9. Life Before The TARDIS
We all know how his life panned out after he stole the TARDIS back on Gallifrey. But the opportunity to go back and explore his early days at the Time Lord Academy is surely one few writers could resist. There are a number of things we could get a first real glimpse at. If we believe the theory put across in the novel 'Lungbarrow', the Doctor was born from the Looms as a reincarnation of 'The Other'. The chance to explore just how much he remembers of this supposed life as the shadiest of the original Time Lord trio alongside Rassilon and Omega might be a great starter arc. Weighty but certainly worth the effort in the right hands given the sheer amount of history contained in the Encyclopedia Gallifreya alone. Skip forward a little and there's the small matter of the Doctor starting his studies at the Academy. With a younger actor playing the part of the nipper taken from his family at eight years old as a lead-in, skipping to his years as part of the Deca under the 'Theta Sigma' nickname could be a great move. Which in turn brings in his classmates. And what a roll-call it is. We'd have Koschei ( The Master), Mortimus ( The Meddling Monk), Magnus ( The War Chief) and Ushas ( The Rani). Seeing or hearing the start of that friendship group and its messy end would provide an ideal starting point for the burning desire to leave and explore the universe. What more fitting ending than for him to discover that old Type 40, open the doors and step inside for the first time?