10 REAL Mysteries That Would Make Great Doctor Who Episodes
Did Charlie Chaplin really meet a time-traveller? In the Doctor Who universe, potentially yes...
Doctor Who loves a real-life mystery or urban legend. Since it began in 1963, it's given us two separate explanations for the Loch Ness monster, and three different accounts of the fall of Atlantis. There's an enjoyable shorthand when riffing on these classic myths and legends, which can make the eventual reveal quite satisfying.
The Pudding Lane reveal at the end of The Visitation is a nice touch, while the Abominable Snowman being a robot is a great fun Doctor Who idea. But what about other real-life mysteries and unexplained phenomena?
Obviously, sensitivity is a key factor. There's a danger sometimes that Doctor Who plundering a historical mystery could come off as crass. Although, The Unicorn and the Wasp pulled off the disappearance of Agatha Christie with a surprising amount of tact for a Gareth Roberts script.
So, what real-life mysteries and urban legends should Doctor Who turn its attention to next? There are still a surprising amount of historical figures who haven't yet appeared in the show, as well as dozens of WTF historical occurrences that would be perfect for a sci-fi spin. Russell, take note!
10. The Dancing Plague Of 1518
In 16th century France, it's said that people literally danced themselves to death.
While there's some understandable controversy over whether or not that's actually the case, historical documents do back up the idea of a "dancing plague", that swept the region of Strasbourg in the summer of 1518. In July of that year, a woman began dancing in the streets, with reports suggesting that anywhere between 50 and 400 others then joined in, dancing non-stop for weeks, many of them collapsing and dying.
It's a bizarre mystery that attracted the attention of the local authorities, medics, and the church, so why not throw the Doctor into the mix too? Interestingly, the local council banned music as an attempt to curb the dancing, which reminds me... didn't we just see a Doctor Who villain create a world that was free of music?
The dancing plague of 1518 feels like the perfect opportunity to bring back Jinkx Monsoon as Maestro, using their powers on the people of Strasbourg.
It would be a great sequel to The Devil's Chord because, where that episode had a big song and dance number to signify the return of music, this story could invert that by giving everyone a nice lie down after all that dancing.
Hell, go the whole hog and dress up Strictly's Johannes Radebe and Shirley Ballas as dancing 16th century peasants! Throw Murray Gold in there too, while you're at it.