10 Doctor Who Real Life Alternate Timelines

4. What If Rose Tyler: Earth Defence Had Actually Been Made?

After Billie Piper left in 2006, showrunner Russell T. Davies began working on a 90-minute special called Rose Tyler: Earth Defense. It have have focused on Rose working with the alternate Torchwood and would have featured the alternate Jack Harkness, Gwen Cooper, and Adam Mitchell. It also would have featured the Slitheen and dinosaurs. The BBC commissioned the special, and Billie Piper agreed to participate. But at the last moment, Davies decided it would cheapen Rose's final scenes in Doomsday and it was unfair for fans to see Rose without the Doctor getting to do so. But what would have happened if we'd gotten that special? She'd probably still return for Season Four. In fact, Rose having these adventures with the alternate Torchwood would probably lead her to take the actions she does to preserve Donna Noble's timeline. And while Davies may have felt at the time that it would be unfair for us to see Rose, we're now unable to see either Rose or the Human Doctor. Maybe it's time to dust off the script for this special, write the Human Doctor in, and make it into The Doctor And Rose: Earth Defense? Would we have gotten so tired of Rose as a result of this special that we would not welcome her return in Season Four, though? Spin-off exhaustion could have been a real possibility. At that point, we already had Torchwood, The Sarah Jane Adventures, Doctor Who Confidential, and (shudder) Totally Doctor Who. Would a Rose Tyler special have been a bridge too far? Depends on how much you like the character, probably, or on whether you believe there's such a thing as too much Doctor Who (by the way, we don't). And on a related note...