10 Crazy Doctor Who Theories Fans Actually Believed

The first week of July 2008 was a mad old time to be a Doctor Who fan.

The previous Saturday night had seen David Tennant’s Tenth Doctor begin to regenerate following a Dalek blast, in one of the show’s most shocking cliffhangers.

It’s impossible to get across just how big a deal this was. You really had to be there. At the time, Tennant’s future on the show was unclear, and though it seemed unlikely that this was the Tenth Doctor’s actual regeneration, nothing was off the table.

So, there was a strong belief in certain circles that the next Doctor was about to make their debut. And speculation was rife as to who it could be.

One theory posited that the Eleventh Doctor would be revealed as River Song, the mysterious character who had, at that point, only recently made her debut. Another theory – more in line with the ‘degeneration’ idea eventually realised in The Power of the Doctor – suggested that Peter Davison was set to reappear, with Journey's End tying in to the events of Time Crash.

The cliffhanger’s eventual resolution was, inevitably, pretty tame by comparison, but that’s no bother. After all, as Agatha Christie says in The Unicorn and the Wasp, “The thrill is in the chase, never in the capture”.

Wise words, Mrs. Christie.