Doctor Who almost did what to Amy Pond?!
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00 Whovians are among the most knowledgeable and passionate fans in the world, but there
00:04 are some surprises that even they might be shocked by.
00:08 The world of Doctor Who is far broader than what you see on TV.
00:11 Like any drama, some of the juicier stuff takes place behind the cameras, and it's
00:16 those secrets that will make you view the show in a very different light.
00:20 So with that in mind, I'm Ellie with Who Culture, here with 10 Doctor Who Secrets Everyone
00:25 Knows But You.
00:26 10.
00:27 Twin Pilots Doctor Who kicked off on the 23rd of November
00:31 1963 with the show's first episode, An Unearthly Child.
00:35 In this adventure, we meet the Doctor, played by William Hartnell, for the first time.
00:39 He's part of the TARDIS in a scrapyard in England, kept company by his granddaughter
00:43 Susan.
00:44 Don't ask why the Doctor has a grandchild, it's far too complex to get into that right
00:47 now, alright?
00:48 As pilot episodes go, An Unearthly Child did the job just fine.
00:51 It introduced the characters, the premise, and the rules of the universe perfectly well.
00:55 The first version, of An Unearthly Child, was deemed not good enough by the show's
00:59 creator, Sidney Newman.
01:00 He didn't like the way the Doctor was dressed, or how mean he was to his granddaughter, and
01:05 as a result, huge chunks of it were re-filmed and a second version was put together, with
01:10 the first version not being publicly released until 1991.
01:14 It does feel rather fitting, though, that a show all about regeneration actually went
01:19 through a few different incarnations itself before broadcast.
01:22 9.
01:23 The Plot Whisperer The series 3 finale, Last of the Time Lords,
01:27 features a bunch of flashback shots, which take us back to the closing moment of the
01:31 previous episode, The Sound of Drums.
01:33 In these shots, we see the Doctor whisper something in Martha's ear, but we don't
01:36 actually hear it for ourselves.
01:38 In the end, we learn that he says "use the countdown", an instruction for Martha to
01:42 turn the Master's own plan against him.
01:44 In reality, though, David Tennant didn't say that at all.
01:47 What he actually did was whisper the entire plot of Last of the Time Lords into Freema
01:52 Adjiman's ear so that the director, who left the camera running while Tennant spoke,
01:56 had a lot of footage in the can, allowing him to pick and choose which shots he wanted
02:01 for the flashbacks.
02:02 You'd imagine that a cheeky chappy like Tennant would whisper something mischievous
02:05 into his co-star's ear, which is exactly what Alex Kingston did to him while shooting
02:10 the library two-parter in series 4, where she whispered "Shaniqua" into his ear.
02:15 But now you know that he actually played it dead straight.
02:18 8.
02:19 Titling the budget It's no secret that Doctor Who's budgets
02:23 haven't always been on par with its sci-fi peers, but you might be surprised to learn
02:27 just how little money the show had in those early days.
02:31 Various sources place the budget for its first season at around £2,000 an episode.
02:36 An Unearthly Child, the show's debut serial, had four episodes, so that's less than £10,000
02:42 for the entire story.
02:44 According to the Bank of England's inflation calculator, that £2,000 is only worth £32,000
02:49 today.
02:50 For comparison, 1966's Star Trek The Original Series reportedly commanded a budget closer
02:56 to $190,000 per episode, or $1.7 million today.
03:02 With so few resources at its disposal, it's actually amazing that Doctor Who became as
03:06 successful as it did.
03:07 Thankfully, with reports that the upcoming series 14 could reach a budget of £10 million
03:12 per episode, which is on par with Game of Thrones, Doctor Who's financial woes are
03:16 firmly a thing of the past.
03:19 7.
03:20 Origins of the TARDIS
03:21 The Doctor's trusty time machine, and occasional wife, is a big blue box that is, altogether
03:26 now, bigger on the inside.
03:28 It's been there since the very start of the show, and its exterior appearance hasn't
03:32 changed all that much over the years.
03:34 On the inside, though, it's been completely redecorated about a dozen times by now.
03:39 But what are the round things?
03:41 No idea.
03:42 The story goes that the TARDIS was designed to look like a British phone box for that
03:45 most reliable of reasons.
03:48 Food constraints.
03:49 While some sources claim that the TARDIS was created specifically for Doctor Who, conflicting
03:53 reports indicate that it was actually nicked from another BBC show.
03:57 Zed Kars and Dixon of Doc Green are the prime suspects, with the latter even being cited
04:01 by Stephen Moffat.
04:03 The original TARDIS prop remained in use for 13 years, until it was literally falling apart.
04:09 According to Elizabeth Sladen herself, it once collapsed right on top of her.
04:13 And speaking of that wonderful lady…
04:15 6.
04:16 Original Sarah Jane Smith
04:18 Now this particular story is one that hardcore Whovians will definitely be familiar with,
04:23 but more casual fans might not know that we came startlingly close to never having Elizabeth
04:29 Sladen as legendary companion Sarah Jane Smith.
04:32 Sladen debuted in the role in 1973, but Sarah Jane almost looked very different to how we
04:38 know her today.
04:39 The part was originally given to actress April Walker, best known for her appearances in
04:44 classic British comedies such as The Two Ronnies and Fawlty Towers.
04:47 The producers of Doctor Who thought that third Doctor John Pertwee wouldn't mind Walker's
04:51 casting, as the two had previously worked together.
04:54 How wrong they were.
04:56 During rehearsals, it became clear that the chemistry just wasn't there, with Pertwee
05:00 reportedly complaining about Walker being taller than he was.
05:04 I mean, insecure much?
05:06 And so that was the end of that, and Sladen was brought in as Walker's replacement.
05:10 It's hard to imagine anyone else playing the role of Sarah Jane, but one has to feel
05:15 sorry for Walker, who just missed out on the role of a lifetime.
05:19 Number 5 - Dr. Jackson
05:21 Now speculation always runs wild whenever it's announced that a new actor will be
05:26 playing the Doctor.
05:27 But has anyone ever had the King of Pop on their Doctor Who wishlist?
05:30 Well, that nearly happened, with Paramount Pictures very keen on having Michael Jackson
05:35 play the main role in a big screen adaptation of Doctor Who in the late 1980s.
05:40 They were apparently impressed with the success of his film Moonwalker, and wanted to take
05:44 the title to its literal extreme.
05:46 Jackson's casting would have been monumental in numerous ways.
05:50 He would have been the first non-white and non-British person to portray the character.
05:55 He also would have created the weirdest version of the Doctor ever because, well, he's
05:59 Michael freakin' Jackson.
06:01 While this casting, nor the movie itself, never happened, it's incredible to think
06:05 what might have been, had Paramount been insane enough to go through with it.
06:09 What's that?
06:10 They had a second choice actor if Jackson said no?
06:12 Who was it?
06:13 Bill Cosby?
06:14 Oh boy.
06:15 Number 4 - An English Pond
06:17 Amy Pond's Scottishness is one of the most integral parts of her character.
06:21 It's not just impossible to imagine her without it, but the show even makes a point
06:25 of calling her the Scottish girl in the English village, pointing out that she's something
06:29 of an outsider, just like the Doctor.
06:31 So it might surprise you to learn that not only was the English in Stephen Moffat's
06:35 original plan for Series 5, but her accent wasn't even decided until after Karen Gillan
06:41 was cast.
06:42 In an interview in 2010, Karen Gillan said, "I auditioned using an English accent and
06:47 my own.
06:48 When I was recalled, I did my own accent, and we were still in talks about the accent
06:52 when I got the role.
06:53 I'm really happy it worked out that way."
06:55 So are we, Karen.
06:56 So are we.
06:57 During the 11th Hour's commentary track, it's mentioned that the creatives went back
07:00 and forth before ultimately deciding to make her Scottish.
07:04 Looking back, it seems like the most obvious decision in the world, so it's insane to
07:07 think that we almost ended up with a much different version of the character.
07:11 3.
07:12 Hans Zimmer in Distress
07:14 When Doctor Who was facing cancellation in the mid-1980s, some of its staff members decided
07:19 that the only way to save it was to record and release a charity single.
07:22 Sure, that makes sense.
07:24 Doctor in Distress was unleashed into the world in 1985.
07:28 It featured vocals from various actors from the show, including Colin Baker, as well as
07:32 members of bands such as the Moody Blues and Ultra Vox.
07:35 Now most fans will know about the song by now, but did you know that Hans Zimmer, yes,
07:40 THE Hans Zimmer, the Oscar winning composer of The Lion King, Pirates of the Caribbean,
07:45 Inception and The Dark Knight, played the music for the track?
07:48 Though hardly his finest work, the fact that Hans bloody Zimmer was involved in the song
07:53 makes it ten times more noteworthy than it has any right to be.
07:56 Doctor Who has so many before they were famous actor appearances, but this cameo, from one
08:01 of the greatest composers in film history, is right at the top of the pile.
08:05 2.
08:06 Patrick Troughton Death Rumours Patrick Troughton was given the unenviable
08:11 task of replacing William Hartnell in 1966.
08:15 Thanks to his success, Doctor Who has survived for decades through its ability to change
08:19 its lead actor.
08:20 But that's enough praising the man, let's talk about some dodgy rumours surrounding
08:24 his death.
08:25 Troughton passed away on the 28th March 1987 while attending a convention in the United
08:30 States.
08:31 He'd been warned by his doctors, the medical kind, not the time travel kind, not to leave
08:34 the UK because of his weak heart.
08:37 But he ignored this advice.
08:38 Shortly after ordering breakfast at his hotel, Troughton suffered a heart attack and died
08:42 at the far too young age of 67.
08:45 While his death was a tragic loss, that hasn't stopped the Who community from speculating
08:50 on the real cause of his passing.
08:52 Now a rumour has done the rounds that Troughton's fatal cardiac arrest was caused by him having
08:57 slept with a fan at the convention.
09:00 Despite it never having been proven, this theory has persisted for many years and will
09:05 probably persist for many more.
09:07 But remember this is pure conjecture, we really don't want to get sued.
09:10 And also, it's not kind to speak ill of the dead.
09:13 Number 1 - The Weeping Angels are real
09:16 Of all the monsters not to be pursued by in real life, the Weeping Angels probably rank
09:21 close to the top.
09:22 Daleks?
09:23 Easy, just walk around the back of them and hide from their plunger.
09:26 But those evil statues aren't just creepy, they're also relentless, meaning you'd
09:31 never get a moment's peace.
09:32 They also send you back in time rather than killing you outright, making your death a
09:36 slow and lonely one.
09:37 Thank goodness they're fictional then, right?
09:40 Right?
09:41 Well, maybe not.
09:42 According to the Angels creator Stephen Moffat, the idea of these creatures came from a real
09:47 life experience that he had while walking past a graveyard.
09:51 He spotted a statue inside the cemetery, an angel with its hands over its eyes.
09:55 Years later, he returned to the graveyard to find that everything was as he left it,
10:00 except the angel was gone.
10:02 Oh dear.
10:03 So this story really speaks more to the creativity of Moffat than anything else.
10:07 To get from here to one of the most iconic villains in Doctor Who is nothing short of
10:11 genius.
10:12 And that concludes our list.
10:14 If you think we missed something, then do let us know in the comments below.
10:17 And while you're there, don't forget to like and subscribe, and tap that notification
10:20 bell so you never miss a WhoCulture video again.
10:23 Also head over to Twitter and follow us there and Instagram as well.
10:26 And I can be found across various social medias just by searching Ellie Littlechild, search
10:29 for Sean Ferrick as well, and DanTheMegs too.
10:33 I've been Ellie with WhoCulture, and in the words of River Song herself, goodbye,