10 Doctor Who Episodes That Were Never Made

The BBC's next attempt to rejuvenate Doctor Who was a joint-US TV production - one that eventually led to the FOX TV pilot featuring Paul McGann as the Doctor. However, that pilot was planned to go to series, and the series we almost got was very interesting - if not very strange.

Prior to 1996's TV Movie, writer-producer John Leekley envisioned a total reboot of the show which would establish its own continuity rather than follow on from the classic series. Working with Amblin Entertainment, and under the executive production of Steven Spielberg, Leekley's vision of Doctor Who was both radically different to its source material, and very familiar.

Leekley's vision would see a half-human Doctor leave Gallifrey in search of his father, Ulysses, and then find himself on various adventures throughout time and space. In his completed series bible, he proposed that these adventures should largely be remakes of classic Doctor Who stories, all featuring modern twists or Americanisations. Those included in his pitch were remakes of now-lost The Celestial Toymaker (1966), The Dæmons (1971) set in Salem, and Earthshock (1982), which featured the piratical 'Cybs' instead of Cybermen.

Also to feature in the series would be new spider-like Daleks and a larger role for the Master. However, by 1994, Spielberg was unhappy with the scripts and he removed Leekley from the project. It wouldn't be long until Spielberg left the adaptation too, and the ball fell to Universal Television instead.

The TV Movie created for FOX, however, maintained several elements from Leekley's bible, including the Doctor being half-human. An audition tape from Paul McGann also revealed that if the series had materialised, he would indeed be searching for the Doctor's father as planned.