So, what would Doctor Who have been like had each Doctor stayed just that one more Season/Series How would it affected the way the show was?

Well, with Hartnell I think he would have become more the type of Doctor we saw in The War Machines where he started to face increasingly evil adversaries in the base under siege scenario that he faced in The Tenth Planet.

Troughton- It has been stated that The Doctor's exile to Earth would have happened even if he hadn't left at the end of Season 6.

So what would it have been like had he stayed to Season 7? Well I envisage The Brigadier not being so argumentative, though I do think the show would still have featured all the tedious shoot outs in line with The Invasion. I think The Second Doctor would have had a different companion as well more in keeping with his personality as I don't think Liz Shaw would have suited him at all. Would he still have had Bessie? Maybe not, maybe he would have been more happier with a Land Rover/Army vehicle as he did in The Invasion.

Pertwee I'm not so sure about. Obviously you can imagine him in Robot as that was a Pertweesque story. There definitely wouldn't have been a Harry but I still think the emphasis would been on following later Pertwee stories and moving him away from Earth.

Tom Baker is a real hard one. I really find it hard to see how he could have fitted into Season 19. I don't think it would have been as fresh and I reckon he would have had fewer companions and maybe Tegan wouldn't have been created as she was designed really for the Fifth Doctor.

Davison I think would have stopped the show being put on hiatus in Season 22. I don't think it would have been as violent and maybe the domino affect(the shows cancellation) from the hiatus may have happened later or it wouldn't have happened at all.

Colin Baker, well, said enough in the past about him staying an extra year. Definitely would have given his Doctor time to show his true potential but not sure if the stories in Season 24 would have been any better unless JNT had been given chance to leave at this point.

McCoy, well, we've all read about what would have happened had Season 27 gone ahead. He would have left alongside Ace and a new companion introduced. I do think the show would have built upon it's improvement in Season 26 though.

McGann, well we would have all liked to have seen more adventures with him. Had it gone to a TV Series I think Grace would have come back into the show.

Eccleston-The big one this is, what would have happened if he'd stayed beyond one year? Would he have mellowed further? How much closer would himself and Rose have become in a second series?

Tennant-Well that really depends on whether RTD would have stayed. If he had, the writing may well have become more tired like in the 2009 specials. I do think with Moffat the whole Series would still have changed in style around him.

Smith-Maybe the Doctor/Clara relationship may have developed further????

Anyway, these are very much my opinions. You may think differently, that's the great thing about speculation threads.

If Eccleston stayed we wouldn't have to watch Doctor-Rose romance during season 2 so probably it would be a good thing.

Tennant deffinitely should have stayed one more year. One Moffat-Tennant season (instead 2009 specials) would be great to make transition from RTD to Moffat era much easier and less abrupt. Also we could get used to Moffat writing before regeneration to Matt Smith and these eras would be more connected and continuity would be much better. Changing Doctor and showrinner at the same time is a terrible thing.

As for Matt Smith, I'm not sure. I just know that he had more potential. Probably you are right about Doctor-Clara relationship.


I think that each Doctor should have at least 50-60 episodes, so all NewWho Doctors should have stayed longer. It's not about time period, it's about number of episodes.

Haven't seen enough of classic who to fairly comment, but as for 8-11

Paul Mcgann
In term's of his acting ability he deserved more screen time and episodes in the ongoing show, but if a show continuation had come from the movie it likely would have been run by the same team that made the movie, and hence in my opinion would have been awful and not lasted very long. I see no reason why he couldn't have done at least the first year of the 2005 series though. I understand that RTD didn't want to be bogged down with too much past information at first, but he handled the gradual drip of info regarding all other past info well without alienating the new audience so there was no real reason why it couldn't have been Mcgann. I suppose he just thought if the new audience had heard of Mcgann having been in who in the past it would have ruined the way he was sort of presenting it as new and many who had not watched previously wouldn't have bought it as something new and wouldn't have watched necessarily.

If it had been Mcgann in 2005 though, Rose would have probably have fallen in love with him that first year


Christopher Eccleston
I think casual viewers would have more respect for his time as the doctor had he stayed longer. I know a lot of people who have watched since 2005 who know the past doctors as david tennant and 'that guy with the leather jacket who was before david tennant' because he didn't stay in the role long enough to be fondly remembered for his tenure, except by real fans.

I think his second year he would have mellowed more and more, as he already gradually had towards rose over the course of his series. It's doubtful the rose romance would have ever occured had he been the doctor in series 2 as his doctor didn't have that kind of relationship with rose, and was more of an older mentor figure. I do think though, that as his authority side was already established and respected, RTD would have let him show more of a comedic side as well in his second series.

David Tennant
Absolutely my favourite doctor, but while I'd be tempted to say I'd have had him on screen for as long as possible, If I'm being honest the specials overall were not great and if anything slightly diminish the glory of his tenure, so even though with good stories I think his doctor would have never got tiring to watch, and may have become darker with time, as he seemed to be more going that way at the end of his tenure, with the stories there actually were, I think it would have been a much better send off to have had him regenerate for real in the series 4 finale. That was truly a story fitting for a send off.

Matt Smith
With all the controversy of mid season breaks, and half a series a year, and unresolved plotlines for years etc, alot of people associate Matt's time negatively causing alot of the casual series 1-4 fans to switch off. These things are nothing to do with Matt himself but with a show like this with a forever changing lead actor, people associate who they see on screen with the currently quality, with a lot of people saying that Matt is terrible unfairly, just because he hasn't had the best storylines. As such the only way Moffat could 'have another go' so to speak was to change that face on screen and hence get people who have stopped watching to perceive that a new era is afoot, so with that in mind I think if he'd stayed another year, the show would have felt increasingly less popular, and given that they've already explored both dark and eccentric to limit with Matt and I personally think his doctor would have seemed to be retreading old ground in his actions and would have become stale.

The only positive thing about him staying an extra year would have been that it would have been nice for him to have a 'normal' doctor/companion period with Clara without all the impossible girl stuff as day/time of the doctor were the only episodes for me where they really seemed to have a believable, emotionally attached bond, so that could have gone further in an extra year.

I too couldn't possibly comment on the first seven Doctor's - I still have a lot of Classic Who to get through. So I'll start with the monstrosity that was the TV movie...

Paul McGann: How different Doctor Who could have turned out if McGann had reprised the role in 2005 - I quite possibly wouldn't be the fan I am now writing this very post. And that's not a commentary on McGann's quality - I think he is absolutely utterly superb. But RTD made the right decision in 2005 when Series 1 became a sort of spiritual successor to everything that had come before. If I was asked whether I was going to watch a new BBC show where the main character had been seen previously in a bad American TV film, I would probably never have been interested. No, it was with this bunch of new faces and the growing list of guest stars I was hearing about that kept me hooked - that made me realise this was going to be something big.
For the sake of argument, let's say McGann had done at least one series in 2005. In terms of the writing I think it could have been very similar to what we ultimately got, though it would have been a shame to lose the more light-hearted side of McGann to the brooding, damaged but entertaining character that Eccleston brought to life so well.
I don't know whether the show could have lasted anywhere near as long with McGann at the helm in 2005. Again, not a commentary on the man himself at all, but rather because I think that it was important for the show to make its own mark at that point (picking it up from its Eighties and Nineties lull) and also important to introduce the concept of regeneration to a whole new generation of would-be fans.

Christopher Eccleston: This is the one that I think people will always wonder about the most, and would probably have made the show very different to what it is today. Eccleston is a very powerful actor, and he established a fierce but friendly Doctor in the space of just thirteen episodes. Though he spent most of his final episode untangling the biggest wire-knot in human history it was a testament to the writers and the actors that in a regeneration story just thirteen episodes in, the viewer could be stunned by the well crafted characters around The Doctor without fussing too much that he had very little to do. The Parting of the Ways remains, for me, one of the best ever episodes of Doctor Who and though that might be in equal part because of the brilliant acting across the board, the inclusion of the Daleks and the best Big Bad I think we've still had, and perhaps the only satisfying deux ex machina cop-out we've seen, I think part of what makes it extra special is the very dignified exit of Eccleston that introduced the concept of regeneration superbly to me and many other NuWhovian's. Had Eccleston stayed for at least one more year then I think that wonderful mix would have been lost and his tidy little one-series story would actually have become a bit less poignant.
That's not to say I wouldn't jump at the chance to see more of Eccleston in the role. Some of the episodes in Series 2 seemed far more suited to his Doctor than to Tennant's - particularly the earlier, bouncier Tennant. Stories like Tooth and Claw and The Satan Pit were very heavy-bearing and I think an actor of Eccleston's gravitas would have made them a bit more 'classic' (though I think 'Pit is anyway). Then on the other hand we have stories that seem better suited to Tennant in Series 2 - School Reunion suited his 'family on Earth' arc far more than Sarah Jane appearing alongside the lonely Ninth Doctor would ever have made sense. And I really cannot imagine Eccleston ever agreeing to appear in Love & Monsters, even if it does have the odd redeeming quality. A lot of Series 2 was heavily domesticated with too many episodes set on suburban London housing estates and I really don't think that that is Eccleston's Doctor, nor would the platonic-turned-romantic relationship with Rose that was eventually her downfall. Nearly everything would have to have been changed about Series 2 to accommodate Eccleston's Doctor - but maybe such was the power of his exit that the show had to completely alter course. It was an ultimately successful introduction to newer viewers of the brutality of Doctor Who and the element of change - not until Series 6 did we see no change in either Doctor or companion, and I think the power of his exit is very much part of his retrospective identity.

David Tennant: Oddly enough a question often asked about Tennant is whether it would have been better had he done one year less. His final year was probably the weakest year that Doctor Who has had in terms of viewer reception - on the basis that most people concur that aside from the minimal output, the episodes themselves weren't very good. Coincidentally it was a similar problem that plagued Matt Smith's final year, which also notably concluded with a number of Specials.
For all of its problems I do think that The Stolen Earth and Journey's End was collectively a fantastic story. Dial down a bit of the daft factor here and there perhaps give Journey's End a little more to do so that The Stolen Earth doesn't feel like a separate adrenaline rush and it would have been an all-time classic. What more could you have given Journey's End to do though? Personally, I feel a genuine regeneration would have been utterly shocking but brilliant drama and the involvement of the Metacrisis Doctor would essentially have allowed Tennant to still appear in the episode - it would have made the beach scene at the end a little less weird, and it would have been interesting in a series very much about companions to essentially have a finale without The Doctor - it could have cleverly been written to avoid showing The Doctor's new face at least until the very end. They could have pulled a massive stunt and had Tennant appear in the final episode as The Doctor only for him to be shot down dead by Davros, at which point the twist is pulled that he was never The Doctor at all and the real Doctor is still in the TARDIS recovering from regeneration. But enough with the what-if's looking backwards.
We've actually heard a little bit about a potential extra year from Tennant from both the man himself, and Moffat. It was originally being considered that Tennant would have appeared in Series 5 to kick off Moffat's era. On a slightly related note, Moffat has also previously commented that he retrospectively believes that Series 5 brought along too much change all at once - a new Doctor, a new companion, a new theme, a new opening credits, a new supporting cast, a new Dalek design and so on. However much I agree that one of those elements should probably have been retained for consistency in Series 5 I must admit that I don't see Tennant's Doctor fitting in with what we got. That's not just because his actual final year was poor enough and I wanted him gone, but also because the feel of Series 5 just wouldn't match his Doctor at all. It was meant to be a new era, but Tennant's Doctor since late in Series 4 had been identified as one who lived in the past and had close friends. It wouldn't make sense for his incarnation to just abandon all of his friendly ties in the fifth series to become pals with Amy and Rory, but then if we'd had another series of returnees then it would be a retread of Series 4/The Specials and would diminish the concept of 'new era'. It just wouldn't have worked - though seeing Tennant alongside River Song a second time would have been logical and a nice treat. And imagine if Smith hadn't appeared until Series 6 and his very first story involved his regeneration and death in Utah... The Doctor who lasted ten minutes!

Matt Smith: It seemed a dead cert that Smith would be around for Series 8 - there was just so much potential left in his Doctor. That being said, you only had to look at the way that things were getting wrapped up at the end of Series 7 to see how the signs were all in place for his exit to happen (shortly before it was actually announced). This is still a hard one to think about because we haven't had a proper chance to see his successor yet and we haven't seen any new content without him to question whether he would be better suited to what is on the way (not that that would be an indication of Capaldi's quality, just to add).
I think it was a shame to not see more of the dynamic between The Eleventh Doctor and Clara. She was a riddle in his life for so long that we only got two or three episodes where their characters were genuinely laid bare - and even then one was a series finale, one saw Tennant and Hurt sharing the limelight, and one was a regeneration story - not much scope for character, despite wonderful on-screen chemistry. If he'd stayed an extra year I feel that this friendship would have been explored a bit more and would have been very fruitful for the show. The marriage dynamic with Amy and Rory was interesting but it was nice to be back-to-basics with Clara who had no major strings attached - more of a Four/Sarah-Jane or Ten/Donna kind of relationship.
With Smith I see so much squandered potential in some of his stories, so much tapped-into potential regarding the man himself, and so much unrealised potential in the Series 8 we'll never see. For all the problems I have with the show lately, Smith and Coleman are definitely not among them. They would not have disappointed together in Series 8 I feel, and I think the general opinion of Smith was improving as time went along as people realised their problems with the show weren't actually with him.

Plenty to get your teeth into on this thread
l will have a go at the Classic Doctors. Firstly if Hartnell had stayed on for that extra series, I would agree it is hard to see anything but the base under siege type stories it moved towards. Out of all the potential Doctors staying on one more year, I see Hartnell's Doctor most easily fitting into the first stories of their replacement. The thought of Pertwee in Genesis of the Daleks or Ark in Space or Tom Baker playing cricket in Black Orchid just jars somehow!
With Troughton being earthbound it would have been different, whether they would have picked Liz Shaw or not I don't know. I still think they wanted more of an equal type companion at that point in the show for Season 7, whether they would have matched Caroline John with Troughton's Doctor then maybe not. With the Doctor/Brigadier relationship, there to me was a slightly warmer feel with Troughton than with Pertwee. The Brigadier would be less frustrated with the second Doctor, hence the UNIT scenario would have been less devisive and more of a team effort. With the more action hero orientated Third Doctor, there would have been a different take on the action scenes involving the Doctor obviously. But they would still have been plenty of action in the show, I am thinking of The Ambassadors of Death here and of course the UNIT background to the show as a whole.
As for Pertwee in Season 12 and Tom Baker in season 19, it does not fit in my mind. Apart from the Pertwee by the numbers Robot story I could possibly see him in The Sontaran Experiment (probably The Time Warrior is coming to mind here from his last season) but not the others. Yes must agree that there would have been no Harry, it would have just been Sarah Jane. The Sarah, Harry and Fourth Doctor is my favourite combination in the shows history, and their presence in Season 12 adds to the likes of Ark in Space.
For Tom Baker, again I think Davison was more suited to the writing of Season 19. Evidenced in Season 18, with State of Decay a story meant for earlier in Tom Baker's era being the one where he is most comfortable, despite being ill while filming from what I remember. Not saying this story is better than any of the others contained in this season by the way.
Would we have got Tegan? I would like to think that with it being a character devised for a certain Doctor, it would have been implemented when say Davison took over. A similar feisty character maybe not called Tegan or played by Janet Fielding would have arrived I feel. One of the main dynamics that worked in the Fifth Doctor era was the Tegan character, with just Nyssa and/or Adric characters to travel with it would have been too bland. In Tom's favour I would have liked to have seen more of Anthony Ainley's Master up against him.
Moving onto the Fifth Doctor staying on and speaking of character combinations I would have liked to have seen, the Fifth and Second Doctor alongside each other and Five up against the Rani. In general yes the dreaded hiatus could have been potentially avoided, if they had toned down the violence which contributed to it if Peter had still been there. For me a huge plus would have been a full season of Peri as his companion bikini's and all (I put that in for the OPs well known admiration of Peri's asset's ), my own opinion is in there only two previous adventures it was starting to bloom quite promisingly as a Doctor/Companion combination.
As for Colin staying on another season, yes he had the potential if the writing had been good. Unfortunately if he'd been handed the scripts for Season 24 I don't think it would have been realised sadly.
Finally, in store for Sylvester McCoy there was an Ice Warrior story and a character called Raine as companion, According to the Lost Stories Big Finish range that is, having listened to them it would have been very promising, I must add I am a big fan of Season 26, so whether it would have been an improvement I don't know. It was however shaping up to be of a good standard it would seem.

Yep, there's nothing I'd like better than to see that pairing for another Season....The Fifth Doctor and Peri that is!

I do think they should have had more stories together and a consequence of Davison if he'd stayed for Season 22 would perhaps have been there would be less of the bickering as there was between Peri and the Sixth Doctor. I think that scene at the beginning of The Caves Of Androzani where Peri indulged in some light-hearted banter with the Fifth Doctor would have become the norm and that would have been better for Peri herself than how she was presented during Season 22. (And yes, I mean her personality not her outfits....)

1-2 Doubt much would have changed.
2-3 I'd have prefered a season with Pat on Earth in colour. Don't think Liz would have worked as you said.
3-4 No difference.
4-5 No difference.
5-6 Peter couldn't have done the more violent episodes but that only happened because of the regeneration. That whole plot point was a mistake.
6-7 No difference but McCoy might be looked on more fondly without his first season, and Colin may have made the awful scripts work.
7-8 McCoy couldn't have carried the movie. Everyone thinks it's bad, but most people rate McGann's Doctor.
8-9a McGann would have been good as a harder, war Doctor and it's a real shame John Hurt was chosen over Paul. Yes it's hard to imagine Paul destroying Gallifrey but he doesn't really.
9a-9 Hurt wouldn't have fitted the new series well at all. In retrospect a non-war version of McGann would have been better (which fits if you don't class Hurt), but on the flipside a new Doctor for a new era worked well.
9-10 Eccleston would have been fine in series 2. I only warmed to him after The Doctor Dances.
10-11 Tennant could have carried 11ths first series well, and it would be nice to see Tennant/Moff.
11-12 Remains to be seen!

I'm sure Davison would have approved of Peri's costumes for season 22!

William Hartnell: If he had stayed for an extra year, I would have expected more episodes where he's absent for whatever in-story reason. He was very sick at the time, the reason for him leaving, so I wouldn't be surprised if each story had at least one episode where he is simply not present.

Patrick Troughton: Seeing Two stuck on Earth would be interesting, since he would most likely be on more friendly terms with the Brigadier than Three was,and a lot of the tension between them would be lost. It's also possible that Zoe would have stayed; I heard somewhere there were plans to keep her for the next season, but the idea was dropped because of the height difference between her and Pertwee.

Jon Pertwee: He would have a very good season to work with, not a single weak story here, but one of those things great was Tom Baker. He was a very different Doctor than Pertwee, and those stories may not have been as great if we didn't have such a new and fresh Doctor. He also may have lost one of the best TARDIS Teams; Four-Sarah Jane-Harry. That was a great team, one of the best, and it I doubt Three-Sarah Jane-Harry would be as great.

Tom Baker: When I think about this one, I really think more about behind the scenes than anything else. He was getting very hard to work with, and there was very bad tension between him, Waterhouse and Fielding, so I'm afraid that production would suffer because of it.

Peter Davison: Five final few stories were rather violent, and I always liked to think of this as a running theme of a good man trying to do good things in a bad universe, which came together in "Androzani", in which Five gave his life for his companion. If he went on to the next season, I think the violence would be a little too much, especially after how "Androzani" would have ended. The only way ti would have worked if Five's new final story ended in a similar way.

Colin Baker: One more season would have allowed a proper entrance for Mel at the very least, I've always wondered what they were planning on doing with her. The extra season might have helped people warm up to his Doctor, he's a very good Doctor, so hopefully a full season of stories would help.

Sylvester McCoy: There was a lot of material they had planned but never use: Ice Warriors, Ace leaving for Gallifrey, and a cat burglar companion named Raine. It might also have done some good for the show, since JNT seemed like he was getting some sort of spark back, and maybe more would have helped.

Paul McGann: Despite my gripes with RTD as a showrunner, I do have to agree that restarting the series with a fresh face was a good idea. It allowed easy access to the show, without needing to knowing too much continuity about the original series, something which I feel was something that really helped the who gain the traction it did in the first place. I also think about how it would affect Big Finish: would him being the Doctor in the New Series affect Big Finish Eighth Doctor stories? Would they be put on hiatus until Paul was done with the show? Would they simply cease after the last story they added? I think it worked out well, since Eight's stories during the run of the show, are easily some of the best

Christopher Eccelston: I can only think of good things here. Jack would be in Series 2, he was written out because RTD wanted regeneration drama, something that future-man Jack would have known all about. It would have also been a very different relationship between him and Rose, which was better than Ten and Rose, and would have developed more naturally. Without Ten to be clingy to Rose, I feel like Ten, appearing at the end of Series 2, would not have many of the hang ups he originally did, and that the relationship with Martha would have been healthier. I also think they would have introduced a new companion, so the transition between Series 2 and 3 would seem less abrupt, seeing as both Doctor and companion would be changing.

David Tennant: Moffat spoke about what he had planned if Tennant had stayed, so we know it was very possible. It would also make an easier transition between showrunners, and I think most of the more toxic RTD-Moffat arguments wouldn't exist, but I think it would be a bit jarring. Ten's era was very self-indulgent in some ways, and to go to a series where nothing from the previous series is not even brought up, I imagine would rub some people the wrong way. I can say, without a doubt, that whatever his final story would have been, it would certainly be better than what he actually got. It also makes me think how Series 6 would be, since I doubt it would start with the death of the freshly regenerated Doctor.

Matt Smith: Without knowing what Series 8 will be like, I really can't say much here, only that I know the 2013 Christmas special would not be on Trenzalore. That place was always going to be Eleven's final story, I have no doubt about that. Maybe Series 8 would be an extension on the arc, before it ended?

I would have been confused for starters



The sexual tension and the romance between the 9nth Doc and Rose was the main story arc in series 1. Both Chrissy and Billie said in interviews that it was like love at first sight. We all reckon (in my house anyway) that the 9th doctor regenerated into someone that Rose would find physically, emotionally and mentally attractive. If you read the Winner Takes It All, Rose does state that the thought of the doc wearing a long wig and all the get up that the 8th doc wore were not her thing. This is not the case for Sam Jones, who in the Seeing I, loves the 8th doc velvet jacket and trick of poetic phrase.

We also reckon that Rose would not have fallen for the 10th doc if he had been the first doc who saved he from the Autons at her shop. Neither do we think that the 10th doc would have fallen for Rose in the same way the 9th doc did. It was only because they formed a close bond when he was 9 that 10 & Rose became romantically linked

Hmmm.... if each Doctor had stayed on an extra year?

Hartnell: 1963-1967 (Seasons 1-4)
Troughton: 1967-1971 (Seasons 5-8)
Pertwee: 1972-1977 (Seasons 9-14)
Tom Baker: 1977-1985 (Seasons 15-22)
Davison: 1986-1989 (Seasons 23-26)
Colin Baker: 1990-1992 (Seasons 27-29)
McCoy: 1993-1996 (Seasons 30-33)
McGann: 1997-1998 (Seasons 34-35)

Wow, that means that we wouldn't have had the first hiatus (90-95) at all. Sweet!

We actually sort of know the answer to this one, because Steven Moffat told us...

"I only had the roughest idea. Had David stayed for one final year, it would certainly have been his last, so my pitch was that it would start with the TARDIS crashing in Amelia's back garden - as now - and a terribly battered and bruised Tenth Doctor staggering out. Amelia finds him, feeds him fish custard (no that was for Matt, it would have been something more Davidy) and generally helps him. But we, the audience, can see he's in a truly bad way. Dying maybe. Eventually he heads back to his TARDIS, and flies off.
"But when he returns - many years later for Amy - he seems perfectly fine, and indeed doesn't remember any of those events...And of course over time, we realise what we saw was the Tenth Doctor at the end of his life, about to regenerate.
"Events that we return to in Episode 13...
"There you go. The road not taken. Weird even to think about it now!"

Hartnell - As one of the reasons he left was his declining health, I can see that deteriorating further if he stayed on for another season.

Troughton - I could imagine Two being stranded on Earth, though I think he would deal with it in a far different way to Three.

Pertwee - Three with Sarah and Harry could work, but I think some of the stories would be quite different. I can see Three being quite reluctant to work for the Time Lords again in 'Genesis'.

T.Baker - I think having stayed on for that long, Tom Baker may have been a 'tired' of playing the Doctor, and that may have reflected his performance in Season 19.

Davison - I think Season 22 would have gone much the same. Some say it would have been less violent but I think since not all the violence came from the Doctor, I think the season would still have been very violent.

C.Baker - Maybe cheating a little, but I think if JNT had been allowed to leave while Colin was allowed to stay, Season 24 would have been MUCH better written, and certainly would have given Colin the chance to show how good he was and 'redeem' his Doctor.

McCoy - From what I heard, the plan was that McCoy would have stayed on for another season, with Ace leaving half way though, and left at the end. I think it would have been excellent. In my opinion, the show had been on it's way back up from Season 25 onwards, so it's a pity it was cancelled.

McGann - Depends how he would have stayed on. If the planned American series had gone ahead, I'm not sure how that would have gone. I like the Eighth Doctor but didn't really like the TVM. On the other hand, had he been asked to come back to do series 1, I think it would have been brilliant.

Eccleston - A lot of people seem to think that the whole Doctor/Rose romance plot was only a Ten/Rose thing. I think they were definitely building to a romance plot in Series 1, so I imagine that would have continued into Series 2 (hopefully a bit less subtle as I didn't like it with either incarnation).

Tennant - I think having him stay on for another series, or having him leave a year earlier would have been a great improvement. I liked Series 5, but in my opinion it changed too much. The Doctor, the companion, the Daleks, the TARDIS, the sonic and the entire supporting cast (apart from River Song). I think it would have been far more effective if the one constant among all these changes was the Doctor.

Also, if Tennant left at the end of Series 5, Smith had been introduced in the following Christmas special. This would have meant that the already surprising moment when we all thought he was about to regenerate far more effective. In my opinion it would have been one of the most shocking moments in Nu Who.

Smith - Having not seen Series 8, I think it's too early to comment.

I see it that though the relationship spanned two series, it was largely platonic in Series 1 and then romantic in Series 2. The first series explored the Doctor and Rose as characters, and saw the lengths each of them would go to defend the other. It was definitely more than friendship come the end and there was definite feeling there - but it wasn't remotely sexualised or anything - even the cheesy kiss at the end of The Parting of the Ways just felt like an expression of love rather than a physically-rooted attraction.
Then look at Series 2 and its opening episode, New Earth, already paves the way for an excuse to have them comment on their physical appearances - Rose's "nice rear bumper" and The Doctor being "a little bit foxy". It set things up early on that appearances were now playing a part in their attraction and this stayed consistent throughout - the naked Rose jokes in Tooth and Claw, Sarah Jane commenting on Rose's young age in School Reunion, the banter in The Impossible Planet. Personally it was a direction I didn't like, and I far preferred the slow-burning platonic interest that was secondary to the plot. RTD did redeem himself essentially though, with Queen Victoria's warnings about the pair's lifestyle and attitude being wrong...and then it ultimately being their undoing at the end of the series. In Doomsday we eventually came back to that platonic relationship, and it was heart-wrenching.

Judging by his comments of his Regeneration Scene I'd say he'd be more than happy!


That would have been an awesome idea. In some ways it's similar to Season 6's arc isn't it, with us seeing the end game at the beginning of the Series and then spend the next 13 episodes seeing how you get to that point. I've seen episodes of TV Series do that as well on a shorter scale where you start the episode at the end point then work your way towards it through most of the episode.




With Pertwee, if he'd stayed, Harry wouldn't have been cast as was written into the show with the view that the 4th Doctor would be an older Doctor before Tom Baker was cast.

Agree about Tom Baker and Season 19. It's really hard to see him in that Season, considering how tired and stale he was in Season 18. I think he would have been on his last legs had he done an 8th Season and maybe the ratings would have dropped even further!

As for Season 22 I disagree slightly that the show would have remained violent. A lot of the stuff seen in this Season did come from the Sixth Doctor himself. The shooting of the Cyberleader, The acid bath dunking and the tasteless joke in VOV, the killing of Shockeye in The Two Doctors and several other instances where The Doctor was seen to be a lot more physical than he normally is. None of that would have happened with Davison and I believe a lot of the stories were violent reflecting the Sixth Doctor's own personality at the time. It's no coincidence in Season 23 that he became less violent and more humorous and these instances were curtailed alongside that change to reflect that.


The only downside for me to Eccleston staying is that the ending of Doomsday wouldn't have been as good, unless maybe it was followed by a Regeneration, then it may have worked.

I really can't see the Ninth Doctor standing on that beach and being quite as emotive as Tennant was in that scene. It wouldn't suit him.

Whether RTD would have been happy to let Rose and The Ninth Doctor leave at the same point is another one for debate. I wonder if Rose would have left sooner in Series 2 had Eccleston stayed to the end of that year.

Each person see's it differently I suppose, but I think the relationship was more platonic admiration and awe in a sort of mentor/student setup in series 1. If you look up the thread many seem to say that they don't believe the romance would have happened had Eccleston stayed for series 2 so I think alot of people think it was Tennant with which it turned from friendship to romance. Even if their were intended subtle hint's of something more in series 1 I certainly wouldn't call that 'the main arc of series 1'

As for the point about rose not liking 8's style I didn't know that, so interesting point on that one. When I said I thought she'd fancy him I was just assuming she'd go for any 'pretty boy'

Whilst I prefer RTD's era to Moffat's in general and am now a bit sick of timey wimey storylines, at the time I think this would have been a better send off for david, having a whole arc centred around his regeneration. Still, I love the last 20 mins of end of time part two and the actual regeneration scene itself, even if the rest of the story could have been better.

If Hartnell had stayed an extra year, his last season would have possibly been more centered around the companions and would possibly have led to an older Doctor and ensemble cast of multiple companions being constants throughout the classic series.

If Troughton had stayed an extra year it could have gone the same way with UNIT etc, and possibly Jamie staying around too, but I think it could possibly have been more "spacey" with the time lords, daleks and cybermen all featuring.

If Pertwee had stayed an extra year there probably wouldn't have been as much need for Harry and I think the Brigadier might have featured more, but with the stories pretty much the same

If Tom Baker had stayed an extra year I don't think the classic series would have lasted after a Fifth Doctor's first season.

If Peter Davison had stayed an extra year, I think Peri might have started to get annoying without the sterner Sixth Doctor curtailing her whining, which in the long run might have lead to a more considered choice than Bonnie Langford for her replacement.

If Colin Baker had stayed an extra year we'd maybe got, have got Nightmare Fair, Ultimate Evil, and Mission To Magnus

If McCoy had done a Season 27 we'd have got the continuation of the "Cartmel Plan" and Richard Griffiths as the Eighth Doctor in Season 28

If McGann had done a series after the TV Movie it would create an alternate timeline in which we never got a new series commissioned

If Eccleston had stayed an extra year The Girl In The Fireplace just wouldn't have worked

If Tennant had stayed an extra year, like with Tom, it would have been too much.

I can't say with Matt as we haven't seen Capaldi for comparison

.....
...that is all

I disagree with this actually.

As I said in a previous post, I think banter would have been the name of the game between the Fifth Doctor and Peri based on what we saw onscreen.

In the two adventures they had together there was no whining at all. I believe this is because she was a better fit for his Doctor than the Sixth and she was more relaxed in his company. In my view, it was the unpredictability, initial rudeness and the obstinate nature of the Sixth Doctor that caused Peri to whine and led to the bickering a lot in Season 22.

If you look at Season 23 when the Sixth Doctor mellowed, they did get on a lot better. So I strongly believe Peri and the Fifth Doctor's relationship would have not been too dissimilar with the one he had with Nyssa though Peri was a stronger character. However, I think she would have reserved her more assertive nature with the bad guys than The Doctor like she did with The Master in Planet Of Fire.

On channel 4's list on top 10 favourite shows of the 00's everyone said that although Tennant was good, him and billie didn't have the sexual tension that she and Chrissy did.

The books are considered cannon aren't they? I do love DW books

I will only comment on Tom Baker!.

As I recall did he not want some kind of say as the the stories, direction & director\producer aspect in his last year or so to carry on in the part and things then got "difficult" for those working with him when he got frustrated with what JNT's vision for the programs future was?. Or certainly some kind of decision making say at the very least that Baker wanted in return for staying??.

In which case what became Davison's first season story wise would certainly have not suited Tom Baker and would have sent him out on a low era reputation wise so his personal timing was spot on. But had Tom Baker had been given some kind of story or production rights in return for staying I always wonder would we have had a more 74\75 golden era with the viewer and popularity numbers wise like thing for a few years?.

Did Tom Baker not also have the idea for the planned 1970's Dr Who cinema film story himself?. In which case that could have give a glimpse of an idea of the sort of direction Tom Baker himself might have taken or influenced the show had he have been given some kind of say in the programs future had he got that say in return for staying in the part? beyond 1981.