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

4. Roger Delgado Didn't Die

Roger Delgado Master
BBC

The late, great Roger Delgado originated The Doctor's greatest foe back in 1971, and ended up feeling pretty overused during the Pertwee era, having appeared in 37 out of 128 episodes. You would assume that The Master was recast in 1973 due to Delgado's unfortunate death in a car accident in Turkey, but the future of the character was originally going to go very differently.

Jon Pertwee's last story, Planet Of The Spiders was originally titled 'The Final Game,' and would have seen not only the Third Doctor regenerate, but The Master being written out of the show entirely, as a swansong to the character. However, after Delgado's tragic death, this write-out was scrapped, and the character was instead revived in 1976's The Deadly Assassin, played by Peter Pratt under heavy prosthetics. If Delgado hadn't sadly lost his life in 1973, the modern Master we know of today would have never existed.

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Born in Theatre, sits at a Computer. After over a decade of tinkering with Video Editing software, Rich gets to spend his precious time editing whatever's thrown at him. Also the go-to for Doctor Who, and could tell you why Sans Serif fonts are better than most. Still occasionally tap dances under the desk.