The beloved British sci-fi show, Doctor Who, has had a long and exciting run! But, what many fans don't realize, is how close this show came to having a completely different history, especially one that involved the infamous Timeless Child storyline!
Doctor Who's Controversial Past
The Timeless Child storyline was a major turning point in Doctor Who. It was introduced during Jodie Whittaker's era, changing the Doctor's origin story in ways that left some fans feeling upset and a little betrayed!
But did you know this could have been avoided if something different had taken place a long time ago? The big difference?
- If Doctor Who hadn't been cancelled!
The long-running show began in 1963 and went off-air after its 26th season back in 1989, only to return in 2005. That cancelation changed everything for fans!
The Cartmel Masterplan
What happened during that 1989 cancelation? The plan, a really interesting storyline dubbed the Cartmel Masterplan by fans. The storyline created by Andrew Cartmel, Mark Platt and Ben Aaronovitch, would have created a unique and complicated backstory for the Doctor!
Instead of what we ultimately saw in Doctor Who and what turned out to be incredibly unpopular among many fans, the original intention was to give audiences even more questions than answers. This actually seemed more in line with how this iconic series went about generating intrigue in viewers.
What's amazing? Fans got a taste of it all! In Doctor Who's final season of 1989 there was some sneak-peeks. Yet the story only continued in several of Doctor Who's novels.
Lungbarrow And The Timeless Child
If you dive into the book Lungbarrow, from Virgin New Adventures you may be left thinking just what that mysterious, original storyline would have meant!
- The Timeless Child completely contradicted everything written for Lungbarrow. This was a drastic departure!
- One of the big elements was that it revealed The Doctor still was a Time Lord. There was even an explicit amount of regenerations.
What it appears to demonstrate, is that if Doctor Who hadn't had this period of time away from television! It's likely that the Timeless Child might never have existed!
Which Backstory Is Better?
If Doctor Who continues as the Doctor's adventures continue in their new era! There was a time when things took on a huge change in this series. The Timeless Child came as a surprise but this is now being revisited by viewers.
The Cartmel Masterplan created a mystery surrounding the Doctor that viewers loved. The main issue with The Timeless Child? That whole original story tried to resolve some important questions! It is about showing the Doctor and what he meant! What's even more noteworthy, is the Doctor often sacrifices himself believing that there was a limited number of regenerations. If The Doctor lost a life! it impacted him, his story and created incredibly heartfelt, emotional moments for many fans who were impacted throughout their viewing!
The Timeless Child storyline really devalued these important events. So even though this gave many Doctor Who watchers, something they would never forget! A lot of the earlier established canon of the series felt completely dismissed! This ultimately devalued this original work for many Doctor Who fans and could very easily become Doctor Who's most significant problem! That kind of drastic shift away from what had made the earlier series successful, had a really lasting negative impact. If that wasn't apparent at the time, it certainly did change what the future looked like. What made The Cartmel Masterplan unique? Well it really kept the mystique! Leaving many viewers even years later thinking about the unanswered questions of The Doctor's background and ultimately preserving that aspect of mystery, something that was a big hit with Doctor Who watchers!
For those that never had a chance to see some of these earlier episodes. This new perspective may open your eyes to the potential problems as this franchise creates a narrative that many are questioning.
