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From glaring continuity errors to missed character opportunities, Doctor Who has had its share of moments that left fans scratching their heads. We explore 10 simple fixes that could have significantly improved some of the show's most talked-about storylines.
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00:00Over the last 60 years, Doctor Who has given us some amazing characters and some truly
00:05astonishing stories. From one-off belters like Blink to more complex storylines that
00:10span across multiple seasons such as the River Song story arc. These moments remind us just
00:16how astonishing this wibbly-wobbly series can be.
00:19But it goes without saying that with that many decades worth of content, there are always
00:24going to be moments that don't quite hit the mark.
00:27Well with that in mind, I'm Ellie with Who Culture, here with 10 simple fixes that would
00:32have improved Doctor Who.
00:34Number 10. Film the Doctor and River's confrontation at the same time as the impossible astronaut.
00:40When Series 6 opened with a mysterious astronaut rising from Lake Silencio and shooting the
00:45Doctor dead, there was universal confusion as to who was in the spacesuit. By the time
00:50the Wedding of River Song aired, the pieces had been put together to reveal that it was
00:54River, trapped in a pre-programmed suit by the silence.
00:57Now the impossible astronaut version of that scene was filmed on location in Utah, but the
01:03Wedding of River Song version was filmed at a later date in a studio with the use of a
01:08green screen. And a rather shoddy green screen at that, with these really unconvincing visuals
01:13distracting from what should have been the most engaging and emotional moment of the entire series.
01:18And that's not to mention the blatant lack of continuity. Now in the original version,
01:25the astronaut opens the visor with one green fingertip gloved hand, but River opens it with
01:30two hands which suddenly change colour from green to clear. The Doctor's hair is completely different,
01:35the reflection in the visor also different, and the mountains in the background are different
01:40between the two shots. Now there's a really simple fix to these issues. Film both versions of that scene
01:46whilst on location in Utah. Understandably, there were some very valid reasons why they didn't do this.
01:53Firstly, both episodes had different directors, but for a tiny little scene like that, that really
01:58shouldn't have made much of a difference. But more importantly, there was a real fear of spoilers
02:03being leaked, as fans had spotted the filming in Utah and they really didn't want that reveal of who was
02:09in the spacesuit to be leaked, and obviously we all know how River Song feels about spoilers.
02:139. Actually show Jack's resurrection abilities in Revolution of the Daleks
02:19When Captain Jack Harkness first took that second breath of new life in Parting of the Ways,
02:24it opened a new chapter in the Time Agent's life. From that moment on, he could no longer die,
02:30or rather, he couldn't stay dead. His ability to resurrect himself became a handy tool when trying to
02:36force the hand of a menacing alien, or to trick his way into or out of places he shouldn't be.
02:42That iconic gasp of new life became the character's signature move, being showcased at least once in
02:47almost every episode of Doctor Who he appeared in. Imagine then the disappointment fans felt
02:53when Captain Jack made his long-awaited and highly anticipated return in Revolution of the Daleks,
02:58only to remain alive and kicking throughout the entire runtime. Now, it's fair to say that fans were
03:04expecting him to dramatically die and come back to life at least once during that episode, and he even spoke
03:09to Yaz, Graham, and Ryan about his resurrection abilities, which really felt like Chris Chibnall
03:14was setting that seed ready for a future scene. But that scene never came! Captain Jack's deaths are
03:20among his most iconic moments in Doctor Who, and it was actually quite disappointing when another one
03:25wasn't delivered. And considering how many Daleks were in that episode, it would have been pretty simple
03:31to script one. 8. Tone down the design of the new paradigm Daleks
03:36The Daleks are as iconic to Doctor Who as the TARDIS and the titular Time Lord, the evil foe that
03:42torments the Doctor throughout their life, always wreaking havoc and always finding a way to survive.
03:48The most important element of an iconic symbol like this is a maintained design across the decades.
03:53Although there have been some minor alterations to the Daleks' design over the years, the overall layout
03:59remains the same – metallic casing, round nose, and toilet plunger arms. The most daring upgrade came
04:05in Series 5 with the new Paradigm Daleks. And while the overall shape remained the same, the bright new
04:11colours and larger size did not receive praise from fans. Placed next to even the World War II camouflage
04:17design, these bold giants seemed too cheerful and lacked the steely, cold aura of these soulless creatures.
04:24Now, the simple solution here would have been to stick more closely with what worked,
04:29making the new Paradigm Daleks just slightly less vibrant and slightly less chunky. Even Stephen
04:35Moffat admitted that these were a mistake. He said,
04:38When I looked at them in person, I thought, my god, the new Daleks are awesome,
04:43they're so huge and powerful, they're brilliant. But I learned a grave lesson, which is that when you
04:49put them on screen, of course they don't look bigger, they just make all the other Daleks look smaller.
04:53Even the man responsible for this new design can admit that it was a mistake,
04:57then you know that it didn't work. And it is no surprise then that these Skaro Skittles were
05:03barely seen again after this episode. 7. Make Swarm Azure and the Grand Serpent
05:09One Character The events of Flux sent the Doctor in all
05:12different directions to find answers and solutions. The story did at times feel rather jumbled and busy,
05:19which is perhaps why the big bads of the series seemed to lose their steam almost as soon as they
05:24got going. Now, Flux was already in an unfortunate position with its reduced episode count and there
05:30was already so much to cover. You had Belle and Vinda, you had Jericho, Claire and the Weeping Angels,
05:36you had Carvanista, Dan and Diane, you had the Sontarans, you had Tectayune, you had The Division,
05:42and that's just a few. All of those main plot lines going on, it just felt like everything
05:47was incomplete, or at least rushed to an ending. And with regards to those big bads, Swarm, Azure and
05:54the Grand Serpent, it probably would have been better for the series to have a single, consistent,
06:00memorable villain as opposed to those three characters who all fell short of the mark.
06:05The best candidate would have been Swarm, since Azure felt more like a henchman anyway. Swarm
06:10definitely had potential to be a truly remarkable villain, but was seemingly dismissed in exchange
06:15for the Grand Serpent halfway through the series. Now, it was a bit jarring, to say the least,
06:20to suddenly be introduced to this whole new, seemingly disconnected story about the origins of
06:24Unit right in the middle of all those other storylines. And even worse, the Grand Serpent was
06:29just left on an asteroid at the end of the series, almost as if Chris Chibnall didn't know what to
06:33do with him.
06:34Now, imagine that same plot line, but with Swarm, who we'd already spent two episodes getting to
06:40know as the Mastermind instead of the Grand Serpent. The audience probably would have been
06:45more engaged with that, and then that plot line would have felt more closely linked to the main
06:50events of the series. 6. Don't shoot the Absorbel off in broad daylight
06:56Lover Monsters is considered almost universally one of Modern Who's weakest episodes. The first of many
07:02stories to follow the Doctor Companion light format, it received very divisive opinions from fans. Some
07:08applauded the offbeat structure of the episode, while others criticised it for feeling like a parody
07:14rather than a proper episode of the show. Now, the overall storyline actually showed great potential,
07:19but the main gripe viewers had was the questionable design of Peter Kay's Absorbel off. Extremely grotesque in
07:26premise, but rather laughable and false-looking in its execution. Now, it must be acknowledged that
07:32this creature was designed by the winner of a Blue Peter competition, but still, one cannot help but
07:38criticise the final masterpiece. Now, of course, in the classic era of Doctor Who, the costumes and
07:43makeup were much simpler, and they lacked the budget or the technology of modern visual effects,
07:48but you would think that a creature that was created in the same year as the Ood and the
07:53Clockwork Men would be just slightly more refined. But there is one simple fix that would've at least
07:58helped to make the Absorbel off just be a little bit more intimidating and slightly less rubber-looking.
08:04Shoot those scenes with more shadows and dimmer lighting. By simply adding an element of ominous
08:10mystery and darkness, the Absorbel off could've actually been much scarier. But at the very least,
08:15they could've given him some pants. 5. Give Dalek a different episode title
08:20It was only a matter of time before Russell T Davies would bring the Daleks into his 2005 reboot,
08:27and the ninth Doctor episode, aptly titled Dalek, marked the much-anticipated return of Doctor Who's
08:33most iconic monster. The episode centred around the last surviving Dalek of the Time War, and the
08:39consequences of it absorbing energy from Rose in order to repair itself. The premise of an emotionless
08:44cold machine developing compassion and hopelessness in the wake of a long, devastating war was a great
08:50avenue to explore with the Daleks, and the episode did a remarkable job of switching those dynamics
08:55around to show the Doctor as the merciless monster rather than the Dalek. What was slightly disappointing
09:01though was the lack of mystery or surprise surrounding the episode. The big reveal of the Dalek is treated
09:07like some massive twist, but it's literally there in the title, and that left nothing up to the imagination,
09:13and kind of ruined that big reveal. Imagine that same episode, but with a more ambiguous title.
09:19Something that hints towards that big surprise, but also maintains an innocence, like Metaltron or
09:25something like that. Now, really it's an unrealistic change to make, because it would have been foolish
09:31for them to hide the Daleks in the lead up to Series 1. But just imagine how chilling it would
09:37have been
09:38to have learned of the Daleks' survival in the exact same moment that the Doctor does.
09:43Number 4. Introduce Mel's before Let's Kill Hitler.
09:47Let's Kill Hitler was an episode filled with surprises, not least of all the revelation that Amy
09:53and Rory's childhood best friend Mel's was in fact their long-lost daughter Melody Pond, aka Riversong.
10:00Towards the beginning of the episode, we were treated to a montage that showed the trio growing up
10:04together and the parental role that Amy and Rory still managed to play in Melody's life,
10:09as well as the strong interest Mel's took in the Doctor. Although it is often easy to forget,
10:14of course the Doctor's companions had a whole life before they met this madman with a box,
10:19and so it was great to see them hanging out with their more normal friends.
10:23What didn't make sense though, is that Mel's is supposedly Amy and Rory's oldest and closest friend,
10:29and yet the audience had never seen her before Let's Kill Hitler. Now although her absence from
10:35their wedding was explained away with her saying that she doesn't do weddings, it did then make
10:40it hard to believe that she was as close to them as they proclaimed. And there's a really simple fix
10:45for this, which would have been to just add a brief scene between the three of them at the beginning
10:50of
10:50the series. And there was the perfect opportunity for this at the beginning of The Impossible Astronaut,
10:55when we saw Amy and Rory in their everyday life before they went to America. So why not add a
11:02birthday
11:02party scene? Or a dinner? Or even just a shot of Mel's leaving their house before the postman arrives
11:08with the invitation from the Doctor? Hell, even just mentioning her name would have at least been something.
11:143. Have the 13th Doctor reassure Graham with a hug
11:18The closing moments of Can You Hear Me included a touching, heartfelt moment between the 13th Doctor and Graham.
11:25Or more accurately, Graham opened up to the Doctor about the fear of his cancer coming back,
11:29and the Doctor just shuffled away awkwardly. By her own admission, she can be socially awkward,
11:34and we know that the Doctor has a history of struggling with acts of affection. See 11's wavy
11:39hands when River kisses him for the first time, or 12 saying he's not a hugger in deep breath.
11:44But this particular moment just felt rather insensitive and actually resulted in the BBC
11:49receiving multiple complaints about the way in which the Doctor responded to Graham's confession,
11:54and eventually they issued a statement which explained,
11:57The intention of this scene was to acknowledge how hard it can be to deal with conversations on
12:02this subject matter. When faced with these situations, people don't always have the right
12:06words to say at the right time. By showing the Doctor struggling to find the right words,
12:11the intention was to sympathise with all those who may have found themselves in a similar position.
12:16In this particular situation, we can't help but feel that it would have been more appropriate
12:20for the Doctor to just simply give Graham a hug. No additional dialogue was needed,
12:25just a simple gesture to let him know that he has people who care about him.
12:29And actually, it could have been a moment to show growth in the Doctor,
12:32heeding 12's departing instructions to laugh hard, run fast, be kind. I mean,
12:38what's kinder than giving Graham a hug in his moment of need?
12:40Number 2. Don't show the weeping angels moving.
12:43The weeping angels are, without doubt, some of the scariest monsters in Doctor Who. The entire
12:49premise of a statue hunting you in the dark and killing you with time is arguably more terrifying
12:55than just a grotesque creature with a gun. One of the most intimidating elements of the angels is
13:00the way they approach their victims, jumping forward with each flash of darkness as their mouths
13:06widen and their arms raise. Part of the fear factor comes from never actually seeing them physically
13:11move. When light shines upon them, they are still as a statue. Yes, pun intended.
13:17And so we only ever see them progressing forward in unseen jumps. That is, until the Series 5 episode
13:23Flesh and Stone. Although the majority of the episode does show the angels moving in their normal way,
13:29there's one moment where we see them slowly turning their heads as they approach Amy.
13:33Now, arguably the reason that we can see them moving here is because Amy has her eyes closed and so
13:38technically they're unseen. But for the audience, this kind of ruined that ominous element of how they
13:44move and merely reminded us that they're just performers in costumes. So the simple fix here would
13:50have been to maintain that ambiguity of the weeping angels. Simply remove those scenes of the slow
13:56human-like movement and make better use of flashes and faster cuts to build up that tension even further.
14:03When the weeping angels attack, the audience needs to feel like they cannot blink. But all this scene
14:08really did is make them roll their eyes. Number 1. The 10th Doctor visits Joan Redfern,
14:14not her great-granddaughter. The final moments of the end of time saw the 10th Doctor embarking on
14:19a farewell tour, revisiting his friends and companions for one last time before he regenerated. Now,
14:26most of the people in that line-up made absolute sense. Friends that had played important parts in his
14:3210th life. But there is one amongst those that doesn't make sense. And that is the great-granddaughter
14:38of Joan Redfern. Now, of course, Joan Redfern played a very important part in the short-lived human life
14:44of John Smith. And it cannot be denied that the Doctor experienced great feelings for her. Whether
14:49those final feelings were that of continued love or the guilt of breaking her heart remains to be seen.
14:54Perhaps it's both. So, of course, it does make sense that in his final hours he'd wish to learn what
14:59became of her. Whether she was happy, whether she remembered the time they shared together.
15:03But what doesn't make sense is that he sought these answers out from her great-granddaughter
15:08rather than from Joan herself. Now, there are some who believe that this scene should have been
15:13removed entirely. But there are two simple fixes that could have at least made it make more sense.
15:18Firstly, the Doctor has a time machine. So why not simply travel back in time and find out those answers
15:25for himself? He needn't have interfered, just observed from afar. Or, if travelling back in time
15:30was too risky, why not visit Joan as an old lady? We've seen a similar concept to this in a
15:37deleted
15:37scene from the Unicorn and the Wasp when the Doctor and Donna visit an elderly Agatha Christie. Now,
15:42this would have removed that risk of interfering with her timeline and altering her life, but it would
15:47have given Ten the closure that he needed. Instead, he questions a woman who couldn't possibly know how
15:53Joan truly felt, which just was very odd. And that concludes our list. If you think we missed any,
15:58then do let us know in the comments below. And while you're there, don't forget to like and subscribe
16:03and tap that notification bell so you never miss a Who Culture video. Also, head over to Twitter and
16:08follow us there, and I can be found across various social medias just by searching Ellie Littlechild.
16:14I've been Ellie with Who Culture, and in the words of Riversong herself, goodbye, sweeties.
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