We’ve already told you what your favourite TV characters are up to nowadays, but spare a thought for those characters killed off before their time.
So many storylines unfulfilled and promising futures dashed with one tap of the writer’s keyboard, although if we’re lucky, we’ll get a hint of what they would have been getting up to if they hadn’t been killed off.
Here are seven such occasions where we can fill in the ‘what if?’ question surrounding some major TV characters.
1. Poussey – Orange Is the New Black
© Netflix
Just in case you weren’t devastated enough by Poussey’s tragic death in Orange Is the New Black season four, writer Lauren Morelli revealed that if Poussey had survived, she would have gone on to get out of Litchfield and live a happy life.
“There are plenty of women in this prison that you think are going to stay in this prison, this is their life. But with Poussey, we felt like one day she’s going to get out and have a chance at life after this, and to be robbed of that felt like the right story way to go,” she explained.
2. Doyle – Angel
© The WB
The sacrificial death of Angel’s loveable psychic sidekick Doyle just nine episodes in wasn’t originally planned, but it potentially wasn’t going to be the end of Doyle as Joss Whedon wanted to bring the character back as a Big Bad in season three or four.
Sadly, before this idea could be developed further, actor Glenn Quinn passed away at the age of 32 of an accidental drug overdose. Smartly, the show chose not to recast the role, although we did see the villainous Lindsey McDonald assume Doyle’s identity in season five.
3. Professor Arturo – Sliders
© Rex Shutterstock Universal / Everett
In season two episode ‘Post Traumatic Slide Syndrome’ of cult sci-fi Sliders, Professor Arturo and his double have a battle and as the vortex opens, one Arturo knocks the other down and goes with the group to the next world.
This Arturo went on to die in season three and a long-held fan theory suggests that the team went with the wrong Arturo, meaning the original Arturo from Earth Prime is still alive and has been living his own life. It’s a theory that creator Tracy Tormé agrees with, but any chance of finding this out on the show after Arturo’s death was ended with the exit of John Rhys-Davies.
4. Tara – Buffy the Vampire Slayer
© 20th Century Fox
There were actually two opportunities for Tara to come back in Buffy the Vampire Slayer after her cruel death in season six. The first was in season seven episode ‘Conversations with Dead People’ where she would have been one of the many forms taken by the all-powerful First Evil, but Amber Benson decided against returning (and we got one-time guest star Cassie instead).
The other – and more permanent – one would have seen Buffy granted a single life-altering wish in an episode which she would use to reverse Tara’s death. We don’t know why it never happened, but maybe it’s something to do with the choice not making sense in light of Buffy’s traumatic return from the dead.
5. Tony Almeida – 24
We know that Tony Almeida eventually came back to life in 24 season seven and had turned all evil, but before his ‘death’ in season five, we were robbed of an exciting storyline for him as the writers had planned for him to go on a revenge mission for the death of his wife Michelle.
This would have seen him hunt down Christopher Henderson and ultimately be killed by him, only the writers couldn’t find a way to work it into the main plot of season five. Instead, Tony went on a revenge mission in season seven against the real culprit and season five saw him ‘killed off’ by Henderson after he couldn’t bring himself to poison him.
6. David Tennant – Doctor Who
© BBC
When Steven Moffat took over as Doctor Who showrunner, he almost persuaded David Tennant to stick around for one more series as the Doctor, before he decided to leave and Matt Smith took over the iconic role for series five. The Tennant version of series five would have started off in similar fashion with the Doctor crashing into Amelia Pond’s garden.
“Little Amelia would help him back to the TARDIS and he’d fly off. Then she’d meet him again, when she grew up, but he’d have no memory of that because we come to realise that was the Doctor from the future – we’d make our way through the series to the point where the Doctor gets back to that,” Moffat reflected.
7. Carl – The Walking Dead
© AMC Gene Page
We’re being a bit cheeky here as there’s no guarantee that The Walking Dead would have followed the comics with Carl’s storylines. However, we do know that his shock death has robbed Carl of a host of storylines, including a romance with Lydia, the daughter of Whisperers leader Alpha, and a key role in the future of the Hilltop.
Of course, there’s nothing stopping the TV show from moving these storylines over to a different character, so we might still see them on screen – just not with CORAL.
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