Showrunner Russell T Davies draws back the curtain on Doctor Who’s new season in our exclusive interview.
This article previews Doctor Who season 2 but is spoiler-free.
She wants to go home and the Doctor has promised her to help her get there.
While fans await the start of season two on April 12, the future ofDoctor Whois in flux.
Neither the BBC or Disney+ have confirmed at this time the status of season three.
DEN OF GEEK: Which scene or episode was the most challenging scene for you to write this season?
Russell T Davies:The second episode where theMr.
Ring-a-Ding cartoon charactercomes to life in 1952 was a great and bold idea.
But the challenge is always doing an idea justice.
We dont have an unlimited budget, how do you make that work?
What do you do with a cartoon character once hes come to life?
What does he want?
How does the Doctor handle that?
Its like every good idea is an awful lot of work.
As he says himself, he could have made a feature film out of that.
Why didnt we do that?
It would just keep being brilliant.
What I love about Blink is that every other part of the script is magnificent as well.
Thats why all writing is hard work, andDoctor Whoin particular.
Its huge in its scale.
Thats the tricky thing, keeping your standards up, and never letting the show down.
Thats why I love working on it.
Can you tell us more about working with the new screenwriters?
Its so very exciting.
We are constantly on the lookout for new talent.
I knew she was aDoctor Whofan as well.
She had done aDoctor Whopodcast drama calledRedactedfor the BBC that only aired in Britain, but was very successful.
I knew shed be interested in joining this season.
Hes been watchingDoctor Whosince he was 11 years old, so that was gorgeous.
Hes a man, you learn as much off him as he might learn off us.
Pete McTighe is an old hand atDoctor Whoand an old friend.
Ive known him for at least 10 years and he lives in Wales literally on our studio doorstep.
Hes just so busy so hasnt always had the time to work withDoctor Who.
Hes actually off to Australia now because hes running his own show over there.
Sharma Angel-Wallfall was a great delight because Sharma was a brand new writer to me.
It turned out wed met when she was 12 years old.
I gave a talk at her local theater, The Contact Theatre.
I went to give a talk and a workshop for kids with the wonderful poet, Lemn Sissay.
It turns out she was one of those kids.
Isnt that a weird coincidence?
I know its just meant to be sometimes.
But thats irrelevant, her scripts are what got her the role.
And she was just a joy to work with.
What new perspectives on the Doctor, his companion Belinda and others did these writers contribute?
They all did, simply by being not me, which I recommend for an awful lot of people.
In fact, I think most peoplearenot me!
Strangely, I want to correct this in the world.
They bring their backgrounds, their histories.
Inua Ellams just to pick an example, set his episode in Lagos.
Hes created a whole history of friendships for the Doctor around a whole new mythology.
Theres that lack of fear.
Theres not a second of worrying, of him thinking, Have they done this before?
Did they do this in 1985?
Although hes always watched the show, he was completely free of its shackles.
What you get is a completely new take on things you thought you understood inDoctor Who.
The episode has the TARDIS doing things its never done before.
And thats just exciting, and its bracing.
Thats why Im good at my job, frankly.
I lean in, and go, Oh, great.
Weve never done that before.
Lets push the story this way.
Its the same with every writer who comes in.
What if shes really dark, and strange, and weird, and mysterious?
The story just gets better and better and better and richer and richer.
And they write it in their own way.
They write it in ways that I wouldnt write it.
Its a glorious thing to write onDoctor Who.
They also know, in fairness, itll be made well and that were a very nice team.
Were a script-based production team.
Im a writer, obviously.
Im a part of it.
Julie Gardner, whos our producer, was a script editor.
Jane Tranter started out as a script editor.
Philip Collinson was a script editor.
We have very good script editors ourselves.
Were not coming at it from the money mans point of view.
That counts in the end, but we all have script experience.
We all know when a writers being treated well, or when a writers being treated badly.
So I genuinely think they have a great time with us because were writers.
How does the Fifteenth Doctors character evolve this season?
Its a matter of simply trusting Ncuti Gatwa.
I think hed writeDoctor Whoreally well.
I think you should never relax with your lead actor.
You should always make your lead actor happy to come into work that day.
He fell in love last year.
Now, how does he feel when Ruby falls in love with someone?
Whats going to make his anger come out more?
What are his friendships?
Who does he know across time and space?
Which people havent we met before?
You keep changing it, keep making the story rich, new and exciting.
Youve written several previous companions.
How did you distinguish Belindas journey from others?
Belindas got a very strong story across the entire arc, which is to get her home.
That was my suggestion for the tagline for the whole thing.
The poster says thats what its all about.
Shes a nurse who works in A&E [the ER].
She knows how things work.
She knows that people die.
Theres a continued story there.
Varada Sethu is one of my favourite actors Ive ever been lucky enough to work with.
As you know, she appeared last year in Boom.
Welcome to the world ofDoctor Who.
Which episode are you hoping the fans get the most, Oh my God, reaction from?
I think people will think its a big laugh with a lot of camp and fun.
Theres a lot going on in that.
Which episode are you the most nervous about?
Oh, thats every single episode.
I sit and watch them every single week.
I would cancel any holiday to be there for that night.
Every week at five to seven, Ill be sitting there going, I hope this works.
I believe in watching them on transmission because I think you see them differently.
I have seen all of those episodes about 60 times by the time they get on air.
What do you want viewers to take away from this season as opposed to the previous one?
Come and join in, is what I always want to say to people.
Come and have fun.
Come and enjoy it.
Its full-blooded, its an enormous adventure.
Just relax and come and enjoy it and I promise youll have a great time, absolutely.
