In Doctor Who Magazine Special 63, Bad Wolf executive producer Julie Gardner was asked what she worries about most amid concerns about increased audience expectations in regard to production values seen in Marvel and Disney television productions.
“There’s only one worry on Doctor Who: that production delivers on the extraordinary quality of Russell’s writing,” Gardner replied. “He’s writing amongst his best-ever work. The scripts are big and extremely ambitious. The only worry I ever have is that we get it right for him. We run to keep up.”
“Russell [T Davies] is the showrunner. He’s the beating heart of the creative offering that is Doctor Who. It’s his vision on screen, which starts in his ideas for episodes. He writes the majority of scripts and talks with the script team about who and when additional writers come in. His creative decisions impact the budget, and vice versa, so he’s across the headlines of budgets and the dynamics of what happens on any day in the shoot. He’s on every single casting email, and his voice is always the most important in the mix. But I’m happiest when he’s in front of his computer screen, writing. That’s the bit no one else in our [executive producer] group can do.”
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In her DWM interview, Gardner shared that the executive producer team, led by Davies, had their first viewing of Episode Four of Doctor Who Series 14 on Wednesday morning, 8 February.
Episode Four was mentioned by Davies on The Michael Ball Show on BBC Radio 2 on 12 February.
“I sat here and I watched Episode Four last night and I think it’s one of the greatest things I’ve ever made in my life so I’m very, very happy with it. It’s looking so good Michael, I love it!”
Episode Four and Episode Five of Series 14 were directed by Dylan Holmes Williams in the first filming block for the new series starring Ncuti Gatwa as the Doctor. According to reports from location filming, the block includes an enormous slug-like creature involved with a corporate entity called Finetime and a Welsh general election candidate played by Aneurin Barnard for a fictional political party called Albion. There is not yet any indication whether the two plots are related or which potential storyline is in Episode Four. All that is known so far is that Davies wrote Episode Four.
Doctor Who will return in November 2023 with three 60th anniversary specials starring David Tennant as the Fourteenth Doctor. In the following festive period, Ncuti Gatwa will star in his first full Doctor Who episode as the Fifteenth Doctor. Doctor Who Series 14 starring Ncuti Gatwa and Millie Gibson will debut in 2024.
DWM Special Edition 63: Showrunners is on sale from Thursday 16 March at WH Smith, selected supermarkets and online from Panini. A digital edition is also available from Pocketmags.