10 Biggest Doctor Who Missed Opportunities 

My personal favorite missed opportunity is never seeing River & Missy together in an episode. Imagine the overwhelming scene chewing with those two on screen together.

The creature hatching in Kill The Moon should have been the birth(?) of the Star Whale from The Beast Below. Full circle, it was spared by The Doctor and Humanity (Clara mostly, but she is human, so theres that...) so it returned to help save Humanity. Like returning a fovour....

I like that the master didn't show up with Matt. His stories are so original that it would've felt like they ran out of ideas. The break was nice, just like the casting of Michelle was fresh.

I was so disappointed when Victorian Clara died. I thought we were finally going to get a long-term companion from a different era.

The River and Jack Big Finish story wasn't just "better than nothing", it was better than anything the show could have pulled off. It was full of heart, humour and emotion, jumping all up and down both of their timelines, with lots of cool references and revisiting older episodes.

"Not Doing Much With The Timelords" sounds like a great comedy spin-off! 😁

In the Sontaran strategem/ poison sky when the Doctor needed a car that had been fitted with Atmos, this would have been the perfect opportunity for UNIT to wheel out Bessie instead of some old chappy land rover.

I disagree that it's a missed opportunity that Matt Smith didn't have a story with The Master. Why the insistence that every doctor has to have an encounter with every common antagonist (The Master, the Daleks, the Cybermen, the Sontarans, the Angels, etc)? There are times when it just seems like lazy writing that they couldn't think up a decent adversary so let's get the Cybermen out of storage one more time! Matt Smith went up against some great baddies; the fact that The Master wasn't one of them really isn't a problem.

River and Jack come from the same era so they EASILY can work together. Perhaps we will see it some time in the far future. I think Gallifrey needs to have a lack of screentime to show the mysticism and bring the Doctor to a more grounded level. I would also love to see Jenny again! In my personal opinion, the 8th Doctor movie is SO UNDERRATED! It makes for a great 90s TV movie and is nostalgic!

Night of the Doctor is one of my favorite Doctor Who things I’ve ever seen. I can see McGann as the War Doctor, as well as Eccleston. Some of the lines War speaks in “Day of the Doctor” could easily have come out the 9th Doctor’s mouth. But then we would have missed the amazing John Hurt. But to the point of this video, I would have enjoyed more McGann. I may have to get some of the Big Finish stuff he did.

I have two cats, Jack Harkness and River Song, so you can guess which "missed opportunity" I'd most like to see. The two Doctor Who characters are both something of tricksters -- a characterization that applies to cats -- and, now that I think about it, might make great "frienemies," each trying to outwit the other. And I loved Torchwood, maybe even more than most of Doctor Who, so I'm all in favor of seeing it return. Oh well . . . .

Half of these are essentially Big Finish have done it but we want it on screen.

I was so sure "Not Bringing Back Susan" would be Number One?!!

I have two. 1. Not making River Song the companion for Season 7b & the 50th anniversary was a massive missed opportunity! It would've fit in better for the stories & they even set it up at the end of 7a in The Angels Take Manhattan, when the Doctor asked her to travel with him... 2. Not making the 8th Doctor the War Doctor. It would've been so much better as it would've added to the 8's lore, explained why we'd not seen him on our screen since 1996 movie & wouldn't have messed up the numerical ordering (before Timeless child did that).

Victorian Clara would have been a great Companion! She had sass, smarts and beauty all in one package. And that accent, loved it! She would have been perfect with 11 for an entire series. Jack and River would have been wild and kinky together. The sparks and innuendos would have flied with those two. The Doctor doesn't need to regenerate inside the TARDIS to blow it up, the sexual tension between the two of them would have done that a few times over! 😅💥💥💥💥

Heres an idea for last one. Not sure if it's a good one or not, but we know some Zygons live on Earth, so how about the campion turn outs to be a Zygon. They changing abilities could come in incredibly handy and create interesting story ideas. From either; a different guest actor every story, or more casual as an when if needed, so there'll be a main face still. Is this something people would be interested in?

Major hints were dropped that River and Jack had some connection before the Pond reveal. The closest we got was an episode of Arrow, where she was the Canary’s mother Dinah, and John was Malcolm Merlyn. Sadly, the Birthday Buddies shared no scenes, let alone filming days. 😢 Also, Mark Sheppard and Michelle Gomez need a series together. They were paired off in an episode of Doom Patrol, and it was GLORIOUS..

#1 is what I have been saying since Doctor Who returned. Whovians realize there needs to be a connection, but with the Return of RTD, I too hold out hope that the Doctor's companion is Not from Modern Day. That's getting Really Old, and is one of many things that held the show back, the Majority of the episodes took place on Earth.

Totally agree they should have kept the doctor blind until his regeneration! I was really looking forward to that! When they went with him still being blind, i was like, yes! Consequences! A weakness to overcome! And i guess using it as bill making the deal with the monks....yeah it works but it would have been soooo interesting to see more of a blind doctor!

Brilliant video and yes we were totally robbed not getting a proper season with Paul McGann! Every time I watch Night of the Doctor I feel cheated that we didn't get more of him. Really powerful and yet playful performance.

I think the biggest missed opportunity was a musical episode, they had Catherine Tate, Tennent, John Barrowman (you can see how they would have been perfect for a musical in the video "The ballad of Russell and Julie), they had Billie Piper, Peter Capaldi and at one point Kylie Minogue... and crazy aliens or TARDIS malfunctioning to easily justify that. Give me "Doctor Who the musical"... now you even have Neil Patrick Harris and Jinkx Monsoon.

Maybe just me but i like the idea of 11 not having a Master as we got to see the Doctor grow and develop beautifully.

The Master was mentioned in A Town Called Mercy, Don't ask why I remember that. But it's the closest we got.

I really hope between RTD coming back and the Disney deal that it will provide Doctor Who with more spinoffs and possibly the return of Torchwood as well and create a whole Universe with it like Marvel.

In terms of companion variety, I still lament that Victorian Clara wasn't the version we kept. She had a much more interesting backstory, and was more enjoyable to watch than modern Clara in s7.

They didn't "both own a vortex manipulator." There's actually a scene where River gets the vortex manipulator and she buys it from a guy who says he "got it from a handsome time agent." Jack Harkness did masquerade as a time agent, so Moffett included that line to suggest River had Jack's vortex manipulator. She likely got his gun, too.

With the exception of Paul McGann not getting at least 1 television season as The Doctor, I feel that the biggest "what if" missed opportunity Doctor Who will ever have was Capaldi not getting a 4th season as The Doctor with Missy as his companion (along with Bill and Nardole). That to me would have been the ultimate TARDIS team as you would have the tragic hero (Capaldi knowing it's his final season), the romantic foil (Missy trying to be The Doctor's friend and good), the exposition/straight man (Bill), and the likable comic relief (Nardole).

I agree so hard on number 1. Don't get me wrong, I LIKE cute girls from the modern era as companions, but dangit, that's all we've gotten! Gimme a cute girl from the future! A cute girl alien! Heck, it doesn't even have to be a cute girl! (Sacrilege, I know, but it must be said!). I like what I've seen of Ruby, I'm sure she'll be great, but let's get some cute girl variety in here!

#6 - "Not Doing Much With The Time Lords" I'd go further and saying destroying Gallifrey was a lazy decision to not have to deal with them anymore. It would've been interesting to see the Doctor based on Gallifrey for a while and maybe seeing or sowing the seeds of a new wave of Time Lords that were less 'superior' than their counterparts, maybe using it as a base for a spin-off of a historical series exploring Earth's history.

Idris Elba would be awesome as Omega maybe have him and Rassilon get into a Galifrey civil war (potentially set in motion by The Master or Helen Miren as The Rani). I agree with going big on Time Lords

How is Danny? Also well done for talking about sight loss, I'm proud

The best idea for a new companion in the modern era is Karvanista. A massive grumpy northern space dog who was utterly dedicated to The Doctor, but then left behind and experimented on, and then tried to do anything to keep The Doctor away from them. I still think The Power of the Doctor would have been better if he'd returned instead of Vinder. He could have shot The Master AND come face to face with the avatar of Jo Martin's Doctor, finally getting his apology to mirror Tegan & Ace and act as a catalyst for Yaz's decision to move on.

During Matt Smith run as the Doctor, I so badly wanted a scene where he tries to use the “John Smith” cover, then someone calls him out by commenting how common the name is. Then going on to say “At least change one of the names to something else like… I dunno, Matt Smith”. Then the Doctor replies: “Matt Smith? What a rubbish name, I don’t like it”. Just a incredibly meta joke but I think it would have been perfect for Matt’s run.

A great missed opportunity would have been a brief meeting of Clara and Rose. Think about it, she jumped into his timestream just before the 50th, they both had similar arcs of saving the Doctor in spectacular ways across time and space, and "Bad Wolf" with all her mystical power would have been a great explanation for that strange cave-like area that Clara ended up landing in. I could totally see a meeting where Rose as the Bad Wolf tells Clara something along the lines of "I created myself to save the Doctor, but you've already done most of that for me, so with the little time I have left I decided to save you." Then the Doctor's voice would break in from all around, as it did, Bad Wolf could give a cheeky little wave and say "Bye," as she sort of fades out, and it would have been a perfect out-of-sync River-type moment to compliment the Moment impersonating her... or was that the real Bad Wolf impersonating the Moment perhaps?

I have one - not having the S10 TARDIS team consist of 12, Missy, and River (instead of River leaving in the S9 Xmas special). It would've been hilarious seeing Missy and River fight over who loves the Doctor more. Also, them ganging up on the Doctor from time to time 😂. No Bill hate ofc - she was great too

(the master should of appeared in matt smiths era) but in my opinion this is good that he/she didn't appear because its good to have some masters not appear in some Doctors eras idk if that's just me or what

Killing off Tecteun. The Doctor having an evil mother figure and rogue scientist as a Rani substitute was a brilliant invention, superbly played by Barbara Flynn. I would’ve liked to have seen the impact of their relationship unfold in future stories.

Small one - there should have been a cameo of Bessie in "The Poison Sky"

I always thought that the biggest missed opportunity was to have some sort of continuing story of the Bannerman Road gang after the loss of Sarah Jane. It would have been interesting to see how they dealt with the death of their mentor.

Richard E Grant being the Master is canon for me now.

Great video as always! One missed opportunity that I always think of is during the 2014 christmas special, clara was originally supposed to leave and a character from that christmas special called shona was due to take over as the companion. At the last minute jenna coleman decided to stay on for series 9 so shona was just used as an additional character. I think it's a real shame cos the character of shona was really funny and fresh, I think she had a lot of potential. Plus having clara in series 9 just felt not quite right for me. Thanks Ellie and Who Culture! 😊😊

What they could have done with Jenny was have her Meet River and Susan in some manner.

I would love to have seen Sally Sparrow return for a few episodes. She would have been amazing. I know the reason behind it; Carey Mulligan's career skyrocketing; but it still feels like a huge missed opportunity.

two characters I would've loved to see as companions, Timothy Latimer from human nature/family of blood, and Lynda moss, the contestant on big brother in bad wolf, I feel like both characters could've added something interesting

i’m really hoping that ruby sunday will be from the 60s / 70s, based on their outfits in the promo photos it could be possible! i think it would be a nice way to have a human character the audience can relate to while still creating more variety and tying back to classic who by having someone from that era. also good because having a black doctor, which represents modern doctor who, with a companion from the time of the show’s creation, representing old doctor who, would just be really fun imo. i’m also hoping rose noble becomes a companion later on down the line - yes she would be another modern companion, but a poc trans companion related to the legend donna noble would be so amazing!!!

Missed opportunity is the 10th doctor not having k9 when he was on his own. Imagine k9 in the titanic episode. I think k9 should be in the tardis as it’s cleaner/guard when the doctor goes out on adventures. When the doctors alone he could bring k9 out for a walk 😂

I really agree with the companion variety. I love the idea of having a character from the past in the modern show. We sometimes get these super clever and curious single episode companions in episodes set in the past and I feel like it's a wasted opportunity not to have a companion start in this way. I would have much preferred 1892 Clara from The Snowmen be the version of her that was the companion but I'm not the writer that would have to find out what to do with her when she's not in the Tardis. I would really enjoy a character from the past having to learn about the future in New Who. Maybe one day we'll get lucky! My other one is that we should have had a spinoff with Martha Jones. With all her appearances after she leaves the Tardis, we know full well that she doesn't just go back to being a medical doctor, and, in The End Of Time, during 10's farewell, it seems like she's more of a freelancer, rather than a member of Unit, and I would have enjoyed more of this. Of course, this was never really possible with Freema's other television roles, but I would have loved more of her onscreen than her 3 episode Torchwood appearances.

With the TV Movie, I would have hinted that Ace was left with Prof. Chronotis during his amnesia. But wasn't certain whether it was he or Salyavin he had left her with.

I still have some hope for a multi-River episode! We have a little girl in 1960s America, Mels in 1990s England, and River Song….but we don't know how she got from Nixon's America to her parents' home town. Perhaps she gave herself a lift?

No shout out for Graham at the end as a retired male bus driver companion? He was one of the highlights of the Chibnall era. Also, Dan was around for a while, and I think he's another Harry Sullivan, doomed to be overlooked due to existing in the shadow of a favoured, longer-standing companion. Of course, the most likely reason for the lack of diversity in the companions is the lack of diversity in the people running the show.

In addition to Jenny, there's a whole OTHER Tenth-Doctor clone floating around in a different universe with Rose Tyler. I can understand why that didn't come up regularly, as that would have diminished the finale of Ten's first full series and the fact that Rose is stuck in a parallel universe, but from what I know of the later runs, it hardly ever comes up at all and there's not even an isolated episode. From what happens at the end of the moat recent special, though, it kinda feels like Davies is working his way back around to having a spare Doctor in storage, as it were.

Handles. You forgot all about Handles.

When Christopher Eccleston made the decision to not return for "The Day of the Doctor", I hear Steven Moffatt's next inclination was to make the third star Paul McGann, but then quickly nixed that because he didn't want to make the chirpy, romantic Doctor of the '96 movie into a soldier. Thus, the creation of the War Doctor. As much as I love the character and John Hurt's portrayal, it would have been interesting to put in McGann, and his arc in "Day" showing how he went from his initial character to a warrior. (Imagine an extended "Night of the Doctor" incorporated into "Day".) That would have been a great way to give Paul McGann's Doctor a bigger role in the show's lore.

Oopie Doopie River Song and Captain Jack!! Sign me up.

not having the Brigadier and/or Mister Benton be the UNIT presence in the Tardis in Tom Baker's first season: They'd have had some WTF moments before knuckling down to things, instead of Harry Sullivan's wide-eyedness ('The Lords of the Admiralty will never believe this!') not having Strax be Peter Capaldi's last-season thousand-year companion instead of the fatuous Nardole - someone who resents his inability to die until he takes on a mass of cybermen.

Not having Jack and River meet really was a missed opportunity. I do have a bit of a consolation price as do the Whovian attendees of ECCC 2015 when both Barrowman and Kingston took over Seattle. So for some time I had wanted to get the Doctors who had some silly gag with a banana to sign a banana for me during a con. So I bought a plastic banana and since both River and Jack were disarmed by the Doctor and ended up with a banana, I figured their signatures would also be fun to have. Well, apparently other people had the same idea because by the time I got to Alex she greets me with " oh great another damn banana!'' She then proceeds to get on top of her autograph table and wave my banana at John who was at his table across the autograph hall. That damn banana is still one of my prized possessions and now also has David Tennant and Christopher Eccleston's autographs.

You know, I'm still waiting to see Jenny Return (The Doctor's Daughter). To think of all the adventures she's been through and all her regenerations. As I fan, I want to see her make a comeback.

Oh my goddess, River meeting Jack would've been GREAT!!!!! That would've been the greatest thing to hit the screen since, well, anything!!!

Woah hold on. I'm pretty sure she got the vortex manipulator off capt Jack's wrist from that blue guy lol

You're missing one. A on-screen return of the granddaughter Susan. Besides the Five Doctor Special, she could have returned with the actress from An Adventure in Time and Space much like what is being done for the first Doctor currently.

I know it's not been that long but I think the return of the superhero known as the ghost would be an awesome storyline because it was never finished he still has those powers

Watching these as they talk about something coming up, that's already happened, makes these so timey-wimey

I think Ellie would make a fine companion. Her character could be an ordinary Gallifreyan, not a time lord, who maybe new a younger incarnation of the Doctor.

This one goes way back, but Doctor Who had a chance for the perfect spin off complete with a female Doctor, a proper working TARDIS, and countless bigger and more evil adversaries when Romana left the Fourth Doctor choosing to stay in E-Space with K-9 (who had all the construction diagrams, schematics, and list of materials needed ). Just that project of creating a functioning TARDIS while navigating around a different universe making friends and enemies would have been a super first season. You blew it, BBC!

Having Ace in the 90’s TV movie would have been AWESOME! Indeed SUCH A MISSED OPPORTUNITY. 😢 That story really needed some familiar faces.

I’d love to see other individual time lords like the Meddling Monk, Rani or (somehow) Romana again. The Sontaran involvement in the Crimea could easily have seen the Monk slipped back in, for example

Matt Smith was my favorite doctor. Clara is my favorite side kick too. Wish they had more episodes with them. Matt was a fun doctor with a yhe best adventures but could also pull the heartstrings like the Christmas special where he changes into the 11th doctor.

When Jodie Whittaker's doctor was arrested and place in the prison on the asteroid. I was hoping she would come face to face with Rassilon. Where she could meet both enemies and old friends and rescue a friend or two from the prison. But know the moment the episode starts Captain Jack arrives and saves the Doctor.

Not getting a spin-off with Vastra, Jenny, and Strax. BBC wanted it, but Moffett shot it down. Yeah, there are Big Finish audios and comic strips... but it would have been immensely popular.

One thing I'd love to see as a random non-human (K-9-like) Doctor Who companion (if done right) would be a friendly, cute, funny and loyal but slightly timid/shy Metabelis Spider.

I believe Clara was meant to stay Victorian but the BBC vetoed the idea.

I think the, almost criminal, killing off of the Dalek-Human hybrid Dalek-Sec was a huge mistake. Here is a character that straddles 2 very different worlds. We could see, on full display, the Doctor's prejudices of the Daleks, and he being forced (extremely unwillingly) to accept who, and what Dalek-Sec truly was.

Strax, Vastra and Jennie deserve their own spinoff EDIT: Imagine Richard E. Grant as the master instead of the great intelligence

I think one of the biggest missed opportunities is that 13 and Missy never met

The return of Commander Maxil. Give Colin Baker a regeneration scene (just not the one he was supposed to get). I always hoped Maxil and the Doctor made peace with each other and fought side by side in the Time War.. Still a possibility as long as CB is still alive...

10:18 There are a few rumours flying around that ruby sunday is from the 2040's 🤔??

I think it’s good that there’s only a limited amount of episodes including gallifrey, and a limited amount of time lord characters. A huge part of the doctor’s character in new who has been that he is the last of his kind (not including the master/missy) an I think the loneliness and isolation that comes from this add a depth to the character that you didn’t get in og doctor who. This also adds a mystery to him ( especially for people who haven’t seen old who), for example in the way ten used mention being a father or being married only very occasionally, and changing the subject quickly. I think this adds a sadness and depth to the character without relying on current plot points ( e.g death of current companion) If they keep bringing gallifrey back and keep adding other time lord characters this will lose it’s depth and charm , and the doctor will loose part of what makes him ‘special’. Also, if they do this to much it starts to feel kinda cheap, having the same effect as when a show keeps bring a character back to life for no logical reason except to give them easy story ideas.

the 8th doctor is absolutely brilliant in the audiobooks. i love him

Ok if River and Jake had met they would have 🤫🤫🤫

River and Jack, in the same room? They would have exhausted every innuendo in naught point five seconds and their clothes would have been off and they would have been boinking so fast it would make your head spin

8:58 if you had switched out the great intelligence for the master it would have created a plot hole with missy as that story arc was being set up as “ the woman in the shop” is later revealed as missy so we would have had evidence of two masters coexisting at the same time and both creating a big elaborate plan at the same time which would have wound up being too much

The mystery of Susan. Since the revelation of the Time Lords with War Games, a can of worms was opened about Susan which has never been resolved- was she Time Lord or just Gallifreyan with no academy training, what happened to her life since Time War wiped out her timeline with her husband, and who was her mother? It is so weird that Russell implies the mysterious lady in Last of the time Lords is the Doctor’s never once mentioned or clearly defined mother- but there was no attempt to deal with the fully established Susan.

No 12 and River Song appearing together in more episodes .They had great chemistry on the screen .

Imagine if during the hypothetical time of the Scott being blind for half a series that we got a weeping angel episode Also I like how the, from what is known, only doctor who wants to be the master is the one who never fought the master

Missed opportunity for a spin off show. Combine the fact that the Doctor showed us that a TARDIS can be grown. Also a baby essentially born on the TARDIS can gain some TimeLord attributes (like regeneration. Combine that with the Doctor putting Gallery on a time lock. Imagine a show where someone goes through space and time collecting the disenfranchised to establish Nee Gallery.

that was fun. thank you.

My personal missed oportunity is River Song, a character with such immense potential is just wasted - no proper romance between her and Doctor, no chemistry, no story etc, just en endless flirt and constant "spoilers". When she says that Doctor do not love her in Husbands - she's right, we never saw his love to her, he's with her because he knows that it is written, not because he really feels it. The ONLY time when we've seen Doctor doing something to her that is not scripted but comes from his genuine feelings is when he healed her hand after angel broke it, yep, that's all. It is very sad that River's best episode was her first episode, after Library her whole story literally turned into nothing, yeah the twist with Melody Pond -> River Song was very cool and completely unforseen, but it is just twist for a twist, with zero romance added to River/Doctor relationship.

14th Doctor wearing 13's clothes. Yes, I know the real world reasons given, but I feel like that was a cop out when 13's outfit was intentionally non-feminine. Not a big deal, I'll get over it - but they'd better have a great in-world reason!

I would love to see Sacha Dhawan's Master take on Matt Smith's Doctor.

Wasn't it implied that River (adquired) Jack's vortex manipulator? So of Jack was dead and she had his VM then that might explain why he hasn't met her yet. He's still going to the death that will presumably end with him separated and maybe his head is kept alive which would lead into face of Boe I mean idk it seems logical. He could meet her in reverse just like the doctor except he dies first this time and she's yet to meet him.

As cool as it would've been to see 11 with the master, I like that they didn't do it. I don't think we need to reinvent villains every time we get a new doctor. Iconic villains should only be brought back when there is a good story to tell. The story of missy vs Sacha Dhawan's master is clear example of having intention for a character.

I would have enjoyed CLARA even more if we stayed with the Victorian version of Clara. A missed opportunity. Since this version with 11th had a better companion dynamic similar to Donna Noble from season 4, which flowed better so much better in that winter special rather than the episode "bell of saint john". In that episode it was more forced than a smooth progression of the character. You could have put the episode of modern Clara before this episode and I don't think it would change much of season 7. Of course some rewriting will be needed. It would be different from the Modern day companion. I feel it would have brought a new tone to Claras character. As a character that come from an era of technology barely being a thing to the whole time and space. It would have been amazing to see how they have this version of Clara evolve to the new world that she was shown. It wont effect much of the plot of season 7 as they had few times they were on modern day earth. As well as a great dynamic with Clara and Lady Vastra, Jenny, and Strax. You can still have the season ending of Clara going to the Doctors timeline and it will make sense. Of course the only changes will be with Clara background when it comes to later episodes, but with good writers and theme they could make it work. Just my opinion.

A blind Doctor with a sonic white cane? And K-9 comes back as his as his seeing-eye dog? ;-P

Peter Jackson SHOULD do an episode entirely set in New Zealand that way NZ can finally show up in the show instead of just being occasionally mentioned. And since NZ is well known for its sheep it would make sense to have an episode to do with the previously mentioned Woolly Rebellion

More of tardis episode we got one taking place inside the tardis but idk it feels like more wouldn't be too much

What I don't get is why the Victorian trio didn't get their own show. A lizard woman, her savvy wife & their Sontaron butler solving mysteries in Victorian England? Sign me up for five seasons.

River and Jack are a match made in heaven - the actors share a birthday.

The less with the Time Lords, the better it is. But that is a pretty good list. And don't forget, there were two Sarah Jane spinoffs.

Just imagine if it were revealed that Capt Jack was River's son by the Doctor....and consequently Susan's dad....Timey Wimey indeed....

Where can I watch the 8th doctor's movie