8 Doctor Who Fan Theories That Are Better Than Reality

2. When Paintings Come To Life

Every single episode of Doctor Who becomes the subject of intense scrutiny (these days it doesn't even have to air and it's already loved and loathed in equal measure) and this reached colossal new heights in the build up to the show's 50th anniversary episode, The Day of the Doctor, back in 2013. As expected, the producers kept their cards close to their chest throughout filming and they did a jolly good job of keeping it all under wraps, too. Next to nothing about the episode's narrative was revealed before its worldwide simulcast on 23rd November but a few months before Matt Smith dropped an almighty bombshell by revealing that it was about paintings and the entire Doctor Who community subsequently went into a meltdown. What could it possibly mean?! Well, pretty much anything which is probably why Matt was allowed to even say it. It was the sort of teaser that told us absolutely nothing but it still managed to create an unprecedented stir (in their defence, fans were desperate at this point - they even managed to break Twitter when a picture of the Doctor's shoes was released!). It didn't take the theorists long to work out that the landmark episode would feature old Doctors and companions alike coming back to life in the form of paintings which sounds like it would've been rather exciting indeed. As it turns out, though, the cryptic clue was actually referring to the Gallifrey Falls No More painting in which the Doctor's home planet is preserved within the confines of a pocket universe. Who else thinks the other thing would've been much more satisfying? It would've honoured the previous Doctors without having to explain why they all look older but perhaps it would've been a bit too Harry Potter for the BBC's liking. Stranger things have happened in Doctor Who, though, so it feels like it was a missed opportunity in retrospect.