Doctor Whois a show with a rich, extensive history that reaches all the way back to 1963, and the show’s ongoing lore is continually growing as a result. While the most recent episodes ofDoctor Whohave done a great job of making the project accessible for new audiences without forcing them to learn everything that’s happened in the past sixty years, the show has never been afraid of referencing its past.Doctor Who’s recent Sutekh revivalis a prime example of this, referencing “The Pyramids of Mars” from 1975.
However,Doctor Whoalso makes a habit of referencing events that have never actually been seen on-screen before, which can sometimes make it confusing for new fans to understand which episodes they need to watch as homework. This is an unavoidable consequence of such a rich and long-running storyline, but the off-screen references can also be very fun details that remind audiences these characters have lives outside of what’s seen in the show. While some of these minor references have been developed inDoctor Whospin-offsover the years, several still remain a mystery.
11Peri’s Fate After Doctor Who Revealed She Survived
The Companion Was Resurrected Outside Of The Show
Peri Brown was a companion ofDoctor Who’s fifth and sixth Doctors, played by Peter Davison and Colin Baker respectively. She quickly became a fan-favorite character thanks to her growing friendship with the show’s protagonist, but Peri was ultimately killed during a conflict with the High Council in 1986’s “Mindwarp” episode.
Doctor Who’s 2005 Dalek Replacement Plan Was Canceled, But I Kind Of Wish We’d Seen It
Doctor Who’s 2005 revival could have looked very different if RTD was unable to secure using the Daleks as a staple in the show’s newest era.
However,the character has since been revealed to have survived the encounterin a series of audio adventures and comic books, none of which have yet been referenced in the show. Peri’s fate remains one ofDoctor Who’s most controversial changes, opening the door for her return in the future.
10The Ninth Doctor Visiting Key Moments In History
The Adventures Were Teased In Season 1
One thing that’s often forgotten byDoctor Whofans is that what’s seen in the show is only a very small insight into the Doctor’s life.The character is constantly referencing adventures that happened off-screen, which shouldn’t be too surprising given how long he’s been alive and traveling.
The show quickly makes this clear in the first season of the rebooted era, using a conspiracy theorist named Clive to show the audience just how many adventuresthe ninth incarnation of the Doctorexperienced before the series begins. This is a period of his life that remains sadly unexplored in the show.
9The Second Doctor Regenerating Into The Third Doctor
“The War Games” Restoration Fixes This Problem
The regeneration of Patrick Troughton’s Doctor into Jon Pertwee’s Doctor was, for a long time, one ofDoctor Who’s most frustrating missing scenes. Originally, “The War Games” ended with the Doctor’s sentence of forced regeneration, while the subsequent season opened with Jon Pertwee in the titular role - the actual moment of transformation wasn’t seen.This was primarily because Pertwee hadn’t yet been castwhen “The War Games” was being filmed, and the process of regeneration was less clear-cut. Thankfully, a recent remaster of this episode has fixed the inconsistency and created a new regeneration scene for the Second Doctor.
8The Doctor & River Travel To Asgard
The Adventure Was Briefly Mentioned In River’s First Appearance
The Doctor and River Song often met in non-chronological orderas a result of their independent travels through time, meaning that River often has knowledge of their future adventures that the Doctor doesn’t know about. One example of this happens in “Silence in the Library”, when River mentions a picnic on Asgard - an event that remains firmly in the protagonist’s future. However,this particular story was never mentioned again inDoctor Who, leaving it up to audiences' imaginations to speculate what may have happened. It was briefly explored in a short story titled “Picnic at Asgard”, but never on-screen.
7The Terrible Zodin
The Fearsome Villain Has Only Ever Been Mentioned Second-Hand
Zodin is one ofDoctor Who’s most interesting characters, in that she’s been mentioned several times throughout the show but never actually made an appearance. Her backstory has been somewhat expanded upon in audio adventures, comics, and short stories - butDoctor Whohas refrained from introducing her yet.The characteris first mentioned in “The Five Doctors”when the Doctor describes her to Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart as a terrible enemy from his past. Since then, she’s become a somewhat mysterious figure in the Doctor’s past whom many fans would love to see finally make an appearance.
6The Mordee Expedition
The Human Colonists Caused The Events Of “The Face Of Evil”
The Mordee Expedition is a major event in humanity’s future that’s mentioned several times throughout Classic Who, but only ever through the words of the Doctor. The term refers to a human colonization effort on the planet Mordee that ultimately caused the creation of a supercomputer-turned-deity named Xoanon.This is the basis of the Fourth Doctor’s adventure “The Face of Evil”,which follows the futuristic humans as they descend into civil war regarding their worship of Xoanon. It’s one ofDoctor Who’s most interesting concepts, but the series has shied away from portraying the actual expedition.
5The Master’s Trial On Skaro
The Doctor Who Movie Teases This Important Event
There have been severalversions of The Master inDoctor Who,but the so-called Old Master from theDoctor WhoTV movie is undeniably among the most interesting and mysterious. It’s mentioned in the episode that this incarnation ofthe Master was placed on trial by the Daleks on their home planet of Skarofor his crimes against them during the Time War, where he was allegedly killed. Of course, later seasons ofDoctor Whobrought the character back and loosely explained how he survived the execution, but the show is yet to return to this particular moment.
4The War In Heaven
The Conflict Is Commonly Called The First Time War
While the Time War between the Daleks and the Time Lords has become an integral part of theDoctor Whomythos and helped breathe new life into this series following its extended hiatus in the ‘90s, there wasanother “Time War” of sorts inDoctor Whothat’s not so widely discussed. The conflict known as theWar in Heaven was fought between the Eighth Doctor and a mysterious species known only as “The Enemy”,and was discussed in a series of novels published between 1997 and 2005. This important piece of lore has not yet been mentioned in the show.
3Jim The Fish
The Doctor And River’s Mysterious Adventures Became A Running Joke
Every now and again,Doctor Whowill include throwaway lines that become much larger than the writers likely intended. Perhaps the most obvious example of this is “The Impossible Astronaut”’s mention of Jim the Fish,a character whom the Doctor and River encountered during their off-screen adventures. The name quickly became a running joke that reminded audiences just how little they knew about the Doctor’s life in between episodes, all the while proving just how much time the Doctor and River spent together that we may not have seen.
2The Twelfth Doctor And River’s Night On Darillium
The Night Was The Doctor And River’s Final Encounter
River Song’s story was famously told in reverse, with her first appearance in “Silence in the Library” marking the final time she encountered the Doctor alive. During this story, River mentions that she’s just come from Darillium, where it’s rumored the couple will spend their final night together.This full-circle moment is fulfilled in “The Husbands of River Song”, when the Twelfth Doctor takes her to Darillium and reveals that one night on the planet lasts for 24 years. That means there’s over two decades of stories between the Doctor and River on Darillium that haven’t been explored.
