like a core part of the Doctor Who world in the same way that those aforementioned
03:26spin-offs did.
03:27And its initial broadcast on BBC Three almost made it feel like the BBC had zero confidence
03:33in it, like the broadcaster was sending it out to die.
03:36And that's exactly what it did.
03:37Class was cancelled after one series due to consistently poor ratings throughout its
03:42run, with the BBC giving it very little time in the spotlight since.
03:47Fans don't talk about it all that much either, probably because very few of them have seen
03:51it, and though Class did receive the Big Finish audio treatment in 2018, that did very little
03:56to revive interest in the property.
03:59Number 7, Scream of the Schalke.
04:01Another project produced during the wilderness years, animated webcast Scream of the Schalke
04:06aired six episodes as part of Doctor Who's 40th anniversary celebrations.
04:11Featuring the voices of Richard E. Grant as the Ninth Doctor and Sophie Okonedo as his
04:15companion Alison, Scream of the Schalke represented Doctor Who's big leap into the animated medium.
04:21And though certainly a decent effort considering its obvious budget restrictions, the miniseries
04:26had slowly but surely been swept under the rug as the years have ticked by.
04:30While fans generally appreciate Scream of the Schalke, it didn't exactly set the world
04:34on fire when it released in 2003, but even more damning is the fact that the BBC literally
04:40did bury it when the company completely ignored its events come the 2005 revival.
04:46Richard E. Grant's Ninth Doctor was stricken from canon and recast, enter Christopher Eccleston,
04:51and the entire series is no longer considered a proper part of the Doctor Who timeline.
04:56It didn't help Schalke's case that revival mastermind Russell T Davies apparently dislikes
05:01the series.
05:02He reportedly called Grant's Doctor terrible, dooming this animated effort to be remembered
05:07as a sidelined wilderness project forevermore.
05:106.
05:11The K-9 Spin-Off Series
05:12When K-9 returned to Doctor Who in the second series of the revival, it was hoped that we'd
05:17continue to see more of the beloved Robo Mutts, and we did.
05:21The very next year, K-9 appeared in a spin-off show that was adored by fans and was a
05:25ratings
05:25hit, cementing his position as one of the greatest Doctor Who companions ever.
05:30We're talking, of course, about the Sarah Jane adventures, because the words adored and
05:34hit cannot be used to describe the other K-9 spin-off we're actually here to talk about.
05:39K-9, as it was titled, is the TV equivalent of a knock-off food brand.
05:43Sure, it did star K-9, and it was even developed by Bob Baker, the man who created the Cyberdog
05:49way back in the 1970s.
05:51But on the other hand, the show wasn't considered a part of Doctor Who canon.
05:55It was produced without any input from the BBC, and K-9's hideous redesign made him look
06:00like a discount wannabe version of our favourite talking pooch.
06:03That redesign was one of many sticking points fans had with the show, and a second series
06:08never materialised.
06:09It was a baffling decision to go ahead with this Elseworlds spin-off in the first place,
06:14because fans were already getting a K-9 fix on the Sarah Jane adventures.
06:18You know, that proper official Doctor Who spin-off.
06:21And with no support from the BBC, this particular K-9 outing was doomed from the start.
06:265.
06:27The Infinite Quest and Dreamland
06:29Doctor Who hit its stride in the animated realm when it started reconstructing missing episodes
06:34for a whole new generation to enjoy.
06:36But it wasn't too long ago that the BBC churned out a pair of awful cartoons that are
06:41best left forgotten.
06:43Released in 2007 and 2009 respectively, The Infinite Quest and Dreamland star David Tennant's
06:4910th Doctor on a pair of standalone adventures separate from the storylines of the main show.
06:54Though the basic idea had promise, and Tennant acquits himself admirably, these animated escapades
07:00received heavy criticism for their lacklustre execution, mainly down to their stiff, janky,
07:06and painfully low-budget visuals, which makes them almost unbearable to sit through.
07:10At a time when Doctor Who was firing on all cylinders under showrunner Russell T. Davies
07:15and leading man Tennant, The Infinite Quest and Dreamland were comparative misfires that
07:20failed to satisfy from a quality perspective, and also couldn't generate the level of buzz
07:25you'd expect from an official 10th Doctor-led spin-off.
07:28It's telling that the BBC hasn't really tried anything like this since, and you'll be hard-pressed
07:33to find anyone who looks back on these outings with a great deal of fondness.
07:364. Doctor Who Return to Earth A Doctor Who game on the Nintendo Wii sounds
07:42like a great idea on paper, allowing players to wave around the Wii remote like a sonic
07:46screwdriver. And though we did actually get a Doctor Who game on the Wii back in 2010,
07:52the world would've been a better place if it never saw the light of day.
07:55Doctor Who Return to Earth features Matt Smith and Karen Gillan as the 11th Doctor and Amy Pond,
08:01telling an original story revolving around the Daleks, the Cybermen, and a dangerous device
08:06called the Time Axis. The potential was high, and with a reported £10 million contract in play,
08:12the devs at Asylum Entertainment had more than enough money to realise the game's ambition.
08:17Unfortunately, though, that's not how it went. With unimpressive sales figures and 1 out of 10
08:22review scores galore, Return to Earth might be one of the worst games in the entire Wii library.
08:28With the BBC reportedly eager to make games for the Wii's large family audience, it tells you all you
08:33need to know about how embarrassing Return to Earth was for them that it was Doctor Who's last outing
08:39on the beloved Nintendo system.
08:413. Dimensions in Time The BBC was clearly scrambling to keep
08:45Doctor Who relevant during the wilderness years, prompting them to do all sorts of weird and
08:50unexpected things. The pinnacle of that weirdness was the 1993 children in need special Dimensions in
08:56Time, which combined the pulpy, fantastical, timey-wimey world of Doctor Who with the chip
09:01shops, pubs, and laundrettes of EastEnders. Bringing back the first seven Doctors in a story that saw
09:06them join forces with the EastEnders crew in an effort to stop the Rani, the resulting project is a
09:12cringe-fest from start to finish. With frustratingly cheap production values, even by Doctor Who standards,
09:18a nonsensical plot, and the nightmarish floating heads of the first and second Doctors which hilariously
09:24bounce around the screen like the old DVD logo, Dimensions in Time was a misguided effort on
09:29just about every level. Considering that Dimensions in Time is one of the most-watched Doctor Who
09:34stories ever, all it did was solidify the public perception of Doctor Who at the time,
09:39that the show was a joke. You won't find many fans who'll come to its defence, and the BBC,
09:44unsurprisingly, hasn't been eager to put it out on streaming.
09:472. Downtime and Deimos Rising Another weird wilderness years project,
09:52Downtime, like The Canine Show, was produced without the BBC's input, so it was essentially
09:57buried from the start. Released in 1995, this unofficial Doctor Who movie angled itself as a
10:03sequel to the second Doctor stories, The Abominable Snowman and The Web of Fear,
10:07bringing back Nicholas Courtney and Elizabeth Sladen to reprise their roles from the show,
10:12and also introducing the Brigadier's daughter Kate Stewart. Downtime was followed by a sequel,
10:17Deimos Rising, in 2004, another unofficial project that did away with pretty much all
10:22recognisable Doctor Who connections, including Courtney and Sladen, and instead continued Kate's
10:28story. Unofficial productions rarely managed to overcome that barrier of feeling like cheap
10:33knock-offs, and that's exactly how Downtime and Deimos Rising come off. Though Downtime fares the best,
10:39it also feels the more official of the two, thanks to the involvement of Courtney and Sladen,
10:43Deimos Rising is absolutely terrible, and it's no surprise that most fans don't even know these
10:48direct-to-video oddities exist. Understandably, the BBC completely ignored these projects come the 2005
10:54revival, and Kate was recast for her reintroduction in Series 7's The Power of Three.
11:001. Doctor in Distress The following quote from Ian Levine,
11:04music producer, Doctor Who superfan, and the guy who co-wrote Doctor in Distress,
11:09perfectly encapsulates the general feeling towards the ill-conceived 1985 charity single. He stated,
11:16It was an absolute balls-up fiasco. It was pathetic and bad and stupid.
11:21It tried to tell Doctor Who history in an awful high-energy song. It almost ruined me.
11:26Don't hold back, Ian. Tell us how you really feel.
11:28For those unaware, Doctor Who in Distress was produced when the show was put on hiatus in the
11:33mid-1980s. The song was intended as a protest against that decision, with the hope being that
11:39the BBC would take note and bring Doctor Who back. And while Doctor Who did ultimately return,
11:44it's fair to say that Doctor in Distress was not one of the reasons why. The song was universally panned,
11:49it failed to chart in the UK, and incredibly, the BBC downright refused to play it on its radio stations.
11:55In short, the whole thing was an unmitigated disaster. The only good thing to come of it was that
12:00it served as a stepping stone in the career of legendary film composer Han Zimmer,
12:05who played the music for the song. Not exactly his finest day at the office.
12:09And that concludes our list. If you can think of any other Doctor Who flops,
12:13then do let us know in the comments below. And while you're there, don't forget to like,
12:16and subscribe, and tap that notification bell. Also, head over to Twitter and follow us there,
12:21and I can be found across various social medias just by searching Ellie Littlechild.
12:25I've been Ellie with Who Culture, and in the words of Riversong herself, goodbye, sweeties.
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