7 Fortunate Accidents That Ended Up Saving Doctor Who

6. Ghost Light Being Forced Into 3 Episodes

Eleventh Doctor Old Man
BBC

Writer Marc Platt had been trying to write a script for the show since the 70s and he was finally commissioned for a full story during the final season in 1989. Which was promptly cut to three quarters of a full story.

As a result, he and script editor Andrew Cartmel were forced to run a butcher's hook through the script pages in a desperate attempt to find things to get rid of. When they didn’t get rid of enough, they proceeded to remove every line including the ones which explained what the hell was even going on.

As a result, the Ghost Light experience is one of the strangest in Doctor Who. Instead of the companion asking about what’s going on, Ace talks about her character and past. It's ultimately a baffling plot but with incredible characters that ends up dripping in atmosphere. It's almost like an experimental art piece because you have no idea what just happened but you loved every minute of it. 

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