Doctor Who showrunner Russell T Davies has claimed that the new era is a “reinvention” of the show.
The iconic BBC sci-fi show returned last month with the first of three specials to commemorate the 60th anniversary, with Ncuti Gatwa set to be unveiled as the new Doctor in Saturday’s (December 9) episode.
The actor will then have his first adventure in this year’s Christmas special, ‘The Church on Ruby Road’, with Davies teasing that the episode will serve up some fresh ideas for audiences.
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“It's completely a reinvention,” he told SFX Magazine. “Reinvention of the show, brand new, but not a reboot. It's the same old show, everything starts again, everything's seen through the eyes of Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson) and it's that lovely feeling of a new era beginning.”
“It kind of goes into territory we've never touched before. In many ways that's more… fresher than special two [‘Wild Blue Yonder’]. We've never done this before,” he added.
Whilst Davies is currently busy at work on the next series of Doctor Who, the showrunner recently spoke about the process of having David Tennant and Catherine Tate return to the show for the specials, revealing it was to write the new scripts.
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“I didn't even go and watch an old episode on iPlayer because they never quite go really - those big characters don't go from your head. They keep on ticking away,” he said. “There's an extraordinary thing with Doctor Who, which is with the crew and a lot of the cast, their children watch it.
“It gets passed on down generations. I love that and I think the crew are very much aware that they're part of a history that their kids will be watching… that creates a really lovely atmosphere on set.”
Doctor Who returns for three 60th anniversary specials, concluding with 'The Giggle' on December 9. The show airs on BBC One in the UK and Disney+ elsewhere.
Classic episodes of Doctor Who are now made available via BBC iPlayer in the UK as well.
Reporter, Digital Spy George is a freelance writer who specialises in Movies and TV. After graduating with a degree in Film Studies and Journalism from De Montfort University, in which he analysed the early works of Richard Linklater for his dissertation, he wrote for several websites for GRV Media. His film tastes vary from blockbusters like Mission: Impossible and John Wick to international directors such as Paolo Sorrentino and Hirokazu Kore-eda, and has attended both the London and Berlin film festivals.
