10 Ways Doctor Who Was Almost Completely Different
7. Paul McGann's TV Movie Almost Led To A Weird Reboot
When Doctor Who went off the air in 1989, the character wasn't seen again until the Paul McGann-led TV movie in 1996. It was a weird decision to bring such an immensely popular character back for what was essentially just an extended single episode, but there was more going on here than the general public was privy to. The real plan was for the TV movie to serve as a backdoor pilot for a whole new series.
The TV movie had some massive names behind it, including the BBC, Universal, and Fox. Fox covered half of its budget, and while they had only committed to this single feature, they were open to the idea of a proper series, should the TV movie's U.S. ratings prove strong enough. Spoiler alert: they didn't.
So what would this American-produced reboot of Doctor Who have looked like? Details are scarce, but it would supposedly have differed from the Who we know and love in several major ways. For example, the Daleks would've been spider-legged creatures instead of the regular wheely tin cans, and the TARDIS would've only had five rooms.
Furthermore, the story would've followed the Doctor as he searched for his missing father, who was known, on Earth, as Blackbeard - y'know, the pirate fella. Yeah. It's probably for the best that the TV movie's ratings were lower than expected.