10 Biggest Doctor Who 'What Ifs'
2. What If The TV Movie Was Successful?
I know for a fact that I'm in the minority when it comes to liking The TV Movie. Yes, I'm well aware of its flaws, and clear attempts to Americanise Doctor Who for a US based audience. But, in the films defence, it was being produced by an American network, with the intent to be shown on American television. It'd seem a bit strange making it appeal to an entirely different demographic, thus potentially alienating your primary viewers.
Had Paul McGann's original outing panned out well in the US then Doctor Who would certainly be a completely different beast today. Say goodbye to the 2005 reboot. That never would've happened. America would've gone full steam ahead and made it their own. If you're aware of the hellish pre-production The TV Movie went through, you'll know how much producer Philip Segal desperately wanted to pick up the series after its cancellation in 1989.
They went through multiple stages of development. If you look at the suggested proposals by writer John Leekley on how their rendition of Doctor Who was going to turn out you'd be blown away by how out there it was. To summarise, The Doctor and The Master were going to be revealed as brothers. Then the latter took control of the presidency, whilst the former searched for their father, Ulysses. Also, there were Spider Daleks! And other weird stuff.
Honestly, it's a miracle in itself that The TV Movie ended being as good as it did, with Matthew Jacobs taking things back to its roots, and away from the crazy bastardised reboot it could've easily become under 'the Leekley Bible'. However, it seemed likely that a lot of the earlier ideas probably would've remained had this variation of Doctor Who been allowed to move forward. Needless to say it would've been a rather interesting experience had this transpired - for better or for worse. Probably the latter.