10 Unmade Doctor Who Stories We're Glad We Never Saw

Undeterred by the responses to both Planet of the Giants and The Web Planet, writer Roger Dixon pitched an incredibly familiar story for the Second Doctor and his companions in 1967. Set in the Nevada desert, 'The Ants' would find the Doctor and his companions find themselves shrunk down to a tenth of an inch and have to save Earth from giant, intelligent ants.

The Nevada desert seems out of the reach of Doctor Who's more studio bound filming, and despite increasing trips on location, it's hard to think of where in the UK could double up for the scorching heat. Worse still, The Web Planet's Zarbi proved that intelligent insects were beyond what the series could achieve at this stage.

This being the 1960s, the cause of the ants' gargantuan size was atomic testing, that had drastically altered their size and intelligence. It was intended for Doctor Who's fifth season, which has become known as being "the monster season", but giant ants can't hold a handle to Cybermen, Ice Warriors or even a Yeti. Thankfully the story wasn't taken any further, and the old fibreglass ants from The Web Planet remained in storage.