Between the return of Russell T Davies and a deal with Disney+ which will bring more eyes to the BBC series (and increase its budget), 2023 is proving to be an exciting time for fans of Doctor Who.
Three 60th anniversary specials recently saw David Tennant return to the franchise, only for a shocking bi-regeneration to later give us a (semi-retired) Fourteenth Doctor and Ncuti Gatwa's all-new Fifteenth iteration. The latter will step into the spotlight in this Monday's Doctor Who Christmas Special, "The Church on Ruby Road."
During an episode of BBC One's Imagine...Russell T Davies: The Doctor and Me (via SFFGazette.com), the showrunner looked back on resurrecting the iconic sci-fi series in 2005 and shared praise for the impact Christopher Eccleston had as the Ninth Doctor.
"I had to keep all the good iconography but dust off all the rubbish. Part of the rubbish was kind of pompousness around the character," Davies explained. "He’s a Time Lord, so in people’s minds, he’s become a lord, someone loquacious and pompous and ostentatious and posh. So Chris singlehandedly, in one moment, shook that off."
At the same time, he reflected on the backlash which surrounded casting Billie Piper as the Doctor's companion, Rose Tyler.
"You forget, 2005, 2004, people were laughing, going, 'Oh, you’ve cast that pop star. What’s Billie Piper like?' Like, thinking she’d be dreadful," Davies said. "I can remember all of us on the production having this massive silent smile thinking, 'You wait. You wait 'til you see her. It’s phenomenal.'"
These comments come after Eccleston recently revealed what it would take to bring him back to the long-running sci-fi series. "Sack Russell T Davies," he stated. "Sack Jane Tranter. Sack Phil Collinson. Sack Julie Gardner. And I'll come back. So can you arrange that?"
On a more positive note, Piper has said she would jump at the chance to play Rose again. "Well, I've returned a bunch of times. I couldn't stop returning for a while. It has been a while. Too long, too long. Yeah, I think I would. I think I'd go back. I think also now again because my kids are a bit older, I'd quite like to share all of that with them as well."
Something tells us Davies and Eccleston won't ever reunite for another Doctor Who story, but it appears there are only bad feelings on one side! Who knows what will happen in this next run, though...
"Little is known about Ruby Sunday as she was abandoned on Christmas Eve as a baby. Now living with her mum, Carla and grandmother, Cherry her world is about to be turned upside when she encounters the Doctor and the two set off on their first adventure together..."