With the new season of Doctor Who arriving this week, some fans have been quick to note a lack of diversity when it comes to the writing talent behind the episodes.
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Of the upcoming eight episodes, six have been written by showrunner Russell T Davies, while one has been written by former showrunner Steven Moffat.
Meanwhile, the sixth episode, Rogue, has been crafted by the writing team of Kate Herron and Briony Redman, and in a recent interview with Men's Journal, Davies explained how they came on board.
"I hugely admire Kate Herron’s work on Loki. Obviously, I wanted women writing, and I’m aware that we haven’t got enough women writing or writers of colour, which we’re fixing in the next series to come.
"Kate and I made contact over Loki, and she then introduced me to Briony, who might not be so well known unless you move in comedy circles - where in improv and stand-up she’s a legend - and they just bring their own style."
Jonathan Groff, Millie Gibson and Ncuti Gatwa in Doctor Who. BBC Studios/Bad Wolf
Based on this, it certainly sounds like it will be a more diverse writing team that has crafted the already-in-production season 15, perhaps with Davies writing fewer of the episodes himself.
If this is the case, this would follow a similar pattern to Davies's first era of the show, where he wrote eight of the 13 episodes for season 1, but only five of 13 for each of seasons 2, 3 and 4.
Herron and Redman's episode, Rogue, will see the Doctor and Ruby travelling back in time to the Regency era, where they meet new characters played by Jonathan Groff and Indira Varma.
Stars Ncuti Gatwa and Millie Gibson recently called it their favourite episode of the upcoming season, with Gibson saying: "We had Jonathan Groff in it, for God's sake! It was incredible. Just so many things happen in that episode. It's filled with so much."
Meanwhile, Gatwa added: "It captured the cheekiness... they both [the Doctor and Ruby] go off and have these separate scandals, which was a lot of fun!"
Doctor Who will return on Saturday 11th May on BBC iPlayer and BBC One.Previous seasons are available to stream on BBC iPlayer with episodes of the classic series also available on BritBox – you can sign up for a 7-day free trial here.
James Hibbs is a Drama Writer for Radio Times, covering programmes across both streaming platforms and linear channels. He previously worked in PR, first for a B2B agency and subsequently for international TV production company Fremantle. He possesses a BA in English and Theatre Studies and an NCTJ Level 5 Diploma in Journalism.
