Magic Numbers

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Publication: Total Film
Date: issue 344 (Dec. 2023)
Author: Kevin Harley
Page: 26
Language: English

DOCTOR WHO Returning showrunner Russell T. Davies on the sci-fi staple's 60th-anniversary specials...

Are you sitting comfortably? Then Russell T. Davies will begin. 'There are two people who were once friends [a man and a woman]. One of them, he's now forgotten. And it's like a spell has been cast over her. If she remembers her friend, she might die.'

'It's like a fairy tale, a classic, mythic story to step into'

For more details, take a TARDIS jaunt to 2008. When Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) absorbed a potentially fatal dose of Time Lord knowledge, David Tennant's 10th Doctor wiped her overloaded memory to save her life. And if her memory returns... Ignore the High Gallifreyan bafflegab of 'human-Time Lord meta-crisis'; simplicity is the key here, suggests Davies, alert to those viewers who 'weren't even born' 15 years ago. 'It's like a fairy tale, a classic, mythic story to step into. For the fans, there's great history with it. But we can also come to it new and understand it in seconds.'

An eye on the past, another on the future: for the show's three 60th-anniversary specials, Davies is serving up nostalgia in trusty Doctor Who style. It all started three years ago, when Davies, Tennant and Tate joined a 'Lockdown Who' tweet-along to 2008 two-parter The Stolen Earth/Journey's End. Stirred by Tate's enthusiasm, an idea sprouted. Wouldn't an on-screen reunion be fun?

After 2018-2022 showrunner Chris Chibnall announced his series departure, news emerged that Davies would return to the show as head writer. Tennant would return to play the 14th Doctor for the specials, alongside Tate, before Ncuti Gatwa's 15th Doctor arrives for Christmas and a follow-on series. Sex Education's Gatwa is a subject for a future date, but Davies is emphatic on this: the big comebacks are not about resting on former glories. 'Let's be honest, we've all done well in our careers,' he says. 'We don't need to come back, but we want to come back because we have things to do and things to say.'

New stories to tell, too, and one that needs completing. 'It was like a three-act play missing the third act,' says Davies, reflecting on the Doctor/ Donna parting tale. 'I did leave them stranded. Sad, separated, embittered, lonely. That's no way to leave a show as joyous as Doctor Who.'

Not that Donna hasn't been busy. Last seen on screen getting hitched, she now has a daughter, Rose (Heartstopper's Yasmin Finney), who is vital to the specials. For Davies, Finney's involvement is emblematic of Who's embrace and pursuit of the new. 'Yasmin comes in among hugely experienced actors, among television gods, and she absolutely finds her space and owns it, does really deep stuff with it,' he says. 'Her ascendancy is a glorious thing to witness.'

MEEP RISING

It's Rose, says Russell, who first encounters one of the specials' aliens, known to fans but new to TV. First special The Star Beast features 1980

comic-strip creation the Meep (voiced by Miriam Margolyes), a creature discovered in a shed by children. 'It predates E.T. by two years,' says Davies, chuckling. 'Spielberg, I'd like a word with you!'

Fans know that the cuddly looking Meep (or, colloquially, Beep the Meep) differs from E.T. in certain key aspects. But it's not the only issue the Doctor faces. A highly fluid actor and trained magician, Neil Patrick Harris plays the Toymaker, a 1966 Who villain who isn't here to play games. 'You need an extraordinary actor to match David at the height of his powers,' says Davies. 'Bear in mind that this is David's TARDIS, his Doctor, his name in the titles. It's not easy for guest stars to come into that. You need that size, you need that experience, you need that skill to match him, otherwise you're in danger that the Doctor will tap-dance all around you. That's what Neil brings... a vast performance that is properly terrifying.'

And Tennant and Tate, promises Davies, are properly on form in these specials. Never mind the numbers: the 14th Doctor is still the 10th Doctor fans love. 'There's a joy about that Doctor, whether you call him the 10th or 14th. No one can hit a punchline like that, no one can find a punchline like that. He mines for jokes, even when it's a serious scene. My favourite actors are the ones - like Catherine - who will dig and dig to see the humour. It's a human instinct to find comedy in darker moments, to bring a shaft of light into a scene. And they both do that brilliantly.'

As for whether viewers will be there for them like they were for peak Tennant-mania, Davies knows times have changed but remains confident. Overnight ratings matter less nowadays, so team Who are weaponising BBC iPlayer to attract audiences with archive episodes and fresh material that will, says Davies, 'revolutionise how people watch that stuff.'

Disney+ will host Doctor Who outside the UK and Ireland, reflecting Davies' ambition to 'super-size' the show's reach. 'We're not talking about Ken Loach here – it's Doctor Who. It's a great, big, noisy science-fiction show with lasers and spaceships and explosions. It's designed to be popular, so let's make it popular.' Once again, the future is there for Doctor Who's taking.

Caption: Neil Patrick Harris is the Toymaker – first seen in 1966 story [[broadwcast:The Celestial Toymaker |The Celestial Toymaker]]

Caption: Beep the Meep (voiced by Miriam Margolyes) is a character from Who comics

Magic Numbers

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