Dalek Empire. Just adapt Dalek Empire. It's a perfect way to use the daleks without making them tired in the main show. It's an incredible story, that drips with dread and has themes of hope and how it can be used by evil. You can never have too many daleks, and Nick Briggs would be so happy.
I really want one which is less a "spin-off" and more just another show that lives in the Whoniverse. Like have a normal crime drama except its set in the Whoniverse. What do normal people and normal (not alien) evil people do in a world that is anything but normal? You know what do this with Trinity Wells as the main character investigating some mafia or criminal underworld thriving as the authorities attentions are diverted to aliens and the supernatural!
My personal ideal isn't sustainable, but would be an animated anthology series featuring past Doctors, or even one centered around one of the underused Doctors. In a more could happen space, one idea I've pondered is a show templated off of the early Pertwee years. Take another time lord, drop them into some historical time period, and then bring in the Doctor to say "Now you stay here, think about what you've done, and MAYBE I give you your Tardis back!". Anti-hero main character like Missy was going, but without some of the genocidal baggage the master carries. Once in a while the Doctor sends them jobs to deal with while they are dealing with the main series threats, that kind of thing.
RTD is incredibly good at having a set up, build up, and satisfying pay off when creating an overarching story and I think that’s what worked well about his era of Who and the spin offs. The fact that the sarah Jane adventures, Torchwood and doctor who all had universal points of connection and then had a great crossover in the stolen earth and journey’s end. I really hope this will be incorporated into his next era to have that payoff and dramatic finally.
Missy would be my first choice for a spin-off because Michelle Gomez could absolutely carry a show as its lead. Would be another "just Doctor Who again" concept, but I think the Master is a character you can do something interesting with. See Doctor Who, but from the other side looking in. A Doctor Who for scumbags who do want to see a time lord use the power of time and space travel for chaos and villainy. See all the things the Doctor would never do. Anti-Doccy Who. And I can imagine that as the Whoniverse's show for mature audiences to really show off the Master's destruction outside of a kids show.
@@Joe_Brennan_ Unless RTD brings Missy back for one story in a surprise reveal in Ncuti's era, to reintroduce her to the Disney Plus audience, as a soft pilot to test this audience if they want a Missy spin-off.
the alien anthology(?) series that was floating around the rumour mill sounds like an interesting spinoff, but you're definitely right in saying that most tv spinoff shows fall into the 'alien cops' thing with slightly different spins on the formula. I'd love to see a Doctor Who cartoon series, which could easily have older Doctors returning or each story starring a different Doctor/companions/whatever? It's really odd that sort of thing has never got off the ground long-term? JBOI YOU ARE DA BEST
I feel like a spin-off show about the rise of and birth of a cyberman faction could be quite interesting, explore an dying civilisation coming to the last resort and developing their own version of cyber conversion and how people react to that, the roles and jobs in this world, the circumstance that lead to this society getting to its state. it would be a good way to explore the darker aspects of the cyberman that the TV shys away from, include some body horror and little dystopian story telling and you could have something unique
I just don’t want the spinoffs to be necessary to understand the main series, but I’m not really worried about that because Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures were both fairly standalone.
RTD previously walked a really nice line that meant it was rewarding for people who were keeping up with everything, but not alienating for those who weren't
yeah see i agree it shouldn’t feel mandatory BUT there should be little questions that pop into peoples minds when watching (like Jack having the Doctors hand) that encourage them to watch the expanded stuff
I actually started with Torchwood, like 5 years before I found Doctor Who. (I am Australian) On my recent rewatch of TW, it was shocking how little it connected. SJA was a lot more connected with cameos from two doctors.
@@Creek932 I think the BBC quashed it because they didn't want kids watching Torchwood to see the Doctor, and getting a bunch of sweary sexy gory stuff. Or maybe RTD made that call, I'm not sure. But then Big Finish were going to do that, until Barrowman retroactively threw a todger in the works.
I'd love a spinoff where Martha Jones is Isekaied to a different galaxy and we see her take a spiritual journey through that alien world as she learns to stop being a cop, to stop always putting other's needs before her own, to process her messy divorce with Mickey, and to finally discover just who she is when she's not acting as a side character/prop in someone elses life. Think Stardust in space. Martha Jones finds catharsis set to a sweeping sci-fi backdrop.
A darker, more adult Master spin off would be amazing. Obviously not as the first spin off we get, but somewhere down the line. Really showing their potential dark, twisted nature, a villain as the protagonist
@Joe_Brennan_ I could see Dhawan or Simm as obvious choices having a proper good go at really letting loose. Or even delve into expanded media and try someone like Alex Macqueen. If they were to go for a new actor, it would probably be best if they either introduced them first in the main show, or ran it alongside and introducing them as a big finale baddie for a season of the main show, which at that point you could cast anyone
@@Joe_Brennan_ I'd like Michelle Gomez or Derek Jacobi, but nothing says it has to stay the same actor through the whole thing. Dhawan would be good too. I never really cared for Simm, so I might not watch that.
I think a spinoff should be set on an alien planet, that way, the villains can be individual, not entire races. Whatever planet it is, it should be introduced and revisited in Ncuti's era. Something we've seen more than once, like New New York from RTD1, or Peladon from Classic Who. I think something like New New York works particularly well because you can have human and alien characters living together, but it still feels familiar enough because it's based on an Earth City.
1) I think Russel has next to confirmed that the war between the land and the sea spin-off is happening so yay 2) i would kinda love a show that followed villains on a longer time span, but each series would be a different one. Imagine we get to see daleks with distinctive personalities as the wreak havoc accross the galaxy before splitting apart and forming a civil war. Or a series in the vein of spare parts where we see the slow rise of them in society and how people willingly volunteer for conversion. I think it be funky but then again I don’t have to write these
JBOI YOU ARE DA BEST (and I agree, none of the usual spin-off suggestions thrill me either, but I hope the inevitable one will be something fresh and surprising)
i think a good idea to have a spinoff take place in mostly one location and avoid the alien cops thing would be to just set it on another planet. you get the alien elements without necessarily having the travel thing and if it's deemed too "unrelatable" because it's not on earth, you could always include some human cast members
As open as I am to spin-offs right now, I will admit that the one part of The Giggle that got me doing the scrunched-up Kermit face was the bit where they stopped everything to introduce a bunch of UNIT characters (including that action-figure-friendly random robot thing) that got me thinking “okay, this is officially a pilot episode now.” It’s a shame, because that one moment kinda soured me on the rest of it, it took what was an interesting and entertaining special and made it feel more like that Gary 7 episode of Star Trek. Personally, if I were the Who show runner, I’d develop a Twilight Zone/Outer Limits style anthology series with Kate Stewart in the Rod Serling role, and use it as a vehicle to find and nurture new writers and directors (with the best getting an opportunity to graduate to the main show eventually). I’d even have an open call for script submissions from newbie writers with the only rule being “No Doctors, no companions, no Daleks, no Cybermen, everything else is fair game, have fun” C’mon, we can call it Tales from the Black Archive, you all know it makes sense.
I'd like a mini series about Time War, that would last for about 4-5 episodes. I think it's better to have a short spin off of Doctor Who, than, for example, 12 episodes per season and more than 1 season long spin off
My only concern for this is, how to show the Time War. In RTD his descriptions included time bending monstrosities and incomprehensable cosmic horror. While in the 50th anniversary we got generic war.
Love the video, and agree we really need to explore other showrunners especially one that will make a show about everyone’s favorite potato lizard and human trio
I’ve always been a Paternoster Truther. It may have ended up being alien cops but at least two of them are aliens AND it’s set in a cool unique time period
Great video! I think the main reason spin off shows don’t have the aspect of going into space or past/future places is budget reasons so it’s easier to do ‘Alien Cops’ I guess but I personally love it because SJA is my favourite show and I think everything about it for what it was is perfect!
Star Wars Rebels is one of the best spin offs ever. Immature Jedi in training, who is different than Luke, old Jedi mentor, who learned from Yoda but isn’t like him, a talking non-human who isn’t like Chewbacca, a droid nothing like R2D2, a pilot nothing like Han Solo, and a rebellious Mandeloran It’s clearly Star Wars, but it’s not the original trilogy being copied, it’s new characters exploring their part of the universe
totally agree. I also think people underplay just how important the Doctor is as a central character that makes DW so entertaining and appealing. As for alternatives, the obvious one is probably following 10, but seeing him live a fairly normal life, not as a defend of the Earth (mostly), but as someone seeing a normal life as its own adventure. Maybe, with two of him at once, his TARDIS stops taking him to dangerous places, and he can experience drama, but not deadly threats with Donna and Rose. There's also potential for a less episodic spinoff that's still similar to the two premises. e.g. Clara and Ishildr traveling, but each season is its own adventure story rather than each episode. or UNIT on Earth but with seasonal arcs. There's also the origin story route. Watch young Davros become evil, or see the early days of Time Lords and the creation of the TARDIS. etc.
I agree a lot with what you're saying Joe and I think any good spin-off of Doctor Who needs to centre around concept and a setting not a character. As you point out that focus on a feeling and a setting rather than necessarily one character is part of what makes Andor so fantastic and I think it's what made the later seasons of Torchwood really work. I think there's a lot of options here but none involve bringing back old characters in anything other than cameo roles. Unfortunately I think we've either gone too far past where they were a big part of the main show (Captain Jack, River Song, Rose ect) and to be honest I think most side characters have had their stories pretty fully told. Except Martha, I'd watch ten seasons of Martha. But give us something like a Time Lord agent working on ways to stop the Daleks rising to power again - a spy thriller through time and space. As you point out Doctor Who's biggest strength as a TV show is it's biggest weakness as a 'shared universe' - the space and time hopping. Who can say what the doctor who setting is? The Time Lords and Daleks exist maybe? There's a Great and Bountiful Human Empire? There's ood? (please give me more Ood). But instead of feeling like different writers had added to a shared universe it feels like every episode takes place in its own alternate universe. I remember reading fan blogs in the early days of the revival and people were keeping track of every original series monster and planet and how they could try into the revival era canon. But I think we've all accepted that there kind of is no cannon. That needs to change and RTD needs to bring in a series bible if he really wants to expand things into a Whoniverse that feels like a shared universe, not just Doctor Who and some spin-offs.
If I was Russell I would be taking my pick from the wealth of great ideas in Big Finish. I mean Jago, Litefoot & Strax was one of the best bits of Dr Who media I have ever consumed, that whole victorian london collective with Jenny and Lizard lady could be its own show. And that’s one of many examples, there is so much data and feedback on different spin-offs all available right there
While a UNIT one is almost certain, I'd still love to see an anthology series that just follows random people or aliens in different situations. The tone could fluctuate wildly between each episode so every week is something new and there's something for everyone. Just some ideas for episodes: - A Paranormal Activity style episode filmed entirely in POV and security footage. A security guard in a shopping mall is trying to catch some teens breaking in at night and vandalising the place, messing with the mannequins, etc. Each night, the occurrences become more common, and the mannequins seem to become more and more lively. Get a few good jump scares in there and focus on a darker, horror tone. Maybe end on some security footage of a massacre by the Autons. - We hear several times the damage a single Dalek could do, but the Doctor always stops it. Why not have the last members of an alien civilisation fight for survival against a single Dalek after it has exterminated almost the entire population with absolutely no interference from the Doctor. Can they defeat it, or will the Dalek succeed in it's goal of destroying everything. Could go either way. - An idyllic rural neighbourhood in the 1900s collectively witness a UFO crash land nearby, but no pilot was found. Soon after, a new person moves into the neighbourhood, and they begin to suspect that they're the alien taking on a human form, and begin trying to prove it. Could be a good candidate for a comedy episode. RTD also seems keen on musical numbers in this era, so maybe a whole musical episode as long as it's done well. At the end of the day, it's a spinoff and if you don't like it, it shouldn't taint your view of the core show, you can just skip it. They could tie them into the main show with references, but one thing a spinoff must NOT have is the doctor saving the day at all. I agree though, I want them to avoid the "It's Doctor Who, but with Jenny/Martha/The Master/Osgood/River/Elton/etc." because that's just too similar to the main show.
I think the big problem with spinoffs in general is that it's hard to give them a voice or identity or whatever. What tends to make something great is that is has something to say rather than just being some stuff that you liked when it was a small part of a different show. Torchwood and SJA worked within this constraint because Dr Who has enough of an identity that Dr Who but edgy and Dr Who but on CBBC were able to work well and eventually develop into their own thing (and crucially tell stories that the main show couldn't) but there's only so many times and so much luck that can work. With that in mind, I think something that is purposefully not very Dr Who would be good and my first thought to that end is a continuous mystery series a la Twin Peaks (where each season is an entire thing with loads of threads and also is really good). It also also shouldn't be set on modern day earth but some near future earth-like planet so it can use scifi elements more fully (and also it creates a second established planet for the main series). That being said I don't really watch a lot of TV so idrk and also I'm reliably informed that Jboi is da best, so really who's to say? Also I typed this out before you said do something weird with an idea behind it that isn't just dr who for [demographic] so I guess this comment adds literally nothing anymore😬
IMO a good spinoff could focus on one specific concept, villain or place and really flesh it out. Like something that does for the Daleks or Cybermen what Andor did for the empire. There are so many locations I always wanted to see more of, like Pete’s world or the 4th great and bountiful human empire, and worldbuilding we haven’t even seen like the Time Agency.
Tbh I just want a movie about the origin story of the Sandmen from Sleep No More & their creators such as Gagan Rassmussen. That has the potential of building on characters nobody really cared about before. It could shine a big light on a part of the Whoniverse we don't often see in detail - society in a certain part of the future.
I think you're basically right, Joe. The mold for the Whoniverse shouldn't be the MCU's random spin-off go approach, or even RTD1. It should probably be 90s Star Trek - set up a premise in Doctor Who, like TNG did with Deep Space Nine and the Cardassian occupation of Bajor, or DS9 and TNG did with Voyager and the Maquis and the Borg (plus the unique location - which Voyager mostly squandered to do 'Star Trek but with different people'). How I'd set up a Who spinoff is to take an episode to run as a backdoor pilot, and set up the premise there. At the end, the Doctor saves the day and the TARDIS flies away, but the spinoff sticks with the setting, and shows how it pans out, using established and new characters, and perhaps occasionally crossing over or sharing concepts, but mostly just fleshing out that corner of the Whoniverse. It's easiest to imagine this spinning out of a story with the Silurians and Sea Devils where the Doctor can't just hit the snooze button on their hibernation or whatever, and actually has to build some kind of fragile peace between the hominids and reptilians, but I'm sure there's other setups that work for it.
I really want a 6-part series set during the early days of the Dalek Invasion of Earth from The Dalek Invasion of Earth. The episode establishes such a bleak setting of Earth under a ten-year occupation by Daleks, with people turned into Robomen, the environment being consumed by Varga plants, and ordinary people betraying each other in a desperate attempt to stay alive. A series aimed at slightly older audiences set during the beginning of that occupation, focusing on a small group of survivors, could be great. The Daleks themselves wouldn't even need to appear that much, for the first season at least. They'd be more like a looming presence, that guarantee death on the rare occasions in which they do appear. The primary threat of the show would be from the things the Daleks bring with them, as well as other Humans. Sort of like a Walking Dead or Last of Us style series
I recently listened to the Audiobook version of Doctor Who: Origins. The book featured a bunch of prequels to companions before they met the doctor. Often having them meet with a regeneration they never met. I feel like there could be a great show where you have an old actor return as a companion in the dream tardis, then, have flashback period dramas with new actors playing a young version of the companion as they deal with it. I can't imagine it being a long term show. Since at the end of each adventure, we need to erase the fact that the companion pre-met a Doctor, before there own. But it could be a great low budget series.
i hope that in the decade that russell was gone for that is allowed him to truly plan spinoffs that arentJBOI YOU ARE DA BESTone note, giving him more time to contemplate and weed out the bad ones.
I think to an extent thats why the idea of a Rose spinoff would work (in concept) since they literally have an open sandbox to do whatever and change the status quo, since its set in its own universe and cant logistically impact the main show.
A Rose spinoff when she first left would work. But set now, you have TenToo -- unless he's unseen spouse who's only mentioned most or all of the time, which I guess is possible to do.
I think fleshing out the Time War would be a great idea since RTD clearly had a really abstract vision of it (eg “the nightmare child” and “the could’ve been king and his army of meanwhiles and never weres”) and Moffat kinda watered it down into a simple shooty-shooty war with Day of the Doctor. Although I think the smart thing to do would be to keep the Doctor’s presence down to just a couple cameos, otherwise he’d draw fans away from the main show.
Honestly, I would be 100% content with alien cops! When it comes to Doctor Who, I’m more of a Torchwood fan and would love to have something on a similar line. A UNIT spinoff would be the best idea for me (depending on how featured they are in the main show).
Hear me out: Perhaps a series called "Companions anonymous" Essentially a show about the support group we saw in Power of The Doctor. With recurring characters discussing their adventures and healing in their shared trauma from travelling with the Doctor. A melodrama come-self help guide for recovering addicts. Could even get a reunion with Mickey and Jack! (You know, if the BBC will still allow them both on television 😬)
I would love another season of Torchwood but I don't think that tone can work for modern day and with Disney. Would love a Doctor Who Eighth Doctor adventures with an adult tone. But the only right answer is a Scongo origin series with the biggest budget for television.
It makes me really curious about the Sea Devil spin off. As much as I didn’t consider a Sea Devil series as a thing. Idk, maybe that centric premise means it gets rid of having weekly monsters, space cops and just has a central premise and they’re already an established race on Earth so you can get away with it. Tbh I wish we could get a gothic horror/H.P Lovecraft genre series.
I’d love to see them do something wacky like a Star Trek Lower Decks style animation about the people that do clean up after the Doctor fights the defeats the bad guys and swans off in his TARDIS.
The problem is companions tend to die or settle back on modern Earth in the modern series of Who. Not that I'd advocate a Peri and Yrcanos spinoff (or am I) but maybe have a companion live in another time or planet and make something similar to Blakes 7 or Star Trek, and in that same sense have a story set in Earths future with a modern companion who has travelled with the Doctor as the relatable audience surrogate. I do actually think a darker spinoff has potential going by the Big Finish Master ones so maybe one about villains. Dalek Empire is one of the best of their spinoffs just because its about Daleks, who are obviously major villains and pop culture icons, fighting people who aren't the Doctor and with that potential you can do them as a lot darker than they are in the main show. Anyway good video, Joseph.
I know this will never happen, but my fannish dream is a limited series starring derek jacobi's master in the last days of the time war, ending when he turns himself human. I haven't watched any of the star wars/marvel series but I'm not convinced a limited series would be bad - I think it just has to be based around a strong idea, stronger than just [character] in [place], and yeah like you said I think leaning into the weirdness would really help with that.
You're very right. There's a limited loop of premises that are easily viable for an on-going series. Defending the Earth is just too easy to fall into. Obviously you get the right cast together and some memorable baddies, and you can make Rani/UNIT/others work, but you can only sustain 1 of those at a time. So next, you find some other story/show archetypes and slap a lick of Whoniverse paint on. A police procedural ala Space Cops by way of CSI with a Judoon chief, a sontaran, and some other who faces. Take the rag-tag bunch of thieves with hearts of gold, build off the cast from Time Heist and that setup, and then throw Absolom Daak into the mix and you've got Whoniverse Leverage or Firefly. Things like that can work, but the audiance has to want it. Class failed miserably because there was no attachment between the characters and the wider whoniverse. None of them were secretly part dalek, or a slitheen in disguise, etc. Sure if Clara had been in charge it might have worked, but even then, a tough sell.
I want to see Young Doctor; Meet a child genius named the Doctor (already seen as an adult in Doctor Who (1963)) and his family. Some unique challenges face the Doctor, who is socially impaired. It's 50,000, and 9-year-old the Doctor has skipped four grades to start high school along with his less-intellectual older brother. As he struggles to be understood by his family, classmates, and neighbors, his mother arms him with the best tool she has: reminding bullies that his dad is the football coach and his brother is on the team. His twin sister doesn't share his exceptional mind, but she is brilliant at reading people and has a much clearer vision of what life has in store for the young genius. Ncuti Gatwa, who plays the adult version of the Doctor in Doctor Who (1963), narrates. A spinoff series of the youth and young life of a young male who has a deep knowledge of science. He finds that living with his family and around random people is wrong and bad for his own life. He does everything that he can to build and live his own life in his own way.
Make a Andor-style Lorna Bucket series with Christina Chong. Just do a rough, beautiful, emotional tale about a young Lorna. Have Steven Moffat direct. Give him full control. Watch the TV ratings explode.
I think you’re right, FWIW. And also, the ‘fan boy’ thing I’d loved to have seen - an 8th Doctor series - is surely now always going to remain an unfulfilled wish anyway. McGann is surely getting on a bit for this now. I’m honestly not sure what I’d like to see beyond that, bar something interesting and different. Oh, and something that actually has some internal coherence and great script editing. But Doctor Who (and most modern TV, TBH) perhaps isn’t the place for that. :D
Personally I don't really care about the spin offs as long as the main show is good. On a unrelated note have you ever considered getting the full Ryan Johnson body instead of just sticking with the head?
I think what would be interesting would be an alien cops crew but half the team are actually alien. Maybe 5 or 6 characters and 3 of of them are aliens so it isn't just humans vs the rest of the universe. And we get more of aliens and humans working together.
I always thought the same, torchwood, sja and class are great but all the same premise, i want to see some random ass place in the doctor who universe expanded into its own story that can be understood on its own. A completely different genre would be cool too, or even something animated.
i definitely agree that we shouldn't have a spinoff that is just doctor who but with different characters but i do feel that fugitive at least could be something very different if they do it specifically about the black ops division she was running but i feel like the main issue with pretty much every spinoff idea is that Big Finish already did (and still does) all of them and at that point we'd just be A) retreading old ground and B) mass decanonising fuck tons of content for no reason
@@Joe_Brennan_ i don't think it's possible for anyone to think of a doctor who related idea that Nick "we love stories" Briggs hasn't already thought of
Anthology show about division, one episode is a horror with a squad being picked off by a monster, political thriller where they destabilise an entire planet to benefit galifrey, one about a coup from within. Could also go with the high council if RTD wants to leave TC stuff alone
I think you kinda missing the point. If we get spin off about traveling space and time (like I dunno "Clara and Me") people would say: "It's too much like Doctor Who. We already have Doctor Who - why do we need this?". If we get something about life in alien world (like... "Nyssa. Ruler of Traken") people would say: "It's too weird and too alien for me! I don't understand it and I won't watch it!". And that's why they set with safe and familiar option of somebody staying on Earth and defending it from alien threat while The Doctor is away. On the other hand - that's what diffirinciate average or good writer from the great one - ability and readiness to take risks! If it would be really good and engaging (and not like "Class") - people will watch it and love it no matter what. Big Finish has spin offs about Gallifrey, UNIT, Bernice Summerfield, Rose Tyler, Jago and Lifefoot and as far as I know they quite sucessful. Probably tv series about Rose between series 2 and 4 could also be sucessful. She doesn't stay on Earth - she travels, but not to other planets or times like The Doctor did most of the times, but to parallel Universes. Yeah... probably they should made more spin offs about other times, planets and Parallel Universes now that they have a budjet for that.
I’d like a TV series based on Marvels What If series? As Turn Left was What if the Doctor died fighting the Racnoss. My idea: What if the Doctors hand wasn’t cut off by the Sycorax? What if Captain Jack wasn’t immortal? Just resurrected? What if Rose never rescued the Doctor in Parting of the Ways? Or the bigger one, what if the Doctor never left Galifrey?
I know you kinda pushed back against this idea in the video but I'd honestly love a space opera series set in the Doctor Who universe. You've got such a rich tapestry of aliens and concepts that you could easily do a Deep Space Nine or Babylon 5 style series in that mythos.
For me the best ideas for spin offs come from Big Finish, especially mini series like Cyberman and Dalek Empire. Giving us a new supporting cast but using established villains we know. Broadly political dramas.
There is the issue of crossover. So far, they've - I think wisely - minimised this but the more spinoff content there is, the more it will start to appear in the main show and the more viewers who really just want the main show will be at a disadvantage. That surely can't be good. I've tried most of the spinoffs but they've never really done it for me and I've given up - the Who universe without the Doctor seems a bit like alcohol free beer. So if the budget exists for more Who, I'd prefer more of the main show, even it means a dilution of quality.
I wanna see more alien-less spin-offs. Something like Amy and Rory with their sitcom-esque dynamics in 1930s new york. Nothing particularly sci fi just them getting into domestic antics and making their new life work while also exploring the elements of trauma in amy's character arc particularly and the strain that had on their relationship in a way the main show never quite had time for. Everything asylum of the daleks tries to do but can't could be done in a show that has just them to think about. Obviously thinking about it just as a producer there is no way that that would be successful and again i'm falling into the trap of looking at characters I like and saying "they should have a spin off". It's tough to find an idea for a doctor who spin-off that is both justified (playing off of doctor who directly enough to be a spin-off of it) and unique. There aren't many nuwho characters particularly that haven't been designed to bounce off and say something about dr who himself. Characters I want to see more of (like river or clara or missy) exist in conjunction or contrast with the doctor. I think they have to be a character that becomes more interesting when you take the doctor away and I think only maybe missy qualifies? Maybe they should be looking more to villains in general for spin-offs. Davros for example could be given a show about being a nazi and generally quite mean. Explorations of neo-nazism and parallels to areas of modern politics from this fucked up dalek perspective could be interesting I think! A bit like stuff big finish have done. Easily justified too by dalek's immediately recogniseable iconography as nazi bins. Cybermen also have never quite had the crack at systemic deconstruction they seem designed for? maybe a cyberman spin-off about capitalism is worth doing. Silurians, Sea Devils and Zygons could easily be explored more in a future setting. I could go on really. Basically I want no aliens and all aliens.
We already have a whoniverse, big finish and novels built that, I really don’t want dr who to follow the same way marvels going or Star Wars, it’s never going to work as good as the main show, torchwood was it or miss but it had the cast and writers to ouch it forward, then there’s glass........does anyone even remember that?
As unoriginal as it would be, a new sja style thing would be great, keep the kids engaged while daddy who is off the sire. Us sadults can rewatch old episodes till the end of time
If I'm being honest, I don't really see the point in Doctor Who spinoffs. The whole appeal of the show is that it's a new setting every week or two, and the sheer size of the backlog means I'm never going "Aw man, I wish there was some new Doctor Who on this week" because there's so much old stuff I haven't or haven't seen in a long time. Spinoffs handled poorly can easily feel more like bloat than meaningful additions.
Not that I'm particularly interested in seeing it (the whole 'Whoniverse' concept seems rather forced and a bit 'Dark Universe' where something that probably won't happen is announced up front and set up to fail instead of occurring organically) would be the Time Agency as 'damage control' which goes around cleaning up the Doctor's mess and the increased strain they're under in the Time Lord's absence (unfortunately it's a bit too Loki now but I swear I thought of it first).
Nothing makes sense in the main show anymore, so I couldn't care less about spinoffs. Genesis era Davros can walk with no MK1 chair to base his Mk3 Daleks on, UNIT can be defunded one moment, then have a huge skyscraper in London, which is blown up & instantly replaced with Avengers tower with a laser that can shoot down satellites & blow holes in buildings, yet doesn't even singe the Doctor's shirt. London's streets can be ripped open then magically heal & the rest of the solar system is presumedly still destroyed by the Flux.
The thing is the earthlings vs aliens kind of works and is familiar and familiarity is at the core of most tv shows. Now Disney is involved it may become harder to be weird and experimental. Although I think you can rip off a familiar idea which has been successful for other shows. How about a show about the evolution of the cybermen actually becoming more cyborg and human looking. Or a show based on Gallifrey where Nyssa becomes the first alien lord president and is considering changing her body to become a timelord. How about following Romana in E- Space as she and K9 rescue the enslaved aliens from Warriors gate. Maybe a unit spin off where Kate works with a younger clone of her father. Possibly a Sontarans squad trying to get home in the Rutan war with a human prisoner and they begin to learn humanity. Just a few off the top of my head
I feel like to expand DW, you need to have a specific audience in mind and a strong cast. Doctor Who is so focused on adults, often male. I wonder what it would mean to create a spin-off that appealed to young girls, like 6-12?
@@RobTFilms I am actually so dumb. I always thinking in my mind, SJA is for kids. Never thought about the gender of the kids haha. But i really enjoye3d SJA, I watched it all last year. I was shocked at how hard I laughed everytime the gang got slimed.
I have thought about this for about 2 seconds while playing Fallout 4, but maybe some sort of animated thing with a studio (perhaps even an anime studio like Madhouse though maybe that's too big name). Another thing in my very uninformed mind is that I kinda don't like all this aesthetic aping of the MCU, but I'm not exactly sure *why*. Stuff like UNIT's giant tower's been bugging me, but I guess I just wanna be contrarian and haven't really enjoyed what little Marvel stuff I've seen.
My perhaps controversial opinion would be... no spin-offs please. Big Finish are a good case for why not to do them: the writing across the board has nose-dived *significantly* since 2013-ish, both "main range" and spin-off, and show you can only do these things so far until they're just an excuse to have Paul McGann meet a Voord.
Let me know your dream spinoff!
Dalek Empire. Just adapt Dalek Empire. It's a perfect way to use the daleks without making them tired in the main show. It's an incredible story, that drips with dread and has themes of hope and how it can be used by evil. You can never have too many daleks, and Nick Briggs would be so happy.
I really want one which is less a "spin-off" and more just another show that lives in the Whoniverse. Like have a normal crime drama except its set in the Whoniverse. What do normal people and normal (not alien) evil people do in a world that is anything but normal? You know what do this with Trinity Wells as the main character investigating some mafia or criminal underworld thriving as the authorities attentions are diverted to aliens and the supernatural!
My personal ideal isn't sustainable, but would be an animated anthology series featuring past Doctors, or even one centered around one of the underused Doctors. In a more could happen space, one idea I've pondered is a show templated off of the early Pertwee years. Take another time lord, drop them into some historical time period, and then bring in the Doctor to say "Now you stay here, think about what you've done, and MAYBE I give you your Tardis back!". Anti-hero main character like Missy was going, but without some of the genocidal baggage the master carries. Once in a while the Doctor sends them jobs to deal with while they are dealing with the main series threats, that kind of thing.
3 words,
Jim the Fish.
Making a short cartooney animated spinoff depicting Jim the Fish, his life, his dam and his journey to fame among the stars.
I like the idea of showing people surviving on Earth during the occupation from the Dalek invasion of Earth from season 2 of classic :)
RTD is incredibly good at having a set up, build up, and satisfying pay off when creating an overarching story and I think that’s what worked well about his era of Who and the spin offs. The fact that the sarah Jane adventures, Torchwood and doctor who all had universal points of connection and then had a great crossover in the stolen earth and journey’s end. I really hope this will be incorporated into his next era to have that payoff and dramatic finally.
A new Stolen Earth is a fun prospect to imagine. I’ll spend all era going “oh this guy will be in it for sure!”
Missy would be my first choice for a spin-off because Michelle Gomez could absolutely carry a show as its lead. Would be another "just Doctor Who again" concept, but I think the Master is a character you can do something interesting with. See Doctor Who, but from the other side looking in. A Doctor Who for scumbags who do want to see a time lord use the power of time and space travel for chaos and villainy. See all the things the Doctor would never do. Anti-Doccy Who. And I can imagine that as the Whoniverse's show for mature audiences to really show off the Master's destruction outside of a kids show.
Missy is one of the choices I’m fondest of really, I worry that the time has passed though. We shall have to see.
@@Joe_Brennan_ Unless RTD brings Missy back for one story in a surprise reveal in Ncuti's era, to reintroduce her to the Disney Plus audience, as a soft pilot to test this audience if they want a Missy spin-off.
master who
the alien anthology(?) series that was floating around the rumour mill sounds like an interesting spinoff, but you're definitely right in saying that most tv spinoff shows fall into the 'alien cops' thing with slightly different spins on the formula. I'd love to see a Doctor Who cartoon series, which could easily have older Doctors returning or each story starring a different Doctor/companions/whatever? It's really odd that sort of thing has never got off the ground long-term?
JBOI YOU ARE DA BEST
Thanks for reading the caption berty
i like it when joe brennan likes to dive into why he thinks things
I like that too
Or even a mock documentary for one of the Doctors companions?
Something similar to the Office?
What We Do in the TARDIS
@@Joe_Brennan_ You should copyright that asap
@@lewislockwood9402 You can't copyright a title.
I feel like a spin-off show about the rise of and birth of a cyberman faction could be quite interesting, explore an dying civilisation coming to the last resort and developing their own version of cyber conversion and how people react to that, the roles and jobs in this world, the circumstance that lead to this society getting to its state. it would be a good way to explore the darker aspects of the cyberman that the TV shys away from, include some body horror and little dystopian story telling and you could have something unique
I just don’t want the spinoffs to be necessary to understand the main series, but I’m not really worried about that because Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures were both fairly standalone.
RTD previously walked a really nice line that meant it was rewarding for people who were keeping up with everything, but not alienating for those who weren't
yeah see i agree it shouldn’t feel mandatory BUT there should be little questions that pop into peoples minds when watching (like Jack having the Doctors hand) that encourage them to watch the expanded stuff
I actually started with Torchwood, like 5 years before I found Doctor Who. (I am Australian)
On my recent rewatch of TW, it was shocking how little it connected.
SJA was a lot more connected with cameos from two doctors.
@@dannyjarratt5414 I think there was originally a plan for Tennant to show up in Torchwood but for whatever reason it never happened.
@@Creek932 I think the BBC quashed it because they didn't want kids watching Torchwood to see the Doctor, and getting a bunch of sweary sexy gory stuff. Or maybe RTD made that call, I'm not sure. But then Big Finish were going to do that, until Barrowman retroactively threw a todger in the works.
I'd love a spinoff where Martha Jones is Isekaied to a different galaxy and we see her take a spiritual journey through that alien world as she learns to stop being a cop, to stop always putting other's needs before her own, to process her messy divorce with Mickey, and to finally discover just who she is when she's not acting as a side character/prop in someone elses life. Think Stardust in space. Martha Jones finds catharsis set to a sweeping sci-fi backdrop.
THAT SOUNDS AMAZING, also, props if they recreate Dissected as a flashback or something.
Ah yes Martha should learn to stop being the thing she literally never was.
I'd love a Martha spinoff, but I'm not too sure about her being exiled.
A darker, more adult Master spin off would be amazing. Obviously not as the first spin off we get, but somewhere down the line. Really showing their potential dark, twisted nature, a villain as the protagonist
Any particular version of the Master in mind? Or a new one
@Joe_Brennan_ I could see Dhawan or Simm as obvious choices having a proper good go at really letting loose. Or even delve into expanded media and try someone like Alex Macqueen. If they were to go for a new actor, it would probably be best if they either introduced them first in the main show, or ran it alongside and introducing them as a big finale baddie for a season of the main show, which at that point you could cast anyone
@@Joe_Brennan_ I'd like Michelle Gomez or Derek Jacobi, but nothing says it has to stay the same actor through the whole thing. Dhawan would be good too. I never really cared for Simm, so I might not watch that.
I think a spinoff should be set on an alien planet, that way, the villains can be individual, not entire races. Whatever planet it is, it should be introduced and revisited in Ncuti's era. Something we've seen more than once, like New New York from RTD1, or Peladon from Classic Who. I think something like New New York works particularly well because you can have human and alien characters living together, but it still feels familiar enough because it's based on an Earth City.
1) I think Russel has next to confirmed that the war between the land and the sea spin-off is happening so yay
2) i would kinda love a show that followed villains on a longer time span, but each series would be a different one. Imagine we get to see daleks with distinctive personalities as the wreak havoc accross the galaxy before splitting apart and forming a civil war. Or a series in the vein of spare parts where we see the slow rise of them in society and how people willingly volunteer for conversion. I think it be funky but then again I don’t have to write these
JBOI YOU ARE DA BEST (and I agree, none of the usual spin-off suggestions thrill me either, but I hope the inevitable one will be something fresh and surprising)
I'm glad I'm not alone!
i think a good idea to have a spinoff take place in mostly one location and avoid the alien cops thing would be to just set it on another planet. you get the alien elements without necessarily having the travel thing and if it's deemed too "unrelatable" because it's not on earth, you could always include some human cast members
The NYSSA ADVENTURES!?!? Oh, I am SO here for it! Especially if Tegan and the 5th Doctor guest star - maybe even the spirit of Adric.
As open as I am to spin-offs right now, I will admit that the one part of The Giggle that got me doing the scrunched-up Kermit face was the bit where they stopped everything to introduce a bunch of UNIT characters (including that action-figure-friendly random robot thing) that got me thinking “okay, this is officially a pilot episode now.” It’s a shame, because that one moment kinda soured me on the rest of it, it took what was an interesting and entertaining special and made it feel more like that Gary 7 episode of Star Trek.
Personally, if I were the Who show runner, I’d develop a Twilight Zone/Outer Limits style anthology series with Kate Stewart in the Rod Serling role, and use it as a vehicle to find and nurture new writers and directors (with the best getting an opportunity to graduate to the main show eventually). I’d even have an open call for script submissions from newbie writers with the only rule being “No Doctors, no companions, no Daleks, no Cybermen, everything else is fair game, have fun”
C’mon, we can call it Tales from the Black Archive, you all know it makes sense.
Flashing a picture of Nardole while saying, "I'm not gonna sit here and make spin-off suggestions of my own" - You can't fool me.
Yippeeee an Easter treat!
Egg
Another banger for all the Brennheads out there
Jboi army feasting this year tbf
I'd like a mini series about Time War, that would last for about 4-5 episodes. I think it's better to have a short spin off of Doctor Who, than, for example, 12 episodes per season and more than 1 season long spin off
I think in a few cases it could really work, I’m just hesitant in a post Marvel “TV” world
My only concern for this is, how to show the Time War. In RTD his descriptions included time bending monstrosities and incomprehensable cosmic horror.
While in the 50th anniversary we got generic war.
Where's the Jboiverse?
Is that not what this is?
I want to see a spin off about the Rian Johnson cardboard head
We've got Joe Brennan 2
My fave part of Class, was the fact that nothing was ever undone. Changes had serious and long changes and effects.
I liked it when it ended
Love the video, and agree we really need to explore other showrunners especially one that will make a show about everyone’s favorite potato lizard and human trio
I’ve always been a Paternoster Truther. It may have ended up being alien cops but at least two of them are aliens AND it’s set in a cool unique time period
@@Joe_Brennan_ exactly, I could see it going way more Sherlock than Torchwood
Great video! I think the main reason spin off shows don’t have the aspect of going into space or past/future places is budget reasons so it’s easier to do ‘Alien Cops’ I guess but I personally love it because SJA is my favourite show and I think everything about it for what it was is perfect!
Star Wars Rebels is one of the best spin offs ever. Immature Jedi in training, who is different than Luke, old Jedi mentor, who learned from Yoda but isn’t like him, a talking non-human who isn’t like Chewbacca, a droid nothing like R2D2, a pilot nothing like Han Solo, and a rebellious Mandeloran
It’s clearly Star Wars, but it’s not the original trilogy being copied, it’s new characters exploring their part of the universe
This makes me wonder if Doctor Who could ever convincingly break into animation, previous attempts don’t fill me with promise but this is a new world
@@Joe_Brennan_ I don’t know, but I think with the right team they could do anything
totally agree. I also think people underplay just how important the Doctor is as a central character that makes DW so entertaining and appealing.
As for alternatives, the obvious one is probably following 10, but seeing him live a fairly normal life, not as a defend of the Earth (mostly), but as someone seeing a normal life as its own adventure. Maybe, with two of him at once, his TARDIS stops taking him to dangerous places, and he can experience drama, but not deadly threats with Donna and Rose.
There's also potential for a less episodic spinoff that's still similar to the two premises. e.g. Clara and Ishildr traveling, but each season is its own adventure story rather than each episode. or UNIT on Earth but with seasonal arcs.
There's also the origin story route. Watch young Davros become evil, or see the early days of Time Lords and the creation of the TARDIS. etc.
When you say Ten, do you mean Fourteen?
I agree a lot with what you're saying Joe and I think any good spin-off of Doctor Who needs to centre around concept and a setting not a character. As you point out that focus on a feeling and a setting rather than necessarily one character is part of what makes Andor so fantastic and I think it's what made the later seasons of Torchwood really work.
I think there's a lot of options here but none involve bringing back old characters in anything other than cameo roles. Unfortunately I think we've either gone too far past where they were a big part of the main show (Captain Jack, River Song, Rose ect) and to be honest I think most side characters have had their stories pretty fully told. Except Martha, I'd watch ten seasons of Martha.
But give us something like a Time Lord agent working on ways to stop the Daleks rising to power again - a spy thriller through time and space.
As you point out Doctor Who's biggest strength as a TV show is it's biggest weakness as a 'shared universe' - the space and time hopping.
Who can say what the doctor who setting is? The Time Lords and Daleks exist maybe? There's a Great and Bountiful Human Empire? There's ood? (please give me more Ood).
But instead of feeling like different writers had added to a shared universe it feels like every episode takes place in its own alternate universe.
I remember reading fan blogs in the early days of the revival and people were keeping track of every original series monster and planet and how they could try into the revival era canon.
But I think we've all accepted that there kind of is no cannon. That needs to change and RTD needs to bring in a series bible if he really wants to expand things into a Whoniverse that feels like a shared universe, not just Doctor Who and some spin-offs.
If I was Russell I would be taking my pick from the wealth of great ideas in Big Finish. I mean Jago, Litefoot & Strax was one of the best bits of Dr Who media I have ever consumed, that whole victorian london collective with Jenny and Lizard lady could be its own show. And that’s one of many examples, there is so much data and feedback on different spin-offs all available right there
_Vastra Investigates._ Yes.
JBOI YOU ARE DA BEST
Wow, anything to not watch the video I suppose
While a UNIT one is almost certain, I'd still love to see an anthology series that just follows random people or aliens in different situations. The tone could fluctuate wildly between each episode so every week is something new and there's something for everyone.
Just some ideas for episodes:
- A Paranormal Activity style episode filmed entirely in POV and security footage. A security guard in a shopping mall is trying to catch some teens breaking in at night and vandalising the place, messing with the mannequins, etc. Each night, the occurrences become more common, and the mannequins seem to become more and more lively. Get a few good jump scares in there and focus on a darker, horror tone. Maybe end on some security footage of a massacre by the Autons.
- We hear several times the damage a single Dalek could do, but the Doctor always stops it. Why not have the last members of an alien civilisation fight for survival against a single Dalek after it has exterminated almost the entire population with absolutely no interference from the Doctor. Can they defeat it, or will the Dalek succeed in it's goal of destroying everything. Could go either way.
- An idyllic rural neighbourhood in the 1900s collectively witness a UFO crash land nearby, but no pilot was found. Soon after, a new person moves into the neighbourhood, and they begin to suspect that they're the alien taking on a human form, and begin trying to prove it. Could be a good candidate for a comedy episode.
RTD also seems keen on musical numbers in this era, so maybe a whole musical episode as long as it's done well. At the end of the day, it's a spinoff and if you don't like it, it shouldn't taint your view of the core show, you can just skip it.
They could tie them into the main show with references, but one thing a spinoff must NOT have is the doctor saving the day at all.
I agree though, I want them to avoid the "It's Doctor Who, but with Jenny/Martha/The Master/Osgood/River/Elton/etc." because that's just too similar to the main show.
I think the big problem with spinoffs in general is that it's hard to give them a voice or identity or whatever. What tends to make something great is that is has something to say rather than just being some stuff that you liked when it was a small part of a different show. Torchwood and SJA worked within this constraint because Dr Who has enough of an identity that Dr Who but edgy and Dr Who but on CBBC were able to work well and eventually develop into their own thing (and crucially tell stories that the main show couldn't) but there's only so many times and so much luck that can work. With that in mind, I think something that is purposefully not very Dr Who would be good and my first thought to that end is a continuous mystery series a la Twin Peaks (where each season is an entire thing with loads of threads and also is really good). It also also shouldn't be set on modern day earth but some near future earth-like planet so it can use scifi elements more fully (and also it creates a second established planet for the main series).
That being said I don't really watch a lot of TV so idrk and also I'm reliably informed that Jboi is da best, so really who's to say? Also I typed this out before you said do something weird with an idea behind it that isn't just dr who for [demographic] so I guess this comment adds literally nothing anymore😬
Yeah, like _Broadchurch._ What is all this "JBOI is the best" everyone keeps saying, by the way?
IMO a good spinoff could focus on one specific concept, villain or place and really flesh it out. Like something that does for the Daleks or Cybermen what Andor did for the empire. There are so many locations I always wanted to see more of, like Pete’s world or the 4th great and bountiful human empire, and worldbuilding we haven’t even seen like the Time Agency.
Tbh I just want a movie about the origin story of the Sandmen from Sleep No More & their creators such as Gagan Rassmussen. That has the potential of building on characters nobody really cared about before. It could shine a big light on a part of the Whoniverse we don't often see in detail - society in a certain part of the future.
I think you're basically right, Joe. The mold for the Whoniverse shouldn't be the MCU's random spin-off go approach, or even RTD1. It should probably be 90s Star Trek - set up a premise in Doctor Who, like TNG did with Deep Space Nine and the Cardassian occupation of Bajor, or DS9 and TNG did with Voyager and the Maquis and the Borg (plus the unique location - which Voyager mostly squandered to do 'Star Trek but with different people').
How I'd set up a Who spinoff is to take an episode to run as a backdoor pilot, and set up the premise there. At the end, the Doctor saves the day and the TARDIS flies away, but the spinoff sticks with the setting, and shows how it pans out, using established and new characters, and perhaps occasionally crossing over or sharing concepts, but mostly just fleshing out that corner of the Whoniverse. It's easiest to imagine this spinning out of a story with the Silurians and Sea Devils where the Doctor can't just hit the snooze button on their hibernation or whatever, and actually has to build some kind of fragile peace between the hominids and reptilians, but I'm sure there's other setups that work for it.
I really want a 6-part series set during the early days of the Dalek Invasion of Earth from The Dalek Invasion of Earth. The episode establishes such a bleak setting of Earth under a ten-year occupation by Daleks, with people turned into Robomen, the environment being consumed by Varga plants, and ordinary people betraying each other in a desperate attempt to stay alive. A series aimed at slightly older audiences set during the beginning of that occupation, focusing on a small group of survivors, could be great. The Daleks themselves wouldn't even need to appear that much, for the first season at least. They'd be more like a looming presence, that guarantee death on the rare occasions in which they do appear. The primary threat of the show would be from the things the Daleks bring with them, as well as other Humans. Sort of like a Walking Dead or Last of Us style series
I recently listened to the Audiobook version of Doctor Who: Origins.
The book featured a bunch of prequels to companions before they met the doctor. Often having them meet with a regeneration they never met.
I feel like there could be a great show where you have an old actor return as a companion in the dream tardis, then, have flashback period dramas with new actors playing a young version of the companion as they deal with it.
I can't imagine it being a long term show. Since at the end of each adventure, we need to erase the fact that the companion pre-met a Doctor, before there own.
But it could be a great low budget series.
i hope that in the decade that russell was gone for that is allowed him to truly plan spinoffs that arentJBOI YOU ARE DA BESTone note, giving him more time to contemplate and weed out the bad ones.
I do think he’s definitely gonna have the benefit of having all the ideas he’s spent years going “damn I wish I’d thought of that sooner”. Moffat too
I think to an extent thats why the idea of a Rose spinoff would work (in concept) since they literally have an open sandbox to do whatever and change the status quo, since its set in its own universe and cant logistically impact the main show.
A Rose spinoff when she first left would work. But set now, you have TenToo -- unless he's unseen spouse who's only mentioned most or all of the time, which I guess is possible to do.
am I the ONLY ONE who thinks an 8th doctor TIME WAR spin off would be REALLY COOL???
Yeah I think so
Yesss I think that too!! I would just want them to wait till at least ncuti’s second series just so it doesn’t detracts from his start yk??
I don't think I've ever heard of that idea, isaacwright8211! I can't believe no one's said that before!
I think fleshing out the Time War would be a great idea since RTD clearly had a really abstract vision of it (eg “the nightmare child” and “the could’ve been king and his army of meanwhiles and never weres”) and Moffat kinda watered it down into a simple shooty-shooty war with Day of the Doctor. Although I think the smart thing to do would be to keep the Doctor’s presence down to just a couple cameos, otherwise he’d draw fans away from the main show.
Honestly, they should've done this instead of the modern era.
Honestly, I would be 100% content with alien cops! When it comes to Doctor Who, I’m more of a Torchwood fan and would love to have something on a similar line. A UNIT spinoff would be the best idea for me (depending on how featured they are in the main show).
Hear me out: Perhaps a series called "Companions anonymous"
Essentially a show about the support group we saw in Power of The Doctor. With recurring characters discussing their adventures and healing in their shared trauma from travelling with the Doctor. A melodrama come-self help guide for recovering addicts.
Could even get a reunion with Mickey and Jack! (You know, if the BBC will still allow them both on television 😬)
I would love another season of Torchwood but I don't think that tone can work for modern day and with Disney.
Would love a Doctor Who Eighth Doctor adventures with an adult tone.
But the only right answer is a Scongo origin series with the biggest budget for television.
If we don’t finally get at least a hint towards Scongo’s origin in the new era, I’ll be very cross
It makes me really curious about the Sea Devil spin off. As much as I didn’t consider a Sea Devil series as a thing. Idk, maybe that centric premise means it gets rid of having weekly monsters, space cops and just has a central premise and they’re already an established race on Earth so you can get away with it.
Tbh I wish we could get a gothic horror/H.P Lovecraft genre series.
I’d love to see them do something wacky like a Star Trek Lower Decks style animation about the people that do clean up after the Doctor fights the defeats the bad guys and swans off in his TARDIS.
Where's that t-shirt from?
Forbidden Planet!
The problem is companions tend to die or settle back on modern Earth in the modern series of Who. Not that I'd advocate a Peri and Yrcanos spinoff (or am I) but maybe have a companion live in another time or planet and make something similar to Blakes 7 or Star Trek, and in that same sense have a story set in Earths future with a modern companion who has travelled with the Doctor as the relatable audience surrogate. I do actually think a darker spinoff has potential going by the Big Finish Master ones so maybe one about villains. Dalek Empire is one of the best of their spinoffs just because its about Daleks, who are obviously major villains and pop culture icons, fighting people who aren't the Doctor and with that potential you can do them as a lot darker than they are in the main show. Anyway good video, Joseph.
Think a limited series approach would work for some… I like the idea of a Dalek empire spin off either where we follow rebels in Dalek occupied space
I’d love to see an anthology series about the space station from Dr who season 1, each season is a different era for it
I know this will never happen, but my fannish dream is a limited series starring derek jacobi's master in the last days of the time war, ending when he turns himself human.
I haven't watched any of the star wars/marvel series but I'm not convinced a limited series would be bad - I think it just has to be based around a strong idea, stronger than just [character] in [place], and yeah like you said I think leaning into the weirdness would really help with that.
I'm hoping a UNIT spinoff is happening. Could be in a similar vein to Torchwood.
Potential for the most militarised and right wing example of Alien Cops ever, but with Shirley and Mel maybe there’d be hope
UNIT's actually mega boring
You're very right. There's a limited loop of premises that are easily viable for an on-going series. Defending the Earth is just too easy to fall into. Obviously you get the right cast together and some memorable baddies, and you can make Rani/UNIT/others work, but you can only sustain 1 of those at a time.
So next, you find some other story/show archetypes and slap a lick of Whoniverse paint on. A police procedural ala Space Cops by way of CSI with a Judoon chief, a sontaran, and some other who faces. Take the rag-tag bunch of thieves with hearts of gold, build off the cast from Time Heist and that setup, and then throw Absolom Daak into the mix and you've got Whoniverse Leverage or Firefly. Things like that can work, but the audiance has to want it. Class failed miserably because there was no attachment between the characters and the wider whoniverse. None of them were secretly part dalek, or a slitheen in disguise, etc. Sure if Clara had been in charge it might have worked, but even then, a tough sell.
I want to see Young Doctor;
Meet a child genius named the Doctor (already seen as an adult in Doctor Who (1963)) and his family. Some unique challenges face the Doctor, who is socially impaired.
It's 50,000, and 9-year-old the Doctor has skipped four grades to start high school along with his less-intellectual older brother. As he struggles to be understood by his family, classmates, and neighbors, his mother arms him with the best tool she has: reminding bullies that his dad is the football coach and his brother is on the team. His twin sister doesn't share his exceptional mind, but she is brilliant at reading people and has a much clearer vision of what life has in store for the young genius. Ncuti Gatwa, who plays the adult version of the Doctor in Doctor Who (1963), narrates.
A spinoff series of the youth and young life of a young male who has a deep knowledge of science. He finds that living with his family and around random people is wrong and bad for his own life. He does everything that he can to build and live his own life in his own way.
I hope we’d see the origin of his iconic catchphrases
fun fact: CBBC wanted Young Doctor Who instead of the Sarah Jane Adventures
Make a Andor-style Lorna Bucket series with Christina Chong. Just do a rough, beautiful, emotional tale about a young Lorna. Have Steven Moffat direct. Give him full control. Watch the TV ratings explode.
The copypasta doesn’t work because Raimi is a director with some questionably dated lines in his movies and Moffat is perfect
@@Joe_Brennan_ Moffat could make Spider-Man 2 but Raimi could never make Sherlock series 4
@@Joe_Brennan_ Gonna cry?
We need a spinoff for The War Benni
The Benni on the day it was impossible to get it right (two good lunch options)
I think you’re right, FWIW. And also, the ‘fan boy’ thing I’d loved to have seen - an 8th Doctor series - is surely now always going to remain an unfulfilled wish anyway. McGann is surely getting on a bit for this now. I’m honestly not sure what I’d like to see beyond that, bar something interesting and different. Oh, and something that actually has some internal coherence and great script editing. But Doctor Who (and most modern TV, TBH) perhaps isn’t the place for that. :D
Personally I don't really care about the spin offs as long as the main show is good. On a unrelated note have you ever considered getting the full Ryan Johnson body instead of just sticking with the head?
Sadly the coveted cardboard Rian Johnson bodies are very rare and expensive
@@Joe_Brennan_ well that's a shame
New Jboi thumbnail design omg
The Whoniverse logo was too eyecatching not to incorporate, the work had been done for me
I think what would be interesting would be an alien cops crew but half the team are actually alien. Maybe 5 or 6 characters and 3 of of them are aliens so it isn't just humans vs the rest of the universe. And we get more of aliens and humans working together.
This is why the Paternoster Gang had potential
Also K9 is not like the other spinoff not only because it Australian, but also because it's not set in the present - it set in not too distant future.
They could explore a series based on the origins of the Sontarans vs Rutans war, etc...
I always thought the same, torchwood, sja and class are great but all the same premise, i want to see some random ass place in the doctor who universe expanded into its own story that can be understood on its own. A completely different genre would be cool too, or even something animated.
An animation that's actually good would be fantastic
i definitely agree that we shouldn't have a spinoff that is just doctor who but with different characters but i do feel that fugitive at least could be something very different if they do it specifically about the black ops division she was running
but i feel like the main issue with pretty much every spinoff idea is that Big Finish already did (and still does) all of them and at that point we'd just be A) retreading old ground and B) mass decanonising fuck tons of content for no reason
Yeah I think the key to all of these is to find something weird and specific they can do, that Big Finish hasn’t already thought of
@@Joe_Brennan_ i don't think it's possible for anyone to think of a doctor who related idea that Nick "we love stories" Briggs hasn't already thought of
Anthology show about division, one episode is a horror with a squad being picked off by a monster, political thriller where they destabilise an entire planet to benefit galifrey, one about a coup from within. Could also go with the high council if RTD wants to leave TC stuff alone
I think you kinda missing the point. If we get spin off about traveling space and time (like I dunno "Clara and Me") people would say: "It's too much like Doctor Who. We already have Doctor Who - why do we need this?". If we get something about life in alien world (like... "Nyssa. Ruler of Traken") people would say: "It's too weird and too alien for me! I don't understand it and I won't watch it!". And that's why they set with safe and familiar option of somebody staying on Earth and defending it from alien threat while The Doctor is away. On the other hand - that's what diffirinciate average or good writer from the great one - ability and readiness to take risks! If it would be really good and engaging (and not like "Class") - people will watch it and love it no matter what. Big Finish has spin offs about Gallifrey, UNIT, Bernice Summerfield, Rose Tyler, Jago and Lifefoot and as far as I know they quite sucessful. Probably tv series about Rose between series 2 and 4 could also be sucessful. She doesn't stay on Earth - she travels, but not to other planets or times like The Doctor did most of the times, but to parallel Universes. Yeah... probably they should made more spin offs about other times, planets and Parallel Universes now that they have a budjet for that.
I’d like a TV series based on Marvels What If series? As Turn Left was What if the Doctor died fighting the Racnoss. My idea:
What if the Doctors hand wasn’t cut off by the Sycorax?
What if Captain Jack wasn’t immortal? Just resurrected?
What if Rose never rescued the Doctor in Parting of the Ways?
Or the bigger one, what if the Doctor never left Galifrey?
I think it’s more interesting to explore this idea of consequences in the main show with time meddling villains like the Trickster or the Monks
@@Joe_Brennan_ of course. Who better than the Trickster.
What if... The Master and Doctor fled Galifrey together?
That's an interesting idea for an anthology show, I think.
I really don't want spinoffs to be honest, I just want more of the main show. I'd like a spinoff starring a previous doctor but that's all
I know you kinda pushed back against this idea in the video but I'd honestly love a space opera series set in the Doctor Who universe. You've got such a rich tapestry of aliens and concepts that you could easily do a Deep Space Nine or Babylon 5 style series in that mythos.
I want the Nardole Adventures
For me the best ideas for spin offs come from Big Finish, especially mini series like Cyberman and Dalek Empire. Giving us a new supporting cast but using established villains we know. Broadly political dramas.
W RTD impression
they did WHAT in k9 and friends??
6:31 Chibnall was the main writer for Torchwood 😭
But sorry no I do see your point 😂
Yeah it’s no guarantee of a fantastic successor, but it is still a decent training ground.
I _would_ like _Vastra Investigates,_ I have to admit. It would be cool if some of the time it wasn't aliens as the answer too.
I hear you and agree unless they wanna bring back the SJA gang in which case I hope they ignore everything you said...
Don't worry, I'd be just as susceptible to that
There is the issue of crossover. So far, they've - I think wisely - minimised this but the more spinoff content there is, the more it will start to appear in the main show and the more viewers who really just want the main show will be at a disadvantage. That surely can't be good.
I've tried most of the spinoffs but they've never really done it for me and I've given up - the Who universe without the Doctor seems a bit like alcohol free beer. So if the budget exists for more Who, I'd prefer more of the main show, even it means a dilution of quality.
They should just make a master show, like the war master from big finish
I wanna see more alien-less spin-offs. Something like Amy and Rory with their sitcom-esque dynamics in 1930s new york. Nothing particularly sci fi just them getting into domestic antics and making their new life work while also exploring the elements of trauma in amy's character arc particularly and the strain that had on their relationship in a way the main show never quite had time for. Everything asylum of the daleks tries to do but can't could be done in a show that has just them to think about. Obviously thinking about it just as a producer there is no way that that would be successful and again i'm falling into the trap of looking at characters I like and saying "they should have a spin off". It's tough to find an idea for a doctor who spin-off that is both justified (playing off of doctor who directly enough to be a spin-off of it) and unique. There aren't many nuwho characters particularly that haven't been designed to bounce off and say something about dr who himself. Characters I want to see more of (like river or clara or missy) exist in conjunction or contrast with the doctor. I think they have to be a character that becomes more interesting when you take the doctor away and I think only maybe missy qualifies? Maybe they should be looking more to villains in general for spin-offs. Davros for example could be given a show about being a nazi and generally quite mean. Explorations of neo-nazism and parallels to areas of modern politics from this fucked up dalek perspective could be interesting I think! A bit like stuff big finish have done. Easily justified too by dalek's immediately recogniseable iconography as nazi bins. Cybermen also have never quite had the crack at systemic deconstruction they seem designed for? maybe a cyberman spin-off about capitalism is worth doing. Silurians, Sea Devils and Zygons could easily be explored more in a future setting. I could go on really. Basically I want no aliens and all aliens.
Siluarian and Sea Devil you say? Hmmmm
@@Joe_Brennan_ I think my favourite decision rtd's made for this new era so far. So excited for whatever that ends up being
Do a show on Gallifrey.
We already have a whoniverse, big finish and novels built that, I really don’t want dr who to follow the same way marvels going or Star Wars, it’s never going to work as good as the main show, torchwood was it or miss but it had the cast and writers to ouch it forward, then there’s glass........does anyone even remember that?
As unoriginal as it would be, a new sja style thing would be great, keep the kids engaged while daddy who is off the sire. Us sadults can rewatch old episodes till the end of time
Yeah I think one show like that is perfectly excusable
If I'm being honest, I don't really see the point in Doctor Who spinoffs. The whole appeal of the show is that it's a new setting every week or two, and the sheer size of the backlog means I'm never going "Aw man, I wish there was some new Doctor Who on this week" because there's so much old stuff I haven't or haven't seen in a long time. Spinoffs handled poorly can easily feel more like bloat than meaningful additions.
I mean. We could just do Andor with daleks instead of the empire.
Not that I'm particularly interested in seeing it (the whole 'Whoniverse' concept seems rather forced and a bit 'Dark Universe' where something that probably won't happen is announced up front and set up to fail instead of occurring organically) would be the Time Agency as 'damage control' which goes around cleaning up the Doctor's mess and the increased strain they're under in the Time Lord's absence (unfortunately it's a bit too Loki now but I swear I thought of it first).
Nothing makes sense in the main show anymore, so I couldn't care less about spinoffs. Genesis era Davros can walk with no MK1 chair to base his Mk3 Daleks on, UNIT can be defunded one moment, then have a huge skyscraper in London, which is blown up & instantly replaced with Avengers tower with a laser that can shoot down satellites & blow holes in buildings, yet doesn't even singe the Doctor's shirt. London's streets can be ripped open then magically heal & the rest of the solar system is presumedly still destroyed by the Flux.
JBOI I love hmmmmm or whatever
Wow a double whammy
The thing is the earthlings vs aliens kind of works and is familiar and familiarity is at the core of most tv shows. Now Disney is involved it may become harder to be weird and experimental. Although I think you can rip off a familiar idea which has been successful for other shows. How about a show about the evolution of the cybermen actually becoming more cyborg and human looking. Or a show based on Gallifrey where Nyssa becomes the first alien lord president and is considering changing her body to become a timelord. How about following Romana in E- Space as she and K9 rescue the enslaved aliens from Warriors gate. Maybe a unit spin off where Kate works with a younger clone of her father. Possibly a Sontarans squad trying to get home in the Rutan war with a human prisoner and they begin to learn humanity. Just a few off the top of my head
I feel like to expand DW, you need to have a specific audience in mind and a strong cast.
Doctor Who is so focused on adults, often male.
I wonder what it would mean to create a spin-off that appealed to young girls, like 6-12?
The Sarah Jane Adventures, perhaps???
@@RobTFilms I am actually so dumb. I always thinking in my mind, SJA is for kids. Never thought about the gender of the kids haha.
But i really enjoye3d SJA, I watched it all last year. I was shocked at how hard I laughed everytime the gang got slimed.
I'm not sure Pip and Jane Baker would allow The Rani Adventures 😐
I thought they meant Rani from The Sarah Jane Adventures.
Martha Jones!
You can also kill it by making a U.S.ian Doctor Whoniverse character/show.
I have thought about this for about 2 seconds while playing Fallout 4, but maybe some sort of animated thing with a studio (perhaps even an anime studio like Madhouse though maybe that's too big name).
Another thing in my very uninformed mind is that I kinda don't like all this aesthetic aping of the MCU, but I'm not exactly sure *why*. Stuff like UNIT's giant tower's been bugging me, but I guess I just wanna be contrarian and haven't really enjoyed what little Marvel stuff I've seen.
My perhaps controversial opinion would be... no spin-offs please. Big Finish are a good case for why not to do them: the writing across the board has nose-dived *significantly* since 2013-ish, both "main range" and spin-off, and show you can only do these things so far until they're just an excuse to have Paul McGann meet a Voord.
Beachhead is a good story thoooo
@RobTFilms They have the occasional hit, but overall it's very slim pickings with far more misses than averages or hits.
I want to be excited, but I just can’t stand Ncuti Gatwa as a person or an actor
They stole a fan term and branded it. Hate that.
JBOI YOU ARE DA BEST
I’m shocked
JBOI YOU ARE DA BEST