Doctor Who boss on why he carried on Chris Chibnall arc
"That's going to have a lot of ammunition and fuel going forward."
It's very almost time for Doctor Who fans to be reacquainted with the season, as Ncuti Gatwa and Millie Gibson return to helm the new season as the Doctor and companion.
But even though it's a new dawn for the long-running sci-fi series, returning showrunner Russell T Davies still paid homage to previous showrunner Chris Chibnall and The Timeless Children, a 2020 episode that was written by Chibnall.
Chatting to RadioTimes.com at the Doctor Who season 14 premiere, Davies said: "I think The Timeless Child doesn’t mean anything to anyone, to a lot of viewers. Genuinely, to a few outside the show – what does that mean?
"But what it does mean is the Doctor’s an orphan, he was abandoned, he was adopted by the Time Lords, so you play that for the emotions."
He continued: "I don't want to hang things off science fiction words, that simply won't mean anything around the breakfast table.
"But, if you're talking about a family with a world in which people adopt children, or foster children, or abandoned children, then suddenly it begins to register with you. So that's our take on that.
"And that's going to have a lot of ammunition and fuel going forward. Because it goes Millie as Ruby Sunday, she was abandoned as a family on the church doorstep. So you have the Doctor and and [the] companion suddenly chiming with their lives connecting."
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The original 2020 episode featured Jodie Whittaker as the Thirteenth Doctor and also starred Bradley Walsh, Tosin Cole, Mandip Gill and Sacha Dhawan as the Master.
In the episode, the Doctor finally learnt the truth about the Timeless Child when held by the Master in the ruins of Gallifrey.
Of course, the Christmas 2023 episode introduced us to Gibson's Ruby Sunday and her backstory, as well as members of her family.
In the episode, Ruby and Gatwa's Doctor quickly formed a bond with their own shared experiences of abandonment and being adopted by a new family, a nod to the major Timeless Child reveal.
Read more:
- Doctor Who boss teases epic finale: "You will be screaming"
- Ncuti Gatwa on his Doctor Who future: “I’ll be around for a while"
While The Master was certainly a memorable villain in The Timeless Children, Davies also revealed that Dhawan's character won't be making an appearance any time soon.
He chatted to RadioTimes.com about Jinkx Monsoon's Maestro and said: "I did think when I named them Maestro that there was a chance that that might overlap. It causes speculation, which is fun, but the Master is kind of parked for the moment. There’s been a lot of the Master recently, so it’s time to start again and have a fresh start to the show."
But there are plenty more villains to come with Davies also teasing: "[There are] lots of great villains – episode 4 has got possibly the strangest villain you’ll ever see.
"You have to come and watch – even in an interview like this, it’s hard to describe. You’ve got to come and watch episode 4 to understand what’s going on.
"And then episode 5 has great big ugly monsters, which are fantastic, so good old Doctor Who territory."
Doctor Who returns to BBC One and iPlayer on Saturday 11th May 2024.
Check out more of our Sci-Fi coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what’s on. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Authors
Morgan Cormack is a Drama Writer for Radio Times, covering everything drama-related on TV and streaming. She previously worked at Stylist as an Entertainment Writer. Alongside her past work in content marketing and as a freelancer, she possesses a BA in English Literature.
