10 Doctor Who Stories That Would Make Great Musicals

5. In The Forest Of The Night

Bringing this list bang up to date is the charming Series 8 tale of ecology gone beserk. The twelfth Time Lord landed in London, only to find it festooned with forestry. Add to that a group of unruly schoolchildren and some escaped zoo animals and a producer would have possibly the most family-friendly offering of the bunch. The material comes from a quality source - respected scribe Frank Cottrell Boyce, no stranger to live spectaculars thanks to his work on the London 2012 Olympic ceremony. Without meaning to be disparaging, the namby-pamby nature of the story, with its lack of monsters and overall message of syrupy positivity, makes it a great selection for a reworking on the stage. Audiences would be transported into a venue packed to the rafters with lush green leaves, and the glimpses of the capital's landmarks behind the foliage should create a magical spectating experience. It's a no-brainer. Not the script of course, more the thinking behind including In The Forest of the Night on the rundown. And which lucky thespian with lungs of steel may be considered to step into his Doctor's shoes? Michael Crawford! Well known for playing human disaster area Frank Spencer, he's also an actor of tremendous versatility and power. He's also got a string of stage-bound hits under his belt, from Phantom of the Opera, to The Wizard of Oz, right through to the unusual musical version of Roman Polanski's Dance of the Vampires. He'd provide the softer dimension Capaldi arguably lacks but still give the current incarnation a dash of intergalactic fury.