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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
00:06Who.
00:07Once upon a time, the Sontarans were a mere thought in Robert Holmes' mind, and now look at them, obsessed
00:12with 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
00:19interesting 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
00:39better 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
01:00subplot 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
01:12then 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
01:24subplot revolving around that ability.
01:26And learning more about the book, one of the only known in-universe works about the Angels, would have been
01:31fascinating 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,
01:53which 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,
02:01before 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
02:20and 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 Shearman to create a story which would see
02:42the 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,
02:58with 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
03:08plot points,
03:08except 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,
03:17but the idea of the Toclefane potentially being this overarching villain of early New Who,
03:22like the Daleks ended up being, is pretty darn intriguing,
03:25especially considering their link to humanity, a species we know the Doctor is rather fond of.
03:317. An Enterprising Crossover
03:33Doctor Who and Star Trek have crossed paths in comic book form with the 2012 limited series Assimilation,
03:40featuring 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
03:58zooming over to the Star Trek universe,
04:01and would presumably have seen either the 9th or 10th Doctor meet Captain Jonathan Archer,
04:06the lead of Star Trek Enterprise, which was the Trek show on TV at the time.
04:10However, 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
04:22Who series to combine forces,
04:24there's no doubt that this would have been a pop culture event for the ages, and a real treat for
04:29fans 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
04:35sister channel, Trek Culture,
04:37for 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,
04:49a difficult time,
04:50and 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. Webber in the original briefing describing the character of
04:59the Doctor.
05:00It posited that the Doctor was a sinister character who had an ulterior motive for his travels in time and
05:06space.
05:06This motive was that the Doctor was searching for a perfect society in the past,
05:11and 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
05:20an evil genius.
05:21A 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 kickstart 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
05:39Moffat,
05:39who 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,
05:51with 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,
06:03and 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,
06:11like 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
06:19his life here,
06:19and 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,
06:33we 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,
06:42likely 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,
06:54popping 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,
07:01which would have almost transformed her into the Nick Fury of the Who-niverse.
07:05After her stint in Series 2 of Torchwood, the plan was to bring Martha back for Series 3,
07:10and 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,
07:23only 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
07:31as Brigadier Lethbridge Steward, so silver linings.
07:34Giving Martha an even bigger role in the Who-niverse would have been fantastic,
07:38so 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,
07:52the 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,
08:01the 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
08:17next companion, a talking cabbage. He even pitched this idea to the producers, that this
08:22magical 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. But would we have given everything
08:36we own to see it? Hell yeah! Look, Doctor Who thrives on silliness. Sometimes this doesn't
08:42work. The Absorbaloft, for example. But sometimes it works brilliantly. Sentient fat taking over
08:47London, anyone? This damn cabbage could have been the next Doctor Who icon. If anyone could have
08:52made it work, it's Tom Baker. But at least we did get a stick of celery later on down the
08:56line,
08:57so 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
09:07made the programme so wonderful and special. One element that contributed to this was the
09:12much-anticipated return of David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor, alongside John Hurt as a totally new
09:18incarnation of the Doctor, known as the War Doctor. However, the special was originally going to be a
09:23very 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
09:31Eccleston about returning as the Ninth Doctor. Eccleston listened to what Moffat had to say,
09:36but upon reading the script, politely said that it wasn't right for him. As a result,
09:40Moffat 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,
09:49so that's probably another reason he was reluctant to join Smith and Tennant in the episode. But
09:53needless 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
10:03temporary, temporary, temporary, you get the gist. Modern Doctor Who peaked in popularity at the
10:10end 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
10:20cliffhangers in Doctor Who history. And there was genuine uncertainty among fans as to whether or not
10:26Tennant would turn into someone else. Bookies were even taking bets about which actor would
10:30replace him. And while it did feel like a bit of a cop-out for the cliffhanger to be resolved
10:34so
10:34easily, there was a chance we could have had a vastly different and totally brilliant opening scene,
10:40as explained by showrunner Russell T. Davis. He said,
10:43If I had my time again, I'd have milked that. I'd have cast a whole new Doctor, a superstar, for
10:49one
10:49scene. Ian McKellen, Judi Dench, have them run around the TARDIS, then discover the hand and
10:54regenerate back. Imagine, why didn't I? As 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. If you can think of any other examples,
11:16then please do let us know in the comments below. And while you're there,
11:19don't forget to like and subscribe and tap that notification bell,
11:21so you never miss a Who Culture video ever again. Also, head over to Twitter and Instagram
11:26to follow us there, and I can be found across various social medias just by searching Ellie
11:30Littlechild. I've been Ellie with Who Culture, and in the words of Riversong herself, goodbye, sweeties.
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