Russell T Davies Returns To Doctor Who

I made a noise on Friday, a very loud one at that. I didn’t know that I could make it, and I’m pretty sure my cats will rip my eyes out when I least expect it, but I don’t care. I said a while back when Chibnall’s departure was announced that I didn’t know how the BBC could fix the dilemma I mentioned. Then they rolled up on Friday and told us that Russell T Davies is back for the 60th anniversary, and he’s going to be the showrunner for the foreseeable future.

🚨 BREAKING NEWS 🚨

Russell T Davies to return as Doctor Who Showrunner to celebrate the 60th anniversary in 2023, and series beyond. BBC Studios are partnering with Bad Wolf to produce.

Read the full story here: https://t.co/ku3q9TBrlE pic.twitter.com/hqtnipoj1b

— Doctor Who (@bbcdoctorwho) September 24, 2021

If I knew we could play with returns, I would have put a bet on and made a fair bit of money. Either way, there is a phrase Tom Campbell of Cultaholic uses quite often when the doom and gloom of wrestling news kicks in, “I’d rather be happy than right.” That isn’t to say I’d be unhappy with other choices made to use other writers, however, like most who got into Doctor Who from a young age and are now adults (according to the government) it was Russell T Davies who fermented that love we have now. His life-long passion for Doctor Who was placed not only into the show’s eventual return in 2005 but also a story in The New Adventures series of the wilderness years.

“I’m beyond excited to be back on my favorite show,” he stated upon the announcement. Davies went on to say, “But we’re time-traveling too fast, there’s a whole series of Jodie Whittaker’s brilliant Doctor for me to enjoy, with my friend and hero Chris Chibnall at the helm – I’m still a viewer for now.” Ok, fib aside about Chibnall being anyone’s hero. Yes, I am still very angry after “The Timeless Children,” that was such an awful episode I’d put him next to Clara in the 7th circle of hell! Nonetheless, Davies is right. There is a whole series and a couple of specials still to go and some of which I am very much excited about.

I may be editorializing some extremely exciting news here, but I’d rather be excited and expel my enjoyment here than write about another Chibnall episode. Ok, he’s leaving, I need to stop taking digs at the man. For the announcement, Chibnall said: “It’s monumentally exciting and fitting that Doctor Who’s 60th anniversary will see one of Britain’s screenwriting diamonds return home. Russell built the baton that is about to be handed back to him – Doctor Who, the BBC, the screen industry in Wales, and let’s be honest everyone in the whole world, have so many reasons to be Very Excited Indeed about what lies ahead.” See Chibnall, you can write, just not Sci-fi.

The thing is, he’s right in every respect. I’ve not been this excited about Doctor Who (as a TV show) since I returned to the beginning for the weekly reviews I’ve been doing since early 2020. Before that? Lee Evans as Malcolm in “Planet of the Dead.” That isn’t to demean any other series, episode, actor, or showrunner (Ok, maybe Chibnall), it was just cautious optimism I’ve held every time someone new comes along. Right now, all that careful “I hope I enjoy this going forward” is aimed squarely at Davies’ next choice now as showrunner: Who (yes, pun intended) is next?

I speculated this a little before in the editorial on Chibnall and Whittaker’s departures, who is next, and what are the rumors? Of course, popular actors come up, and I have a little step back because I don’t like that sort of casting. Similar appearing actors of prior ones come up, I already mentioned as the annoying on-the-nose nostalgic Tumblr posts would call her “the female Tennant” when it comes to Sue Perkins. I know, that is fairly rich coming from me, someone speaking excitedly about a returning showrunner. Nevertheless, the rumor mill spins and lands on Olly Alexander currently for that spot. While I am not against it, it is just casting based on something else popular that Davies wrote recently.

I said it before though I’ll say it again, the role should not be cast on recent popularity. It should be cast solely on the direction you are writing the show. Say what you will, but I think that’s one of the faults when Jodie was cast. She has never been given a single direction to go in, and when she has gotten space, she has had to fight for it with three other leads. Let’s not forget, the show isn’t a one and done on casting, there are two and maybe three leads to cast at a time. The companion has, at least since Davies’ first run at the show, been our anchor or our audience surrogate. They are just as important as the alien.

It would be idiotic to suggest with this second (well, third) attempt at casting, Davies would be able to correct mistakes, but he should have fewer restrictions. One of the defining features of his first series is Eccleston and that leather jacket, an understated appearance contrasting with that of the character’s predecessors. With Tennant, it was a little more free-flowing but still fairly restrained in terms of Doctor Who. Moffat, for the most part, didn’t push the envelope much either. To his credit, Chibnall made Jodie and Jo Martin colorful without doing a full Colin Baker. This isn’t to say the sedated look goes without merit, but the great space tramp breaking into a room and being some kind of light is something I enjoy.

In actual fact, I don’t think I care who is controlling the TARDIS. I don’t care who is beside the wary old traveler, and I don’t care what they look like. The phrase goes “as happy as Larry,” I’m that happy you could call me Susan. I’ll get to watch new Doctor Who from one of the best writers of the show’s history and the fact we get a new Doctor and companion is the cherry on the cake molded to look like something wonderful depending on your preference. I don’t care if no one else wants the cake, I do and I’ll have its creamy filling too. Ok, an attempt at Davies’ style of innuendo aside.

Of course, the speculation from here on out will probably be that this is done as a snap-decision at the ratings of this Chibnall-Whittaker era of the show. I can’t deny that the show thus far over the two series has been dipping, with comparisons between the 7th Doctor and 13 being strong online and in the press. However, they are multi-faceted yet always attributed to one thing. Not only was Season 26 in 1989 faced with apathy from the BBC as audiences were (more or less) told to expect high-budget American shows, but audiences grew with little to start new generations of fans. Conversely, Series 11 and 12 face on-demand services and a similarly waning audience. While Series 12 is the lowest of New-Who at 5.40 million on average, Series 10 (Capaldi’s last) only averaged 5.46 and wasn’t under the same amount of speculative scrutiny.

My point is, November 23rd, 2023 may not hit the astronomical highs of Classic-Who‘s pique at 16.1 million. Nor may it reach the highs of Davies’ own dizzying heights of 10.81 million with “Rose;” with the only non-special episode beating that at 10.96, being “The Woman Who Fell To Earth.” Speculative assumptions that this may be a snap decision or not, there is no snap “back into place” when this has been, on the whole, a steady decline since series 5. I can’t say for certain either way how audiences will react, we simply don’t know anything else just yet. We don’t have a Doctor, a companion(s), or the direction that we’re being fired into. We don’t even know (but I do hope) if the TARDIS will change.

To herald it as The Second Coming would be sacrilege to Eccleston, not to mention a bit unfair on actors and writers being prejudged before the titles could kick in. Quite frankly it is prejudging something of their work before they are even announced to be part of the show. A multi-year deal between Davies is intriguing as it could just be that speculative shot in the arm the BBC wants before swapping it up again, or it could be much further down the line before changes happen again. Keep in mind, it was only earlier this year that Davies said in an interview that he is surprised Doctor Who doesn’t have a DWCU akin to Marvel’s success over the last 15 or so years. Until it is announced it is speculation, but it could have been a deciding factor for either party.

I think it is clear, Friday’s announcement made me a very very happy human. Since then, I have done as I’m sure many others have done and returned to Davies’ previous works. The most notable I think is the 5th chapter of Doctor Who: Adventures in Lockdown, “Revenge of the Nestene” or “Rose: The Sequel.” There are a few of Davies stories in there, one with mention of a story that was never meant to be, and each one is like a lovely hug from the man that created that initial love of Doctor Who in me and many others. If you are going to return to anything for a while, I highly suggest this series of short stories from Davies and other wonderful writers.

However, Davies isn’t the only return on the backend of Doctor Who, as noted in the tweet above describing the announcement, Bad Wolf will co-produce from 2023. The production company, named after the Doctor Who return code name and Series 1 storyline, started in 2015 by 2005 Doctor Who alums Julie Gardner and Jane Tranter. Both were integral to the 2005 return with Davies at the helm. Their most recent production is a show created by Lucy Prebble and someone called Billie Piper (never heard of her) called I Hate Suzie, which airs on HBO Max this November. I’ll admit, the nostalgia is hitting me with all the players in place for 2005 Doctor Who to strike again. I’ll say it again, I am happy.