Ncuti Gatwa, Disney+, and more: the stars are aligning for the next era of Doctor Who to be the greatest yet.
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00:00There's always huge optimism whenever a new era of Doctor Who
00:03begins, but to quote the Fifth Doctor,
00:04it feels different this time.
00:06Arguably, Doctor Who has never been better equipped to succeed.
00:10From the companies involved in the show to the people making it,
00:13there are several factors that indicate it's about to be bigger
00:16than ever before.
00:17I'm Ellie with WhoCulture, here with 10 reasons we're entering
00:21a Doctor Who golden age.
00:23Number 10, The Return of Christmas Specials
00:26From 2005 to 2017, every series of Doctor Who was accompanied
00:31by a Christmas special.
00:32From then on, these extra episodes were rebranded as festive specials
00:36and were broadcast on New Year's Day rather than Christmas Day.
00:39Former showrunner Chris Chibnall has since confirmed that the decision
00:43to move away from the Christmas lot was part of the BBC's strategy
00:46to keep the show feeling fresh rather than any anti-Christmas agenda,
00:50if you say so.
00:51But now the specials are back, with Shruti Gatwa and Millie Gibson's
00:54first episode together set to air in December 2023.
00:58And though, in truth, the Christmas specials had probably grown
01:01a bit stale by 2017, after six years without them,
01:04we're well and truly ready for their return.
01:06In today's TV landscape, the idea that Christmas Day is a better slot
01:10than New Year's Day is largely subjective.
01:12After all, lots of big dramas premiere on New Year's Day,
01:15like Sherlock and Happy Valley.
01:17But Christmas Day feels like more of a stay-inside-and-watch-tele
01:20kind of day, especially for family shows,
01:22which will allow Doctor Who to capture lots more casual viewers.
01:26There's also something just inherently right about having
01:29Doctor Who on at Christmas.
01:30The specials were a big part of what made RTD Era 1 so successful,
01:35and we're sure they'll do the same for RTD Era 2.
01:39Number nine, stellar guest stars.
01:41Doctor Who has a long history of snapping up guest actors
01:44right before they become ultra-famous,
01:47looking at you, Andrew Garfield, Felicity Jones, and Olivia Colman.
01:50But equally, it's important to cast people who are already known
01:53to the general public.
01:54This has never been a problem for Doctor Who,
01:56as plenty of well-known actors are as keen to appear in the show
01:59as we are as keen to see them there.
02:01Recent casting coups have included Alan Cumming and Stephen Fry,
02:04and if you go back further, there's Keighley Hawes,
02:06John Hurt, Michael Gambon, God rest his soul,
02:08Timothy Dalton, and Kylie Minogue.
02:10The RTD 2 Era is going to be no exception.
02:13From drag race winner Jinx Monsoon,
02:15to Frozen actor Jonathan Groff,
02:17to How I Met Your Mother's Neil Patrick Harris,
02:19there are some huge names lined up to appear already.
02:22Even Bonnie Langford returning as Mel
02:24is a massive star in the Doctor Who sphere.
02:26No doubt there are many more guest actors
02:28yet to be announced as well.
02:29I mean, Ryan Gosling was recently rumoured,
02:32so just imagine the possibilities.
02:34But the ones we do know about are all major grabs for the show,
02:38and with all different kinds of representation in the cast,
02:40Doctor Who is going to appeal to a wider audience than ever.
02:44The stars really are aligning.
02:46See what I did there?
02:47Number 8, a balance of old and new.
02:50That just immediately made me think of the scene
02:52where Amy brings the Doctor back with her
02:54something old, something new, something borrowed,
02:56something blue speech, so...
02:58Completely irrelevant,
02:59just 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,
03:05and RTD 2 seems to have the balance just right.
03:08Nowhere is this better encapsulated
03:10than in the first story of the new era.
03:12The Starbeast was originally a 1980 Doctor Who magazine comic strip,
03:17and it's now being adapted for television.
03:19The Doctor himself is a brand new incarnation,
03:22but played by a previous Doctor actor,
03:24and the story's monsters, Beep the Meep and the Wrath Warriors,
03:27will please long-term Doctor Who fans
03:29while working just as well for new viewers,
03:31like the Autons did in the first episode of the 2005 revival.
03:34Unit and Kate Stewart are also returning for the 60th anniversary,
03:38as is the Celestial Toymaker, albeit in a new guise.
03:41Looking ahead to Series 14,
03:43the limited information that we have so far
03:45suggests a lot of new monsters and characters,
03:48with familiar faces like Mel sprinkled in
03:50to keep hardcore fans happy.
03:52And that's without even mentioning
03:53the wealth of exciting Doctor Who newcomers behind the camera,
03:56such as BAFTA-nominated director Julianne Robinson.
03:59It's a tried and tested formula,
04:01which should satisfy fans and non-fans alike
04:03when these new episodes hit our screens.
04:06Number seven, a stripped-back TARDIS team.
04:09How big is the perfect TARDIS team?
04:11The original Doctor slash companion lineup was four people strong,
04:15but this has proved to be the exception rather than the rule,
04:18with most subsequent seasons featuring just one or two companions.
04:21The 13th Doctor's fam was the first four-strong TARDIS team in 35 years,
04:26though it didn't work as well here
04:28due to the shorter story length compared to the classic series,
04:31which gave neither Ryan, Graham or Yaz much space to develop.
04:34As such, it will be refreshing to return
04:36to the one-companion format for Series 14,
04:39almost a decade on from the last Doctor-companion duo,
04:42the 12th Doctor and Clara.
04:43At heart, the companions are the audiences way into the show.
04:47TARDIS teams of all shapes and sizes can work,
04:49but in practice, the duo has always been the winning formula,
04:53offering more opportunities for the companion to develop
04:55both as a character in their own right and alongside the Doctor.
04:59It's the template RTD used when he brought the show back in 2005.
05:02It worked wonders then.
05:04It's worked wonders since then.
05:0510 and Donna, 11 and Amy,
05:07and we've no doubt it'll work just as well in 2024.
05:10In other words, get ready to fall in love with the 15th Doctor and Ruby Sunday.
05:14Number 6, Return of the Kings
05:17Russell T. Davis' return as Doctor Who showrunner is highly unprecedented.
05:21The only remotely similar move in the show's history
05:24is when third Doctor producer Barry Letts
05:26briefly came back to help oversee Tom Baker's final season.
05:29But in this case, RTD's return is merely the tip of the iceberg.
05:33Most obviously, we have David Tennant and Catherine Takeback as the Doctor and Donna,
05:36one of the best regarded TARDIS teams of all time.
05:39It's a canny move which will both tempt back viewers of their original episodes
05:43while introducing these characters to a whole new generation.
05:46Additionally, the anniversary specials will feature the last screen performance
05:49of the late, great Bernard Cribbins,
05:52another beloved character who harks back to the RTD1 golden years.
05:56Behind the camera, executive producers Phil Collinson, Julie Gardner,
06:00and Jane Tranter all performed similar roles in the original RTD era too.
06:04We've got Rachel Talalay and Mark Tondurai,
06:06who directed Capaldi and Whittaker episodes respectively,
06:09also both returning to helm new stories.
06:12And perhaps most excitingly of all, Murray Blooming Gold is back as composer.
06:16These are all people with a proven track record of delivering fantastic Doctor Who,
06:21and they're all at the top of their game.
06:23And these are just the ones we know about.
06:25It really is a dream team, and if anyone's going to catapult the show into a new golden era,
06:29it's this lot.
06:31Number 5, Bigger and Better Marketing
06:33Doctor Who is a funny show to market.
06:35You've got two groups of people to account for,
06:38the people who have always watched the show and always will,
06:40and the people with a passing interest or none at all,
06:43who may be tempted to give it a try.
06:45Striking a balance between the two can be tricky,
06:47but generally speaking, more promotion is never a bad thing.
06:51The more secretive approach of the Chibnall regime sought to preserve mystery,
06:55but was criticised by many for being lacklustre.
06:58Whether it's a direct response to those criticisms,
07:00or simply their preferred way of doing things,
07:02the current marketing team has dialled things up significantly.
07:06We've had some truly exceptional marketing so far,
07:09from the inspired emoji teasers,
07:11to trailers in prime time slots like Christmas Day,
07:14and the premiere of Strictly Come Dancing,
07:17to the long-awaited return of WhoSpy,
07:19and even a Subwave Network Instagram broadcast channel.
07:22This constant drip feed has kept fans engaged,
07:25while constantly giving casual viewers something to notice
07:28when they're channel-hopping or doom-scrolling.
07:30And this is only the beginning.
07:31Think how big Doctor Who is going to be when the actual episodes are out.
07:35I 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,
07:44argued that Doctor Who should be operating on the same level as Star Wars and Marvel,
07:48with spin-offs such as The Return of Donna Noble,
07:51and a 10-part series featuring the 10th and 11th Doctors.
07:54He 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,
08:02and fans began to read those comments in a very different light.
08:06Earlier 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.
08:12In other words, we're getting spin-offs.
08:14It'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,
08:20and an anthology series based around the show's monsters has also been suggested.
08:24Whatever 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
08:31because they catered to audiences that might not have otherwise watched Doctor Who,
08:34and could be watched in isolation, while at the same time feeding back into the main show,
08:39and thus rewarding the loyal viewer.
08:40Above all, more spin-offs means more hours of Doctor Who content,
08:44which no one is going to say no to, let's be honest.
08:47Number 3, A Bigger Audience
08:49Thanks to the Disney Plus deal, the new era of Doctor Who will have unprecedented global reach.
08:54For existing American and Australian viewers, this is something of a mixed bag.
08:58In those countries, the show has previously been available to watch on free-to-air TV
09:02networks like BBC America and ABC.
09:05Going forward, it will be hidden behind the paywall of a Disney Plus subscription.
09:09However, on the whole, the deal will make Doctor Who much more accessible to a worldwide audience,
09:14giving the show more potential fans than it's ever had in its history.
09:18Plus, with parties like Bad Wolf and Disney involved, the show's budget is bigger than ever.
09:23Although reports of £10 million per episode have been debunked,
09:26RTD has revealed that the current budget is more than I've ever had to work with.
09:30Doctor Who has always been the little show that could.
09:33But 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.
09:41Number 2, No More Gap Years
09:43The Doctor often struggles to navigate the TARDIS with any regularity,
09:47and over the past few years, Doctor Who's broadcast schedule hasn't been much different.
09:51In fact, it's been nearly a decade since we've had two series broadcast at the
09:55same time of year in consecutive years, Series 8 in 2014 and Series 9 in 2015.
10:01This has largely been down to the show's punishing production schedule.
10:04Chris Chibnall recently revealed that they'd just missed an Autumn 2019 slot for Series 12,
10:09and the decision to postpone Series 10 to 2017 was likely a similar story.
10:14A 2011 interview with Stephen Moffat regarding the split-series approach for Series 6 and 7
10:20is particularly telling. He said,
10:22"...why are we killing ourselves and risking compromising the show
10:25in order to go out in the middle of summer?"
10:27The beauty of the current era is that the show is enjoying longer lead times than ever.
10:31The 60th anniversary specials wrapped well over a year ago,
10:34Series 14 is in the can, and Series 15 is already in pre-production.
10:38Indeed, RTD has confirmed that his plan is for annual Doctor Who with no gap years.
10:44A regular series pattern is crucial to maintaining and growing interest in a brand,
10:49so this is fantastic news. If Bad Wolf can keep this up,
10:52Doctor Who is going to have a bigger presence than ever before.
10:561. Shuti Gatwa is the perfect casting
11:00Incoming Doctor Shuti Gatwa is already a massive star. He's instantly recognisable
11:06to a whole generation thanks to his role as Eric Effiong in Netflix's Sex Education,
11:11and was a small but unforgettable part of this year's biggest blockbuster hit, Barbie.
11:15He's done Shakespeare, he's done photoshoots for Rolling Stone and Vogue,
11:18he 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,
11:25but everything we know about the man himself, from his star power to his values to his heritage,
11:30makes him an inspired choice for the part.
11:33As 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.
11:42I am the Doctor. The Doctor is me. He's also a fantastic actor too,
11:46having shown incredible range in sex education and possessing the sort of infectious energy
11:51that will no doubt make him a fan-favourite Doctor right out the gate.
11:55Gatwa is perfectly placed to attract a brand new audience to the show,
11:59and the pieces are in place for something truly, truly special.
12:03And now you should have all the information you need to understand
12:06why Doctor Who is entering a new golden age.
12:09The only thing people may be concerned about was the Disney Plus deal,
12:12but you can check out our videos where we go into a deep dive into that deal,
12:16which might put your minds at ease.
12:17In the meantime, I've been Ellie with WhoCulture,
12:19and in the words of River Song herself, goodbye sweeties.