5. Untitled Stephen Fry Story
The concept: This story was to be written by Stephen Fry. Yes, that Stephen Fry. We know very little about the story, other than it was to be set in the 1920s and written, as mentioned, by Stephen Fry.
How far along: A script was written and was read-through at least once by the cast. So quite a bit farther along than most of the unmade stories.
Why it was never made: As mentioned, the story was read by the cast. It was well-received, but some rewrites were needed, mostly due to cast changes, so it was sent back to Fry for further work. It was then moved from season 2 to 3, which meant changes due to the new companion, Martha. This put quite a lot of pressure on Fry, who eventually had to write an Im sorry, I cant do this, letter to Russell T Davies.
Why its on the list: Fry, along with JK Rowling, were two writers who had been bandied about since the start of the new series. It would have been fascinating to see what Fry, widely-known for his appearances in Jeeves and Wooster, could have done with a 1920s sci-fi story, and its a great shame that we shall never know.
The eventual fate: None so far. For all we know, its gathering dust in a drawer somewhere. Hopefully at some point, Fry will dust it off, polish it up, and publish it so we can all have a look-see.