What I'd Do With Doctor Who! (What If I Was Showrunner?)

What I'd Do With Doctor Who! (What If I Was Showrunner?)

Doctor Who is a British science-fiction television programme broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The programme depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the universe in a time-travelling space ship called the TARDIS. The TARDIS exterior appears as a blue British police box, which was a common sight in Britain in 1963 when the series first aired. With various companions, the Doctor combats foes, works to save civilisations, and helps people in need.

Beginning with William Hartnell, thirteen actors have headlined the series as the Doctor. The transition from one actor to another is written into the plot of the show with the concept of regeneration into a new incarnation, a plot device in which a Time Lord "transforms" into a new body when the current one is too badly harmed to heal normally.

A series of special episodes of the British science fiction television programme Doctor Who will air to celebrate the programme's 60th anniversary. The episodes were written by Russell T Davies, and will be broadcast on BBC One in November 2023, preceding the following fourteenth series. David Tennant will appear as the Fourteenth Doctor before Ncuti Gatwa takes over as the Fifteenth Doctor. Catherine Tate was also confirmed to be returning to the show in the 2023 specials.

The three specials were directed by Rachel Talalay, Tom Kingsley and Chanya Button respectively. Filming moved from Roath Lock Studios to Wolf Studios once Bad Wolf became a co-producer of the series; filming commenced in May 2022, and was complete

David Tennant will appear as the Fourteenth Doctor before Ncuti Gatwa takes over as the Fifteenth Doctor. Catherine Tate was also confirmed to be returning to the show in the 2023 specials. Yasmin Finney joined the cast for the anniversary, to portray a character named Rose. Bernard Cribbins, Jacqueline King and Karl Collins are also set to return as Wilfred Mott, Sylvia Noble and Shaun Temple, respectively.

On 29 July 2021, the BBC announced that Chris Chibnall, who served as executive producer and showrunner of the series for the Thirteenth Doctor, would depart the series after a run of specials in 2022. In the BBC press release, Chibnall is quoted as saying: "I wish our successors - whoever the BBC and BBC Studios choose - as much fun as we've had. They're in for a treat!" The future of the programme was first teased by Piers Wenger on 25 August 2021, when he said an upcoming change for Doctor Who would be "radical".

On 24 September 2021, the BBC announced Russell T Davies would return to Doctor Who as showrunner, after having previously acted as showrunner from 2005–2010 for the Ninth and Tenth Doctors. He will succeed Chibnall for the show's 60th anniversary in 2023 and beyond. Davies will be joined by the Bad Wolf production company, which was founded by former Doctor Who executive producer Julie Gardner and former BBC head of drama Jane Tranter. In October 2021, it was announced that Sony would acquire a majority of Bad Wolf. Bad Wolf also took over creative control of Doctor Who beginning with the specials, allowing the BBC to focus on establishing Doctor Who as a global brand.

Phil Collinson returned to the show as producer, having previously produced episodes from 2005–2008. Davies confirmed by March 2022 that production had begun at Bad Wolf Studios in Cardiff. William Oswald is also editing for the new series.

On 13 June 2022, Davies announced that Neil Patrick Harris would be joining the cast, playing an undisclosed role.

The Fourteenth Doctor is the current incarnation of the Doctor, the fictional protagonist of the BBC science fiction television programme, Doctor Who. The Fourteenth Doctor is portrayed by Scottish actor, David Tennant, who previously portrayed the Tenth Doctor.

Within the series narrative, the Doctor is a millennia-old, alien Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey, with somewhat unknown origins, who travels in time and space in their TARDIS, frequently with companions. At the end of life, the Doctor regenerates; as a result, the physical appearance and personality of the Doctor changes.

Ncuti Gatwa had previously been announced as Jodie Whittaker's successor as the programme's lead, and many reports stated he would play the Fourteenth Doctor and that Whittaker's Thirteenth Doctor would regenerate into an incarnation portrayed by Gatwa. Upon Jodie Whittaker's final appearance as the character, she instead regenerated into a form similar to the Tenth Doctor. This character, portrayed by Tennant, was confirmed to be the Fourteenth Doctor, with later clarification that Ncuti Gatwa would actually portray the Fifteenth Doctor

#doctorwho #14thdoctor #rtd

[atomise]

Holy shit, you finally made this video!! I remember you telling me about these ideas almost a year ago now, it's great to see you finally put the video together. I love the idea of a Doctor desperately trying to become part of society to distract from their pain. My main point of criticism still stands which is that making all the villains come from one company kinda loses their unique origins. It's really great how you've tweaked the idea over time though!

[wiltaylor]

I think the capaldi episodes when he was a professor was essentially the Dr. trying to fit in. It would be interesting if he took up a job as a detective or something where there were mysteries that seem normal and then aren't! I like the idea of wiping out old enemies for a while. You can always bring them back. I mean we had remembrance of the daleks and then they were back later. It would be nice to have something different for a while though that wasn't a master race kind of threat.

[inspector]

I'd begin with a thematic repeat of the siege of Trenzalore. Have a all the powerful races massed to prevent Galifreys return, then have it emerge with a devastating show of power that obliterates the fleet, sending the survivors fleeing never to threaten the Timelords again. Daleks, Cybermen & other races are stripped of their ability to time-travel.

[ZDProds-cp]

Would be nice to see a part 2 where you go into detail about every series

[VanderzzWho]

Now I can read and watch Tharries at the same time, what a great time to be alive

[daver]

Interesting idea. Doctor Who could do with fresh ideas though some fans think they want the same thing for ever and ever.

I had an idea that there would be a major, but hidden, like Omega that would use some power he found in another dimension to take control of the Doctor's next regeneration. His previous incarnations would feel this and come to stop it but Omega would send classic villains to delay them. These stories would be told in alternate media leading up to the regeneration where the new Doctor's Timeless regeneration energy combined with Omega's new power would bring back Gallifrey and the Timelords but this would leave the Doctor with no memory, believing that this is his first life. He would be on Gallifrey, working under a returning Rassilon and the 1st series would see him or her go on adventures in time nudging different societies on the right path, unknowingly, directing them towards being controlled by those aligned to Rassilon who is controlled by Omega. As the series went in the Doctor would find friends including The Master, who seems good and Romana and even have a family but he/she picks up an earth bound conpanion too who is savvy enough to question what is going on. This opens the Doctor's eyes and they start to see more and by the 2nd season they are actively sabotaging missions and realising Rassilion isn't in control. By the end of the 3rd season they meet someone who confirms this isn't their first regeneration as they have met them before.
The danger builds in the 4th season as Rassilon begins to suspect the Doctor so the Doctor hatches and elaborate plan with help from his friends but one betrays him, The Master and gets shot. So he has to flee Gallifrey but the only thing he can find to escape in is an old British Police box...

[josgibbons]

What nobody says for this question is what they wouldn't do. I'd avoid certain villains I don't think I like enough to do justice (I'm not saying which!), but I wouldn't let anyone know that ahead of time; if every asked if something's coming back, regardless of answer, I'd say "no comment".

[chaserseven]

i'd personally just bring back classic villains who haven't appeared in a long time

[samwitherington]

Here is what I'd do with a Dr Who run (I'm going to give myself a Doctor, with three seasons, as that seems to be the what happens):
The Dr I'd have is played by Hayley Atwell. She has three companions. First is Zack, a hacker with Schizophrenia/sleep paralysis that leaves him with very vivid hallucinations. He is travelling with initially the Dr alone, before they meet brother and sister Char and Khiss on a mining station, Char as a miner, Khiss as a medic. The two are taken by the Dr, who intends to take them home, before realising their home is Skaro pre-Daleks. The end of the first season sees the revelation the hallucinations Zack has are the result of a chip embedded in his head at a young age by an AI bent on gaining human body and controlling the world (maybe set up from a mysterious signal in Zacks house the Dr tried to track down when they first meet). After initially stopping it, the crew see a future where the AI resurfaces and takes over, causing Zack to stay in the present to prevent it from ever existing. The Dr masks not taking the siblings home by claiming the TARDIS is faulty, leading to many whacky adventures before finally doing so. They arrive back with the Kaleds, but as a young Davros makes the first Dalek, which shoots Char, ending the second season. Fast forward, and Khiss is a warrior leading an anti-Dalek resistance, the Dr trying to convince her otherwise, due to timeline issues. Throughout this, Char's body is converted into a Cyberman esque proto Dalek servant, used to terrorise the Dr and Khiss. Eventually, the Dr is talked into helping evacuate Skaro citizens and taking them to a new world, leading to the rest of the season transporting a fleet of survivors, the Dr acting as a protector. The series ends with a final attack by Daleks, and Khiss sacrifices herself to save her people, who start a new colony elsewhere, under a new name, preserving the timeline. The Dr leaves, only for a reveal that Char has stowed away on the TARDIS. As the Dr attempts to clever her way out, Char self-destructs, throwing the Dr from the TARDIS mid time travel. End of first Dr run (the next run sees the Dr (now played by Colin Salmon) stranded in Hannoverian England, where he must adjust to the time period, forge a Torchwood esque crew, and use only his wits and the tech of the time to solve mysteries, uncover a cult designed to wipe out aliens on Earth and work out how to get the TARDIS back. All with a sweet style).

[matriculus]

Back in the wilderness years before nu who when it looked like we might never see Doctor Who again I had similar thoughts of how would I bring it back. My starting point was going to be the Doctor living on some backwater planet as hermit, rejecting the universe when he gets commissioned against his will by the timelords. We discover that in a previous adventure his companion was killed and possibly the Doctor regenerated which was what led him to his hermitage. Once his mission is complete the Doctor gets a new companion and once more finds his place in the universe and comes to terms with past events.

[Robsonwoodhouse]

if I was a writer for Doctor Who there will lots of cliffhangers and there will be 13 episodes per season plus a Christmas special The Doctor will be Ben Hardy and Companion will be Danielle Harold

Series 18
Episode 1 The Slitheen
Episode 2 Nightmare Man
Episode 3 The Judoon
Episode 4 and 5 The Veil
Episode 6 The Sontarans
Episode 7 and 8 Trickster
Episode 9 Daleks
Episode 10 The Graske
Episode 11 Sea Devils
Episode 12 and 13 Aboddon

Christmas Special Sycorax

Series 19
Episode 1 Daleks
Episode 2 and 3 Solonians
Episode 4 Cybermen
Episode 5 and 6 The Sontarans
Episode 7 and 8 Zygons
Episode 9 New
Episode 10 New
Episode 11 12 and 13
The Slitheen

Christmas Special
New

Series 20
Episode 1 New
Episode 2 Vashta Nerada
Episode 3 and 4 New
Episode 5 New
Episode 6 Ood
Episode 7 and 8 Reapers
Episode 9 New
Episode 10 and 11 New
Episode 12 and 13 Abzorbaloff

Doctor who The Movie
The Movie will 1-hour 48 minutes
The Master 7th 8th and 9th
Axons
The Slitheen
The Doctor’s 8th 10th 11th 12th 13th 15th
companions are
Mel Bush
Ace
Captain Jack Harkness
Rose Tyler
Mickey Smith
Donna Noble
Martha Jones
Jackson Lake
Lady Christina
River Song
Amy Pond
Rory Williams
Clara Oswald
Ryan Sinclair
Yasmin Khan

Christmas Special
Zygons

Series 21
Episode 1 and 2 New
Episode 3 Judoon
Episode 4 and 5 Daleks
Episode 6 New
Episode 7 New
Episode 9 New
Episode 10 11 12 and 13
The Master 7th and 9th
Aboddon
The Beast

Halloween Special
Vashta Nerada

Christmas Special
Cybermen

The Doctor will be Ben Hardy and Companion will be Amy-Leigh Hickman

Series 22
Episode 1 New
Episode 2 New
Episode 3 New
Episode 4 Daleks
Episode 5 and 6 New
Episode 8 New
Episode 9 New
Episode 10 and 11 New
Episode 13 Weeping Angels

Halloween Special
The Midnight Entity

Christmas Special
Sycorax

Series 23
Episode 1
Daleks
Episode 2
Gas mask zombies
Episode 3 and 4
Cybermen
Episode 5
Sontarans
Episode 6
Clockwork Soldiers
Episode 7
Reapers
Episode 8 and 9
K1 Robot
Episode 10
The Ood
Episode 11
Zygons
Episode 12 and 13
The Flood

Christmas Special
The Master 5th 7th and 9th
Trickster
Doctor’s 13th 14th 15th and 16th
companions
Peri Brown
Mel Bush
Grace Holloway
Captain Jack
Jackson Lake
River Song
Clara Oswald
Yasmin Khan

[R_SENAL]

So you want the Doctor to retire and take Time Traveling out of the show for a bit... Have you heard of Stranded? I think your overall arc falls into the same trap that frankly RTD did, that in a universe w/time travel as a key function, it doesn't really make sense for any species to not exist completely, because if you travel in time you can always meet them Before they were destroyed. If that species is also time active, then you can still meet them at any time and place and it will always be before their end. Like when 12 & Bill dip into the Movellan War. The whole Time-locked excuse is a bit hand wavey, and only works because he's RTD, we all love WHO, and we want it to work, but if you really think about it for a bit, it kinda doesn't.

My own idea would be for future events to be affecting the present of the Doctor, but we don't know what this cataclysm is yet because it hasn't happened yet, but its effects are being felt already as this new fixed point gets closer. But for the most part it would be seasons of different stories, of different genre each, all packed into every season with mostly unlinked threads, but I think Doctor WHO is at its best when it has say 1 episode that is contemporary, 1 that is future, the next is historical, the next is horror, the next is suspense, then its drama, then its a comedic affair, timey whimey, etc. This show is all genres rolled into one, and embracing that is always when it's at its best. I would also have people like myself, who care about continuity, go over scripts in the way that some showrunners never cared to, and make sure that as little as possible was stolen, or wrecked by new things we want to do. I hate when people say DW doesn't have a set cannon, because it easily could have, it's been remarkably consistent for a 60 year run, with admittedly a few glaring errors here and there, but it isn't the swiss cheese others would pass it off as. It's better than that. And it could be better than it is going forward, if future showrunners just showed a bare minimum of giving a crap... Yeah, I'm still getting over the Chibbs train wreck years... Still ticked that Marc Platt isn't given writing credit (or even a mention in the credits) for the Haunting of Vila Diodati since the entire idea is knicked from his story The Silver Turk.

But I digress.

If I were to do a big story to round out a season it would center around the moral dilemma of the Doctor having to keep a war going to save the rest of the universe. That war being the infinite clone army of the Sontarans vs. the infinitely dividing gestalt of the Rutan Host. If either side were to have some sort of decisive victory, no other army or force in the universe could stand in their way, so the Doctor has to foil a potentially game changing stratagem by one side or the other, to keep the status quo of them killing each other endlessly, so they don't kill everyone else endlessly. I've always wanted to see, or tell, that sort of story.

[ZDProds-cp]

Interesting concept. Totally wiped the slate clean. Although not sure why the institute would want to create cybers, daleks etc. everything will just go down the pan

[thedeadd.c.]

Best fan era of Doctor Who I've ever heard pitched was from my writer buddy, who started his era with a retcon of the timeless child storyline that actually makes Chibnalls run feel like less of a fuck up. It also explained the gender and ethnicity changes to the doctor in regenerations. It also expanded on the weeping angels in some dark ways. There was a storyline with the Valeyard, there was a season long arc with The eighth doctor and my friends doctor working together. My buddy wrote seven seasons worth of scripts for what his era of Who would be, and I have to say it made me cry, it made me laugh and the horror themed episodes he wrote actually creeped me out. He had plans for 16 seasons overall. He is just a massive Who fan and wanted his own continuity when he realised chibnall was fucking up the show. My buddy only stopped at his seventh season when RTD and Tennant returned. I keep hoping he finally starts making original movies and stuff, cause I'd love for him to actually showrun doctor who. He was born to do that job.

[stevehawkins]

I have been watching Doctor Who since 1975 and disagree with all your ideas, but I love your enthusiasm for the show!

[kae-linne.verchrogkirrke]

Like u I've had an idea 4 Dr. Who not so much made 4 television viewing, but more of an adventure novel. It would be place far in the future, w/ new characters & old ones popping in like cameos. Moreover some "old" favs of mine would be updated & redesigned & would leave ppl going omg. The main character would be the narrator. The something u would NEVER suspect.

[ms.antithesis]

My thoughts on your ideas:
Some criticism, some opinions, some compliments. Of you're not in the mood to have your ideas criticised then you rpolly shouldn't read it. I'm just in a hyper critical mood lol.


the time war was a big deal because it happened once. Doing more big universe destroying events when the universe feels more and more disestablished and unreal with every series. Wouldn't be the best course of action Imo.

The doctor on earth stuff is prilly the stuff I like best here but the idea the of making a massive change like that to earth would never stick, the problem with earth in dr who is unless you make the change so that its believable that you'd still have something simular to modern day earth as a result of the event, it'd never stick, whoch takes away audiace stakes.

I think the doctor wanting to live a normal or human life is a character trait I personally don't think us character for him, the 3rd doctor despised being stuck in earth and I think although he's intrested in humanity he doesn't want to be human. I do actually like the idea of an opening story where the doctor is retired bit is brought out of his shell by a companion... bjt we've done that, that was series 10, although series 10 didn't do it amazingly, its still something done.

Hault isnt the worst but he feels like Average man no. #500 to me. He's a somewhat attractive 30 something with bulging eyes, brown hair, and occasional bits of stubble... in other words, he'd be a tenant clone. Who I always found way too human.

ALTHOUGH Tilda swinton has been my personal fancasting for a while, so k can get behind that.

Personal I love the idea of a doctor who's body doesn't align with their pronouns, so doctor who uses male pronouns despite having a female actor, something tilda works great for.

Like your tardis idea. But I really don't like the idea of making it marvel like.

Personally I think adding new origins and new ideas and new continuities to classic monsters is too reboot for my taste. I like tying established lore together instead of creating new lore to float in the barron wastes of canon. Makes it feel less like a consistent universe.

I agree that tbe master is overused but personally I think making them a character on earth isn't tbe best idea. I dint like how everything in dr who seems to revolve around earth personally. Like... the doctor being obsessed with earth, is his thing. That's his autistic ass's hyperfixation. And OFC its gonna get invasion attempts, ans alien occurances, ans naturally creept stuff. on occasion, some of which is his fault, some is just natural. Ans he helps out. What I hate is this idea that earth is super important to everyone else for some reason

[fletcherhamilton]

Cast Harry Melling as the Doctor (or, if he still looks relatively young for his age, Angus Wright), and bring back a more updated ‘80’s futurism aesthetic to the series’ design. Jettison anything post-Capaldi and start from scratch like they did with Christopher Eccleston, and tone down if not completely abandon the ‘progressive’- and / or ‘LGBT’-agenda that got attached to the series since 2005 and especially since latter-era Moffat.

Bring back and update some lesser but still fondly remembered aliens from the ‘70’s and ‘80’s, a.l.a., Tractators, Tetraps and the Terileptils, and focus on good storytelling rather than trying to adapt the ‘scale’ of it all to larger budgets (which will probably be applicable anyway).

[cmatrix]

If i were showrunner i would push for Eddie Redmayne as The Doctor, he would be absolutely brilliant

[Bamalife]

Wow I will love your era #Tharriesforshowrunner