My Solution for Saving Doctor Who - Reboot the Series

While I would describe myself more as casual than die-hard, I have been a Doctor Who fan since first discovering Tom Baker (Doctor Number 4) in the title role when I was a kid. That's why I am more than a little sad to see the fate of the series, which was already cancelled once in the late 1980s, up in the air.

In a way though, I do get it. The show, minus the roughly 16-year hiatus, has been around since 1963 with nearly 900 episodes and one movie, as well as various other media. At some point, you start running out of ideas that are new but also stick to an established narrative that is both extensive and, at times, has had conflicting stories.

That's why I think the best thing the show can do is start over from scratch with a complete and total reboot.

To be clear, this wouldn't be a soft reboot of the show, like in 2005. What I am suggesting is something much more daring - scrapping 62 years of canon and starting fresh, but while still paying the proper amount of respect to the original.

To do this, I would borrow from another popular franchise, Star Trek, that did a reboot in 2009. I'd start with a much-younger version of the first Doctor (originally played by William Hartnell) as he breaks the rules and steals a TARDIS, starting his first of many adventures. At some point, not necessarily in the first episode but probably during the first season, the youthful, inexperienced and rebellious Doctor makes a choice to change a fixed period in time (maybe to save someone he cares about), causing a catastrophic ripple effect that changes the timeline from that point forward.

This would allow the rebooted series to do its own thing without worrying about past canon while, at the same time, previous Doctor Who Doctors and companions could pop up in cameos as a reminder of how the narrative has changed and hopefully help keep the established fans while attracting new ones. Show writers would also be free to put new spins on classic Doctor Who events and villains, like the Daleks, Cybermen and the Time War.

Is it a long shot? Yes. It is, however, also the best way to potentially save a series that may otherwise be coming to an end.