10 Nu-Who Storylines That Doctor Who Spin-Off Media Did First

10. The Doctor Becoming Human

Russell T Davies commissioned Paul Cornell to adapt his acclaimed 1995 novel Human Nature for David Tennant's second series as the Doctor in 2007. Both versions are an attempt to tell a Doctor Who love story, but they differ in their approaches, and not just in terms of form.

The most obvious difference is the Doctor's motivations for transforming his biology. In the novel, the Seventh Doctor becomes human in order to better understand the grief and loss of his companion Bernice, whose lover Jason had died in the previous book. While living as a schoolteacher in England in 1913, Dr John Smith has to assume his true identity to repel a vicious alien invasion.

The other notable aspect of the novel that differs from the TV version is just how violent it is. People die in the TV version of course, and the anti-war message and allusions to WW1 remain. However, with the 1995 novel being aimed at grown-up fans rather than a Saturday night BBC1 audience, it goes much further.

It's brutal, but at heart, it's a very Doctor Who story about what exactly makes the Doctor the hero that he is. No wonder RTD wanted to bring it to a wider audience.