Russell T. Davies Returns to Doctor Who as New Showrunner

[Haggis and tatties]

^^RTD did have his issues while running the show, but at least he did not change what at the time would have been 42 years of established Who lore, that to me is a win right there, so i personally can't wait for him to come back and end my 5 years of a self imposed Who hiatus, so i for one am really looking forward to him returning to the helm.

 

[Samurai8472]

The show is officially confirmed to be leaving Roath Lock studios and will now be produced in Wolf Studios Wales from 2023 onwards when Bad Wolf assume their duties

https://www.business-live.co.uk/eco...Dmye2nvxFv8bQKqW0-qwe9-NnlUQMyOiXq0s-wOYkGoFE

This means a new Tardis room

 

[matthunter]

New showrunner typically means new TARDIS room anyway. Unless you're referring to the physical area the set is built within having more/less space?

 

[Starkers]

Good I won't miss the console room from this era!

 

[StCoop]

Not much of a surprise. The funny part is that it's pretty much just five minutes drive away from where they are now.

I think I've read that they're investing in Madalorian-style virtual set, not specifically for DW, but for anything they shoot there.

 

[Timelord79 (he/him)]

I think

Spoiler: TARDIS

the TARDIS being corrupted by the Flux sets up a renewal of the set quite nicely

 

[Starkers]

Depends, will the Flux storyline be resolved by the end if S13? If it is then the specials will be standalone and that window of opportunity might be gone.

 

[matthunter]

I can't see them changing the set just for three specials, not beyond a minor rejig/lighting change anyway. RTD will want to change the set as new showrunner, so I don't think we'll see any changes prior to him coming in.

 

[Sci]

I remember how in 2008 and 2009, people on TrekBBS were just so fed up with RTD and his writing style. They were just counting down the days until the then-golden child Steven Moffat took over.

"All this has happened before, and all this will happen again."

 

[The Wormhole]

And by this point in 2023 fandom will once again have turned on RTD calling him a burnt out hack who should have left well enough alone. Hell, I remember accurately predicting in 2008 how fandom would turn on Moffat once he took over.

 

[Haggis and tatties]

Good I won't miss the console room from this era!

New console room will be great, so i can't wait for this, it's going to be great and RTD will be a old hand at it now so all that experience should make it a walk in the park secoind time round for him, going to be great.

 

[Starkers]

I'll always be more Team Moffat than Team RTD, but I'm genuinely pleased he's returning. That being said, while I expect the show to be reinvigorated, I think everyone needs to manage their expectations.

There's a saying in football that you should never go back, and the landscape has changed dramatically since RTD was last in charge.

In 2005, outside of the movie no one had seen new Dr Who in over 15 years. It was new, it was exciting. This time RTD has to resurrect a show that, in some people's eyes, has been labouring for several years. It isn't new any more. It's old hat.

In 2005 what competition was there? No Buffy, no Angel, no Star Trek. There was BSG and Stargate I guess but other than that a lot of eminently forgettable sci-fi on TV. No Netflix, no Amazon, no Disney+

Right now there's multiple streaming services producing good content at a rate of knots. We have multiple Star Trek and Star Wars shows, Marvel shows (including one that steps on Who's toes) Stranger Things and a whole host of other things.

Not only does RTD have to revive a racehorse that's much older and out of shape, he's also got to compete in a race that now features a whole lot more other runners and riders than the race begun in 2005.

Which doesn't mean RTD can't turn things around, he's a great writer, probably a better writer now than he was, and he's rested from his previous time on Who. If anyone can do it he can, I just think people need to be realistic, it won't be 2005-2008 all over again. (though I'd love to be wrong)

 

[ThreeEdgedSword]

And by this point in 2023 fandom will once again have turned on RTD calling him a burnt out hack who should have left well enough alone. Hell, I remember accurately predicting in 2008 how fandom would turn on Moffat once he took over.

I often remind myself that online fandom is only a small slice of the fandom/ regular viewers, and we have no way of telling how representative the most vocal online fans are.

That said, I'm sure that even online, RTD had his defenders, just as Chibnall has. Some fans seem to view "fandom" (Trek, DW...) as a mindless, amorphous mass of sheep instead of a multitude of people with individual opinions (except for themselves, of course, who have individual, reasonable, thoughtful opinions.)

In my experience, most other fans are just as complex an individual as I am. *gasp!* They might prefer one showrunner, but also be critical of some of his stuff, and vice versa, and so on.

Do I think that certain small but vocal groups, who propagated Chibs as satan incarnate, out to destroy DW and possibly Western civilisation, might experience a rude awakening when RTD takes over? Oh, absolutely. And it'll be delicious.

ETA: While I would have preferred a new showrunner, I'm optimistic that RTD will not just retread his old stuff (which would feel stale to me, no matter who did it or how good it was). He seems to have grown as a writer (I only know It's A Sin, but that's excellent), so I hope he has a new vision for DW. And I do think he's a better storyteller than Chibnall, so there's that.

Oh, and I agree with @Starkers in terms of numbers/ viewership. Then again, people look at absolute numbers from 2005 and compare them to those of today, which is rubbish.

 

[Starkers]

^I'd recommend Years and Years as well, both it and It's a Sin were superb.

 

[matthunter]

Wasn't Years and Years basically "Turn Left if there were no aliens/Doctor and all the bad things were those humanity did to itself?"

 

[Sci]

Wasn't Years and Years basically "Turn Left if there were no aliens/Doctor and all the bad things were those humanity did to itself?"

And then it got out-done by the real 2020?

* * *

Anyway, I'm not concerned about RTD creatively. I am concerned that BBC contracting production out to Bad Wolf might damage the BBC and contribute to the privatization of public services. I hope none of the crew employed by the BBC for Doctor Who loses their jobs when Bad Wolf takes over.

 

[Haggis and tatties]

I'll always be more Team Moffat than Team RTD, but I'm genuinely pleased he's returning. That being said, while I expect the show to be reinvigorated, I think everyone needs to manage their expectations.

There's a saying in football that you should never go back, and the landscape has changed dramatically since RTD was last in charge.

In 2005, outside of the movie no one had seen new Dr Who in over 15 years. It was new, it was exciting. This time RTD has to resurrect a show that, in some people's eyes, has been labouring for several years. It isn't new any more. It's old hat.

In 2005 what competition was there? No Buffy, no Angel, no Star Trek. There was BSG and Stargate I guess but other than that a lot of eminently forgettable sci-fi on TV. No Netflix, no Amazon, no Disney+

Right now there's multiple streaming services producing good content at a rate of knots. We have multiple Star Trek and Star Wars shows, Marvel shows (including one that steps on Who's toes) Stranger Things and a whole host of other things.

Not only does RTD have to revive a racehorse that's much older and out of shape, he's also got to compete in a race that now features a whole lot more other runners and riders than the race begun in 2005.

Which doesn't mean RTD can't turn things around, he's a great writer, probably a better writer now than he was, and he's rested from his previous time on Who. If anyone can do it he can, I just think people need to be realistic, it won't be 2005-2008 all over again. (though I'd love to be wrong)

Personally it's a plus for me no matter if it's RTD or Moffet as i don't watch the Chibnall era, so i will be going from no Who to some Who, so that is a gain right there.

 

[Mr Awe]

I can't see them changing the set just for three specials, not beyond a minor rejig/lighting change anyway. RTD will want to change the set as new showrunner, so I don't think we'll see any changes prior to him coming in.

I'd have to agree. Changing the set is a huge deal. The TARDIS should survive in its present form through the end of Chibnall's era. I suppose it could be heavily modified before then, but there's only so much work they'll put into changing that set for several episodes. The TARDIS could be destroyed before the end of his era and not return until RTD does, but I think that's unlikely.

 

[Mr Awe]

I remember how in 2008 and 2009, people on TrekBBS were just so fed up with RTD and his writing style. They were just counting down the days until the then-golden child Steven Moffat took over.

"All this has happened before, and all this will happen again."

If I had to guess, which I don't but I will anyway, I'd say that RTD will write less for the upcoming series than he did before. Sure, he'll set the tone and be the guiding force, but I'm thinking he'll be writing much less. Like he did for the Sarah Jane Adventures.

I'm thinking he want's to run an empire. He'll set up the series and its spinoffs. In other words, I'm guessing that its the ability to cast his vision over that empire that brought him back to DW--plus a truckload of money.

Obviously, he'd still be setting the tone in that scenario but it won't necessarily be his writing style.

 

[The Wormhole]

In 2005 what competition was there? No Buffy, no Angel, no Star Trek. There was BSG and Stargate I guess but other than that a lot of eminently forgettable sci-fi on TV. No Netflix, no Amazon, no Disney+

Technically Star Trek was still around, the final five or six episode of Enterprise aired after Doctor Who premiered in 2005. But yeah, otherwise for the majority of the RTD era the only other genre shows out there were the Stargates and BSG. And even then, the Stargate franchise began to decline around 2007 or so. Hell, the time period didn't even have much of a genre presence in the movies. Star Wars ROTS, the first two Nolan Batman movies, the first Iron Man and Star Trek XI were the only notables.

The landscape is definitely much different now with the genre presence on TV and movies much higher, though granted the MCU seems to dominate genre's presence at least as far as movies go.

I'd say that RTD will write less for the upcoming series than he did before. Sure, he'll set the tone and be the guiding force, but I'm thinking he'll be writing much less. Like he did for the Sarah Jane Adventures.

I expect he'll definitely be writing premieres, finales and holiday specials. Other than that and depending on how long the seasons will be, then yeah, the rest of the episodes might well be written by other writers.