Those Doctor Who video games, movies, and shows that the BBC probably wishes it could exterminate.
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00:00 With Doctor Who having one of the largest, most enduring fanbases in pop culture, any
00:04 project bearing that brand name is guaranteed to be given a great deal of attention.
00:09 But what isn't guaranteed is that the projects themselves will be popular or high quality,
00:14 or that the fanbase will respond to them in a positive manner.
00:17 Indeed, with so many spin-off shows, video games, comics, movies, audio dramas, and animations
00:23 having been produced throughout Doctor Who's long 60-year lifespan, it's inevitable that
00:28 there are some the BBC probably wants you to forget.
00:31 So with that in mind then, I'm Ellie with Who Culture, and here are 10 Doctor Who Flops
00:36 the BBC has buried.
00:38 10.
00:39 Destiny of the Doctors
00:40 Doctor Who hasn't had the best of luck in the video game space.
00:44 Though things are looking more positive lately, with May's theory's solid work on the Lonely
00:48 Assassins and the Edge of Reality, the majority of previous titles, from old-school fare like
00:54 The First Adventure to the recent MMO Worlds in Time, have either reviewed poorly, flopped,
01:00 or disappointed fans.
01:01 Sometimes all three.
01:02 But while we're singling out individual projects, one of the most notable failures in Doctor
01:07 Who's gaming catalogue is the 1997 release Destiny of the Doctors, which initially showed
01:12 a lot of promise due to the involvement of several actors from the show, including Tom
01:17 Baker, Anthony Ainley, and Nicholas Courtney, alongside Terence Dicks, one of Doctor Who's
01:22 very best writers.
01:24 Unfortunately though, the final product proved a big letdown.
01:27 Bizarrely, the player didn't even control the Doctor, instead stepping into the shoes
01:32 of a jellyfish-like alien called the Grak.
01:34 And despite having a limitless universe to explore, the game also took place in dull,
01:39 repetitive environments.
01:40 But arguably its worst offence was its sleep-inducing gameplay, which didn't come anywhere close
01:46 to capturing the excitement or wonder of the show.
01:49 All you really need to know is that one of the game's more favourable reviews labelled
01:53 it a "piece of crap", so it really isn't surprising that this underwhelming title has
01:57 essentially been discarded from Doctor Who memory.
02:00 9.
02:01 The TV Movie
02:02 The TV Movie was one of several unusual Doctor Who projects produced during the Wilderness
02:07 years, the period of time when the show was off the air between 1989 and 2005.
02:11 Though the BBC was involved in making it, The TV Movie was mostly an American-led production,
02:17 with the Fox Network reportedly considering a full series, but only if this backdoor pilot
02:23 proved a success.
02:24 And because that series never did materialise, it's clear that the parties involved felt
02:28 that The TV Movie didn't strike the chords they wanted it to, whether from a ratings,
02:32 critical or fan-pleasing perspective.
02:34 It's not terrible, by any means.
02:36 Paul McGann's Eighth Doctor is actually rather wonderful, and it's worth watching for him
02:40 alone.
02:41 But The TV Movie is widely considered the black sheep of Doctor Who's mainline television
02:46 outings.
02:47 What's more, the fact that the BBC decided to go in a new direction with Doctor Who in
02:51 the years after The TV Movie aired makes it clear that the corporation considered it something
02:56 of a failed experiment.
02:58 8.
02:59 Class
03:00 Modern Doctor Who spin-offs Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures enjoyed a great
03:03 deal of success during their lifetimes, so hopes were high that 2016's Class would
03:09 be able to capture that same magic.
03:11 And though the eight-episode series, which centres on a group of students battling aliens
03:15 at the Whoniverse's iconic Coal Hills School, received positive reviews and a favourable
03:20 fan response, it never felt like a core part of the Doctor Who world in the same way that
03:25 those aforementioned spin-offs did.
03:27 And its initial broadcast on BBC Three almost made it feel like the BBC had zero confidence
03:33 in it, like the broadcaster was sending it out to die.
03:36 And that's exactly what it did.
03:37 Class was cancelled after one series due to consistently poor ratings throughout its run,
03:43 with the BBC giving it very little time in the spotlight since.
03:47 Fans don't talk about it all that much either, probably because very few of them have seen
03:51 it, and though Class did receive the Big Finish audio treatment in 2018, that did very little
03:56 to revive interest in the property.
03:59 7.
04:00 Scream of the Shulker
04:01 Another project produced during the Wilderness Years, animated webcast Scream of the Shulker
04:06 aired six episodes as part of Doctor Who's 40th anniversary celebrations.
04:11 Featuring the voices of Richard E. Grant as the Ninth Doctor and Sophie Okonedo as his
04:15 companion Alison, Scream of the Shulker represented Doctor Who's big leap into the animated medium.
04:21 And though certainly a decent effort considering its obvious budget restrictions, the miniseries
04:26 had slowly but surely been swept under the rug as the years have ticked by.
04:31 While fans generally appreciate Scream of the Shulker, it didn't exactly set the world
04:34 on fire when it released in 2003.
04:37 What's even more damning is the fact that the BBC literally did bury it when the company
04:42 completely ignored its events come the 2005 revival.
04:46 Richard E. Grant's Ninth Doctor was stricken from canon and recast - enter Christopher
04:51 Eccleston - and the entire series is no longer considered a proper part of the Doctor Who
04:55 timeline.
04:56 It didn't help Shulker's case that revival mastermind Russell T Davies apparently dislikes
05:01 the series.
05:02 He reportedly called Grant's Doctor "terrible", dooming this animated effort to be remembered
05:07 as a "sidelined wilderness project forevermore".
05:10 6.
05:11 The K-9 Spin-Off Series
05:13 When K-9 returned to Doctor Who in the second series of the revival, it was hoped that we'd
05:17 continue to see more of the beloved Robo-Mutt.
05:20 And we did.
05:21 The very next year, K-9 appeared in a spin-off show that was adored by fans and was a ratings
05:25 hit, cementing his position as one of the greatest Doctor Who companions ever.
05:30 We're talking, of course, about the Sarah Jane adventures, because the words "adored"
05:34 and "hit" cannot be used to describe the other K-9 spin-off we're actually here to
05:38 talk about.
05:39 K-9, as it was titled, is the TV equivalent of a knock-off food brand.
05:43 Sure, it did star K-9, and it was even developed by Bob Baker, the man who created the Cyberdog
05:49 way back in the 1970s.
05:51 But on the other hand, the show wasn't considered a part of Doctor Who canon.
05:55 It was produced without any input from the BBC, and K-9's hideous redesign made him
06:00 look like a discount wannabe version of our favourite talking pooch.
06:04 That redesign was one of many sticking points fans had with the show, and a second series
06:08 never materialised.
06:10 It was a baffling decision to go ahead with this Elseworlds spin-off in the first place,
06:14 because fans were already getting a K-9 fix on the Sarah Jane adventures - you know, that
06:19 proper official Doctor Who spin-off.
06:21 And with no support from the BBC, this particular K-9 outing was doomed from the start.
06:26 5.
06:27 The Infinite Quest and Dreamland
06:29 Doctor Who hit its stride in the animated realm when it started reconstructing missing
06:34 episodes for a whole new generation to enjoy.
06:36 But it wasn't too long ago that the BBC churned out a pair of awful cartoons that
06:41 are best left forgotten.
06:43 Released in 2007 and 2009, respectively, The Infinite Quest and Dreamland starred David
06:49 Tennant's Tenth Doctor on a pair of standalone adventures separate from the storylines of
06:54 the main show.
06:55 Though the basic idea had promise and Tennant acquits himself admirably, these animated
07:00 escapades received heavy criticism for their lacklustre execution, mainly down to their
07:05 stiff, janky and painfully low-budget visuals, which makes them almost unbearable to sit
07:10 through.
07:11 At a time when Doctor Who was firing on all cylinders under showrunner Russell T Davies
07:15 and leading man Tennant, The Infinite Quest and Dreamland were comparative misfires that
07:20 failed to satisfy from a quality perspective and also couldn't generate the level of
07:25 buzz you'd expect from an official tenth Doctor-led spin-off.
07:28 It's telling that the BBC hasn't really tried anything like this since, and you'll
07:32 be hard-pressed to find anyone who looks back on these outings with a great deal of fondness.
07:37 4.
07:38 Doctor Who Return to Earth
07:39 A Doctor Who game on the Nintendo Wii sounds like a great idea on paper, allowing players
07:44 to wave around the Wii remote like a sonic screwdriver.
07:48 Though we did actually get a Doctor Who game on the Wii back in 2010, the world would have
07:53 been a better place if it never saw the light of day.
07:56 Doctor Who Return to Earth features Matt Smith and Karen Gillan as the Eleventh Doctor and
08:00 Amy Pond, telling an original story revolving around the Daleks, the Cybermen, and a dangerous
08:05 device called the Time Axis.
08:07 The potential was high, and with a reported £10 million contract in play, the devs at
08:13 Asylum Entertainment had more than enough money to realise the game's ambition.
08:17 Unfortunately, though, that's not how it went.
08:19 With unimpressive sales figures and 1 out of 10 review scores galore, Return to Earth
08:24 might be one of the worst games in the entire Wii library.
08:28 With the BBC reportedly eager to make games for the Wii's large family audience, it
08:33 tells you all you need to know about how embarrassing Return to Earth was for them, that it was
08:37 Doctor Who's last outing on the beloved Nintendo system.
08:41 3.
08:42 Dimensions in Time
08:43 The BBC was clearly scrambling to keep Doctor Who relevant during the Wilderness years,
08:48 prompting them to do all sorts of weird and unexpected things.
08:51 The pinnacle of that weirdness was the 1993 Children in Need special Dimensions in Time,
08:57 which combined the pulpy, fantastical, timey-wimey world of Doctor Who with the chip shops, pubs,
09:02 and laundrettes of EastEnders.
09:04 Bringing back the first seven Doctors in a story that saw them join forces with the EastEnders
09:08 crew in an effort to stop the Rani, the resulting project is a cringe-fest from start to finish.
09:14 With frustratingly cheap production values, even by Doctor Who standards, a nonsensical
09:19 plot, and the nightmarish floating heads of the first and second Doctors, which hilariously
09:24 bounce around the screen like the old DVD logo, Dimensions in Time was a misguided effort
09:29 on just about every level.
09:31 Considering that Dimensions in Time is one of the most watched Doctor Who stories ever,
09:35 all it did was solidify the public perception of Doctor Who at the time, that the show was
09:40 a joke.
09:41 You won't find many fans who'll come to its defence, and the BBC unsurprisingly hasn't
09:45 been eager to put it out on streaming.
09:47 Number 2 - Downtime and Deimos Rising
09:50 Another weird Wilderness years project, Downtime, like the K9 show, was produced without the
09:55 BBC's input, so it was essentially buried from the start.
09:59 Released in 1995, this unofficial Doctor Who movie angled itself as a sequel to the second
10:04 Doctor stories, The Abominable Snowman and The Web of Fear, bringing back Nicholas Courtney
10:09 and Elizabeth Sladen to reprise their roles from the show, and also introducing the Brigadier's
10:14 daughter Kate Stewart.
10:16 Downtime was followed by a sequel, Deimos Rising, in 2004, another unofficial project
10:21 that did away with pretty much all recognisable Doctor Who connections, including Courtney
10:25 and Sladen, and instead continued Kate's story.
10:29 Unofficial productions rarely manage to overcome that barrier of feeling like cheap knock-offs,
10:34 and that's exactly how Downtime and Deimos Rising come off.
10:37 Though Downtime fares the best, it also feels the more official of the two, thanks to the
10:41 involvement of Courtney and Sladen, Deimos Rising is absolutely terrible, and it's
10:46 no surprise that most fans don't even know these direct-to-video oddities exist.
10:50 Understandably, the BBC completely ignored these projects come the 2005 revival, and
10:56 Kate was recast for her reintroduction in series 7's The Power of Three.
11:00 Number 1 - Doctor in Distress
11:02 The following quote from Ian Levine, music producer, Doctor Who superfan, and the guy
11:07 who co-wrote Doctor in Distress, perfectly encapsulates the general feeling towards the
11:12 ill-conceived 1985 charity single.
11:15 He stated, "It was an absolute balls-up fiasco.
11:18 It was pathetic and bad and stupid.
11:21 It tried to tell Doctor Who history in an awful, high-energy song.
11:25 It almost ruined me."
11:26 Don't hold back, Ian.
11:27 Tell us how you really feel.
11:28 For those unaware, Doctor Who in Distress was produced when the show was put on hiatus
11:33 in the mid-1980s.
11:34 The song was intended as a protest against that decision, with the hope being that the
11:39 BBC would take note and bring Doctor Who back.
11:42 And while Doctor Who did ultimately return, it's fair to say that Doctor in Distress
11:45 was not one of the reasons why.
11:48 The song was universally panned, it failed to chart in the UK, and incredibly, the BBC
11:52 downright refused to play it on its radio stations.
11:56 In short, the whole thing was an unmitigated disaster.
11:59 The only good thing to come of it was that it served as a stepping stone in the career
12:02 of legendary film composer Hans Zimmer, who played the music for the song.
12:07 Not exactly his finest day at the office.
12:09 And that concludes our list.
12:11 If you can think of any other Doctor Who flops, then do let us know in the comments below.
12:15 And while you're there, don't forget to like and subscribe and tap that notification
12:18 bell.
12:19 Also, head over to Twitter and follow us there, and I can be found across various social medias
12:23 just by searching Ellie Littlechild.
12:25 I've been Ellie with Who Culture, and in the words of River Song herself, goodbye,