7 Doctor Who spin-off ideas that might just work
From a First Doctor series with David Bradley as the lead, to a UNIT political satire, here are the shows Whovians want to materialise
With Class cancelled after a single series and Torchwood seemingly lost in the time vortex, fans have been missing a Doctor Who spin-off for a serious amount of time (and space).
But if Chris Chibnall were to greenlight another show exploring the Whoniverse, what should it be about?
That’s what Doctor Who fans have been discussing on Reddit, with some very intriguing ideas materialising. Here are the best of them.
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A UNIT spin-off
Although the 2019 New Year Day Special suggested the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce had been scrapped due to budget cuts (with many viewers blaming Brexit), some are calling for a 1970s-set show exploring the organisation.
Fan favourites The Brigadier, Benton and Yates could all be recast in a gritty series that focuses on the group repelling old alien forces from planet Earth without the Doctor's help.
Alternatively, the series could be set in the modern day, with Kate Stewart and Osgood spearheading the remnants of a decommissioned UNIT team.
An animated series
Although the return of old Doctors to the main series leaves some tricky questions about Time Lord ageing (looking at you, Time Crash), an animated series could easily delve into the adventures of past reincarnations.
After all, Who leads such as Colin Baker and Peter Davison have shown they’re willing to lend their voice talents to the Big Finish audio series. Surely they would return to the recording booth for a TV role?
Also, as one fan pointed out, there are several fantastic replacements for Who stars who have since passed away. For instance, David Bradley could reprise his role as the First Doctor from Twice Upon a Time and Reece Shearsmith, who played Who actor Patrick Troughton in BBC drama An Adventure in Space and Time, could voice the Second Doctor.
An 8th Doctor series
Paul McGann’s Eighth Doctor was the show’s most short-lived lead, playing the Doctor in the 1996 TV movie. However, with the actor returning to the role for mini-episode The Night of the Doctor, fans are hoping McGann could return for a live-action series of his own.
In fact, following from his role as Mark North in Luther, some viewers want to see McGann return in a “grounded and gritty” series, akin to the one following Idris Elba’s detective.
A Torchwood Return
Ignoring the events of Miracle Day and all Big Finish productions, some are hoping for a soft reboot of the John Barrowman series. However, this would need a lot of new characters, with (SPOILERS MATERIALISING) everyone but Gwen and Captain Jack killed off from the main series.
As some have suggested, the show could even focus on an entirely new and unseen branch of Torchwood with old characters dropping in.
A David Bradley Who series
Here’s an idea put forward by one Redditor: why couldn’t David Bradley reprise his role as the First Doctor for an entire series? Not could only such a show re-imagine old episodes, but a new cast could recreate any lost episodes, meaning ardent Whovians can finally complete their DVD collections.
A UNIT political sitcom
Yes, really. One user suggested UNIT could return to the Whoniverse as a Thick of It-style satire with Zygons and Slitheens (and probably a lot of swearing). It sounds completely mad, but we’d definitely tune in if it meant witnessing a Doctor/Malcolm Tucker hybrid played by Peter Capaldi.
A crossover between the Dalek Empire and Firefly
Okay, this series wouldn’t actually feature the cast of the fondly remembered Firefly. But it would follow a small ship of unlikely heroes on the outskirts of the galaxy.
The Daleks would essentially be the Reavers of the story, a feared band of warriors in battle with an authoritarian galactic government. The band of outlaws at the centre of the series would have to struggle against these two forces to survive in the ‘verse.
It’s a complete rip-off, yes, but one we’re sure the Doctor would watch in a (double) heartbeat.
This article was originally published on 30 January 2019
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Authors
Thomas is Digital editor at BBC Science Focus. Writing about everything from cosmology to anthropology, he specialises in the latest psychology, health and neuroscience discoveries. Thomas has a Masters degree (distinction) in Magazine Journalism from the University of Sheffield and has written for Men’s Health, Vice and Radio Times. He has been shortlisted as the New Digital Talent of the Year at the national magazine Professional Publishers Association (PPA) awards. Also working in academia, Thomas has lectured on the topic of journalism to undergraduate and postgraduate students at The University of Sheffield.
