10 Terrible Doctor Who Ideas That Nearly Happened
8. The Toclafane Being Behind The Time War
When the Terry Nation Estate quibbled over the use of the Daleks in the 2005 revival, Russell T Davies and Robert Shearman had to come up with new antagonists for Series 1, just in case.
Contrary to popular belief, Shearman didn't just Tipp-Ex over DALEK and write CYBERMAN – RTD created another monster for use in that first Dalek episode, which briefly had the jokey working title of "Absence of the Daleks".
Called "Spheres", these monsters were essentially an early version of the Toclafane from the Series 3 finale. This means that a race of evolved future humans inside metal balls would've been revealed as the terrifying enemy that laid waste to the Time Lords, the Nestenes, and the Gelth.
Thankfully, the Nation Estate buckled and we got the Daleks, as it should have been from the start. It's hard to imagine the Toclafane having anywhere near the iconic power of a Dalek, and as Last of the Time Lords proved, they don't really work on their own. They need a character like the Master to use them as a private army.
Still, colourful skittle balls in Series 5 would've been quite something.