10 Awesome Doctor Who Ideas That Nearly Happened

Modern Doctor Who peaked in popularity at the end of the 2000s, and the peak within that peak was arguably The Stolen Earth/Journey's End.

The end of that first episode - where the Doctor starts to regenerate - is one of the biggest cliffhangers in Doctor Who history, and there was genuine uncertainty among fans as to whether or not Tennant would turn into someone else. Bookies were even taking bets about which actor would replace him!

And while it did feel like a bit of a cop-out for the cliffhanger to be resolved so easily, there was a chance we could've had a vastly different (and totally brilliant) opening scene, as explained by showrunner Russell T Davies:

"If I had my time again… I'd have MILKED that. I'd have cast a whole new Doctor, a superstar for ONE scene. Ian McKellen! Judi Dench! Have them run around the TARDIS. Then discover the hand, and regenerate back. IMAGINE!!! Why didn’t I?"

As fate would have it, RTD is back at the helm once again, so don't be surprised to see David Tennant regenerate into a Hollywood A-lister for a scene or two.

Ooo, what if Neil Patrick Harris is actually the Doctor, and we're all being tricked!? Stranger things have happened in this show.