Spoilers Russell T. Davies' Second Turn as Doctor Who Showrunner

[Starkers]

Upthread I suggested a reboot in which everything post 'Survival' happened in an alternate timeline. We could open the show with alt-8th Doctor immediately after regeneration ala 'Spearhead from Space'. I'd set the opening story on Earth in the mid-late 60s and give him a companion from that era.

Honest question here, why would the BBC do that? Why would they pander to classic fans who never liked the new show, why would they ignore an era that, to be honest, logically now has more living fans than the classic era does? Why would they pretend two of the most popular Doctors ever in Tennant and Smith never exited? Why would they pretend hugely popular companions like Rose, or Amy, or Rory, or Clara or River never existed?

A hard reboot yes, I wouldn't want that but it makes some logical sense, but some arbitrary cut off saying nothing after 1989 existed is the worse kind of fanfic.

And it isn't needed. Nor is a hard reboot. As people have said, what RTD did in 2005 is perfectly fine. You have the Doctor show up, there's no indication of which Doctor he/she is (for media purposes you say he or she is the 16th or 17th Doctor but in universe who knows how long it's been since Ncuti regenerated, the numbering has been messed up so much by RTD/Moffat and Chibnall now.) You can drip odd bits or lore/mystery and the occasional easter egg in, you just don't become beholden to them.

A madman (or woman) in a box travelling and having adventures with their companion(s). That's all we need if the casting is spot on and the writing is solid.

Of course this is what Chibnall tried to do at first (just not always very well)

 

[The Wormhole]

I'd set the opening story on Earth in the mid-late 60s and give him a companion from that era.

In addition to everything Starkers said above, I have to question why they would do this, essentially making Doctor Who a period story. I get it, everyone is sick of companions from modern Britain, that all of the primary companions have been for the past twenty years. And while I will entertain they might gotten away with at least one companion from a different time or place at one point in that timeframe (and indeed Moffat came damn close with his original plan with Clara) the simple truth of the matter is when you're preparing to introduce Doctor Who to a new audience who have never watched the show before, having the companion be as close to the "everyperson" as possible. That means having the companion be from the present day period the show is made in, and since Doctor Who is first and foremost a British show, they'll be from Britain. To echo again the sentiments expressed above, what you're describing is only going to appeal to a niche audience and would do nothing to grow the Doctor Who brand.

 

[Tallguy]

In addition to everything Starkers said above, I have to question why they would do this, essentially making Doctor Who a period story. I get it, everyone is sick of companions from modern Britain, that all of the primary companions have been for the past twenty years. And while I will entertain they might gotten away with at least one companion from a different time or place at one point in that timeframe (and indeed Moffat came damn close with his original plan with Clara) the simple truth of the matter is when you're preparing to introduce Doctor Who to a new audience who have never watched the show before, having the companion be as close to the "everyperson" as possible. That means having the companion be from the present day period the show is made in, and since Doctor Who is first and foremost a British show, they'll be from Britain. To echo again the sentiments expressed above, what you're describing is only going to appeal to a niche audience and would do nothing to grow the Doctor Who brand.

You're just saying you wanted Clara from The Snowmen to be the actual companion.

 

[Turtletrekker]

Depending on if/when/how they resolve the dangling plot thread of Susan's sudden and mysterious return, they could do a soft reboot with the Doctor and Susan and the TARDIS without having to disregard anything.

 

[Starkers]

You're just saying you wanted Clara from The Snowmen to be the actual companion.

But that would have been the original plan. I believe Neil Gaiman originally started writing Nightmare in Silver with Victorian Clara in mind (and presumably with her Victorian charges rather than the modern day kids we got)

 

[The Wormhole]

Of course, even if they had gone ahead with sticking to Victorian Clara as the companion, she would have quickly gotten a crash course in modernity anyway, as the intent was Victorian Clara's encounter with the Spoonheads in The Bells of St John would have basically left her with the knowledge of a 2010s human. Which also meant, the fact she suddenly knew what Twitter was afterwards actually would have been a significant plot point, as opposed to now it just looks odd the Doctor decides to make a big deal of it. Even if they weren't computer literate, a person in their mid twenties living in 2013 is going to have heard of Twitter.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

Yeah...I really wish we had gotten Victorian Clara like originally intended.

But at least Jenna Coleman got to the play the original article for several years on a different series.

 

[Starkers]

Yeah...I really wish we had gotten Victorian Clara like originally intended.

But at least Jenna Coleman got to the play the original article for several years on a different series.

Though much like Leela something happened to her eyes...

 

[Rich Watson]

Russell T Davies: "I won't be back filming anything until next year"

Russell T Davies neglected to mention the 2026 Doctor Who Christmas special while discussing his future career plans.

cultbox.co.uk

Even if the Special is still happening, he's clearly not planning/expecting to be doing any more.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

Yeah...I really wish we had gotten Victorian Clara like originally intended.

But at least Jenna Coleman got to the play the original article for several years on a different series.

Sometimes when watching Victoria, I would think that Coleman was playing Alexandrina, the Clara fragment.

Given what happens in "The Name of the Doctor," it's theoretically possible that anyone and everyone the Doctor meets through space and time is Clara. Andy Weir, of Project Hail Mary fame, wrote a short story along similar lines, though I'm blanking on the title.

Russell T Davies: "I won't be back filming anything until next year"

Russell T Davies neglected to mention the 2026 Doctor Who Christmas special while discussing his future career plans.

cultbox.co.uk

Even if the Special is still happening, he's clearly not planning/expecting to be doing any more.

Reading what Rusty said there, it sounds like it's Tip Toe that isn't filming again until next year.

Tom Spilsbury, former editor of DWM, said on Outpost Gallifrey this afternoon that the Christmas special -- characterizing this so as not to quote -- has looked less than likely to him in recent months, which sounds definitive the way he phrases it, except he then follows that up by saying that he doesn't know and that's only what he's heard from nameless people. So it's not actually definitive at all.

Let's just wait and see. I know how weird that sounds in this age of instant gratification, but Christmas is seven-ish months away, which is plenty of time in which the Beeb can make a 75-90 minute special.

 

[Rich Watson]

Thing is, the BBC could have shut this down days ago by simply answering when the Radio Times asked them to confirm it was still happening.

They mightn't be owned by the BBC anymore but they still have a close working relationship. Usually.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

Thing is, the BBC could have shut this down days ago by simply answering when the Radio Times asked them to confirm it was still happening.

Whereas I see nothing wrong at all with this from that Radio Times article...

The BBC declined to comment when approached by Radio Times.

...because there's nothing to say at this point.

I might even say the Beeb is showing some communications savvy, which they haven't always in the past, because, again, this is May, and there's absolutely no reason to talk up a special that has been announced to air in December.

Consider for a moment.

There's a big ol' question mark over who Billie Piper is at the end of "The Reality War." Yes, the text of the episode leans heavily toward her being the Doctor, but the messaging out of RTD when the episode aired then immediately muddies that. I think it's possible RTD had no idea who Piper was playing; I've heard it was something arranged in a day, a "Hail Mary" to try to get more episodes commissioned, and he would figure it out later. The key thing is this -- the production team itself has foisted a mystery that will (presumably) be answered in December 2026.

Whoever Piper is playing, the BBC is going to want a marketing rollout, especially if she is, in fact, the Doctor. They're going to want press, much closer to filming, and they're going to want it managed. There will be videos, there will be promotional kits, there will be press releases. There's going to be a plan.

Obviously, they're not filming anything now. So there's no reason to talk about anything now. There's literally nothing to say.

Weirdly, as counter-intuitive as it sounds, "declined to comment" in this instance is a positive sign. Because the BBC knows there will be something to say eventually. Now, however, is not the time.

 

[Rich Watson]

Whereas I see nothing wrong at all with this from that Radio Times article...



...because there's nothing to say at this point.

I might even say the Beeb is showing some communications savvy, which they haven't always in the past, because, again, this is May, and there's absolutely no reason to talk up a special that has been announced to air in December.

Consider for a moment.

There's a big ol' question mark over who Billie Piper is at the end of "The Reality War." Yes, the text of the episode leans heavily toward her being the Doctor, but the messaging out of RTD when the episode aired then immediately muddies that. I think it's possible RTD had no idea who Piper was playing; I've heard it was something arranged in a day, a "Hail Mary" to try to get more episodes commissioned, and he would figure it out later. The key thing is this -- the production team itself has foisted a mystery that will (presumably) be answered in December 2026.

Whoever Piper is playing, the BBC is going to want a marketing rollout, especially if she is, in fact, the Doctor. They're going to want press, much closer to filming, and they're going to want it managed. There will be videos, there will be promotional kits, there will be press releases. There's going to be a plan.

Obviously, they're not filming anything now. So there's no reason to talk about anything now. There's literally nothing to say.

Weirdly, as counter-intuitive as it sounds, "declined to comment" in this instance is a positive sign. Because the BBC knows there will be something to say eventually. Now, however, is not the time.

Who is taking about in-depth full-on publicity?

Q. Is there any truth to the claims being made?

A. No. Doctor Who returns on Christmas day.

 

[bdub76]

Rest it. Find a new showrunner that hasn't written for it before like they did when RTD1. And then relaunch it in five or ten years.

I don't want to see a complete reboot.

 

[Ray Hardgrit]

Honest question here, why would the BBC do that? Why would they pander to classic fans who never liked the new show, why would they ignore an era that, to be honest, logically now has more living fans than the classic era does? Why would they pretend two of the most popular Doctors ever in Tennant and Smith never exited? Why would they pretend hugely popular companions like Rose, or Amy, or Rory, or Clara or River never existed?

Yeah, retconning out 9, 10, 11 and 12, but keeping 6 would be an interesting choice!

Though on the other hand, if it also retcons the moon being an egg, maybe there's some mileage in the idea...

 

[JD]

In addition to everything Starkers said above, I have to question why they would do this, essentially making Doctor Who a period story. I get it, everyone is sick of companions from modern Britain, that all of the primary companions have been for the past twenty years. And while I will entertain they might gotten away with at least one companion from a different time or place at one point in that timeframe (and indeed Moffat came damn close with his original plan with Clara) the simple truth of the matter is when you're preparing to introduce Doctor Who to a new audience who have never watched the show before, having the companion be as close to the "everyperson" as possible. That means having the companion be from the present day period the show is made in, and since Doctor Who is first and foremost a British show, they'll be from Britain. To echo again the sentiments expressed above, what you're describing is only going to appeal to a niche audience and would do nothing to grow the Doctor Who brand.

I thin the best way to handle this would be to go back to having more than one companion, that way we can still have our modern day audience surrogate, but then throw in some more interesting characters, like someone from a different era, or maybe even our first alien companion.

Whereas I see nothing wrong at all with this from that Radio Times article...



...because there's nothing to say at this point.

I might even say the Beeb is showing some communications savvy, which they haven't always in the past, because, again, this is May, and there's absolutely no reason to talk up a special that has been announced to air in December.

Consider for a moment.

There's a big ol' question mark over who Billie Piper is at the end of "The Reality War." Yes, the text of the episode leans heavily toward her being the Doctor, but the messaging out of RTD when the episode aired then immediately muddies that. I think it's possible RTD had no idea who Piper was playing; I've heard it was something arranged in a day, a "Hail Mary" to try to get more episodes commissioned, and he would figure it out later. The key thing is this -- the production team itself has foisted a mystery that will (presumably) be answered in December 2026.

Whoever Piper is playing, the BBC is going to want a marketing rollout, especially if she is, in fact, the Doctor. They're going to want press, much closer to filming, and they're going to want it managed. There will be videos, there will be promotional kits, there will be press releases. There's going to be a plan.

Obviously, they're not filming anything now. So there's no reason to talk about anything now. There's literally nothing to say.

Weirdly, as counter-intuitive as it sounds, "declined to comment" in this instance is a positive sign. Because the BBC knows there will be something to say eventually. Now, however, is not the time.

"No comment" is at least better than a definite no it's absolutely not happening.
I think the best way to handle the show's return would be to treat like a #1 of a new comic book run, continue on from where we left off, but make some tweaks to things, and set it up in a way that allows new viewers to jump in. And if we do bring in a new showrunner, then allow then allow them bring their own style to it.

 

[Ray Hardgrit]

I thin the best way to handle this would be to go back to having more than one companion, that way we can still have our modern day audience surrogate, but then throw in some more interesting characters, like someone from a different era, or maybe even our first alien companion.

I thought Nardole was an alien.

But yeah, no one ever said adding characters like Jamie, Nyssa and Captain Jack as an extra companion was a mistake (though maybe Five's giant TARDIS crew was pushing it). The closest the series got to bringing in a character from another era and it just not working was Katarina.

Plus I know they want a present day Londoner on the team to be the audience surrogate and I don't think that's a bad idea, but solo companions like Leela and Romana gave us some of the best episodes of the classic run, so the concept of an unearthly companion has been thoroughly tested and proven to work.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

In Katarina's defense, I think she was poorly written. I hated how she was made out a simpering fool who got herself killed. Yes, she was a severe case of a fish out of water but her characterization could've been better handled.

 

[Chaos Descending]

Nardole was an alien. Leela was an alien. Romana was an alien. Adric was an alien. Nyssa was an alien. Turlough was an alien.

 

[bdub76]

The more I think about Doctor Who, the more I want to see it rested and see new stories pop up in both fiction and audio dramas. Let these go for a bit like we did during the Wilderness Years. And then let someone new take a shot at it. Some of the writers for the new Doctor Who came from the novels. It worked. Let it work again with the generation that grew up on new Doctor Who.