Ncuti Gatwa, Disney+, and more: the stars are aligning for the next era of Doctor Who to be the greatest yet.
Category
🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:00There's always huge optimism whenever a new era of Doctor Who begins, but to quote the fifth Doctor,
00:05it feels different this time. Arguably, Doctor Who has never been better equipped to succeed.
00:10From the companies involved in the show to the people making it, there are several factors that
00:14indicate it's about to be bigger than ever before. I'm Ellie with WhoCulture, here with 10 reasons
00:20we're entering a Doctor Who golden age.
00:23Number 10, the return of Christmas specials. From 2005 to 2017, every series of Doctor Who
00:30was accompanied by a Christmas special. From then on, these extra episodes were rebranded
00:35as festive specials and were broadcast on New Year's Day rather than Christmas Day.
00:40Former showrunner Chris Chibnall has since confirmed that the decision to move away from the Christmas
00:44lot was part of the BBC's strategy to keep the show feeling fresh rather than any anti-Christmas
00:49agenda, if you say so. But now the specials are back, with Shooty Gatwick and Millie Gibson's
00:54first episode together set to air in December 2023. And though, in truth, the Christmas specials
01:00had probably grown a bit stale by 2017, after six years without them, we're well and truly
01:05ready for their return. In today's TV landscape, the idea that Christmas Day is a better slot
01:10than New Year's Day is largely subjective. After all, lots of big dramas premiere on New Year's
01:15Day, like Sherlock and Happy Valley. But Christmas Day feels like more of a stay inside and watch
01:20telly kind of day, especially for family shows, which will allow Doctor Who to capture lots
01:24more casual viewers. There's also something just inherently right about having Doctor Who
01:29on at Christmas. The specials were a big part of what made RTD Era 1 so successful, and
01:35we're sure they'll do the same for RTD Era 2.
01:39Number 9, Stellar Guest Stars.
01:41Doctor Who has a long history of snapping up guest actors right before they become ultra
01:46famous, looking at you, Andrew Garfield, Felicity Jones and Olivia Colman. But equally, it's
01:51important to cast people who are already known to the general public. This has never been
01:55a problem for Doctor Who, as plenty of well-known actors are as keen to appear in the show as
01:59we are as keen to see them there. Recent casting coups have included Alan Cumming and Stephen
02:04Fry, and if you go back further, there's Keely Hawes, John Hurt, Michael Gambon, God rest
02:08of the soul, Timothy Dalton, and Kylie Minogue. The RTD 2 era is going to be no exception.
02:13From Drag Race winner Jinx Monsoon, to Frozen actor Jonathan Groff, to How I Met Your Mother's
02:18Neil Patrick Harris, there are some huge names lined up to appear already. Even Bonnie Langford
02:23returning as Mel is a massive star in the Doctor Who sphere. No doubt there are many more guest
02:28actors yet to be announced as well. I mean, Ryan Gosling was recently rumoured, so just imagine
02:33the possibilities. But the ones we do know about are all major grabs for the show, and
02:38with all different kinds of representation in the cast, Doctor Who is going to appeal
02:42to a wider audience than ever. The stars really are aligning. See what I did there?
02:47Number 8. A balance of old and new. That just immediately made me think of the scene where
02:53Amy brings the Doctor back with her something old, something new, something borrowed, something
02:56blue speech. So, completely irrelevant. Just thought you might like to hear my inner thoughts.
03:01A mix of old and new elements is important to any series of Doctor Who, and RTD2 seems
03:06to have the balance just right. Nowhere is this better encapsulated than in the first
03:11story of the new era. The Star Beast was originally a 1980 Doctor Who magazine comic strip, and
03:17it's now being adapted for television. The Doctor himself is a brand new incarnation, but played
03:22by a previous Doctor actor, and the story's monsters, Beep the Meep and the Wrath Warriors will
03:27please long-term Doctor Who fans while working just as well for new viewers, like the Autons
03:31did in the first episode of the 2005 revival. Unit and Kate Stewart are also returning for
03:37the 60th anniversary, as is the Celestial Toymaker, albeit in a new guise. Looking ahead to series
03:4214, the limited information that we have so far suggests a lot of new monsters and characters,
03:47with familiar faces like Mel sprinkled in to keep hardcore fans happy. And that's without
03:52even mentioning the wealth of exciting Doctor Who newcomers behind the camera, such as BAFTA-nominated
03:57director Julianne Robinson. It's a tried and tested formula, which should satisfy fans
04:02and non-fans alike when these new episodes hit our screens.
04:067. A Stripped Back TARDIS Team
04:09How big is the perfect TARDIS team? The original Doctor-slash-companion line-up was four people
04:14strong, but this has proved to be the exception rather than the rule, with most subsequent seasons
04:19featuring just one or two companions. The 13th Doctor's fam was the first four-strong TARDIS
04:25team in 35 years, though it didn't work as well here due to the shorter story length compared to
04:30the classic series, which gave neither Ryan, Graham, or Yaz much space to develop. As such,
04:35it will be refreshing to return to the one-companion format for series 14, almost a decade on from the
04:40last Doctor-companion duo, the 12th Doctor and Clara. At heart, the companions are the audiences
04:45way into the show. TARDIS teams of all shapes and sizes can work, but in practice, the duo has
04:51always been the winning formula, offering more opportunities for the companion to develop both
04:56as a character in their own right and alongside the Doctor. It's the template RTD used when he
05:00brought the show back in 2005. It worked wonders then, it's worked wonders since then, 10 and Donna,
05:0611 and Amy, and we've no doubt it'll work just as well in 2024. In other words, get ready to fall in
05:12love with the 15th Doctor and Ruby Sunday. Number 6, Return of the Kings
05:16Russell T. Davis' return as Doctor Who showrunner is highly unprecedented. The only remotely similar
05:23move in the show's history is when third Doctor producer Barry Letts briefly came back to help
05:28oversee Tom Baker's final season, but in this case, RTD's return is merely the tip of the iceberg.
05:33Most obviously, we have David Tennant and Catherine take back as the Doctor and Donna, one of the best
05:37regarded TARDIS teams of all time. It's a canny move which will both tempt back viewers of their
05:42original episodes while introducing these characters to a whole new generation. Additionally, the
05:47anniversary specials will feature the last screen performance of the late, great Bernard Cribbins,
05:52another beloved character who harks back to the RTD1 golden years. Behind the camera, executive
05:58producers Phil Collinson, Julie Gardner and Jane Trancer all performed similar roles in the original
06:03RTD era too. We've got Rachel Talalay and Mark Tondorai, who directed Capaldi and Whittaker episodes
06:08respectively, also both returning to helm new stories. And perhaps most excitingly of all,
06:14Murray Bloominggold is back as composer! These are all people with a proven track record of delivering
06:19fantastic Doctor Who, and they're all at the top of their game, and these are just the ones we know
06:24about. It really is a dream team, and if anyone's going to catapult the show into a new golden era,
06:29it's this lot. Number 5. Bigger and better marketing. Doctor Who is a funny show to market.
06:35You've got two groups of people to account for. The people who have always watched the show and
06:40always will, and the people with a passing interest or none at all who may be tempted to give it a try.
06:45Striking a balance between the two can be tricky, but generally speaking, more promotion is never a
06:50bad thing. The more secretive approach of the Chibnall regime sought to preserve mystery,
06:55but was criticised by many for being lacklustre. Whether it's a direct response to those criticisms
07:00or simply their preferred way of doing things, the current marketing team has dialed things up
07:05significantly. We've had some truly exceptional marketing so far, from the inspired emoji teasers,
07:11to trailers in prime time slots like Christmas Day and the premiere of Strictly Come Dancing,
07:17to the long-awaited return of Who's Spy and even a Subwave Network Instagram broadcast channel.
07:22This constant drip feed has kept fans engaged, while constantly giving casual viewers something
07:27to notice when they're channel hopping or doomscrolling. And this is only the beginning.
07:31Think how big Doctor Who is going to be when the actual episodes are out. I can't wait!
07:37Number 4. The Who-niverse begins.
07:39Back in 2021, Russell T. Davis, Doctor Who's former showrunner at the time, argued that Doctor Who
07:45should be operating on the same level as Star Wars and Marvel, with spin-offs such as The Return of
07:50Donna Noble and a 10-part series featuring the 10th and 11th Doctors. He said,
07:54I think that will happen one day, if we can just shift Doctor Who up a gear.
07:58Well, eight months later, RTD was announced as Doctor Who's new showrunner, and fans began to
08:03read those comments in a very different light. Earlier this year, he said that it was, and I quote,
08:08time for the next stage for Doctor Who, and that the spin-offs are ready. In other words,
08:13we're getting spin-offs. It's not been said what these spin-offs are, or when they'll materialise,
08:17though a show based around Unit has been strongly rumoured, an anthology series based around the
08:22show's monsters has also been suggested. Whatever the case, more spin-offs can only be a good thing.
08:27It's been said many times that Torchwood and the Sarah Jane Adventures were so successful because
08:31they catered to audiences that might not have otherwise watched Doctor Who, and could be watched
08:35in isolation, while at the same time feeding back into the main show, and thus rewarding the loyal
08:40viewer. Above all, more spin-offs means more hours of Doctor Who content, which no one is going to say
08:45no to, let's be honest. Number 3, A Bigger Audience. Thanks to the Disney Plus deal, the new era of
08:52Doctor Who will have unprecedented global reach. For existing American and Australian viewers,
08:57this is something of a mixed bag. In those countries, the show has previously been available
09:01to watch on free-to-air TV networks like BBC America and ABC. Going forward, it will be hidden
09:06behind the paywall of a Disney Plus subscription. However, on the whole, the deal will make Doctor Who
09:12much more accessible to a worldwide audience, giving the show more potential fans than it's
09:16ever had in its history. Plus, with parties like Bad Wolf and Disney involved, the show's budget is
09:22bigger than ever. Although reports of £10 million per episode have been debunked, RTD has revealed
09:27that the current budget is more than I've ever had to work with. Doctor Who has always been the
09:32little show that could. But it's time for it to level up, and featuring on one of the biggest
09:36streaming services in the world is a surefire way to do just that. Number 2, No More Gap Years.
09:43The Doctor often struggles to navigate the TARDIS with any regularity, and over the past few years,
09:49Doctor Who's broadcast schedule hasn't been much different. In fact, it's been nearly a decade since
09:53we've had two series broadcast at the same time of year in consecutive years, Series 8 in 2014 and
09:59Series 9 in 2015. This has largely been down to the show's punishing production schedule. Chris Chibnall
10:05recently revealed that they just missed an autumn 2019 slot for Series 12, and the decision to
10:10postpone Series 10 to 2017 was likely a similar story. A 2011 interview with Stephen Moffat regarding
10:17the split series approach for Series 6 and 7 is particularly telling. He said,
10:22Why are we killing ourselves and risking compromising the show in order to go out in the
10:26middle of summer? The beauty of the current era is that the show is enjoying longer lead times than
10:30ever. The 60th anniversary specials wrapped well over a year ago, Series 14 is in the can,
10:36and Series 15 is already in pre-production. Indeed, RTD has confirmed that his plan is for
10:41annual Doctor Who with no gap years. A regular series pattern is crucial to maintaining and growing
10:48interest in a brand, so this is fantastic news. If Bad Wolf can keep this up, Doctor Who is going to
10:53have a bigger presence than ever before. Number 1. Shuti Gatwa is the perfect casting.
11:00Incoming Doctor Shuti Gatwa is already a massive star. He's instantly recognisable to a whole
11:06generation thanks to his role as Eric Effiong in Netflix's Sex Education, and was a small but
11:12unforgettable part of this year's biggest blockbuster hit, Barbie. He's done Shakespeare, he's done
11:16photo shoots for Rolling Stone and Vogue, he has a truly incredible dress sense, and now he's Doctor Who.
11:22Little is known about what the 15th Doctor will actually be like, but everything we know about
11:27the man himself, from his star power, to his values, to his heritage, makes him an inspired choice for
11:32the part. As a black queer man and a survivor of genocide in Rwanda, he's a Doctor for our times,
11:38as he told Rolling Stone, this person fits in everywhere and nowhere. I am the Doctor,
11:44the Doctor is me. He's also a fantastic actor too, having shown incredible range in sex education,
11:49and possessing the sort of infectious energy that will no doubt make him a fan favourite
11:54Doctor right out the gate. Gatwa is perfectly placed to attract a brand new audience to the
11:59show, and the pieces are in place for something truly, truly special. And now you should have
12:04all the information you need to understand why Doctor Who is entering a new golden age.
12:09The only thing people may be concerned about was the Disney Plus deal, but you can check out
12:13our videos where we go into a deep dive into that deal, which might put your minds at ease.
12:17In the meantime, I've been Ellie with Who Culture, and in the words of Riversong herself, goodbye sweeties.