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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 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 Shootie 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.
01:38Number 9. Stellar Guest Stars
01:41Doctor Who has a long history of snapping up guest actors right before they become
01:46ultra-famous. Looking at you, Andrew Garfield, Felicity Jones and Olivia Colman. But equally,
01:51it's important to cast people who are already known to the general public. This has never
01:54been a problem for Doctor Who, as plenty of well-known actors are as keen to appear in
01:59the show as we are as keen to see them there. Recent casting coups have included Alan Cumming
02:03and Stephen Fry, and if you go back further, there's Keely Hawes, John Hurt, Michael Gambon,
02:07God rest his 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,
03:27will please long-term Doctor Who fans while working just as well for new viewers, like
03:31the Autons did in the first episode of the 2005 revival. Unit and Kate Stewart are also
03:36returning for the 60th anniversary, as is the Celestial Toymaker, albeit in a new guise.
03:41Looking ahead to Series 14, the limited information that we have so far suggests a lot of new monsters
03:47and characters, with familiar faces like Mel sprinkled in to keep hardcore fans happy. And that's
03:52without even mentioning the wealth of exciting Doctor Who newcomers behind the camera, such
03:56as BAFTA-nominated director Julianne Robinson. It's a tried-and-tested formula, which should
04:01satisfy fans and 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
05:11fall in
05:12love with the 15th Doctor and Ruby Sunday. 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,
05:36one of the best-regarded TARDIS teams of all time. It's a canny move which will both tempt back
05:41viewers of their original episodes while introducing these characters to a whole new
05:45generation. Additionally, the anniversary specials will feature the last green performance of the
05:50late, great Bernard Cribbins, another beloved character who harks back to the RTD1 golden years.
05:56Behind the camera, executive producers Phil Collinson, Julie Gardner, and Jane Tranter all
06:01perform similar roles in the original RTD era too. We've got Rachel Talalay and Mark Tondorei,
06:06who directed Capaldi and Whittaker episodes respectively, also both returning to helm
06:11new stories. And perhaps most excitingly of all, Murray Bloomin' 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, and 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
06:29era, it's this lot.
06:30Number 5. Bigger and Better Marketing
06:33Doctor Who is a funny show to market. You've got two groups of people to account for. The people
06:38who have always watched the show and always will, and the people with a passing interest or none at
06:43all who may be tempted to give it a try. Striking a balance between the two can be tricky,
06:48but generally speaking, more promotion is never a bad thing. The more secretive approach of the
06:52Chibnall regime sought to preserve mystery, but was criticised by many for being lacklustre.
06:58Whether it's a direct response to those criticisms or simply their preferred way of doing things,
07:02the current marketing team has dialed things up significantly. We've had some truly exceptional
07:08marketing so far, from the inspired emoji teasers, to trailers in primetime slots like Christmas
07:14Day and the premiere of Strictly Come Dancing, to the long-awaited return of WhoSpy and even a
07:20Subwave Network Instagram broadcast channel. This constant drip feed has kept fans engaged while
07:25constantly giving casual viewers something to notice when they're channel hopping or doomscrolling.
07:30And this is only the beginning. Think how big Doctor Who is going to be when the actual episodes
07:34are 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,
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 and a 10-part series featuring the 10th and 11th
07:53Doctors. 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 read those
08:04comments 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 show's
08:22monsters 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.
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. In those
08:59countries, the show has previously been available to watch on free-to-air TV networks like BBC
09:03America and ABC. Going 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. Plus, with parties
09:19like Bad Wolf and Disney involved, the show's budget is bigger than ever. Although reports
09:23of £10 million per episode have been debunked, RTD has revealed that the current budget is
09:29more than I've ever had to work with. Doctor 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 streaming services in
09:38the 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, 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
09:53since we've had two series broadcast at the same time of year in consecutive years,
09:58Series 8 in 2014 and Series 9 in 2015. This has largely been down to the show's punishing
10:03production schedule. Chris Chibnall recently revealed that they just missed an Autumn 2019
10:08slot for Series 12, and 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,
10:22Why are we killing ourselves and risking compromising the show in 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, Series 14 is in the can,
10:35and 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
10:47growing interest in a brand, so this is fantastic news. If Bad Wolf can keep this up, Doctor Who is
10:53going to have a bigger presence than ever before.
10:56Number 1. Shuti Gatwa is the perfect casting
11:00Incoming Doctor Shuti Gatwa is already a massive star. He's instantly recognising
11:05visible to 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, he has a truly incredible
11:20dress 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 the man himself,
11:28from his star power, to his values, to his heritage, makes 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. As he
11:39told
11:39Rolling Stone, this person fits in everywhere and nowhere. I am the Doctor. The Doctor is me.
11:45He's also a fantastic actor too, having shown incredible range in sex education, and possessing
11:50the sort of infectious energy that 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, and the pieces are in place
12:00for something truly, truly special. And now you should have all the information you need
12:05to understand why Doctor Who is entering a new golden age. The only thing people may be concerned
12:10about was the Disney Plus deal, but you can check out our videos where we go into a deep dive
12:15into that deal, which might put your minds at ease. In the meantime, I've been Ellie with
12:19WhoCulture, and in the words of Riversong herself, goodbye, sweeties.
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