Spoilers Russell T. Davies Returns to Doctor Who as New Showrunner

[Jayson1]

Disney Lays Off Several Hundred Employees in Cost-Cutting Measure

The teams impacted include marketing for film and television, as well as TV publicity, casting and development and corporate financial operations.

www.hollywoodreporter.com

Hmm, if they're in that bad a need for cost cutting getting nine episodes of TV for less than what they were spending on one episode of a Star Wars* or Marvel Show seems like a bargain.


*Andor cost $650 million (!!!) for 24 episodes.

All those people will likely be replaced by AI.


As for Piper I wonder if they might use her in the Doctor Who spin-off which I think they might still be making.

 

[Emperor-Tiberius]

But it just wasn't the finale. The writing throughout the two seasons was a step down.

I'm sorry, but that's patently a false statement. Beyond Space Babies (which is so oddly the most important episode for Ncuti's now regeneration story) and the two series finales, the last three years have been basically a blast.

But for me it was not as good as RTD1 and by a good amount.

The 2023 specials > the 2008/09 specials.

 

[Starkers]

I'm sorry, but that's patently a false statement. Beyond Space Babies (which is so oddly the most important episode for Ncuti's now regeneration story) and the two series finales, the last three years have been basically a blast.

The 2023 specials > the 2008/09 specials.

I'd probably agree with both of those statements. There are some that maybe weren't as good as I thought they were going to be (Devil's Chord) but 73 Yards, Dot and Bubble, Lux, and The Well are genuine classics. Hell in terms of actually hating an episode I'd probably say only Empire of Death (weirdly I liked Space Babies more than most people. It's not great but maybe I was just in the right mood when I saw it)

 

[Starkers]

I put this in the James Bond thread in the TV & Media forum but it is crazy that Bond fans are desperate for a new actor to get the job, yet in the time since Daniel Craig hung up his PPK we've had (potentially) three new Doctor Whos! (assuming we're including Billie)

 

[jaime]

Yup, Davies's best work for Doctor Who has been his solo episodes, and not the grand finales/premiere/specials, which have a high fail to success rate (in my eyes, only "The Stolen Earth"/"Journey's End" are the only truly good ones in those sets).

Fairs fair, Bad Wolf and Parting of the Way were really good.

 

[jaime]

I put this in the James Bond thread in the TV & Media forum but it is crazy that Bond fans are desperate for a new actor to get the job, yet in the time since Daniel Craig hung up his PPK we've had (potentially) three new Doctor Whos! (assuming we're including Billie)

We’ve had two monarchs and three PMs too.
Maybe one of the major parties will be inspired and put Billie in charge…

 

[Emperor-Tiberius]

I'd probably agree with both of those statements. There are some that maybe weren't as good as I thought they were going to be (Devil's Chord) but 73 Yards, Dot and Bubble, Lux, and The Well are genuine classics. Hell in terms of actually hating an episode I'd probably say only Empire of Death (weirdly I liked Space Babies more than most people. It's not great but maybe I was just in the right mood when I saw it)

Heck, I didn't even hate Space Babies but just thought it was an underwhelming opening to an otherwise good season. Empire of Death, like The Reality War is an episode that resolves the climax and then goes on to have an extended thirty minute coda and is overall very undercooked and disorganised (despite having some very good ideas), but at least the former allows the returning Big Bad to be a threat. And also for once show the villain win for once. The latter has Omega pop up for a cameo as a zombie and then he's off, right after devouring The Rani too!

I put this in the James Bond thread in the TV & Media forum but it is crazy that Bond fans are desperate for a new actor to get the job, yet in the time since Daniel Craig hung up his PPK we've had (potentially) three new Doctor Whos! (assuming we're including Billie)

Let's do this fun and games!

Sean Connery's first run (1962-1967) has the first two Doctors debuting the show.
Lazenby's solo outing corresponded with Troughton's final year.
Sean Connery's first return to the role (1971) corresponded with Pertwee's first year.
Roger Moore's entire run and Sean Connery's return in between corresponded with Pertwee's last year, the entirety of Tom Baker's run, the entirety of Peter Davison's run, and Colin Baker's first year.
Timothy Dalton's run correlated with the entirety of Sylvester McCoy's run.
Pierce Brosnan's run correlated with Paul McGann's solo outing, and the first year of his audio series at Big Finish.
Daniel Craig's run correlated with the entirety of David Tennant's, Matt Smith's and Peter Capaldi's runs, and nearly the entire Jodie Whittaker run (barring the 2022 specials).

 

[The Wormhole]

Daniel Craig's run correlated with the entirety of David Tennant's, Matt Smith's and Peter Capaldi's runs, and nearly the entire Jodie Whittaker run (barring the 2022 specials).

Depending on how you define Craig's run, Tennant's first season aired before Casino Royale was released. Unless you're counting when the public announcement of Craig's casting was announced, then yes, you can say Tennant's entire run was in in the Craig era.

However, the entirety of Flux aired after the release of No Time to Die, so that's Whittaker's entire last season plus the specials that aired after the Craig era.

Actually on a semi-related note, I was recently reflecting on how 2025 is seeing the change in many world leaders. In the US, Biden was still President when 2025 began as Trump wasn't sworn in until January 20. In my own Canada, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stepped down in 2025 with Mark Carney replacing him and since being officially elected in as Prime Minister. With the death of Pope Francis, Pope Leo XIV now leads the Catholic Church. And now Ncuti Gatwa has left Doctor Who with Billie Piper being the show's current lead. I think we can agree regardless if she is truly the Sixteenth Doctor or not, she will be the lead actor of the next episode, making her the incumbent franchise lead at the moment. Hell, even in my own personal life, I've had a change in my direct manager this year.

 

[Stuart Wilson]

I've really enjoyed most of the RTD2 era. Space babies was a bit meh, and the end of the first series was poor. But I enjoyed all the second series.
I think the supposed backlash is mainly a bunch of people on the internet and some newspapers who have to criticise the show and repeatedly announce to the world how terrible it is now, either to ensure they get hits on their sites or, in some cases, because they have an axe to grind about the BBC for political reasons. (after all, if they don't need advertising, they can't be bought!)
I've been watching the show since the mid 70s and like all long running shows it's had it's good and bad era's. The current one is by no means the worst. It's not, and never was, meant to be the most critically acclaimed and thought provoking show on TV. It's meant to be fun, and by and large it is.
I also make a habit of assuming that any review that uses the work "woke" is basically just blowing a political dog-whistle, mainly to annoy the sort of people who don't watch the show anyway.

 

[Rich Watson]

Andrew, the guy who managed to leak the entire series, including Billie's return, had a few last things to say.

Up until a few weeks ago this was an open-ended regeneration but they became increasingly worried that it came across as putting a The End to the series.

They didn't have the time to cast anyone properly and even if they did they wouldn't have been able to give them a contract.

So Russell called Billie and asked for a major favour.

She shot her bit in under an hour in front of a green screen in London.

They shot a few different first lines but didn't try matching her up with Ncuti's last shot, which is why we don't see the actual moment of him changing into her.

And she's not credited as the Doctor as they need to leave their options open until they know what happens next. It's highly unlikely that she will commit to anything longterm whatever happens, unless production was moved to London, which isn't likely.

 

[C.E. Evans]

A lot of this does remind me when Gatwa was hailed initially as the 14th Doctor and then we discovered later that this wasn't the case. It's purely speculation, of course, but I do think this might also be true with Piper--that she is merely making a brief cameo and that when the show resumes, the regeneration will continue and finish with another actor as the 16th Doctor, who might dismiss briefly having Rose's face as "it didn't lock down yet."

 

[CuriousCaitian]

Andrew, the guy who managed to leak the entire series, including Billie's return, had a few last things to say.

Up until a few weeks ago this was an open-ended regeneration but they became increasingly worried that it came across as putting a The End to the series.

They didn't have the time to cast anyone properly and even if they did they wouldn't have been able to give them a contract.

So Russell called Billie and asked for a major favour.

She shot her bit in under an hour in front of a green screen in London.

They shot a few different first lines but didn't try matching her up with Ncuti's last shot, which is why we don't see the actual moment of him changing into her.

And she's not credited as the Doctor as they need to leave their options open until they know what happens next. It's highly unlikely that she will commit to anything longterm whatever happens, unless production was moved to London, which isn't likely.

Who is this "Andrew", how is he able to leak the *entire* show with zero apparent consequences, and why does he seem so intent on destroying any and all mystery and intrigue about DW?

 

[Starkers]

Who is this "Andrew", how is he able to leak the *entire* show with zero apparent consequences, and why does he seem so intent on destroying any and all mystery and intrigue about DW?

Makes him feel important I guess

 

[Emperor-Tiberius]

Wouldn't it be great if, after a couple of years, Ncuti came back for a proper final series, revealing the Reality War regeneration being a fake-out or something?

I know, I know...

Depending on how you define Craig's run, Tennant's first season aired before Casino Royale was released. Unless you're counting when the public announcement of Craig's casting was announced, then yes, you can say Tennant's entire run was in in the Craig era.

I guess I count it, as during that time we knew Daniel Craig was gonna be Bond. besides, I'm going broadly with the year.

However, the entirety of Flux aired after the release of No Time to Die, so that's Whittaker's entire last season plus the specials that aired after the Craig era.

Eh, again, counting the year. For all intents and purposes, 2021 was Craig's exit year as Bond.

Actually on a semi-related note, I was recently reflecting on how 2025 is seeing the change in many world leaders. In the US, Biden was still President when 2025 began as Trump wasn't sworn in until January 20. In my own Canada, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stepped down in 2025 with Mark Carney replacing him and since being officially elected in as Prime Minister. With the death of Pope Francis, Pope Leo XIV now leads the Catholic Church. And now Ncuti Gatwa has left Doctor Who with Billie Piper being the show's current lead. I think we can agree regardless if she is truly the Sixteenth Doctor or not, she will be the lead actor of the next episode, making her the incumbent franchise lead at the moment. Hell, even in my own personal life, I've had a change in my direct manager this year.

A year of change, for better or worse.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

@Nightowl1701, where is your quote from?

As for the actual speculation, I have to admit it unfortunately makes a lot of sense and that's a damn shame. But I also think they did make the right choice of having Billie step in as a placeholder instead of not showing who Ncuti regenerates to.

I'm not against another hiatus, especially if it helps the show to recharge and find a fresh showrunner willing to commit to several series. I just worry about the uncertainty of the situation extending the hiatus to more long term.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

Wouldn't it be great if, after a couple of years, Ncuti came back for a proper final series, revealing the Reality War regeneration being a fake-out or something?

I know, I know...

That would indeed be great and it has been a thought sitting in the back of my mind this whole time. I agree it's a long shot but I'll hang onto hope until otherwise.

 

[Nightowl1701]

@Nightowl1701, where is your quote from?

Same place Rich got it from, I imagine. Andrew's been posting in comments on Confusedadipose on YouTube. But the quotes I got second-hand and I've since heard from others they may be fake (if so, mea culpa and I've deleted the post just in case).

 

[Emperor-Tiberius]

@Nightowl1701, where is your quote from?

As for the actual speculation, I have to admit it unfortunately makes a lot of sense and that's a damn shame. But I also think they did make the right choice of having Billie step in as a placeholder instead of not showing who Ncuti regenerates to.

I'm not against another hiatus, especially if it helps the show to recharge and find a fresh showrunner willing to commit to several series. I just worry about the uncertainty of the situation extending the hiatus to more long term.

Big Finish is about to get real busy!

Also expect Ncuti recast cause, well, if Matt Smith is an unlikely BF get, Ncuti is that but even more so.

That would indeed be great and it has been a thought sitting in the back of my mind this whole time. I agree it's a long shot but I'll hang onto hope until otherwise.

Here's hoping! If nothing else, to see the Susan storyline (which is clearly emblematic of his era) resolved and maybe have him go out fighting a Dalek. But, we'll see.

 

[Starkers]

I'll be surprised if Ncuti ever comes back to the role.

 

[XCV330]

I'll be surprised if Ncuti ever comes back to the role.

was there any word why he only stayed for 18 episodes?