10 Huge Moments In Doctor Who That No One Cared About
Sometimes huge things happen in the Whoniverse and end up meaning absolutely nothing.
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00:00 As the series tries to progress since its debut in 1963, Doctor Who has had its fair
00:05 share of huge moments.
00:07 With 15 so far, actors taking up the mantle of our titular Time Lord, each Doctor goes
00:12 through their own adventures, adding to their incarnation's personal stories, as well
00:17 as the larger story of the Time Lord and those around them.
00:20 Everyone has their own personal favourite moments, but some events are literally entrenched
00:25 within the DNA of the show.
00:27 Huge moments in Who include first landing on Skaro, the Doctor's exile on Earth in
00:31 the War Games, fighting the Time War, and the fall of the 11th on Trenzalore, all having
00:36 lasting consequences for the Who-niverse and the characters within it.
00:40 But sometimes these huge moments don't stick.
00:43 We bear witness to so many revelations in one story, but by the following week it has
00:48 meant very little, and any development is unwritten, forgotten about, or simply replaced
00:53 by something totally different.
00:55 So with that in mind then, I'm Ellie with Who Culture, and here are 10 huge moments
01:00 in Doctor Who that no one cared about.
01:02 10.
01:03 The Doctor, Lord President of Gallifrey
01:06 This is a tricky one.
01:07 Lord President of Gallifrey is the highest level of office among Time Lord society, and
01:12 once or twice the Doctor has found himself raised to that position.
01:16 In the five classic stories including Gallifrey, starting with The Deadly Assassin, the Doctor
01:20 goes from running for President but declining at the end, to coming back the following season
01:25 to take the role to defeat a foe, before returning in his next incarnation to find he is no longer
01:30 President, to then being offered it again in the 20th anniversary later that year, but
01:35 still runs from the responsibility.
01:37 The Doctor makes one final return to Gallifrey in Season 23, where the Sixth Doctor is met
01:42 by the line, "Since you willfully neglected the responsibility of your great office, you
01:46 were deposed", resetting this moment once again.
01:50 So whilst this does pop up on and off in the classic era, and is touched on in Hellbent,
01:55 the Presidency of the Doctor is never actually explored, besides in the odd expanded media
02:00 story.
02:01 Hello, Big Finish.
02:02 It's a thread which comes and goes when the Doctor revisits Gallifrey, depending on
02:05 the story and the writers.
02:07 The Doctor as Lord President is a big deal, but never seems to carry any weight or last
02:11 beyond a story.
02:12 Surely President Doctor would make a great storyline if fleshed out beyond one outing.
02:17 Although that may be a little tricky now.
02:19 9.
02:20 The Death of the Master, Again
02:22 We all know the Master is the Moriarty to the Doctor's homes.
02:26 That was always his intention during his original conception in the 70s, and like the Doctor,
02:31 we've had a fair share of incarnations.
02:33 But unlike our titular Time Lord, we barely see these regenerations taking place on screen.
02:38 Sometimes we are simply left believing the Master is dead.
02:41 A common thread of the Master's story, in the 1980s especially, their appearance would
02:45 often end with their death, before reappearing a few stories down the line inexplicably.
02:51 Looking at you, Planet of Fire, this Season 21 story sees the aimly Master literally burning
02:56 to nothing, with the Doctor just watching on.
02:59 However, the following season's Mark of the Rani just has the same incarnation turn
03:03 up with no real explanation.
03:05 The trope returned in New Who, with the first three storylines including the Master, Saxon,
03:10 End of Time, and Death in Heaven all ending with the death of the character.
03:14 However, two of these occasions, we're actually provided with reasons for the return, through
03:19 both resurrections and very handy last minute teleports.
03:22 It's an endearing character trait, and we don't always need the exposition of how
03:26 the Master survives each encounter, but when death to the character becomes so casual,
03:30 you start to wonder why the writers bother, when realistically, all major fans know they
03:35 will not properly call it quits on such a bankable villain after one appearance, leading
03:40 to a lack of caring towards the stakes of their life.
03:43 8.
03:44 The Time Lord Victorious
03:45 2009's Waters of Mars is regarded by many as one of Tenet's finest hours, and the
03:51 ending of the story has some major ramifications for the character.
03:55 But guess what?
03:56 It doesn't be on this story.
03:58 The end of the Waters of Mars has the Doctor declare himself the Time Lord Victorious,
04:02 as the last survivor of his race, and gaining a god-like complex when it comes to the laws
04:07 of time.
04:08 However, after changing time and saving the last few residents of Bowie Base 1, one member,
04:13 Adelaide Brooke, does not believe this is right.
04:16 Returning home, Brooke kills herself, setting her timeline back on course, leaving the Doctor
04:20 to wonder if he's gone too far.
04:22 But by the next episode, The End of Time, this seemingly huge moment is totally forgotten
04:27 about.
04:28 Yes, 2020 saw a massive, multi-expanded media storyline exploring the moments after this,
04:34 but in the show, the moment the Tenth Doctor almost became comparable to a god is swiftly
04:38 moved on from.
04:39 This entry is a real shame.
04:41 The fact this is glossed over, as this would have provided a fascinating new dimension
04:46 to the show.
04:47 The Time Lord Victorious is almost like an anti-hero arc, where Ten is doing what he
04:52 believes is right, when it actually goes against everything he and the Time Lords should stand
04:56 for - non-interference.
04:57 7.
04:58 The Flux
04:59 Okay, okay, Jodie and Chibnall's tenure in control of the TARDIS is not over yet,
05:05 so there is still room to rectify this, but right now, this is a hugely glossed-over plot
05:10 point from Series 13.
05:11 For the first time in New Who, Series 13 embarked on one interconnecting serialised arc, a refreshing
05:17 change that updates Who to the style of other modern series.
05:21 The series focused on the titular Flux, a huge apocalyptic event in time and space described
05:26 as a hurricane ripping through the structure of the universe.
05:29 Pretty cool, right?
05:30 Doctor Who is going pretty bold here.
05:32 Well, obviously being a show which isn't entirely bleak, The Doctor and co stop the
05:37 Flux.
05:38 After it wipes out the combined forces of the Daleks, Cybermen and Son'tarans, and
05:42 finally when it is absorbed by a passenger.
05:44 The passengers were an endless space intended to hold prisoners, and the vast space within
05:49 was seemingly enough to extinguish the chaos.
05:51 Fair enough, but what about all the destruction?
05:54 Azir states that the Ravagers would restore the universe after the final Flux event, but
05:58 did that happen?
05:59 The end of Series 13 is a little vague/confusing, and come the next episode, Eve of the Daleks,
06:04 the events are barely mentioned.
06:06 The Daleks know a considerable amount of their fleet was destroyed, not the entirety we're
06:11 originally led to believe, and Dan mentions how the Doctors saved the universe, but is
06:15 that it?
06:16 We just gloss over the cataclysm that just occurred?
06:18 For now, yes.
06:20 Number 6 - The Doctor is Merlin
06:22 Sylvester McCoy's seventh Doctor is renowned from going from a clown-like buffoon in his
06:27 first season to becoming the great schemer by his final adventures, using his companion
06:32 Ace as his pawn.
06:33 As a part of this, 1989's Battlefield introduces the idea that the Doctor at some point in
06:39 his life will be the man behind the myth of Merlin.
06:42 As Merlin, the Doctor would help Arthur fight the sorceress Morgaine.
06:45 As the Doctor had no memory of being Merlin, he assumes that this must be a fate for him
06:49 that'll occur later in his life.
06:51 We've had plots of the Doctor being woven into various histories, occasionally arriving
06:55 sometime before this in his timeline, but the legend of Merlin is quite a big position
07:00 to fill.
07:01 Only Season 26 is Doctor Who's final classic season, with both the TV movie and new Who
07:06 providing reboots, so whether this would develop further if a Season 27 happened, we may never
07:11 know.
07:12 Therefore, the idea goes nowhere.
07:14 The concept has been followed in expanded media in various differing ways, but on screen,
07:19 this is simply a loss we have to bear.
07:21 Number 5 - Daleks Without the Doctor
07:23 Asylum of the Daleks gives us our first introduction to Jenna Coleman in Who, playing Oswin Oswald,
07:29 who's seemingly connected to our future companion Clara Oswald.
07:32 However, in the end it is revealed poor Oswin has been converted into a Dalek.
07:36 As a last gift to the 11th Doctor to escape, she reveals to him that she removed every
07:41 trace of him from the Daleks' database, allowing him to escape the Asylum.
07:46 Upon making it back to the Dalek Parliament, we are left with the final knowledge that
07:49 all the Daleks have forgotten him, and not just those in the Asylum, leaving them to
07:54 question Doctor Who.
07:55 So with that ending, surely the next appearance of the Doctor vs the Daleks - it's Doctor
08:00 Who, that's obviously going to happen - is going to be pretty interesting, right?
08:04 Wrong.
08:05 The next appearance of the Daleks, barring their 50th anniversary appearance in the Time
08:09 War, is in the Time of the Doctor, and once again the Daleks remember their arch-nemesis.
08:14 When asked by the Doctor how they knew who he was, we get the convenient explanation
08:19 of "they took the memories of Tasha Lem", a character we are only just introduced to
08:23 in this episode, who is apparently significant enough to provide the Daleks with everything
08:28 they need to know about the Doctor.
08:30 In the end, it feels lazy to write the ending of Asylum to then simply do a full 180 as
08:34 soon as they reappear for convenience.
08:37 Why bother in the first place?
08:38 4.
08:39 "I'm half-human on my mother's side"
08:41 Love it or hate it, the 1996 TV movie did one thing absolutely perfect - the casting
08:48 of Paul McGann as the 8th Doctor.
08:50 But one major aspect of his character has not ever been taken too seriously.
08:54 "I'm half-human on my mother's side" is a comment made various times throughout
08:59 the American-produced special.
09:01 Now that is pretty huge.
09:02 Not a lot is ever really discovered about the Doctor's past in the classic series.
09:06 The only family member we are introduced to is granddaughter Susan in the first seasons
09:10 of the show.
09:11 But otherwise, it is always just assumed the Doctor is 100% Time Lord.
09:15 Of course, once again the Chibnall era has decided to add its own spin on the character's
09:20 origins and currently seems a lot more concrete of an explanation than this throwaway line.
09:25 But even before this retconning in 2020, the half-human comment is never really taken as
09:30 gospel.
09:31 It's a storyline that maybe could have worked properly but almost feels too cliché.
09:35 With no follow up to the TV movie, we'll maybe never truly know the intentions.
09:39 Both RTD and Moffat have mentioned before they don't truly believe into it, with another
09:44 widely believed theory of whom the Doctor's mother is being the nameless woman in The
09:48 End of Time.
09:49 This could be a monumental moment for the show but, after the TV movie is pushed aside,
09:54 many chalk this up to post-regenerative trauma.
09:57 Maybe lineage should be left alone, keeping the mystery in Doctor Who.
10:02 3.
10:03 Morbius Doctors
10:04 In 1976's The Brain of Morbius, during a mind battle with the titular villain, it is
10:09 revealed the Doctor had faces before the Hartnell incarnation.
10:12 Did the fandom go mental?
10:14 What did this mean for the series going forward after such a shock reveal?
10:18 Not a lot.
10:19 We suspected this potentially means more now in 2022 with the timeless child plot, but
10:23 in 1976 this meant nothing in the show or to fans really.
10:28 It is a widely known fact that New Who is definitely a lot more plot-lore heavy than
10:33 classic, with various contradictions in the original run, some of which we will get into
10:38 later.
10:39 The Morbius Doctors are brought to life on screen by members of the production dressed
10:42 in classical outfits, meant to boost up the scope of the Doctor and Morbius' mind battle.
10:47 These incarnations were portrayed by directors Graham Harper, Douglas Canfield and Christopher
10:52 Barry, as well as writer Robert Holmes and producer Philip Hinchcliffe.
10:56 Some fans believe these incarnations were Morbius' rather than the Doctor's, however
11:00 this seems to have been proven wrong since.
11:03 Yes, we now have the wonderful Joe Martin, who we are currently led to believe is a pre-Hartnell
11:08 Doctor, and a very brilliant montage in the timeless children, but before this, these
11:13 chaps had no acknowledgement in canon besides maybe being considered a gag.
11:18 More Doctors should be huge events, as the War and Fugitive Doctors were, but it's
11:22 taken 44 years for this true potential meaning to come to screen.
11:26 2.
11:27 The Valiard
11:28 The 6th Doctor's era receives mixed reviews from the fans, but his final story drops a
11:32 bombshell to rock the character to their core.
11:35 The trial of Time Lord sees the Doctor put on trial for his exploits through time and
11:39 is being prosecuted by a Time Lord referred to as the Valiard.
11:43 As the series comes to a head, the Master returns and reveals that he knows the Valiard
11:48 as the Doctor.
11:49 The Valiard is an amalgamation of the darker sides of your nature, somewhere between your
11:53 twelfth and final incarnation.
11:55 So surely something exciting must happen with this character next?
11:59 An evil incarnation of the Doctor?
12:01 Surely a big deal for our hero?
12:02 Nope.
12:03 Whilst he goes on to play various parts in expanded media, the Valiard only appears in
12:08 Season 23 and is briefly mentioned in Capaldi's final story.
12:12 As a premise, the Valiard is a really interesting idea, and has so much potential, especially
12:17 since after David Tennant's second incarnation, the Valiard is meant to come about.
12:22 When written in 1986, obviously the intention of the Doctor is to have 13 lives, so this
12:27 fits between Tennant and Smith.
12:29 However, since the time of the Doctor, the Doctor's lifespan has been expanded, and
12:32 so there is now a full cycle of possibilities.
12:36 Hopefully, this is one moment which is eventually addressed, as seeing what happens when all
12:40 the darkness of the Doctor takes form would be a real treat.
12:44 But for now, this is another moment no one has cared about.
12:47 1.
12:48 Gallifrey Returns
12:50 The planet of the Time Lords has been a part of the show's history since the late 60s,
12:54 with later seasons fleshing out the planet's society and people.
12:57 But turn to New Who, and Gallifrey is gone, wiped out by the Doctor in the Time War.
13:02 That again is until the 50th anniversary, where the planet was saved.
13:06 So surely now, Gallifrey is back as a staple of the Whoniverse.
13:10 Think again.
13:11 Series 9's finale, Hellbent, marks our first proper exploration of the Doctor on Gallifrey,
13:16 with the planet being stuck at the end of the universe, but very much there.
13:19 However, the next time we see Gallifrey, in Series 12's Spyfall, the Master has reduced
13:24 the planet to a smouldering wreck.
13:26 Yes, the shot in Spyfall is beautiful, but after the work of the 50th, the 11th Doctor's
13:31 last stand on Trenzalore and the arc of Series 9, Gallifrey and the Time Lords are once again
13:36 taken from us.
13:38 Some may argue that the Time Lords as a species aren't that interesting.
13:41 We'll tell them to go check Big Finish's Gallifrey series.
13:44 But there is so much potential, and another monumental U-turn makes you question the point
13:49 of the build-up to its return if not to be explored.
13:53 Of course, there is every chance Gallifrey and the Time Lords are restored once again.
13:57 It could be useful for the Timeless Child arc, since it is literally its foundation.
14:01 But right now, the return of Gallifrey feels like a meaningless waste of time.
14:05 And that concludes our list.
14:07 If you can think of any other huge moments that no one cared about, then do let us know
14:11 in the comments below.
14:12 And while you're there, don't forget to like and subscribe and tap that notification
14:15 bell.
14:16 Also, head over to Twitter and follow us there, and I can be found across various social medias
14:20 just by searching Ellie Littlechild.
14:21 I've been Ellie with WhoCulture, and in the words of River Song herself, goodbye,