Doctor Who: The Cartmel Masterplan - What Could Have Been
The 1980s saw a lot of changes to Doctor Who, but none so radical as the Cartmel Masterplan.
Change has always been a staple of Doctor Who. You could say that its formed a symbiotic relationship with the show, allowing it to constantly expand, and find new ways to explore its never-ending horizons. Take 2020 for instance. This year saw the biggest change to Doctor Who to date. We've now learnt about the origins of the Doctor.
However, this isn't the first time this grand, experimental idea has been put forward. Back in the 1980s, a group of writers came together to try and revamp the show. They figured that Doctor Who had become too familiar with its audience, and so it was time to step back and re-evaluate how it was perceived.
Andrew Cartmel, Ben Aaronovitch, and Marc Platt devised a daring plan that would reshape the mood, and direction of Doctor Who moving forward. The biggest alteration that would be pushed to the forefront was the identity of the Doctor. The ultimate endgame was to see the audience challenged by the titular character, with everything we previously knew about them being a lie.