11 Great Doctor Who Moments The Writers Chickened Out Of
1. The Doctor Becoming A Woman (30 Years Before It Actually Happened)
Of all the entries on this list, this is retrospectively the toughest to deal with, as it was a non-decision that may have contributed to the long hiatus that the show endured. In 1987, Sydney Newman proposed to Michael Grade, BBC One controller at the time, to cast a woman as The Doctor in a semi-reboot of the show.
The decision, in hindsight, was completely necessary, as the Colin Baker era had ended in a right royal mess, and the threat of the show being axed seemed a matter of when rather than if. Instead the BBC went with the 'safe option' of Sylvester McCoy being cast instead. The show's quality improved slightly and McCoy was perfectly fine in the role, but the lack of interest from non-Who enthusiasts quickly spelt the end.
The classic series never recovered from the end of the Tom Baker era, and just needed something new and exciting to get viewers engaged again. It is all very easy in hindsight to pontificate what might have been, but one gets the feeling that this was one non-decision that the BBC would deeply regret.