Spoilers! But RTD is coming back as the Doctor Who showrunner and the Whovian Kingdom are collectively losing their minds, burning down Twitter, Tumblr and YouTube with their reactions.
This is off-this-cuff, un-betaed, nonsensical thoughts. You have been warned.
I’m cautiously optimistic about the return of Russell T. Davies (almost always shortened to RTD in fandom) to the helm of the Good Ship Doctor Who. While I’m not the biggest fan, Omega knows, the Chris Chibnall (Chibnall or ‘Chibs’ as he’s called) era has been controversial to put in generously.
Merchandise sales have gone down, international interest has waned, and the consolidated ratings (i.e. the ones that matter – overnights are rightly just bragging rights in this day and age) are almost as low as they were during Season 26, when the show was cancelled in 1989 and streaming didn’t exist! True, this meant there should have been more people watching telly but in this day and age there really is no excuse to be unable to catch-up on a show you like so Series 12 should have pictured up more viewers, if the interest was there.
The drop-off in the consolidated ratings throughout Series 11 and then again with Series 12 was startlingly quick, falling to lower than the end of the Moffat (‘The Moff’) era. For some perspective, Moffat was in charge for 7-8 years – the longest-serving continuous showrunner for the revived series- and headed x6 13-12 episode-long series (not including the specials) that aired on a Saturday night during the late-spring/summer slot. In the 18-months Chibnall was in charge, the 10-episode Series 11 and 12 (including the specials) consolidated ratings fell in on themselves faster than an umbrella despite airing on holidays or Sunday evenings during the late-autumn/winter. Regardless of your opinion on the ratings or whether the current era is at acceptable levels, this steep downhill slope would have 100% scared the BBC.
Whether you blame franchise fatigue; Chibnall’s inability to pick a lane and stick with it; or the fact they cast a woman for seemingly no other reason than to get a quick ratings boost, (mistakenly) thinking would take another eight years to decline, the end result is a once-proud cash-cow of the BBC being little more than a telly tradition compared to the national and international success it was under the Davies and Moffat eras.
RTD in particular is likely help in high regard for reviving the series in the first place and bringing it back from the dead to be the massive money-maker the BBC once loved, and seemingly has taken for granted. Reinstating him as showrunner – now in cahoots with Bad Wolf, Julie Gardner and Jane Tranter’s production company named in homage to Doctor Who – indicates that the BBC have hit the panic-button. It’s also the strongest denouncement of the Chibnall era without actually saying it. Nay, the BBC and even RTD himself have praised Chris Chibnall in such superlative terms that it’s clearly being done to allow him to leave the show with his head held high. Hopefully, Chibs will return to writing gritty crime serials and not look back.
Anyways, RTD is back –
– what are we to make of this?
Well, for one thing, we can presume that the BBC have decided that they like money.
This New-New Doctor Who will be a co-production between Bad Wolf and BBC Studios, rather than the BBC Studios alone, or the BBC drama department. People outside the UK might be wondering what the difference is – well, BBC Studios is a commercial subsidiary while the BBC’s drama department (Sometimes referred to as ‘BBC Drama’) is in-house. The (1st) RTD era and most of the Moffat era were produced in-house, before it moved to BBC Studios. The Chibnall era has largely been a co-production between BBC Studios and BBC America. Commercial, yes. BBC, completely. However, this is the first time since Doctor Who the Movie (Starring Paul McGann’s smexy Eighth Doctor) a third party have come in to run the show. The change indicates that not only have BBC decided once and for all that Doctor Who needs to be run for profit but that (hopefully) RTD will have greater creative control over the show than Moffat, Chibnall or he would have had when the show remained entirely within the control of the drama department at the BBC, or even BBC Studios by themselves. It also de facto means more opportunities for money.
Another thought that has crossed my mind is that the reinstatement of a former, successful showrunner – (I believe Noel from The TARDIS Zone mentioned that the BBC wanted either RTD or Moffat, maybe even both, to run the show) – might have been a request of the licensees. At the end of the day, the licensees need money as much as the BBC, and an unsuccessful Doctor Who hurts much more than the BBC. Though both men had flaws in their runs, Doctor Who had been a commercial success under RTD and Moff. RTD made it a ratings darling while Moff expanded the empire to the USA and oversaw the cinematic 50th anniversary in 2013. Both eras have found popularity worldwide thanks to the rise of online streaming services, and it was upon their successes – and the ‘scramble for content’ that has dominated ongoing ‘streaming wars’ – that third-party money was acquired by BBC Studios for selling the streaming rights for Doctor Who, ultimately to HBO.
It can’t be a coincidence that Bad Wolf Ltd, who has ties to WarnerMedia through co-productions such as His Dark Materials (with New Line Productions) and HBO Inc having a minority stake in the company, have been chosen to run Doctor Who with BBC Studios. RTD has also not been shy with condemning the archaic practises when it comes to the trend towards streaming. This strongly indicates not only that the show will air on BBC, but that it might also start releasing online – or even moving entirely online before it reaches terrestrial TV.
Now, I actually don’t think that RTD will stay for more than a few years. He’ll write and oversee the 60th, then Series 1 (or 14 if they stay with the current numbering system), before handing over to someone else – my guess is Julie Gardner and/or Jane Tranter, who I suspect will both be named Executive Producers for the NuNuWho along side RTD. So, the RTD era will likely be more of a ‘guardianship’ ahead of the Gardner/Tranter era. Assuming the Fourteenth Doctor stays for the minimum three series, that means we might have the first instance of a Doctor transitioning to the new showrunner(s).
One thing he will be doing is pick the next Doctor.
As for who RTD will pick for the next Doctor, a lot of people think it’ll be Olly Alexander or Lydia West. Personally, I think they’re a little too young-looking for the Doctor, though Olly might look old enough once the show actually starts filming (He’ll be around 34/5). As for Lydia, I don’t think he’ll pick a woman. He’ll pick a man, if only to give the show some breathing space from the controversial Chibnall/Whittaker era.
If he picks anyone from his ‘friends list’, my money would be on someone like Ben Whishaw (bottom left) or Russell Tovey (bottom right), the latter of whom RTD has already mentioned as a person he’d have liked to cast as the Doctor.
That said, Matt Smith was a breath of fresh air so maybe he’ll try and play a Moffat card by picking the much-younger looking Olly.
Either way, I hope he actually puts the role to auditions as well and doesn’t just give the role to Russell, Ben or Olly because they’re one of his mates. That type of nepotism is what led to Jodie’s casting by Chibnall and her relative obliviousness to Doctor Who as a franchise beyond, “it’s male gaze-y” (which it really isn’t) and “it’s just a bloke” (also not true), which did her no favours when it came to the scrutiny of the long-term fans. Again, with Matt Smith, he 100% earned the role because Moffat auditioned lots of people.
I hope RTD and BBC Studios/Bad Wolf do the same.
Scarlettpeony Writes 