10 'What Ifs' That Could Have Changed The Course Of Doctor Who

8. Russell T Davies Wasn't In Charge Of The 2005 Revival

Rebooting Doctor Who back in '05 wasn't going to be easy. Queer as Folk creator Russell T Davies had his name down for taking on this monumental task. With the show still going today, he pulled it off, obviously. But what if he wasn't the person at the helm? There were at least three other players put forward for this game.

Life on Mars co-creator Matthew Graham put forward a more gothic adaptation of the show, Dan Freedman pitched a fantasy retelling, and a more unusual approach from now-series veteran Mark Gatiss, who would've made The Doctor the audience surrogate role, a position usually held by the companion(s).

The biggest potential change aside from these pitches we'd have seen if Davies hadn't taken the role is that Gallifrey would still be fine and dandy, as the Time War wouldn't have happened. This would have also changed the characterisation of the Ninth Doctor himself, who could have been played by Richard E. Grant, who portrayed the 'Shalka Doctor' in the non-canon webcast. In fact, this animated Doctor was made deliberately to resemble E. Grant, just in case he did take the role of the on-screen Ninth Doctor.

Last but not least, those incredible high points of the Russell T Davies era of Doctor Who wouldn't have happened, so I'd rather not think about him not steering the reboot ship.