One simple fix could've made the Weeping Angels so much scarier...
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00:00 Over the last 60 years, Doctor Who has given us some amazing characters and some truly
00:04 astonishing stories.
00:06 From one-off belters like Blink to more complex storylines that span across multiple seasons
00:12 such as the River Song story arc, these moments remind us just how astonishing this wibbly
00:18 wobbly series can be.
00:19 But it goes without saying that with that many decades worth of content, there are always
00:24 going to be moments that don't quite hit the mark.
00:27 Well with that in mind, I'm Ellie with WhoCulture, here with 10 Simple Fixes That Would Have
00:32 Improved Doctor Who.
00:34 Number 10.
00:35 Film the Doctor and River's confrontation at the same time as the impossible astronaut.
00:40 When Series 6 opened with a mysterious astronaut rising from Lake Silencio and shooting the
00:45 Doctor dead, there was universal confusion as to who was in the space suit.
00:49 By the time the Wedding of River Song aired, the pieces had been put together to reveal
00:53 that it was River, trapped in a pre-programmed suit by the Silence.
00:58 The impossible astronaut version of that scene was filmed on location in Utah, but the Wedding
01:03 of River Song version was filmed at a later date in a studio with the use of a green screen.
01:08 And a rather shoddy green screen at that, with these really unconvincing visuals distracting
01:14 from what should have been the most engaging and emotional moment of the entire series.
01:18 And that's not to mention the blatant lack of continuity.
01:23 In the original version, the astronaut opens the visor with one green fingertipped gloved
01:28 hand, but River opens it with two hands which suddenly change colour from green to clear.
01:33 The Doctor's hair is completely different, the reflection in the visor also different,
01:37 and the mountains in the background are different between the two shots.
01:41 And there's a really simple fix to these issues.
01:44 Film both versions of that scene whilst on location in Utah.
01:48 And arguably, there were some very valid reasons why they didn't do this.
01:53 Firstly, both episodes had different directors, but for a tiny little scene like that, that
01:58 really shouldn't have made much of a difference.
02:00 But more importantly, there was a real fear of spoilers being leaked, as fans had spotted
02:05 the filming in Utah and they really didn't want that reveal of who was in the spacesuit
02:09 to be leaked.
02:11 And obviously we all know how River Song feels about spoilers.
02:14 Number 9 actually showed Jack's resurrection abilities in Revolution of the Daleks
02:19 When Captain Jack Harkness first took that second breath of new life in Parting of the
02:24 Ways, it opened a new chapter in the Time Agent's life.
02:27 From that moment on, he could no longer die.
02:30 Or rather, he couldn't stay dead.
02:32 His ability to resurrect himself became a handy tool when trying to force the hand of
02:36 a menacing alien, or to trick his way into or out of places he shouldn't be.
02:42 That iconic gasp of new life became the character's signature move, being showcased at least once
02:47 in almost every episode of Doctor Who he appeared in.
02:50 Imagine then the disappointment fans felt when Captain Jack made his long-awaited and
02:55 highly anticipated return in Revolution of the Daleks, only to remain alive and kicking
03:00 throughout the entire runtime.
03:02 Now it's fair to say that fans were expecting him to dramatically die and come back to life
03:06 at least once during that episode, and he even spoke to Yaz, Graham and Ryan about his
03:11 resurrection abilities, which really felt like Chris Chibnall was setting that seed
03:16 ready for a future scene.
03:18 But that scene never came.
03:19 Captain Jack's deaths are among his most iconic moments in Doctor Who, and it was actually
03:23 quite disappointing when another one wasn't delivered.
03:26 And considering how many Daleks were in that episode, it would have been pretty simple
03:30 to script one.
03:32 8.
03:33 Tone down the design of the new Paradigm Daleks
03:35 The Daleks are as iconic to Doctor Who as the TARDIS and the titular Time Lord.
03:41 The evil foe that torments the Doctor throughout their life, always wreaking havoc and always
03:46 finding a way to survive.
03:48 The most important element of an iconic symbol like this is a maintained design across the
03:53 decades.
03:54 Although there have been some minor alterations to the Daleks' design over the years, the
03:58 overall layout remains the same – metallic casing, round nose and toilet plunger arms.
04:03 The most daring upgrade came in series 5 with the new Paradigm Daleks.
04:08 But while the overall shape remained the same, the bright new colours and larger size did
04:12 not receive praise from fans.
04:15 Placed next to even the World War 2 camouflage design, these bold giants seemed too cheerful
04:20 and lacked the steely, cold aura of these soulless creatures.
04:24 The simple solution here would have been to stick more closely with what worked, making
04:29 the new Paradigm Daleks just slightly less vibrant and slightly less chunky.
04:35 Even Stephen Moffat admitted that these were a mistake.
04:38 He said, "When I looked at them in person, I thought, 'My God, the new Daleks are awesome.
04:43 They're so huge and powerful.
04:45 They're brilliant.'
04:46 But I learned a grave lesson, which is that when you put them on screen, of course, they
04:50 don't look bigger, they just make all the other Daleks look smaller."
04:53 Even the man responsible for this new design can admit that it was a mistake, then you
04:57 know that it didn't work.
04:59 And it is no surprise then that these Skaro Skittles were barely seen again after this
05:04 episode.
05:05 7.
05:06 Make Swarm Azur and the Grand Serpent one character
05:10 The events of Flux sent the Doctor in all different directions to find answers and solutions.
05:15 The story did, at times, feel rather jumbled and busy, which is perhaps why the big bads
05:21 of the series seemed to lose their steam almost as soon as they got going.
05:25 Now, Flux was already in an unfortunate position with its reduced episode count, and there
05:30 was already so much to cover.
05:32 You had Belle and Vinda, you had Jericho, Claire and the Weeping Angels, you had Carvanista,
05:38 Dan and Diane, you had the Sontarans, you had Tecteun, you had the Division, and that's
05:42 just a few.
05:43 All of those main plotlines going on, it just felt like everything was incomplete, or at
05:49 least rushed to an ending.
05:51 And with regards to those big bads, Swarm Azur and the Grand Serpent, it probably would
05:56 have been better for the series to have a single, consistent, memorable villain as opposed
06:02 to those three characters who all fell short of the mark.
06:05 The best candidate would have been Swarm, since Azur felt more like a henchman anyway.
06:09 Swarm definitely had potential to be a truly remarkable villain, but was seemingly dismissed
06:14 in exchange for the Grand Serpent halfway through the series.
06:17 It was a bit jarring, to say the least, to suddenly be introduced to this whole new,
06:22 seemingly disconnected story about the origins of UNIT right in the middle of all those other
06:26 storylines.
06:27 And even worse, the Grand Serpent was just left on an asteroid at the end of the series,
06:31 almost as if Chris Chibnall didn't know what to do with him.
06:34 Now, imagine that same plotline, but with Swarm, who had already spent two episodes
06:39 getting to know as the Mastermind instead of the Grand Serpent.
06:43 The audience probably would have been more engaged with that, and then that plotline
06:47 would have felt more closely linked to the main events of the series.
06:52 6.
06:53 Don't shoot the absorbal off in broad daylight
06:56 Lover Monsters is considered, almost universally, one of Modern Who's weakest episodes.
07:01 The first of many stories to follow the Doctor Companion Lite format, it received very divisive
07:06 opinions from fans.
07:08 Some applauded the offbeat structure of the episode, while others criticised it for feeling
07:12 like a parody rather than a proper episode of the show.
07:16 The overall storyline actually showed great potential, but the main gripe viewers had
07:21 was the questionable design of Peter Kay's absorbal off.
07:25 Really grotesque in premise, but rather laughable and false-looking in its execution.
07:31 It must be acknowledged that this creature was designed by the winner of a Blue Peter
07:35 competition, but still, one cannot help but criticise the final masterpiece.
07:39 Of course, in the classic era of Doctor Who, the costumes and make-up were much simpler,
07:44 and they lacked the budget or the technology of modern visual effects, but you would think
07:49 that a creature that was created in the same year as the Ood and the Clockwork Men would
07:53 be just slightly more refined.
07:55 But there is one simple fix that would have at least helped to make the absorbal off just
08:00 be a little bit more intimidating and slightly less rubber-looking.
08:04 Shoot those scenes with more shadows and dimmer lighting.
08:08 By simply adding an element of ominous mystery and darkness, the absorbal off could have
08:12 actually been much scarier.
08:14 But at the very least, they could have given him some pants.
08:17 5.
08:18 Give Dalek a different episode title
08:20 It was only a matter of time before Russell T Davies would bring the Daleks into his 2005
08:26 reboot, and the ninth Doctor episode, aptly titled "Dalek", marked the much-anticipated
08:31 return of Doctor Who's most iconic monster.
08:35 The episode centred around the last surviving Dalek of the Time War, and the consequences
08:39 of it absorbing energy from Rose in order to repair itself.
08:43 The premise of an emotionless cold machine developing compassion and hopelessness in
08:47 the wake of a long, devastating war was a great avenue to explore with the Daleks, and
08:52 the episode did a remarkable job of switching those dynamics around to show the Doctor as
08:57 the merciless monster rather than the Dalek.
08:59 What was slightly disappointing, though, was the lack of mystery or surprise surrounding
09:04 the episode.
09:05 The big reveal of the Dalek is treated like some massive twist, but it's literally there
09:10 in the title, and that left nothing up to the imagination and kind of ruined that big
09:14 reveal.
09:15 Imagine that same episode, but with a more ambiguous title.
09:19 Something that hints towards that big surprise, but also maintains an innocence.
09:24 Like "Metaltron" or something like that.
09:26 Now really, it's an unrealistic change to make, because it would have been foolish for
09:31 them to hide the Daleks in the lead-up to Series 1.
09:35 But just imagine how chilling it would have been to have learned of the Daleks' survival
09:40 in the exact same moment that the Doctor does.
09:43 4.
09:44 Introduce Mels Before Let's Kill Hitler
09:47 Let's Kill Hitler was an episode filled with surprises.
09:50 Not least of all the revelation that Amy and Rory's childhood best friend, Mels, was in
09:55 fact their long-lost daughter, Melody Pond, aka River Song.
10:00 Towards the beginning of the episode, we were treated to a montage that showed the trio
10:03 growing up together, and the parental role that Amy and Rory still managed to play in
10:08 Melody's life, as well as the strong interest Mels took in the Doctor.
10:12 Although it is often easy to forget, of course the Doctor's companions had a whole life
10:16 before they met this madman with a box, and so it was great to see them hanging out with
10:21 their more normal friends.
10:23 What didn't make sense, though, is that Mels is supposedly Amy and Rory's oldest
10:28 and closest friend, and yet the audience had never seen her before Let's Kill Hitler.
10:33 Now although her absence from their wedding was explained away with her saying that she
10:37 doesn't do weddings, it did then make it hard to believe that she was as close to them
10:42 as they proclaim.
10:43 And there's a really simple fix for this, which would have been to just add a brief
10:47 scene between the three of them at the beginning of the series.
10:51 And there was the perfect opportunity for this at the beginning of The Impossible Astronaut,
10:55 when we saw Amy and Rory in their everyday life before they went to America.
11:00 So why not add a birthday party scene, or a dinner, or even just a shot of Mels leaving
11:06 their house before the postman arrives with the invitation from the Doctor?
11:10 Hell, even just mentioning her name would have at least been something.
11:14 Number 3.
11:15 Have the 13th Doctor reassure Graham with a hug.
11:18 The closing moments of Can You Hear Me included a touching, heartfelt moment between the 13th
11:24 Doctor and Graham.
11:25 Or, more accurately, Graham opened up to the Doctor about the fear of his cancer coming
11:29 back and the Doctor just shuffled away awkwardly.
11:31 By her own admission, she can be socially awkward, and we know that the Doctor has a
11:35 history of struggling with acts of affection.
11:38 See Eleven's wavy hands when River kisses him for the first time, or Twelve saying he's
11:42 not a hugger in deep breath.
11:44 But this particular moment just felt rather insensitive and actually resulted in the BBC
11:49 receiving multiple complaints about the way in which the Doctor responded to Graham's
11:53 confession.
11:54 And eventually they issued a statement which explained, "The intention of this scene
11:58 was to acknowledge how hard it can be to deal with conversations on this subject matter.
12:03 When faced with these situations, people don't always have the right words to say at the
12:07 right time.
12:08 By showing the Doctor struggling to find the right words, the intention was to sympathise
12:12 with all those who may have found themselves in a similar position."
12:16 In this particular situation, we can't help but feel that it would have been more appropriate
12:21 for the Doctor to just simply give Graham a hug.
12:23 No additional dialogue was needed, just a simple gesture to let him know that he has
12:27 people who care about him.
12:29 And actually, it could have been a moment to show growth in the Doctor, heeding Twelve's
12:33 departing instructions to "laugh hard, run fast, be kind".
12:37 What's kinder than giving Graham a hug in his moment of need?
12:40 2.
12:41 Don't show the Weeping Angels moving
12:43 The Weeping Angels are without doubt some of the scariest monsters in Doctor Who.
12:48 The entire premise of a statue hunting you in the dark and killing you with time is arguably
12:54 more terrifying than just a grotesque creature with a gun.
12:57 One of the most intimidating elements of the Angels is the way they approach their victims,
13:03 jumping forward with each flash of darkness as their mouths widen and their arms raise.
13:08 Part of the fear factor comes from never actually seeing them physically move.
13:12 When light shines upon them, they are still as a statue.
13:15 Yes, pun intended.
13:17 And so we only ever see them progressing forward in unseen jumps.
13:21 That is, until the series 5 episode "Flesh and Stone".
13:25 Although the majority of the episode does show the Angels moving in their normal way,
13:28 there's one moment where we see them slowly turning their heads as they approach Amy.
13:33 Now arguably the reason we can see them moving here is because Amy has her eyes closed and
13:38 so technically they're unseen, but for the audience this kind of ruined that ominous
13:43 element of how they move and merely reminded us that they're just performers in costumes.
13:48 So the simple fix here would have been to maintain that ambiguity of the Weeping Angels.
13:53 Simply remove those scenes of the slow human-like movement and make better use of flashes and
14:00 faster cuts to build up that tension even further.
14:03 When the Weeping Angels attack, the audience needs to feel like they cannot blink.
14:07 But all this scene really did is make them roll their eyes.
14:10 Number 1.
14:11 The Tenth Doctor visits Joan Redfern, not her great-granddaughter.
14:16 The final moments of "The End of Time" saw the Tenth Doctor embarking on a farewell
14:20 tour, revisiting his friends and companions for one last time before he regenerated.
14:25 Now most of the people in that line-up made absolute sense, friends that have played important
14:30 parts in his tenth life.
14:33 But there is one amongst those that doesn't make sense, and that is the great-granddaughter
14:37 of Joan Redfern.
14:39 Now of course Joan Redfern played a very important part in the short-lived human life of John
14:44 Smith, and it cannot be denied that the Doctor experienced great feelings for her.
14:49 Whether those final feelings were that of continued love, or the guilt of breaking her
14:53 heart remains to be seen.
14:54 Perhaps it's both.
14:55 So of course it does make sense that in his final hours he'd wish to learn what became
14:59 of her.
15:00 Whether she was happy, whether she remembered the time they shared together.
15:04 But what doesn't make sense is that he sought these answers out from her great-granddaughter
15:08 rather than from Joan herself.
15:10 Now there are some who believe that this scene should have been removed entirely, but there
15:14 are two simple fixes that could have at least made it make more sense.
15:18 Firstly, the Doctor has a time machine.
15:21 So why not simply travel back in time and find out those answers for himself?
15:26 He needn't have interfered, just observed from afar.
15:29 Or, if travelling back in time was too risky, why not visit Joan as an old lady?
15:34 We've seen a similar concept to this in a deleted scene from The Unicorn and the Wasp
15:39 when the Doctor and Donna visit an elderly Agatha Christie.
15:41 Now this would have removed that risk of interfering with her timeline and altering her life, but
15:47 it would have given Ten the closure he needed.
15:50 Instead, he questions a woman who couldn't possibly know how Joan truly felt.
15:54 Which was very odd.
15:56 And that concludes our list.
15:57 If you think we missed any, then do let us know in the comments below.
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16:11 just by searching Ellie Littlechild.
16:13 I've been Ellie with WhoCulture, and in the words of River Song herself, goodbye,
16:18 sweeties.