10 Huge Doctor Who Moments That Didn't Matter At All
Just why DID the Tenth Doctor’s face come back? We’d really like to know...
In a show like Doctor Who, where the world is always ending and the stakes are always high, keeping viewers surprised can be a challenge.
As such, the show’s writers are always pushing themselves to do something bigger, bolder and more exciting.
The trouble is that these aren’t always followed up on. Whether they’re overshadowed by the next shiny thing, thwarted by external factors, just done for clicks or simply ignored by fans, plenty of major Whoniverse developments seem pretty pointless in hindsight.
And we’re not just talking about disappointing plot resolutions. We’re talking about stuff that wasn’t resolved at all, or that the show moved on from far too quickly – from seismic reveals to major mysteries.
Of course, there are some serious contenders from the most recent season… though given that we’ve got an RTD-penned Christmas special on the way, they get a free pass for now.
As such, here are some of the show’s most frustrating bombshell moments so far. Let’s just hope “Billie Piper being the Doctor” doesn’t end up joining them...
10. ...Mavity!
No one quite knew what to expect from Wild Blue Yonder, but one thing we definitely didn’t expect was a pre-titles sequence featuring Isaac Newton, and gravity becoming mavity...?
Immediately fans began to wonder what the significance of this scene would be. We’d seen butterfly effect moments before, where small changes create big ripples. Was this going to be something similar, with the Doctor’s mistake coming back to haunt him? Would an unassuming character say "gravity", revealing them to have some sort of greater cosmic awareness?
Well as it happened, no. The show committed to the bit by having characters refer to gravity as mavity throughout the Disney era (and even in a Big Finish Torchwood audio released just prior). But these references went nowhere and history remained otherwise unchanged.
Which begs the question: why bother? Was it just a gag? Or was it just a way to wind fans up and “generate content”? Which maybe could be forgiven if RTD hadn't hyped up Wild Blue Yonder's big, secret cold open so much.
A reminder of how Russell T Davies described Wild Blue Yonder earlier this year. We're in for a treat! #DoctorWho https://t.co/9fZA4NkdWg pic.twitter.com/lMRO56Ceok
— WhoCulture (@WhoCulture) November 29, 2023
Now yes I can already hear you pointing out that mavity might still be resolved in the upcoming Christmas special, though with so much else to wrap up, it seems doubtful doesn't it?
At this point, we might just have to accept that we’re never going to fully understand the mavity of the situation.