13 things Doctor Who fans are desperate to see in series 10
Old villains, new worlds and a very unusual companion - but should we see the return of Missy?
With over a year until the next series of Doctor Who, here at RadioTimes.com we've been asking Whovians what they'd like to see when the sci-fi classic finally come back to screens, and we've been overwhelmed by your responses.
Whether your submissions involved new companions, old companions, vibrant alien worlds or new storylines you were full of ideas, and any series stuffed full of so much imagination would be well worth the year-long wait (well, almost).
Below are just a few of our favourite suggestions, as well as those that were particularly popular – and if someone could just ferry these over to Steven Moffat and/or Chris Chibnall, that'd be great...
1. A very different new companion
Joseff Williams: “A companion who has been given a second chance at life. For example, a middle-aged single mother who has done nothing but cater for her kids, has never been abroad, just lived a simple life doing the washing and the cleaning, now her kids have grown up and left her she has nothing left - but then she meets the Doctor and sees life at it's fullest.”
Megan Reeves: “Companion wise, I'd love an older woman, someone who isn't a 19/20 year old bombshell. Or even better, someone from a different time period like the Victorian era or the 1930's.”
Kyle Copland: “A different type of companion such as a robot, we need to see that the doctor is effected by Clara leaving. So this would be perfect 12 fashion, almost closing off to what may hurt him. I would also love if the doctor and missy were bound together for a whole series, that would be entertaining.”
Brian Ketchup : “A new companion, something different, maybe someone from the past or the future or not from Earth. Maybe even a couple or a few companions.”
Ruth Fox: “For one of his new companions to be an alien.”
Justina Eirin: “Having a male companion could be nice.”
2. But also some returning companions
Ann Clariz Yap: “I really would love to see the return of Martha and Mickey! The adventure of Mr. and Mrs. Smith and John Smith season!! J and yeah..a revelation on whatever happened to Missy after last season..”
Yasmin Kent: “One word: River.”
Felix Cutherbert: “What I wish to see is K-9 alongside Capaldi and not just for one Earth based story. More like he returns to the Tardis and joins him and whoever the new companion is.”
Dylan Crawford: “I want Donna. Even just a single episode I don't care how they make it happen just do it please.”
Isaac Scranton: “I'd love to see the return of Susan Foreman, as an old woman who has had the terrible fate of watching her world change around her every time the Doctor makes a change to history and has become a bitter old Time Lady who's had to watch her husband and children die, change and be reborn countless times. It would be great to see the Doctor have to finally deal with the consequences faced by those he'd left behind.”
Jennifer Vandenburg: “A reunion companion episode where they all unite to save the Doctor. Even Donna somehow…”
Dylan Thompson: “Like RTDs classic finale The Stolen Earth/Journey's End where all the recurring characters from his era united, maybe Moffat could do the same. Have River, the Paternoster gang, Kate and Osgood all unite to defeat an impossible enemy: Missy and the Daleks United!!!!! What a whopper of a finale that would be huh?”
3. Especially if they’re called Jack or Jenny…
Arwyn Hamlin: “Jack Harkness!”
Martin Jaluvka: “Jack Harkness please.”
Sean Bassett: “I want to see Captain Jack return in an episode called 'The Origins of Boe'. The Doctor introduces his new companion to Captain Jack on the day he is beheaded by the Headless Monks and becomes the Face of Boe. But has somebody arranged Jack's fate?”
Jyden Chancellor: “CAPTAIN JACK HARKNESS.”
Samuel J. Taylor: “Captain Jack and/or Jenny returning.”
Kari Waters: “Captain Jack! And what the heck ever happened to Jenny?”
Amanda Johnson: “Whatever happened to Doctor's daughter Jenny? She regenerated and then headed off to see other worlds and run.. love the running.”
4. Delving into the series' mythology
Paul Kelly: “An episode that goes into the deep implications of why the Doctor can go back and change some things but disaster would ensue if one changed other things; and how he knows the difference. And another brilliant Dalek episode.”
5. New worlds to explore
Alan Lee: “Although the old enemies are always good. I would like to see the doctor branch out and visit some brand new worlds and possibilities. Introduce the existing and potential fanbase to a whole season of never before seen ideas.”
Felix O’Kelly: “I would like to see planets that do not just exist for a story, being someone who is into worldbuilding.”
Jaxon Milovitch: “More history/ off world stories.”
6. And some unusual writers
James Wilkinson: “More left-field writers along the lines of the previous seasons' Simon Nye (Amy's Choice), Neil Gaiman (The Doctor's Wife) and Richard Curtis (Vincent and The Doctor).”
7. That said we'd still like some of the old, like more classic villains
Philip Stevens: “How about they bring back the Valeyard? I was going to suggest Omega, but we already Time Lords in the Series 9 finale, and plus they can't currently use Omega because his creator is using him in the K9 movie.”
Panagiotis Vagenas: “Valeyard.”
Ian Wentworth: “The return of Omega.”
Kieran Smythe: “As a fan of the Classic series I'd love to see a comeback by the Jageroth- from Douglas Adam's all time classic 'City of Death'. As a child of the 80's I'd also like to see what eventually became of Ace as she's the only companion ever not to have had an exit story!”
8. Especially older models of the Cybermen, for more than retro value
Lorcan Wooster: “The return of the 1980s era Cybermen (and their weakness to gold).”
Jason Alexander Renwick: “I would like to see the Cybermen return but in the form that were back in 1980.”
Howard William Atkinson: “I want the Tenth Planet Cybermen to be re-acknowledged, in a nice civil war storyline.”
Tom Oliver Gardiner: “Bring back the Cybermen! - They are ultimately my favorite Doctor Who villains, the originals especially. We need an origin story for them, Peter wants it to happen so make it happen!”
9. A multi-master episode
Bard's Harley: “Two different incarnations of the Master working together.”
Andrew Kennedy: “Have different personas of the master/missy collaborate to try and defeat the doctor. I want credited for this idea when Moffat/Chibnall do this.”
10. Or just Missy on her own, because that would still be amazing
Vanja Šević: “Missy for one (could be two-parter) episode, just to finish it off.”
Shaz Lianne McDonald: “Return of Missy with explanation of how she became Missy.”
Abigail Knowles: “Missy returning and perhaps some sort of emotional and meaningful conversation between her and the Doctor.”
Nathan Little: “Missy- The Master has always been a Key Character in the Doctor's Life and to the Show itself, Missy brought a whole new light to the Character and her Dynamic with The Doctor, Plus a Master and Dalek Team up Sounds Awesome.”
11. Some plotholes filled
Darren Hann: “Definitely want to see the Doctor play his part in saving Gallifrey. We should see the build up to his cameo in the 50th.”
Simone Poole: “I hope…the one dangling thread from Series 9, the 'Minister Of War' comment, by O'Donnell, occurs.”
12. Old Doctors coming back (obviously)
Des Thomson: “Current doctor to do something with 10th Doctor David Tennant.”
Tim Good: “The Four Doctors – starring Eccleston, Tennant, Smith & Capaldi.”
Wendy L. Joines: “I’d like to see Paul McGann.”
Alysia Szabo: “I know this would never happen, but I would love to see Christopher Eccleston make a brief appearance alongside Capaldi's Doctor. I feel the dynamic between the two would be incredible, not to mention the amount of sass.”
Arju Jannaka: “Multi-doctor two parter. We start with episode 1-2 Capaldi alone, 3-4 12th meets 11th, 5-6 12th meets 10th, 7-8 12th meets 9th, 9-10 12th meets 8th, 11-12 12th encounters multiple Masters (Missy, Yana, Saxon, and Macqueen's Master).”
13. And finally – that series 10 would GET HERE ALREADY
Marc James Holley: “An episode that shows a parallel universe when the series 10 actually airs in 2016. Or is that too much to ask?”
Doctor Who will return for a special this Christmas, with a full series in 2017
Authors
Huw Fullerton is a Commissioning Editor for Radio Times magazine, covering Entertainment, Comedy and Specialist Drama.