Doctor Who: The Cartmel Masterplan - What Could Have Been

Following on from the controversial Colin Baker era, which saw the show scrutinised by BBC executives; resulting in a near cancellation, and its lead actor being fired, the show needed a radical reimagining. This was later dubbed by fans as 'the Cartmel Masterplan'.

Fundamentally, the endgame of this daring reshaping of Doctor Who was to re-establish who the Doctor was. As previously established within Doctor Who lore, there was Rassilon and Omega. These two ancient Time Lords formed the foundation of Time Lord society. Cartmel, Aaronovitch, and Platt dared to tamper with this design by adding in a mysterious third figure.

The Other, as they became known as, was believed to be a powerful entity in the Dark Times of Gallifrey's history, with contradictory legends and myths depicting him as the strongest of the founding Time Lords. Little is really known about this strange demi-god like figure, with their very origins being a complete mystery, with some accounts claiming that they didn't originally come from Gallifrey.

It was eventually devised that this new Time Lord legend would in fact be the Doctor, or at the very least a reincarnation of this ancient entity. This would've pushed the writer's wishes of having the Doctor be more than what was previously let on, and that he wasn't just a run-of-the-mill Time Lord who happened to wander the universe.